French NGOs in Gaza furious over Kouchner's remarks |
|
Network this!
Friday, Oct 10, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: The only two French humanitarian organisations that have a permanent presence in the Gaza strip have strongly denounced French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's recent statement in which he said French non-government organisations (NGOs) working in Gaza were providing Paris with information on Hamas.
Both Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and Medicins Du Monde (MDM) described Kouchner's statement in his press conference in Occupied Jerusalem on October 5, as "baseless" and "dangerous" as they make French NGOs' practices in Palestinian territories "suspicious".
They also stressed their independence from all governments and interests.
Kouchner said "officially, we have no contact with Hamas, but unofficially, international organisations working in the Gaza Strip - in particular, French NGOs - provide us information."
In a press statement sent to Gulf News, MDM "categorically denounces these declarations, which are totally groundless and strictly denies providing any sort of information to the French government". The French foreign minister's comments are not only wrong but also dangerous as they make French NGOs' practices suspicious," it added.
Also, "MSF confirms that it has never transmitted political information - officially or unofficially - regarding Hamas or any other Palestinian political group to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs," it said in the statement.
Clarification
Later on October 7, Kouchner's office released a clarification saying he was not thinking of French NGOs, but rather think tanks.
"Such a statement it is not sufficient," Dr Duncan McLeam, head of the MSF mission in the Occupied territories said. "The damage is done and the consequences of the earlier statement are real," he told Gulf News in an interview from Occupied Jerusalem.
McLeam noted that Kouchner mentioned French NGOs and they are "not 5,000 working in Occupied Palestinian and Gaza strip".
Hamas has been boycotted by the majority of the countries, since it won a majority in parliamentary elections in 2006, and later seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Israel and the US describe the Palestinian Islamist group as "terrorist" group because of its attacks against Israeli targets.
The Gaza strip is facing what many consider as one of the worst human conditions as a result of the Israeli blockade against the populous area as well as the internal Palestinian fighting.
MSF will decide whether to take the issue further if the safety of its staffers were endangered.
"Security [of our staffers] in the main topic for the moment," after Kouchner's statement, Isabelle Merny from MSF Paris told Gulf News.
© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Loading ...
from issuers in both public and private sectors. It is not an e-tendering service and is entirely FREE.
As an Issuer, you can benefit from posting an unlimited number of Tender
Notices for FREE and reaching out to an online community of bidders.
The service also offers you a tool to track the interest of bidders to your
tenders 'live' online.
| Tender Notice | Due Date |
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority | UAE | Electric Utilities |
| Emirates Aluminium Company | UAE | Metal Production |
| Emirates Telecommunications Corporation | UAE | Telecommunications Services |
| Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company - Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Al Azizia Panda United Company | Saudi Arabia | General Retailers |
| Commercial International Bank (Egypt) | Egypt | Banking |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Al Futtaim Carillion - Marina Hotel (Yas Island) | UAE | Real Estate |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |
| Abu Dhabi DOT - Abu Dhabi Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Al Safwa - Jeddah Cement Plant | Saudi Arabia | Industry |
| Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation - Qatar Bahrain Causeway | Bahrain | Infrastructure |
| Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation - Qatar Bahrain Causeway | Qatar | Infrastructure |