Canadian Boat Update

12.35 pm Wednesday, 6th July, 2011.

Cheers! our friends have been freed!!!

From Australians for Palestine

Editor’s Note:  As the French boat makes its way to Gaza alone, the rest of
the flotilla is still trying to find ways of leaving Greece.  The captain of
the US boat has been released from prison and the charges have been dropped..  
The passengers of the Canadian boat the “Tahrir” Michael Coleman and Soha
Kneen have also been released from custody and will appear in court in the
morning and will receive suspended sentences.  Although Sandra Ruch has been
released, she faces the charge of allowing the boat to leave port without
proper authorisation. (Sandra, a Jewish-Canadian on the “Tahrir”  is
refusing to surrender the boat’s registration papers.)  Spanish activists
have taken over the Spanish embassy in Athens

Thank you to everyone who wrote or telephoned the Greek embassy and
consulates.  Some managed to get through while others found that some of the
emails bounced back.  The emails and phone numbers were correct, but
embassies/consulates are known for changing their contact details.

Related Links

Navy braced for Gaza-bound French boat sailing from Greece

The Israel Navy is prepared to stop a French vessel that set sail from near Greece on Tuesday and that is believed to be heading to the Gaza Strip in an effort to break an Israel-imposed sea blockade, said government officials.

On Tuesday afternoon, organizers announced that the small French yacht named Dignity had left waters near Greece with eight passengers on board en-route to Gaza.

Meanwhile Tuesday, John Klusmire, the captain of the US-flagged ship Audacity of Hope who was arrested last week for trying to sail to Gaza, was released from custody.

About 20 Spanish activists, from the ship Guernica, occupied their nation’s embassy in Athens on Tuesday to protest against the ban and demand their government’s support.

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7.35 pm Tuesday, 5th July, 2011.

In the harbour office in detainment on charges are Australian Michael Coleman, with 1 charge, Canadian Soha Kneen on 1 charge, and Sandra Ruch who is faced with 3 charges. Please use the information here to pressure the relevant Greek embassies and consulates, your local and Federal MPs and let’s help our good friends out of this situation and back on their mission.

You can gain up to date information by following @CanadaBoatGaza and @GFFAusGroup on twitter, and their Facebook groups CANADIAN Boat to Gaza and Gaza Freedom Flotilla Australia

The French Freedom Flotilla boat is underway, having eluded the Greek Coastguard! to be off Gaza in a day or so.

Edelstein: Israel Ready for Any Scenario in Pro-Arab Fly-In – but is he ready for the French!

=====================================================================================================
Circa 1pm Tuesday, 5th July, 2011.

From Australians for Palestine

Editor’s Note: Australian participant on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza
Michael Coleman has been arrested by Greek Police for attempting to block
their pursuit of the Canadian boat the “Tahrir” as it left port. Michael
and Soha, another Canadian Flotilla team member, were in two kayaks beside
the “Tahrir”. As soon as the boat’s motors started, Michael and Soha
paddled to the immediate prow of the coastguard and managed to stay there
for at least 5 minutes which prevented the coastguard from stopping the
Tahrir from leaving. Eddie O’Loughlin, who has provided this latest update,
says that a Canadian Flotilla team member has assured him that a legal team
is working on freeing Michael. They are still not sure as to what the
specific charges against Michael will be.

Please telephone or write to the Greek embassy in Australia and also the
consulates asking them to pressure Greek authorities to release Michael
Coleman and to allow the Freedom Flotilla to continue its mission to
Gaza. Also letters and calls to our own government representatives are
important asking them to pressure the Greek government to release Michael
Coleman and the Tahrir.

