EU Heads of Mission call for lifting blockade on Gaza

The European Union Heads of Mission in Israel-occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the city of Ramallah in Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank call on the Israeli regime to end its blockade of Gaza Strip.

In their first joint visit to Gaza in 2012, the Heads of Mission recently met in the territory with delegates of international organizations, civil society, women, and the private sector. 

Following the visit, they reportedly issued a statement, calling for “further efforts and complementary measures to achieve a fundamental change of Israeli policy that allows for the reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza, including through the resumption of exports.” 

“The EU reiterates again its calls for an immediate, sustained, and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods, and persons to and from Gaza”, the statement added. 

Israel imposed the land, aerial, and naval blockade on Gaza Strip in June 2007 after the democratically-elected Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas took over the administration of the territory. 

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished enclave, having turned the territory into the world’s largest open-air prison.

Peer sacked for predicting Israel’s end

The veteran British peer, Baroness Tonge, has been forced to resign as a Liberal Democrat frontbencher in the House of Lords after saying she sees the Israeli regime’s end coming.

"It will not go on for ever, it will not go on for ever. Israel will lose support and then they will reap what they have sown," Tonge was filmed as saying during a student panel address at Middlesex University last week. 

"Beware Israel… One day, the United States of America will get sick of giving £70 billion a year to Israel to support what I call America's aircraft carrier in the Middle East - that is Israel. One day, the American people are going to say to the Israel lobby in the USA: enough is enough," She added. 

Following her remarks, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg apparently gave Tonge an ultimatum to apologize or step down, but the peer refused to make an apology and resigned. 

"I have been asked to apologise but refuse to do so and resign the whip of my party," she said in a statement. 

The outspoken anti-Israeli peer, who once said she would consider becoming a suicide bomber is she were a Palestinian, also attacked the Lib Dem leadership over their decision saying they seem “always to abet the request of the pro-Israel lobby.” 

"The comments I made were in protest at the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” she said in the statement. 

“Israel is acting against international law, the Geneva conventions, and Human Rights. They do this with impunity and if our political parties will not take action then individuals must,” she added. 

Tonge has been a Lib Dem MP between 1997 and 2005 when she was appointed to the House of Lords. 

She has been a fierce critic of the Zionist regime of Israel and a thorn in the Lib Dems’ side over the past years. 

Back in February 2010, Clegg removed Tonge as a Lib Dem health spokesman in the House of Lords after she called for an inquiry into reports that the Israeli soldiers were guilty of body parts trafficking in Haiti. 

The reports showed that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) who were allegedly deployed to the Caribbean country for humanitarian purposes after the killer 2010 earthquake, were actually busy harvesting victims’ body parts. 

Tonge was also removed as Lib Dems spokesman on children’s issues in 2004 after suggesting she could become a suicide bomber.

White House: Iran war endangers US presence in region

The White House has warned against the repercussions of any military aggression against Iran, saying such adventurism could jeopardize the US presence in Iran’s neighboring states.

"Any military action in that region threatens greater instability in the region," said White House spokesman Jay Carney at his Wednesday press conference. 

Iran "borders both Afghanistan and Iraq … We have civilian personnel in Iraq. We have military personnel as well as civilians in Afghanistan," he pointed out. 

Carney repeated the US allegations against Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program and reiterated Washington’s tenacity “to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran.” 

The top US official, however, acknowledged that there is a “lack of evidence” to corroborate its allegations that Iran’s nuclear energy program has a military dimension. 

The remarks come ahead of the upcoming meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama at the White House on March 5. 

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program, 

The US and the EU have used the pretext to impose internatinal and unilateral sanctions against Iran, while Washington and Tel Aviv have issued threats of military strike against Tehran. 

Iran maintains that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.