RAMALLAH, September 4, 2011 (WAFA) – Member of PLO Executive Committee, Hanan Ashrawi, expressed PLO disapproval of the findings of the United Nations’ panel of inquiry, also known as the “Palmer Report,”  on the May 31, 2010 Flotilla Incident, which considered the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip as “legal and legitimate.”

In a press release Saturday, Ashrawi considered this a “dangerous political and legal setback,” as well as a contradictory stance by the UN after it had stated in a previous session that the Israeli blockade on Gaza is illegal, a form of collective punishment, a crime against humanity and a violation of international law. Ashrawi called the report “a moral and legal scandal that came in response to Israeli extortion” before the Palestinian bid to gain full UN membership of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders in September.

She further considered the report’s findings as “treating Israel as a state above the law.”

“Attacking a ship in international waters and killing people on board is an act of piracy punishable by international law, especially since Israel is an occupying state,” added Ashrawi.

She called for immediately ending the illegal blockade on Gaza, prosecuting Israel and providing urgent international protection for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip against Israel’s continuous aggression.

R.Q./F.J.