Ship with 8 Jewish activists sails for Gaza, in another bid to send humanitarian supplies and break the crippling siege.
An aid ship carrying 8 Jewish activists from Europe, Israel, and the US is less than 24 hours from reaching Gazan coastal waters.
Having left the port of Famagusta in Turkish-held northern Cyprus Sunday afternoon, the Irene is set to test the Israeli blockade sometime early Tuesday.
Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, has repeatedly warned that Israel will intercept any ship nearing Gaza, which is run by the Palestinian movement Hamas.
"In the tradition of the civil rights movement...we assert our right to continue to Gaza under international law," Glyn Secker, the ship's captain, told Al Jazeera.
The 10-meter catamaran is tiny in comparison with the six-ship May 31 aid convoy that contained 10,000 tons of aid and over 700 activists.
But the voyage is a gesture by left-leaning European Jewish groups to highlight what it sees as a flawed Israeli policy of collective punishment against 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Yousef Rizka, a Hamas official, said: "The government has received Jewish activists arriving to Gaza before. The government positively views all attempts to break the siege on Gaza".
Israel eased its naval blockade following harsh international condemnation for storming the Mavi Marmara. The nine deaths aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were a public relations disaster for Israel.
Since then, groups from Iran, Ireland, Lebanon, and Libya, among others, have been trying to reach Gaza -- with varying degrees of success.
Groups represented on board the Irene include the UK-based Jews for Justice for Palestinians and the German Jewish Voice organization.
"The boat's cargo includes symbolic aid in the form of children's toys and musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets for Gaza's fishing communities and prosthetic limbs," read a statement from European Jews for a Just Peace movement, the activist network that coordinated the voyage.
"We stand in the proud Jewish tradition of justice, of championing the rights of the downtrodden, of implacable opposition to prejudice and racism," continued the statement.
Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a leader of the German Jewish Voice, was quoted in June as saying, "We want Israel to behave in a way that it can be recognized as a democratic state. Now it is recognized as a criminal state. That is not what we want."
Reuven Moskovitz, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor among the passengers on the British-flagged vessel, is a founding member of the Jewish-Arab village Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace).
“We are two peoples, but we have one future”, said Moskovitz in a statement on the Jewish Boat to Gaza website.
Another passenger is Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose daughter died in a 1997 suicide bombing at a Jerusalem shopping centre.
Yonatan Shapira, a former Israeli military pilot and Irene crew member, represents Combatants for Peace. Eli Osherov, a reporter from Channel 10 in Israel, is also on board.
Adam Keller, spokesman for Gush Shalom, another Israeli peace group, said he expected the incident to end "less tragically than the previous one," adding that the Israeli Navy would probably divert the boat peacefully to the port of Ashdod in daylight on Tuesday.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Andy David described the voyage as "a provocative joke that isn't funny".
Secker, the ship's captain, told Al Jazeera that the organisers have "a particular point to make, as the voice of Jews who have an alternative opinion to that of the Israeli establishment".
Source: Al Jazeera and Agencies
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Clinton Refuses to Answer My Questions About Gaza Flotilla
Friday 06 August 2010
by: Ann Wright, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
Dear Secretary of State Clinton,
I am a retired US Army reserve colonel with 29 years in the US Army and Army Reserves, and a former US diplomat who resigned after 16 years in the US State Department in opposition to the war on Iraq.
I was one of fourteen American citizens on the Gaza flotilla.
On June 14, 2010, I delivered to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of American Citizen Services a letter to you requesting investigation of the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla in which one unarmed American citizen was killed by Israeli commandos and fourteen other American citizens were kidnapped from international waters and taken to Israel against their will, imprisoned, and their personal possessions stolen by Israeli commandos.
Despite numerous inquiries to the State Department about the status of the response to my letter, after seven weeks I have not received a response to the letter, nor to the 80 questions that I requested that the United States government pose to the Israeli government concerning their attack on the Gaza flotilla.
As an American citizen, I am distressed that no one in the State Department government will respond to this request for assistance.
As a former US diplomat who worked for 16 years in the State Department and served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan (I helped reopen the US Embassy in December, 2001) and Mongolia, and who received an award for heroism from the State Department for actions during the evacuation of the US Embassy and the international community during the Sierra Leone civil war, I am deeply saddened by the lack of professionalism in my former organization in responding to such a request.
Now that your daughter Chelsea's wedding is over, could you please ask the State Department's inspector general to determine why after seven weeks there has been no response to my June 14, 2010 letter?
