Maguire: UN should suspend Israeli membership
Nobel laureate decries humanitarian situation in Gaza, accuses Israel of ignoring UN resolutions
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire says the United Nations should suspend or revoke Israel's membership.
Maguire, in a news conference Thursday, said that it's time for the international community to take action against Israel. She claimed Israel should be punished for ignoring a series of United Nations resolutions over the years.
Maguire, who won the 1976 peace prize for her work with Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, is currently visiting the Palestinian territories to protest Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Maguire, in rally several months ago in Naalin (Photo: Activestyles)
Wednesday, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon contacted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the situation in Gaza and urging Israel to allow UN aid workers into the coastal enclave.
"The secretary-general (expressed) his deep concern over the consequences of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza," the UN press office said in a statement.
"He strongly urged the prime minister to facilitate the freer movement of urgently needed humanitarian supplies and of concerned United Nations personnel into Gaza," it said.
Israel allowed 33 truckloads of supplies into Gaza for the first time in two weeks on Monday, and Olmert told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he would not permit a humanitarian crisis to develop there.
Reuters and Roni Sofer contributed to this report