Greek Embassy in Australia
Tel: +61-2-6273-3011
Email:

Greek Consulate (Sydney)
Tel: +61-2-92212388
Tel: +61-2-92211453
Email:

Greek Consulate (Melbourne)
Tel: +61-3-98664524
Tel: +61-3-98664525
Email:

Greek Consulate (Adelaide)
Tel: +61-8-82118066
Email:

Greek Consulate (Brisbane)
Tel: +61-7-32927421
Tel: +61-7-32927422
Email:

Australian Embassy in Greece
Tel: +30 210 870 4000
Email:

Also contact your own member of parliament (you can find their details
here http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mi-elctr.asp)
and/or
The Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd
Tel: (02) 6277 7500
Email:

We need to keep the pressure up on the Greek Government and our own.

Sonja Karkar
Editor
Australians for Palestine
http://australiansforpalestine.com

===============================================================

TWITTER UPDATES

Three @CanadaBoatGaza humanitarians charged: Soha Kneen (1 charge), Michael Coleman (1 charge), Sandra Ruch (3 charges) #flotilla2

RT @CanadaBoatGaza: We can confirm that Sandra Ruch is facing 3 charges. We are working to confirm details of these charges. #flotilla2 #Canada4Gaza

RT @CanadaBoatGaza: We can confirm that Soha Kneen of Canada and Michael Coleman of Australia are facing one charge each. #Canada4Gaza #Flotilla2

RT @GFFAusGroup: DFAT chasing Aussie arrest report in Greece #Flotilla2 http://j.mp/lin4Ct

RT @SoulFya: Canadian ConsulateThessaloniki: 2310-256350 E: Demand release of Michael & Soha(Canadian citizen)

RT @CanadaBoatGaza: @INTLRevolver We can confirm @SmithSofia (Soha Kneen) is facing one charge, working to get details. #flotilla2 #

RT @Mivasair: @CanadaBoatGaza Met today w Consul General of Greece in Vancouver. Greece will play hardball. Needs $$ from Israel. Very clear abt this. #

RT @GFFAusGroup: A union has organised lawyers for us.Michael and Soha have been detained but not charged #flotilla2

Hurrahh! RT @GFFAusGroup: We’ve been told the local municipal authorities are calling on the harbor master to release our boat. #flotilla2

RT @GFFAusGroup: Journalists are reluctant to leave the boat without assurances their photos won’t be confiscated. #flotilla2

RT @GFFAusGroup: They are also refusing to sign any documents, should they be asked to do so #flotilla2

==========================================================================

Statement of the Greek Government on their site

Foreign Ministry Announcement regarding Greece’s intention to undertake the task of transporting humanitarian aid

Despite the request of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the recommendations of the EU reflected in the conclusions of the European Council, yesterday’s relevant appeal of the Quartet and the Greek Foreign Ministry’s urging not to participate in the flotilla attempting to break the Gaza blockade, certain groups of Greek and foreign citizens, without having received the necessary permission required according to the rules of safety, insisted to go through with the enterprise.

In light of these developments and concerned primarily with the protection and safety of human life, the Greek Government decided to ban the departure from Greek ports of vessels with Greek or foreign flags bound for Gaza.

Greece’s stance regarding the need to lift the Gaza blockade and to improve the humanitarian conditions in the area is known and remains unchanged. Greece’s positions of principle for the need to respect international law and not to resort to the use of force are also well known. Greece, as it is widely known, actively supports the resumption of peace talks, which constitute the only road to a comprehensive and viable resolution of the Palestinian issue, with the creation of a Palestinian state that will coexist peacefully with the state of Israel. These positions have been made clear to all concerned parties.

In this context, Greece reiterates its willingness and proposes to undertake the task of transporting the humanitarian aid, with Greek vessels or other appropriate means, through the existing channels as requested by the Secretary General of the United Nations.

To this avail, Greece will come into immediate and direct contact with the UN and all the concerned parties, in order to render the mission feasible on behalf of our country.

In this critical conjuncture, we should all demonstrate a sense of responsibility or assume entirely and exclusively the responsibility for our actions. The Government will act as it must in an orderly fashion and according to the laws of the State.