Could you also determine if the State Department has made a demarche to the Israeli government concerning the circumstances surrounding the commandos deadly shooting of unarmed 19-year-old American citizen Furkan Dogan, who was shot 5 times, several times to the head?
Of much less importance, but still of concern because of evidence contained, I want to know if a demarch was made for the return of our personal possessions, including cameras, cellphones and computers taken when the Israeli commandos forcefully boarded all six of the ships in the flotilla.
We returned to the United States with the clothes on our backs and our passports. Despite lists of our possessions being given to US consular officers during a June 2 visit to us while we were in prison in Israel, and to US consular officers in Istanbul, Turkey, during our brief stay after being deported from Israel and to American Citizen Services officials at the State Department in Washington, DC, virtually nothing has been returned to us (I did receive a diary sent from the US Consulate in Istanbul, but nothing else - no computer, camera, cellphone, clothing, handbag, address book, $800 in cash, backpack, suitcase, etc.). Phone calls in Israel have been made on cellphones in the possession of the Israeli government.
In case the State Department bureaucracy did not make you aware of my June 14, 2010, letter to you, I am copying it for you below.
Signed,
Ann Wright, former US diplomat and retired US Army Reserve Colonel
-----
June 14, 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Department of State
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Secretary Clinton,
I am a retired US Army reserve colonel and a former US diplomat (deputy chief of mission at U.S. Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia) who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq.
I was one of twelve US citizens that were on the Gaza Flotilla. I have just returned to the United States from having been kidnapped and imprisoned by the Israeli government.
I appeal to you to institute a US investigation into the murder by Israeli military forces of American citizen Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old high school student on the Mavi Marmara ship.
I also ask that the United States demand the return of one US-flagged vessels that were seized in international waters in an act of international piracy by the Israeli military.
I ask that the State Department assist in the location of the personal possessions that were stolen from American citizens in international waters by the Israeli military including computers, cameras, cell phones, identification, credit cards (one credit card has been used in Israel for over $20,000 in purchases), clothing, miscellaneous items such as notebooks, diaries and other personal papers.
I also ask that the United States demand that the Israeli government cooperate with the offer of the European Union to inspect ships and cargo destined for Gaza, which would allow the siege to end and commerce to begin.
I ask that an investigation into whether US made military equipment or equipment purchased with/through US funding was used in the attacks on the six civilian, unarmed vessels, and if so, that sanctions against Israel available through the U.S. Arms and Export Control Act be implemented.
I am attaching a list of 80 questions that an inquiry should answer. The list of questions comes from Uri Averny, who heads the Israeli human rights organization Gush Shalom.
I also ask that US funding for the reconstruction of Gaza be disbursed immediately. There are many non-governmental organizations in Gaza that can assist in the reconstruction activities if they have funding.
Sincerely,
Ann Wright
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Source:
by: Ann Wright, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
Dear Secretary of State Clinton,
I am a retired US Army reserve colonel with 29 years in the US Army and Army Reserves, and a former US diplomat who resigned after 16 years in the US State Department in opposition to the war on Iraq.
I was one of fourteen American citizens on the Gaza flotilla.
On June 14, 2010, I delivered to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of American Citizen Services a letter to you requesting investigation of the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla in which one unarmed American citizen was killed by Israeli commandos and fourteen other American citizens were kidnapped from international waters and taken to Israel against their will, imprisoned, and their personal possessions stolen by Israeli commandos.
Despite numerous inquiries to the State Department about the status of the response to my letter, after seven weeks I have not received a response to the letter, nor to the 80 questions that I requested that the United States government pose to the Israeli government concerning their attack on the Gaza flotilla.
As an American citizen, I am distressed that no one in the State Department government will respond to this request for assistance.
As a former US diplomat who worked for 16 years in the State Department and served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan (I helped reopen the US Embassy in December, 2001) and Mongolia, and who received an award for heroism from the State Department for actions during the evacuation of the US Embassy and the international community during the Sierra Leone civil war, I am deeply saddened by the lack of professionalism in my former organization in responding to such a request.
Now that your daughter Chelsea's wedding is over, could you please ask the State Department's inspector general to determine why after seven weeks there has been no response to my June 14, 2010 letter?
Could you also determine if the State Department has made a demarche to the Israeli government concerning the circumstances surrounding the commandos deadly shooting of unarmed 19-year-old American citizen Furkan Dogan, who was shot 5 times, several times to the head?
