Unlike other world leaders, Gerry Adams is not afraid of the legitimate leaders of Palestine

from the Belfast Telegraph

Gaza is still an open-air prison, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has said. 

During a visit to the region Mr Adams said the Israeli blockade on building materials has to end and negotiations entered into with Hamas. 

He has already held talks in the flashpoint region with Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya and is set to meet the Palestinian Authority. 

“This is a total denial of the rights of the people of Palestine. This is an open-air prison,” he said. 

Israel said it launched the offensive because the Islamist group Hamas, the democratically-elected ruling party in Gaza, was firing rockets daily at Israeli towns, failing, of course, to mention that Israel broke the ceasefire first by bombing Gaza and through their illegal blockade. The Palestinians say 1,417 residents were killed in the recent three-week war, mostly civilians.  

A number of European legislators have urged dialogue with Hamas. But Britain and the United States say this cannot happen until the group recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts interim peace agreements, although they have not such requirements for Israel to recognize Palestine. 

Mr Adams compared the modern border crossing from Israel into Gaza to an airport. 

“It was distinctly like being back in prison...you had to go through air-locked areas and so on,” the West Belfast MP said. 

Mr Adams described a scene of devastation and said he urged peace on the Hamas leadership. 

“There should be a complete cessation of hostilities by all sides and I stressed our opinion that dialogue is central to what’s required and that is the only way forward,” he continued. 

“The refusal to recognise the outcome of the ballot box in the Palestinian territories is also bizarre, that they challenge people to go into elections and then when they go into elections they don’t recognise it.”