The Palestinian Return Centre PRC), part of the Hamas support network in the U.K, has joined the growing chorus of voices from the Global Muslim Brotherhood condemning Israeli actions in Gaza, asserting that Israel uses the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip as “a ruse whenever it needs to ratchet up its bombardment of Gaza. According to the PRC statement:
The Palestinian Return Centre is extremely concerned over Israel’s escalation of violence against the Palestinian People in Gaza. Israel’s shameful bombing yesterday, which killed 15, mainly civilians, including 3 children, is the continuation of ongoing violence against the Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza continues to be under siege, and sporadic violence against the people of Gaza has been unrelenting since Operation Cast Lead, killing hundreds of Palestinians over the past Four years. Unlike the rockets, which Israel uses as a ruse whenever it needs to ratchet up its bombardment of Gaza, Israeli assaults have been killing Palestinians on a daily basis. On 08 November 2012, Only Six days prior to its most recent assault, the Israeli occupying forces killed a Palestinian child during an incursion into ‘Abassan village, east of Kahn Yunis, Gaza. On 10 November 2012, IOF killed 4 Palestinian civilians, including two children, when they fired a number of artillery shells at al-Shoja’iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. Additionally, 38 Palestinians, including 9 children, were wounded. The Israeli military has even imposed a policy to keep Palestinians in Gaza just above the threshold off mass starvation by counting their calories.
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The statement also raises the issue of “starvation” in Gaza, a claim that Hamas itself has denied, but interestingly modifies the claim to assert “The Israeli military has even imposed a policy to keep Palestinians in Gaza just above the threshold off mass starvation by counting their calories.
The Palestine Return Center (PRC), a co-sponsor of the Palestinians in Europe conferences, has strong ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood. Two PRC directors are also directors of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), generally regarded as part of the UK. Muslim Brotherhood. The PRC is also listed as an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) which frequently acts in concert with U.K. Muslim Brotherhood groups and PRC activities are frequently promoted by the MAB, MCB, and other U.K. Brotherhood organizations. PRC director Ghassan Four is also a Trustee of INTERPAL, a key member of the Union of Good and part of the Muslim Brotherhood Hamas fund-raising network . PRC director Zaher Birawi is a Trustee of Education Aid for Palestine (EAP), also a part of the Union of Good. Mr. Birawi is also head of programming for Al-Hiwar TV which frequently features MB/Hamas individuals and organizations and was founded by Azzam Al-Tamimi, a U.K Muslim Brotherhood leader and close to Hamas. An Israeli web site, known to be close to Israeli military intelligence, has reported that Mr. Birawi, along with another PRC Trustee are “past Hamas operatives who found refuge in Britain in the early nineties.” The executive director of the PRC is Arafat Madi (aka Arafat Madi Shoukri) who is also the chairman of the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), one of the main sponsors of the Gaza flotilla movement.
A post from earlier this week reported that the PRC announced a global campaign to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. A post from May reported on a new “broad campaign in solidarity with the prisoners in occupation jails” launched at the latest Palestinians in Europe conference held in Denmark.