Of much less importance, but still of concern because of evidence contained, I want to know if a demarch was made for the return of our personal possessions, including cameras, cellphones and computers taken when the Israeli commandos forcefully boarded all six of the ships in the flotilla.
We returned to the United States with the clothes on our backs and our passports. Despite lists of our possessions being given to US consular officers during a June 2 visit to us while we were in prison in Israel, and to US consular officers in Istanbul, Turkey, during our brief stay after being deported from Israel and to American Citizen Services officials at the State Department in Washington, DC, virtually nothing has been returned to us (I did receive a diary sent from the US Consulate in Istanbul, but nothing else - no computer, camera, cellphone, clothing, handbag, address book, $800 in cash, backpack, suitcase, etc.). Phone calls in Israel have been made on cellphones in the possession of the Israeli government.
In case the State Department bureaucracy did not make you aware of my June 14, 2010, letter to you, I am copying it for you below.
Signed,
Ann Wright, former US diplomat and retired US Army Reserve Colonel
-----
June 14, 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Department of State
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Secretary Clinton,
I am a retired US Army reserve colonel and a former US diplomat (deputy chief of mission at U.S. Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia) who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq.
I was one of twelve US citizens that were on the Gaza Flotilla. I have just returned to the United States from having been kidnapped and imprisoned by the Israeli government.
I appeal to you to institute a US investigation into the murder by Israeli military forces of American citizen Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old high school student on the Mavi Marmara ship.
I also ask that the United States demand the return of one US-flagged vessels that were seized in international waters in an act of international piracy by the Israeli military.
I ask that the State Department assist in the location of the personal possessions that were stolen from American citizens in international waters by the Israeli military including computers, cameras, cell phones, identification, credit cards (one credit card has been used in Israel for over $20,000 in purchases), clothing, miscellaneous items such as notebooks, diaries and other personal papers.
I also ask that the United States demand that the Israeli government cooperate with the offer of the European Union to inspect ships and cargo destined for Gaza, which would allow the siege to end and commerce to begin.
I ask that an investigation into whether US made military equipment or equipment purchased with/through US funding was used in the attacks on the six civilian, unarmed vessels, and if so, that sanctions against Israel available through the U.S. Arms and Export Control Act be implemented.
I am attaching a list of 80 questions that an inquiry should answer. The list of questions comes from Uri Averny, who heads the Israeli human rights organization Gush Shalom.
I also ask that US funding for the reconstruction of Gaza be disbursed immediately. There are many non-governmental organizations in Gaza that can assist in the reconstruction activities if they have funding.
Sincerely,
Ann Wright
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Source:
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL.......PRINT SUCCESS!!! BRAVO~~
Col. Ann Wright spoke in Albuquerque last week. Several days later, a reporter interviewed the Israeli mouthpiece for the region, Asher Yarden, consul general of Israel to the Southwest and never asked him a single probing question. One of Free Gaza's long time supporters, Miriam Adams, wrote me outraged over the accusations in the article. She suggested I write a short oped in response to Yarden's lies, one of them so outrageous, stating that they had video tapes of martyr statements from two of the men they murdered. These 'alleged' tapes were in Turkey.
Between my writing and Miriam's writing, we got the piece published today. More importantly are her comments to me below. If you are discouraged or you think they aren't out their listening, they are. The information is below in the link. If any of you want to write and thank the Albuquerque Journal for printing the oped, please do. They need to hear from us.
Greta
On sat. Aug. 7, 2010 at 6:13 PM, madams12 madams12@earthlink.net wrote:
Dear Greta,
Success!!!!....your OpEd piece WAS published....given Front and Center placement on rightside Editorial page with very large headline above and Cartoon to its Right....thus prominently placed in today's (Sat) paper....all thanks to you!! thank you for taking time to ensure that these guys WOULD respect your affiliation with FGM and thus your words, since they rarely if EVER publish local Ltr to Ed from me or others....This is nothing less than a rousing success for GAZA!!...many thanks/blessings/salaams/hugs, Miriam.
The followinng cartoon was published next to Greta's superb OpEd in today's paper however the Albq Journal doesn't 'allow' syndicated cartoons to viewed on their website. (this image can be found on http://www.intoon.com/#86655 Mike Keefe cartoons in case you cannot see the image)...
Journal Staff Writer Lloyd Jojola's interview with Asher Yarden, consul general of Israel to the Southwest, proves they think they can spin the story of piracy at sea to sympathetic journalists who will ask no probing questions, but merely spout back what the apologists say.
