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Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams: Gaza is an open-air prison
By Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies , By Amira Hass
Tags: Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, Hamas 

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams Thursday denounced the Israel-led blockade on Gaza as having turned the coastal strip into an "open-air prison," news agencies reported.

"This is a total denial of the rights of the people of Palestine. This is an open-air prison," The Guardian quoted the Sinn Fein president as saying during a visit to the Hamas-ruled territory. "People can't travel out of here, they can't travel in."

Adams met with the head of the internationally-shunned Hamas government during a two-day visit to Gaza, and said he plans to brief President Obama's special Mideast envoy about his contacts. "Mr. Haniyeh told me that Hamas wants a peace agreement," Adams told reporters after the meeting.
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"I outlined to him Sinn Fein's view that there should be a complete cessation of all hostilities and armed actions by all sides. The obligation is that what happened here doesn't happen again," Adams said, referring to the destruction the IDF caused in one Gaza neighborhood during Operation Cast Lead.

Adams called for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to prevent a repeat of the military campaign.

Haniyeh's meeting with Adams, at an undisclosed location in Gaza City, was not announced ahead of time. TV footage from a local news channel showed Adams sitting in an armchair next to Haniyeh. The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported that Haniyeh told the Northern Irish republican leader that Israel achieved nothing in its recent offensive against Hamas apart from "killing innocent men, women, children and police officers."

Adams, who met social activists, business people and Hamas and Fatah officials, reportedly spoke little, refrained from giving direct advice and mainly listened. Adams, a key player in Northern Ireland's peace process and the political change in Sinn Fein, told his hosts about the Irish struggle and the importance of internal unity. He said Sinn Fein reached the conclusion that it had to be pragmatic to break the circle of conflict in which the Irish and British were caught up for hundreds of years.

Adams had asked to meet senior Israeli officials as well, but Israel stipulated that he undertake not to meet Hamas officials, which Adams rejected emphatically. Until midday on Wednesday, it was not clear whether Israel would permit him to enter the Gaza Strip.

Before entering the Strip, Adams and his party visited Sderot and Kfar Aza and met Israelis who live there, including MK Shai Hermesh (Kadima).

Adams' spokesman Richard McAuley said they could identify with the fear and trauma that Israelis felt under rocket fire.

After hearing from Haniyeh about Israel and the world's veto on Hamas' government, after it won the majority vote in free, democratic elections, Adams said the international community, especially the United States, should encourage the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to conduct direct talks.

Adams met three Fatah officials in Gaza Thursday.

"Most of the Irish people supports the Palestinians and is interested in the situation in Palestine," Adams said.

McAuley, who has also served time behind bars, said he and Adams were familiar with many aspects of the Palestinian reality - military attacks, arrests, destruction of neighborhoods, violation of human rights and restrictions on movement. However, the movement restrictions imposed on the Irish had never been so draconian as those imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza, he said.

Adams and his colleagues are due to hold talks with officials in Ramallah on Friday.


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      1.   Duh Gerry! 07:35  |  Yosemite 10/04/09
      2.   Hamas turned Gaza into a mini-terror state. 08:21  |  Jean Van Daem 10/04/09
      3.   And This Blair`s Mediator? 09:58  |  Eli Wapniarski 10/04/09
      4.   Israel turned Gaza into a terror state 10:19  |  had enough 10/04/09
      5.   Gaza is a prison - for Gilad Shalit for sure! 11:19  |  Robin 10/04/09
      6.   Prisoner bad behavior keeps extending sentence 12:17  |  Joe Sittizen 10/04/09
      7.   You cant play with us , if you play with them. 12:58  |  Labhras 10/04/09
      8.   Sinn Fein, Sinn Feinn. so fine, such fun 12:59  |  Bruce Shtarky 10/04/09
      9.   #7 LABARSE OF ARABIA NOW PRESENTS COMEDY 13:34  |  v hardman 10/04/09
      10.   V.Hardman aka Paul Harris--IRA--IRGUN birds of a feather 14:24  |  Labhras 10/04/09
      11.   gerry adams is one of the butchers of northern ireland 16:10  |  dodgypriest 10/04/09
      12.   gerry, you forgot he 3 murdered policemen in belfast last month 16:17  |  hal tripp 10/04/09
      13.   Gerry Adams visit to Gaza 16:44  |  Mary Nelis 10/04/09
      14.   And Gerry Adams is a glorified murderer. 17:01  |  Pioneer 10/04/09
      15.   #13 mary mary after killing all those protestants did adams 17:01  |  v hardman 10/04/09
      16.   Gerry Adams. 17:08  |  David Gershon 10/04/09
      17.   HOW do Hamas legislators get to meetings outside Gaza.How do Gaza 13:13  |  PETER SM 11/04/09
      18.   War weary people 18:06  |  Terry Moore 12/04/09
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