Related Links

Why Is Greece Hindering the Gaza Flotilla?
What’s the Impact of Israel’s Natural Gas Find?
DFAT chasing Aussie flotilla arrest report
Canadian activist slams Greece for turning back Gaza-bound vessel
Australian in Gaza flotilla detained: reports

MEMRI is a source for journalists that do not understand Arabic,

but because they do not understand Arabic, they cannot validate the source. When you consider that the source is the brainchild of a former Israeli intelligence officer and has been caught selectively translating Arabic broadcasts that would reflect negatively on the Muslim world, the problem increases ten-fold.

Listening Post’s Meenakshi Ravi looks at an organisation that is out to influence how the Middle East is seen in the rest of the world’s media.

Palestine / Israel Links

September Surprise: Israeli Attack on Iran?

Detailed Information on the Sabotage to the MV Saoirse, Turkey Denies Support for Thwarting the Flotilla

Detailed Information on the Sabotage to the MV Saoirse “It looks very much like underwater explosives, probably plastic explosives, were used on the shaft.”

In Al Jazeera’s latest Inside Story, “Outsourcing the Gaza blockade” , it is highlighted that pressure is being brought to bear on Greece by Israel and its undying friend the US, and as well by countries in the EU. Huwaida Arraf and Mustafa Barghouti insist to Akiva Eldar that the truth of apartheid and denial of Palestinian human rights must be acknowledged despite the lily-livered Israeli faux left thinking it is not palatable to the Israeli public.

Turkey Rebuts Barak’s Claim It Supported the Prevention of the Flotilla

@Levent Basturk: ”Ibrahim Kalin, the chief foreign policy adviser to PM Erdogan, has recently sent a twitter message saying that Barak’s statement regarding Turkey’s cooperation to prevent flotilla is A FABRICATION. The Turkish Foreign Ministry will soon deny what Barak said regarding Turkey’s role in thwarting the mission of the flotilla.” #

Translation of confirmation in TRT.NET.TR:

Turkey rejected the Israeli minister’s statement that Turkey has been in positive attitude in the attempts to thwart the mission of the flotilla.

Publication Date: 07/04/2011 12:19:23
Updated: 4/7/2011 12:19:23

The statement of the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak with respect to Turkey’s “positive position” in thwarting the mission of the Gaza flotilla was denied by Ankara .

Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the participants of the fleet going to Gaza was entirely composed of international non-governmental organizations, therefore, was not affiliated in any way with the Turkish government.

“Flotilla, Totally A Civilian Initiative …”

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal emphasized that the flotilla was totally a civil initiative.

Unal said “the news about a group of countries that tried to prevent this civilian initiative does not reflect the reality and is groundless with respect to Turkey.”

Israeli Defense Minister Barak has said previously Greece, Cyprus and Turkey had positive approaches in efforts to thwart the mission of the flotilla heading to Gaza.

I’ll end with a diversion to the past :

“And Phrygia shall with earthquakes groan again
Wretched. Alas, alas, Laodicea”

Book X11 Sibylline Prophecies

Related Links

Geoffrey Palmer, the head of the commission that’s investigating the incident that led to the death of nine Turks as they tried to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, has said he intended to issue his committee’s report on Thursday – regardless of whether Israel and Turkey came to a prior agreement on a statement on the matter
Israeli hasbara site CAMERA seems to think the Palmer report has been released already too.
If a compromise is not reached soon, the UN report will be released as is, and bilateral ties will likely be frozen for a long period, the source said. If a compromise is reached, the report will be reworded and toned down.

Equally as important were the recent comments of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon,

who nearly two years ago humiliated the Turkish ambassador to Israel by deliberately placing him in a lower chair during a televised meeting. In a meeting last month with seven Turkish journalists, Ayalon said he never meant to humiliate the ambassador, that he had meant it as a joke, and that he had immediately sent a letter of apology to him.

He told the journalists that the time was ripe to restore Israeli-Turkish relations and that he supported Turkey’s decision to have talks with Hamas in an attempt to forge a unity government with the Palestinian Authority.