So let's look at the facts instead of Israel's spin.
1. We were in international waters, 65 miles off the coast of Israel on our way to deliver supplies to the people of Gaza that Israel refuses to allow into Gaza.
2. The people on board all six boats were attacked by Israeli terrorists, not just the Mavi Marmara.
3. International law says Israel's siege on 1.5 million Palestinians is illegal, and that is the main reason we were sailing, to break Israel's illegal blockade.
4. As members of civil society, we have the right to hold Israel accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity since governments refuse to stand up to Israeli illegal actions, and
5. We have the right to self defense if attacked, defending our friends, families and boats.
We faced a highly armed militia that deliberately attacked us in the early morning hours. Their commandos murdered us, beat us, dragged us into a port where we had no intention of going, deprived us of lawyers for hours, stole all of our equipment and tapes, lied about the audiotapes they issued, and are now lying about some so-called video tapes made in Turkey. The men who were killed ranged between 33-61 with one American Turkish young man of 19 who wanted to be a doctor who was shot five times in the head and back. There are autopsy reports available ... and there are descriptions of who they were, why they were going and how many times they were shot on our website at http://www.freegaza.org/.
Your reporter never asked the tough questions of this Israeli mouthpiece.
Why didn't the Navy wait until morning? Why did they attack a civilian caravan in international waters? Why did they murder nine men with 31 bullets, many to the head? Why did they maim and wound people on board the other boats, several of them beaten so badly they had broken bones?
Why not ask for the truth instead of Israel's spin? Why believe this man, Asher Yarden, when people can hear the testimony of those passengers who were on board, many of them threatened with bodily harm?...
Who are you going to believe? A decorated U.S. war veteran, Ann Wright, who participated in the flotilla and recently spoke in Albuquerque, as reported in the Journal, or a mouthpiece for Israel?
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
http://www.freegaza.org/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza
Between my writing and Miriam's writing, we got the piece published today. More importantly are her comments to me below. If you are discouraged or you think they aren't out their listening, they are. The information is below in the link. If any of you want to write and thank the Albuquerque Journal for printing the oped, please do. They need to hear from us.
Greta
On sat. Aug. 7, 2010 at 6:13 PM, madams12 madams12@earthlink.net wrote:
Dear Greta,
Success!!!!....your OpEd piece WAS published....given Front and Center placement on rightside Editorial page with very large headline above and Cartoon to its Right....thus prominently placed in today's (Sat) paper....all thanks to you!! thank you for taking time to ensure that these guys WOULD respect your affiliation with FGM and thus your words, since they rarely if EVER publish local Ltr to Ed from me or others....This is nothing less than a rousing success for GAZA!!...many thanks/blessings/salaams/hugs, Miriam.
The followinng cartoon was published next to Greta's superb OpEd in today's paper however the Albq Journal doesn't 'allow' syndicated cartoons to viewed on their website. (this image can be found on http://www.intoon.com/#86655 Mike Keefe cartoons in case you cannot see the image)...
Printed from ABQjournal.com, A service of the Albuquerque Journel.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Israeli Consul Spins Attack on Flotilla
By Greta Berlin
Co-founder, Free Gaza Movement
Once again, Israel commits war crimes against a civilian population on board six ships in international waters then whines that it is the victim of a PR smear.
Journal Staff Writer Lloyd Jojola's interview with Asher Yarden, consul general of Israel to the Southwest, proves they think they can spin the story of piracy at sea to sympathetic journalists who will ask no probing questions, but merely spout back what the apologists say.
So let's look at the facts instead of Israel's spin.
1. We were in international waters, 65 miles off the coast of Israel on our way to deliver supplies to the people of Gaza that Israel refuses to allow into Gaza.
2. The people on board all six boats were attacked by Israeli terrorists, not just the Mavi Marmara.
3. International law says Israel's siege on 1.5 million Palestinians is illegal, and that is the main reason we were sailing, to break Israel's illegal blockade.
4. As members of civil society, we have the right to hold Israel accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity since governments refuse to stand up to Israeli illegal actions, and
5. We have the right to self defense if attacked, defending our friends, families and boats.
We faced a highly armed militia that deliberately attacked us in the early morning hours. Their commandos murdered us, beat us, dragged us into a port where we had no intention of going, deprived us of lawyers for hours, stole all of our equipment and tapes, lied about the audiotapes they issued, and are now lying about some so-called video tapes made in Turkey. The men who were killed ranged between 33-61 with one American Turkish young man of 19 who wanted to be a doctor who was shot five times in the head and back. There are autopsy reports available ... and there are descriptions of who they were, why they were going and how many times they were shot on our website at http://www.freegaza.org/.
