Madeleine attends rally against Gaza bombings in York

5.07.00pm GMT Sat 3rd Jan 2009

Madeleine with other protestors in York

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for York Outer, Madeleine Kirk today attended a rally in York organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to speak against the recent attacks on Gaza by Israel.

In a speech to a crowd of about 150 Madeleine said :

"I wholeheartedly condemn the attack on Gaza by the Israeli forces.

The vicious attack is completely out of all proportion to the threat posed by Hamas in the region and will only serve the militants in both the Gaza strip and Israel.

The people of Gaza held elections that were democratic and both Israel and the rest of the world must recognise that we cannot sanction regime change just because we don't agree with the result of an election.

I, and fellow Liberal Democrats, call on our government to ensure that we put pressure on the Israelis to halt this bombing immediately and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The Palestinians in Gaza have suffered and are continuing to suffer unimaginable hardships just in their everyday lives without this campaign of terror."