“We would kiss the hands of every Turk if Hamas said they accept the Oslo [Treaty], condemn terror and recognize Israel,” Ayalon said.

Greece blocks Gaza banned boat with 30 ‘captains’ on board

Israeli peace groups support the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla

The Gaza Flotilla is indeed a courageous act of political protest, an expression of worldwide solidarity with the Palestinian people and rejection of Israeli practices of oppressive occupation, as manifested in the continuing siege and blockade of Gaza and the imposition of collective punishment upon a mass of civilians.

Flotilla II: Brave Activists, Spineless Politicians
Icelandic MP visits Gaza aid flotilla and calls on others to do same
Greek consulate, governor confirm ‘powerful’ pressure on Greece led to flotilla ban
Since when do humanitarians, one quarter of whom ARE Jewish, bearing aid and letters of compassion equal ‘kill-the-Jews’? This obnoxious hasbara is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Palestine / Israel Links

MKs to ask Knesset: Disqualify Tibi bill on Nakba denial : Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin expressed doubt over whether it was legal to disqualify Tibi’s bill, but said the bill is an act of provocation against the state.
Letter to Israeli left: Choose one state, not apartheid ‘The solution to this conflict will not be the separation of both people into two different states, but rather, it is living together and coexisting with equal rights that will bring an end to this conflict.’
Hundreds of settlers break into Yousef’s tomb
Gaza border opening holds less opportunities than hoped for
Top Israeli pol meets far-right German millionaire

Israeli Likud politician, Ayoub Kara, deputy minister for Development of the Negev and Galilee, has no qualms about meeting with ‘Patrick Brinkmann, a Swedish right-wing extremist who has supported neo-Nazi and right-wing populist parties in Europe’. Building islamophobia is a shared interest.

Blast hits Egyptian gas pipeline – more motivation for the Israelis to steal gas from the offshore Gaza gas fields
Now is no time for ASEAN to stop supporting Palestine
IDF: Netanyahu OK’d transfer of terrorist bodies – did Yehuda Hiss keep the skulls?
Rabbi promotes ‘modesty wounds’ Why doesn’t the Israeli state fire this rabbi who is on a state paid sinecure and teaching self-mutilation to young women? Nutanyahoo made it clear in another article yesterday by Rachlevsky what the evil purpose of these messianic villains are:

‘They are the elite commando unit leading the nation and paving the way’.

This as an extremely telling quote illustrating Nut’s cynical use of myth and it verifies the mechanism of expansionism – how the secular zionist gameplayers utilise messianic settlers, and why these extremist rabbis are supported by government.

Israel’s strategy, tactic and aim is always expansionism and each supports the other. This is the nexus which underlies what Jeff Halper describes as the ‘matrix of control’. The settlers advance, which requires military backup. The next beachhead/hilltop is taken, then rinse and repeat. The infrastructure follows, all justified by the hasbara of ‘security’ to protect the ‘civilians’. Obviously, these ‘elite commandos’ aren’t civilians.

Equal rights for all as a principle, contained in BDS, attacks the basic zionist strategy, tactic and aim. This might be the main reason why the zionists hate BDS so much. From the ongoing zionist wailing about it, BDS appears more effective than a settlement freeze. Equal rights for all as a principled aim also has more chance of resounding in the working class who after all are the puppets of the international elite, the main beneficiaries of the government-assisted religious bigotry/apartheid/racism/elitism and other societal divisions.

There’s a distinct sociopathy in the sheer malevolence of the design and practice of the governmental gameplayers who use these rabbis to inspire and lead settlers to steal Palestinian land.

The rabbis are cultists, which means that some are not technically insane, they are delusional, but since their delusion is supported by the government, it’s probably better to examine those who are the malignantly narcissistic gameplayers at the top who cynically use the rabbis and who farm them, paying for their delusional education and employment as the part of the strategy of expansionism, as a tactical vanguard commando unit to achieve military and political goals.