Your reporter never asked the tough questions of this Israeli mouthpiece.
Why didn't the Navy wait until morning? Why did they attack a civilian caravan in international waters? Why did they murder nine men with 31 bullets, many to the head? Why did they maim and wound people on board the other boats, several of them beaten so badly they had broken bones?
Why not ask for the truth instead of Israel's spin? Why believe this man, Asher Yarden, when people can hear the testimony of those passengers who were on board, many of them threatened with bodily harm?...
Who are you going to believe? A decorated U.S. war veteran, Ann Wright, who participated in the flotilla and recently spoke in Albuquerque, as reported in the Journal, or a mouthpiece for Israel?
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
http://www.freegaza.org/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Gaza children set new kite flying world record
7,202 children fly as many kites to enter Guinness Book of World Records as part of UN-run summer camp.
By DPA
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip continued their record-setting ways on Thursday when 7,202 children flew just as many kites to set a new world record, a UN agency reported.
The event, organized by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) came one week after 7,203 Gaza refugee children set a new world record for dribbling basketballs.
On Thursday, 7,202 children, who this summer joined three-week summer-camps run by UNRWA, gathered in an area on the beach of northern Gaza Strip and flew thousands of kites of different colors.
The figure far surpassed the previous mass kite-flying record of 3,000 which was set last year by the Palestinian children in the Gaza.
One of the kites flown bore the name of Catherine Ashton, the European Union Chief of Foreign Policy, who visited the Gaza Strip last week. The kite was sent to greet her for her solidarity with Gaza.
UNRWA Operations Chief John Ging told the children that they have to wait for an official confirmation from the Guinness Book of Records "because the initial information we have is that you managed in getting into the book."
"It's an amazing achievement to break two world records in one week," said Ging, referring to last Thursday's participation of the children in dribbling thousands of basketballs.
Source:
By DPA
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip continued their record-setting ways on Thursday when 7,202 children flew just as many kites to set a new world record, a UN agency reported.
The event, organized by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) came one week after 7,203 Gaza refugee children set a new world record for dribbling basketballs.
On Thursday, 7,202 children, who this summer joined three-week summer-camps run by UNRWA, gathered in an area on the beach of northern Gaza Strip and flew thousands of kites of different colors.
The figure far surpassed the previous mass kite-flying record of 3,000 which was set last year by the Palestinian children in the Gaza.
One of the kites flown bore the name of Catherine Ashton, the European Union Chief of Foreign Policy, who visited the Gaza Strip last week. The kite was sent to greet her for her solidarity with Gaza.
UNRWA Operations Chief John Ging told the children that they have to wait for an official confirmation from the Guinness Book of Records "because the initial information we have is that you managed in getting into the book."
"It's an amazing achievement to break two world records in one week," said Ging, referring to last Thursday's participation of the children in dribbling thousands of basketballs.
"Gaza children are like other children in the world, they have a feeling of living a normal life despite the anomalous situation that they face in their daily lives," Ging said.Breaking the world's record is part of the summer games organized by UNRWA in 150 summer camps all over the Gaza Strip with the participation of around 250,000 children in different sport and cultural activities.
Source:
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I have added my name to the list for the U.S. Boat To Gaza
Yesterday I had my name put on the list in hopes that when it comes time to fill out the application that I will be accepted to be on the U.S. Boat to Gaza. The siege and the occupation has to stop. Israel has come to a time that they have to make the choice of peace or continue their ways and find themselves alone in the world. Only they can save themselves from destruction. I have not forgot about the USS Liberty. To attack the U.S. Boat to Gaza will not set well with Americans as the USS Liberty is still a sore spot with us. May God (Allah) Speed and protect this Humanitarian act by the U.S. Boat to Gaza.
Chet
Chet
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Israel launches campaign to halt Lebanon Gaza-bound flotilla
Foreign Ministry instructs Israeli ambassadors to ask senior American, UN, EU and Egyptian officials to pressure Syria and Lebanon to stop latest planned flotilla from sailing from Lebanon to Gaza.
By Jack Khoury, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid and Zvi Bar'el
Israel launched a diplomatic effort yesterday to keep the latest planned flotilla from sailing from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip.
