Manama: Qatar's minister of culture, arts and heritage was among hundreds of citizens and residents who staged a rally to protest against Israel for its deadly raid on Gaza-bound ships carrying humanitarian aid.
Hamad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari, in an emotional speech, praised the activists on the ships, saying that the largest international organisations had not been able to do what they did.
"Efforts to break the Israeli siege must continue," the minister said, quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula.
Speakers at the rally said that the murder of nine aid workers in the Israeli raid had taken place in international waters.
Islamic scholar Yousuf Al Qaradawi deplored the Arabs' reaction to the Israeli raid on the humanitarian aid-carrying flotilla last week was "devoid of strength."
"I wonder when the Arabs would learn to stand together and united. Where is the Arab League? Few countries have stood up to defend the rights of the people of Palestine," he said.