Egypt Links

Hillary Clinton announces Brotherhood talks
Tahrir’s journey to Palestine

Turkey Links

Five generals, one colonel put behind bars on coup charges

Australia Links

Repressive ASIO law extensions passed – ASIO gets wider investigative powers – ASIO can now spy on WikiLeaks along with anyone who forms groups to campaign on political and social issues.
Police make vicious attack on Palestine solidarity protest

Max Brenner Chocolates was targeted because it is owned by the Strauss Group, the second largest Israeli food and beverage company. The company boasts on its website that it has supported the Golany reconnaissance platoon of the Israeli Army for more than 30 years.

The Daily Danby

Danby said: “There was no meeting with Danny Danon in the Knesset during my recent visit. Many Knesset members attended a session at the International Conference of Jewish Parliamentarians with myself and other Jewish Mps such as Irwin Cotler ( Canada) and Gary Ackerman ( Democrat of New York). I have not discussed with Mr Danon the possibility of Australia taking refugees from Israel. I did not meet him. I have no such power as the Jerusalem Post claims to bring this before parliament, and I was never contacted by the Jerusalem Post to check the validity of the claims made in the article. There was no meeting, no discussion and no agreement. Danny Danon is a nice guy. He must have been misquoted. The last time I saw him was at the leadership forum in Israel in December, where I made a public speech outlining the recent history of Australia’s immigration policy. I deplore the use of terms like ‘Muslim infiltrators’. I publicly told the forum then that the Israelis had to do what we did, and that is make an assessment of asylum seekers status and background. I said publicly then and restate that it is impossible for any one country, Australia or Israel to forcibly return people who have good grounds for fearing for their lives. That is not to say that Australia or Israel cannot return people to their countries of origin if they have agreements with those governments and that the people being returned have not been assessed as refugees or have legitimate fear for their lives.”

Danby’s judgment is suspect. Danny Danon is not a ‘nice guy’. Recently in his NYTimes Op Ed he proposed Israel annex all West Bank settlements and uninhabited lands.

‘Moreover, we would be well within our rights to assert, as we did in Gaza after our disengagement in 2005, that we are no longer responsible for the Palestinian residents of the West Bank, who would continue to live in their own — unannexed — towns.

These Palestinians would not have the option to become Israeli citizens, therefore averting the threat to the Jewish and democratic status of Israel by a growing Palestinian population. ‘

Protests, Diplomatic Flotilla Sabotage & Other Scuttlebutt

Flotilla Related Links

Please email Greek PM to release Freedom Flotilla II
@jvplive: pers @ NY Greek Consulate told JVP supporter “It’s your government [US] that ordered us not to let the ship sail!” flotilla2# @USBOATTOGAZA #
Leftist Greek MPs accuse government of caving to Israeli pressure to stop Gaza flotilla
Middle East Quartet: Additional Gaza flotillas should be discouraged
Palestinian NGOs condemn Greek government decision to block Freedom Flotilla II
Aboard the Gaza flotilla LIVE
Greece detains Gaza-bound boat captain
Israeli-Swedish activist Dror Feiler, acting spokesman for the flotilla

, said although there was no proof of Israeli involvement, the Jewish state was “the only party who would benefit” from such vandalism.

Israel has made no secret of its determination to prevent the flotilla reaching Gaza and has accused passengers of harbouring “terror activists” who are “looking for blood.”

Endless delays and fading hope while waiting to sail to Gaza

Palestine/ Israel Links

PACBI-Behind the Boycott: Why South Africa’s academic boycott of Ben Gurion University took hold
Get ready for cheers of “Bi-bi, Bi-bi!!”
Lessons Learned And The Coming Theocracy – charming weekly malevolence from the ziocolony.
A racist, messianic rabbi is the ruler of Israel Nutanyahoo of the extremist rabbis who incite murder of those who oppose expansionist zionism and even Jews: ‘They are the elite commando unit leading the nation and paving the way’.