The Foreign Ministry instructed Israeli ambassadors to ask senior officials in the United States, United Nations, European Union and Egypt to pressure Syria and Lebanon to stop the flotilla, which Israel deems a "provocation" in light of its recent decision to end its civilian blockade of Gaza.
Syria has been included because senior Israeli officials say it is helping to organize the flotilla. Hezbollah is also involved, they charged.
"This is a clear and organized provocation," one official said.
Officially, the flotilla is being organized by Palestinian businessman Yasser Kashlak, who last month tried and failed to organize another flotilla from Lebanon. The two ships are slated to sail from Tripoli by the end of this week.
Israel's message to international diplomats is that it views this flotilla particularly gravely because it is sailing from the port of an enemy country.
Last week, Egypt cooperated with Israel in diverting a Libyan aid ship headed to Gaza to the Egyptian port of El-Arish, and so Israeli officials are hopeful it will do the same this time.
Israel is still refusing to release three Turkish ships captured in a May 31 raid on an earlier Gaza-bound flotilla, saying it will not do so without a written pledge from the Turkish government that the ships will not be used for such activities again. That raid, which resulted in the death of nine Turks after passengers attacked the Israeli boarding party, tore gaping holes in the already tattered Israeli-Turkish relations.
A representative of the IHH organization, which sponsored that flotilla, told the Turkish daily Hurriyet that in the past, Israel has demanded such guarantees only from the groups that organized the ships, not from the governments of the countries whence they sailed.
Ankara, for its part, is demanding that Israel supply tugs to tow the ships to Turkey. Israel has yet to respond to this demand, and is apparently unwilling to discuss it until the Turks respond to Israel's demand for a written guarantee.
Turkish officials said they believe Israel is using its possession of the ships to prove its claim that the government in Ankara played an active role in the flotilla. Turkey insists the flotilla was strictly a private initiative by IHH.
Turkey is also still demanding that Israel apologize for the raid's casualties - a demand Israel has rejected on the grounds that no casualties would have occurred had its soldiers not been attacked. Recently, however, Ankara has slightly softened its stance, saying it will hold off on insisting on an apology until Israel completes its own probe of the raid.
Ankara is angry that Washington has not launched its own inquiries, as one of the nine killed in the incident was an American citizen of Turkish descent. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan even charged that Washington is indifferent "because he was a Turk."
American officials say they have asked Turkey for the autopsy report, which is necessary to conduct any probe, but that Ankara refuses to hand it over.
IHH, for its part, is seeking to file lawsuits against Israel over the flotilla in international courts. The group recently invited Israeli lawyers to a conference to discuss how this could best be done.
One of the invitations went to Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which eventually decided to decline the invitation on the grounds that Israel, like many other countries, defines IHH as a terrorist organization. Attendance at such a conference could result in legal proceedings against the Israeli participants.
Private Israeli attorneys invited to attend evidently declined for the same reason, and a source familiar with the guest list said that, in the end, it includes no Israelis.
However, IHH claims the list does include lawyers from 25 other countries, including the United States, Britain, Egypt and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, American activists are trying to raise funds for their own ship to Gaza, which they plan to call "The Audacity of Hope," after U.S. President Barack Obama's best-selling memoir.
Source:
By Jack Khoury, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid and Zvi Bar'el
Israel launched a diplomatic effort yesterday to keep the latest planned flotilla from sailing from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip.
The Foreign Ministry instructed Israeli ambassadors to ask senior officials in the United States, United Nations, European Union and Egypt to pressure Syria and Lebanon to stop the flotilla, which Israel deems a "provocation" in light of its recent decision to end its civilian blockade of Gaza.
Syria has been included because senior Israeli officials say it is helping to organize the flotilla. Hezbollah is also involved, they charged.
"This is a clear and organized provocation," one official said.
Officially, the flotilla is being organized by Palestinian businessman Yasser Kashlak, who last month tried and failed to organize another flotilla from Lebanon. The two ships are slated to sail from Tripoli by the end of this week.
Israel's message to international diplomats is that it views this flotilla particularly gravely because it is sailing from the port of an enemy country.
Last week, Egypt cooperated with Israel in diverting a Libyan aid ship headed to Gaza to the Egyptian port of El-Arish, and so Israeli officials are hopeful it will do the same this time.
