From: Ismail Zayid [mailto:izayid@eastlink

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----- Original Message -----

From: Ismail Zayid

To: Halifax Herald

Cc: Bev Dauphinee

Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 10:16 AM

Subject: It is the occupation........

Nov. 26, 2008

The Editor,

The Chronicle Herald.

Dear Editor:

The letters by Howard Heyman and Mark David [Nov.26] Justify the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the subjection of 1.5 million men, women and children to starvation and denial of health care and all elements of human life, with baseless and irrational justifications. Gaza has been converted to a large open prison with all its means of access controlled by Israel. Even the Egyptian role, shameful as it is, remains in collaboration with Israel. The UN president as well as many independent observers, including international and Israeli human rights organisations, have condemned this inhuman blockade.

The rockets that they speak of came after Israel attacked Gaza on Nov. 4, killing six people, followed by repeated incursions. A report in The Guardian [UK] on Nov. 21, stated in its headline: " End the siege of Gaza: It was not Hamas that broke the truce." This has been confirmed by other international observers. Israel continues to ban the entry of foreign journalists to Gaza, so as to maintain a censorship on the facts in the Gaza state of affairs.

Hamas came to rule in Gaza after being freely elected in Jan 2006. But the catastophic conditions in Gaza go back now for over 40 years, as a product of the brutal occupation to which Gaza and the West Bank have been subjected. This illegal occupation remains in defiance of international law and repeated Security Council resolutions, and should be terminated immediately, completely and unconditionally.

Yours sincerely,

Ismail Zayid, MD.