The Mayor, Jordi Hereu, expresses the city council's condemnation of the bombardment
The mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, read out a statement in which he condemned the bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the urgent situation facing the civilian population. "On behalf of the city of Barcelona, I wish to express our utter condemnation of what is happening in this city, twinned with Barcelona", he said, and called for condemnation of the use of violence by both sides.
He also announced that the Ajuntament is setting up a humanitarian aid campaign to help the civilian population, which at this moment, he said "may be without electricity to supply the hospitals within two days".
The city council has opened an account ("For peace in Gaza": 2100-3000-14-2201822555) so that those citizens who wish to do so can collaborate in order to take medicine and humanitarian aid into the region.
In fact, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Exterior, the Ajuntament is about to charter a plane loaded with medicines that will wait in the region until the borders are opened so the population can be attended to as quickly as possible.
Hereu also called for the borders to be opened, allowing humanitarian aid to be brought in. "We need to prevent a humanitarian disaster", stated Hereu, who added that this is an "inexplicable conflict".
In daily contact with Gaza
He also explained that the Ajuntament contacts Gaza City Council twice a day, talking mainly with its head of cooperation, Mohamed Halabi. "They tell us that the situation is getting worse and that within two days they will be without power supplies" he said.
In fact, according to Hereu, Barcelona City Council is one of the few city councils in the world that currently has direct contacts in Gaza.
It has also been in contact with the Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who has been made aware of the humanitarian initiative being undertaken by the city council.
Barcelona wants to lead the dialogue
In addition, Hereu explained that Barcelona is preparing for a September meeting between the local Palestinian and Israeli authorities. "Local authorities can do a lot to help build peace", he stated.
Since 1998 the city of Barcelona has been twinned with Gaza City and also with Tel-Aviv, with which it carries out a number of collaborative projects.
Ajuntament de Barcelona
5 de gener de 2009