Israel is still refusing to release three Turkish ships captured in a May 31 raid on an earlier Gaza-bound flotilla, saying it will not do so without a written pledge from the Turkish government that the ships will not be used for such activities again. That raid, which resulted in the death of nine Turks after passengers attacked the Israeli boarding party, tore gaping holes in the already tattered Israeli-Turkish relations.
A representative of the IHH organization, which sponsored that flotilla, told the Turkish daily Hurriyet that in the past, Israel has demanded such guarantees only from the groups that organized the ships, not from the governments of the countries whence they sailed.
Ankara, for its part, is demanding that Israel supply tugs to tow the ships to Turkey. Israel has yet to respond to this demand, and is apparently unwilling to discuss it until the Turks respond to Israel's demand for a written guarantee.
Turkish officials said they believe Israel is using its possession of the ships to prove its claim that the government in Ankara played an active role in the flotilla. Turkey insists the flotilla was strictly a private initiative by IHH.
Turkey is also still demanding that Israel apologize for the raid's casualties - a demand Israel has rejected on the grounds that no casualties would have occurred had its soldiers not been attacked. Recently, however, Ankara has slightly softened its stance, saying it will hold off on insisting on an apology until Israel completes its own probe of the raid.
Ankara is angry that Washington has not launched its own inquiries, as one of the nine killed in the incident was an American citizen of Turkish descent. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan even charged that Washington is indifferent "because he was a Turk."
American officials say they have asked Turkey for the autopsy report, which is necessary to conduct any probe, but that Ankara refuses to hand it over.
IHH, for its part, is seeking to file lawsuits against Israel over the flotilla in international courts. The group recently invited Israeli lawyers to a conference to discuss how this could best be done.
One of the invitations went to Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which eventually decided to decline the invitation on the grounds that Israel, like many other countries, defines IHH as a terrorist organization. Attendance at such a conference could result in legal proceedings against the Israeli participants.
Private Israeli attorneys invited to attend evidently declined for the same reason, and a source familiar with the guest list said that, in the end, it includes no Israelis.
However, IHH claims the list does include lawyers from 25 other countries, including the United States, Britain, Egypt and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, American activists are trying to raise funds for their own ship to Gaza, which they plan to call "The Audacity of Hope," after U.S. President Barack Obama's best-selling memoir.
Source:
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Israel's Intimidation Tactics Won't Stop Us: First Ship Sets Sail for Gaza!
Free Gaza Team
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
London – 14 May 2010 – At 22:45 local time tonight, the MV Rachel Corrie, a 1200-ton cargo ship, part of the eight-vessel Freedom Flotilla, set sail from Ireland on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. There, ships from Turkey and Greece will join her, then sail to Gaza.
This past week reports from Israel have indicated that the Israeli authorities will not allow the Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza with its cargo of much-needed reconstruction material, medical equipment, and school supplies. According to Israeli news sources, clear orders have been issued to prevent the ships from reaching Gaza, even if this necessitates military violence.
The Free Gaza Movement, which has launched eight other sea missions to Gaza, confirms that Israel has tried these kinds of threats and intimidation tactics before in order to try to stop the missions before they start. "They have not deterred us before and will not deter us now," said one of the organizers.
Ship to Gaza -- Sweden, a Freedom Flotilla coalition partner, together with parliamentarian Mehmet Kaplan (Green Party) yesterday asked for an audience with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Carl Bildt, to discuss what measures the Swedish government and the European Union will take to protect the Freedom Flotilla’s peaceful, humanitarian voyage. Earlier this week during a meeting with the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza – another coalition partner, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyib Erdogan expressed his support for "breaking the oppressive siege on the Gaza Strip...which is at the top of Turkey’s list of priorities."
Coalition partners, Ship to Gaza – Greece and the Turkish relief organization IHH, stressed that the ships, passengers, and cargo will be checked at each port of departure, making it clear that we constitute no security threat to Israel.
Israel’s threats to attack unarmed civilians aboard vessels carrying reconstruction aid are outrageous and indicative of the cruel and violent nature of Israel’s policies towards Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla is acting in line with universal principals of human rights and justice in defying a blockade identified as illegal by the UN and other humanitarian organizations. Palestinians in Gaza have a right to the thousands of basic supplies that Israel bans from entering, including cement and schoolbooks, as well as a right to access the outside world. The Freedom Flotilla coalition calls on all signatories to the Fourth Geneva Conventions to pressure Israel to adhere to its obligations under international humanitarian law, to end the lethal blockade on Gaza, and to refrain from attacking this peaceful convoy.
For more information:
Free Gaza Movement – Greta Berlin - +33 607374512
ECESG – Mazen Kahel - +33 1 46 81 12 92
IHH – Ahmet Emin Dag – +90 530 341 1934
Ship to Gaza / Greece – Vangelis Pissias - +30 697 200 9339
Ship to Gaza / Sweden – Dror Feiler - +46702855777
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is comprised of: Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza, with hundreds of groups and organizations around the world supporting the effort.
http://www.freegaza.org/
http://www.savegaza.eu/
http://www.ihh.org.tr/
http://www.shiptogaza.gr/
http://www.shiptogaza.se/
Source:
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
U.S. lawmakers to Obama: Press Israel to ease Gaza siege
Fifty-four members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to ease the siege of the Gaza Strip.
The letter was the initiative of Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, both of whom are Democrats. Ellison is the first American Muslim to ever win election to Congress.
McDermott and Ellison wrote that they understand the threats facing Israel and the ongoing Hamas terror activities against Israeli citizens but that "this concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."
"We ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts," they wrote, adding that the siege has hampered the ability of aid agencies to do their work in Gaza.
The congressmen urged Obama to pressure Israel to ease the movement of people into and out of Gaza, especially students, the sick, aid workers, journalists and those with family concerns, and also to allow the import of building materials to rebuild houses. Israel has warned that such materials would be used to rebuild Hamas infrastructure and not civilian homes.
Ellison has harshly criticized the House of Representatives decision to reject the Goldstone report, arguing that the report "only presents facts and raises recommendations for the future." He cast doubt that members of Congress who voted to reject the report even took the time to read it and that the rejection hurt the Obama government's role as an honest broker in the Middle East conflict.
In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington responded to the letter: "The Israeli position is that the Hamas government in Gaza does not meet the conditions set forth by the international community and the Quartet. And as long as Hamas continues to attack Israel with missiles and other means, Israel will not open the border crossings. With this, Israel is doing everything possible to ensure that humanitarian aid enters Gaza in a controlled manner so that it is ensured that the population receives what it needs, including medical care in Israel. But Israel will not allow a neighbor that calls for its destruction to enjoy the benefits of an open border."
Also, a letter signed by 33 members of Congress was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise the issue with Israel of students from Gaza who are having difficulty studying at universities in the West Bank due to the lack of free passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"Ensuring that students from Gaza have access to higher education in the West Bank promotes U.S. foreign policy interests by investing in the future of the region," the letter states.
The State Department responded to the letter: "Education is a fundamental right and a force for moderation. The Secretary responds to all Congressional correspondence as appropriate."
Source:
The letter was the initiative of Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, both of whom are Democrats. Ellison is the first American Muslim to ever win election to Congress.
McDermott and Ellison wrote that they understand the threats facing Israel and the ongoing Hamas terror activities against Israeli citizens but that "this concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."
"We ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts," they wrote, adding that the siege has hampered the ability of aid agencies to do their work in Gaza.
The congressmen urged Obama to pressure Israel to ease the movement of people into and out of Gaza, especially students, the sick, aid workers, journalists and those with family concerns, and also to allow the import of building materials to rebuild houses. Israel has warned that such materials would be used to rebuild Hamas infrastructure and not civilian homes.
Ellison has harshly criticized the House of Representatives decision to reject the Goldstone report, arguing that the report "only presents facts and raises recommendations for the future." He cast doubt that members of Congress who voted to reject the report even took the time to read it and that the rejection hurt the Obama government's role as an honest broker in the Middle East conflict.
In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington responded to the letter: "The Israeli position is that the Hamas government in Gaza does not meet the conditions set forth by the international community and the Quartet. And as long as Hamas continues to attack Israel with missiles and other means, Israel will not open the border crossings. With this, Israel is doing everything possible to ensure that humanitarian aid enters Gaza in a controlled manner so that it is ensured that the population receives what it needs, including medical care in Israel. But Israel will not allow a neighbor that calls for its destruction to enjoy the benefits of an open border."
Also, a letter signed by 33 members of Congress was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise the issue with Israel of students from Gaza who are having difficulty studying at universities in the West Bank due to the lack of free passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"Ensuring that students from Gaza have access to higher education in the West Bank promotes U.S. foreign policy interests by investing in the future of the region," the letter states.
The State Department responded to the letter: "Education is a fundamental right and a force for moderation. The Secretary responds to all Congressional correspondence as appropriate."
Source:
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