Nor does Lior stop at non-Jews. Leading rabbis have testified that Lior was the source of rulings labeling the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin a “rodef” and a “moser” (a traitor who endangers Jewish lives ). Here, too, he didn’t stop at incitement. Rabin’s assassin used to travel to Hebron to see the rabbi. Baruch Goldstein (who massacred Arabs at the Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994 ) also visited King Lior for instruction. After he massacred dozens of people, the rabbi ruled that Goldstein was “holier than all the martyrs of the Holocaust.”

Israel bans use of words that start with “b”, “o” and “z”

Turkey Links

Moving Beyond the Dichotomy Writer falls into his own trap?

The dichotomous perception of the choice in the orientation of Turkish policy between “pro-Western” and “anti-Western”, or “pro-Muslim”, is more reflective of a mental division of the world between Occident and Orient than of the complex reality of 21st-century international politics.

Other Links

2011-07-02 Cables reveal the logic of Nicaragua’s social welfare programs for street children: ‘Cut the budget and hide it in secrecy’

Why Israel’s Blockade on Gaza is Illegal

From Samah Sabawi, Palestinian Advocate for Australians for Palestine.

Who says Israel blockade of Gaza is illegal and is a violation of international humanitarian Law? Here are a few and there are many more where these come from:

1) U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay “Israel’s blockade of Gaza is illegal and should be lifted” “International humanitarian law prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and…it is also prohibited to impose collective punishment on civilians” http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/05/us-israel-flotilla-un-idUSTRE6541JD20100605

2) UN Panel of Human Rights Experts published report compiled by by a former UN war crimes prosecutor Desmond de Silva, a judge from Trinidad, Karl Hudson-Phillips, and a Malaysian women’s rights advocate, Mary Shanthi Dairiam. They reiterated “the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave is illegal because of the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/un-panel-israel-war-crimes

3) Amnesty International “As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law.” http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/suffocating-gaza-israeli-blockades-effects-palestinians-2010-06-01

4) Gisha “The closure of Gaza is neither a siege, nor a blockade, nor an economic sanction – it is an illegal act of collective punishment and stands in violation of both international and Israeli law.” http://www.gisha.org/UserFiles/File/publications/GazaClosureDefinedEng.pdf

5) The International Committee of the Red Cross “the blockade violates the Geneva Convention, which bans “collective punishment” of a civilian population.” The ICRC called on Israel to lift the blockage. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Red-Cross-Israels-Gaza-Blockade-Breaks-International-Law-96280463.html

6) Human Rights Watch “The blockade, which amounts to the unlawful collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, has severely damaged the economy, leaving 70 to 80 percent of Gazans in poverty and dependent on humanitarian aid.” http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/05/31/israel-full-impartial-investigation-flotilla-killings-essential

7) Center for Constitutional Rights “Israel’s position is that a lawful maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. International law recognizes blockades in the context of armed conflicts, but it does not recognize a blockade by a country against a territory which it is occupying” http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/ccr-condemns-israel%26%23039;s-killing-freedom-flotilla-participants

8) OXFAM “Though Israel has the duty to protect its citizens, it cannot impose a blockade on every civilian in Gaza. This constitutes collective punishment, which is illegal under international law. The EU should make any future upgrade in economic and political relations dependent on the end of the blockade.” http://www.oxfam.org/pressroom/pressrelease/2010-03-17/eu-foreign-policy-chief-gaza-blockade

9) The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.Mr. Richard Falk “In the Gaza Strip, the illegal blockade continued to violate the human rights of Palestinians in Gaza, despite the much proclaimed “easing” of the blockade by Israel in 2010.” http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10871&LangID=E

10) Ambassador Craig Murray, an internationally recognized authority on maritime jurisdiction and naval boarding issues. He is former Alternate Head of the UK Delegation to the United Nations Preparatory Commission on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. He was deputy head of the teams which negotiated the UK’s maritime boundaries with France, Germany, Denmark (Faeroe Islands) and Ireland. “San Remo only applies to blockade in times of armed conflict. Israel is not currently engaged in an armed conflict, and presumably does not wish to be. San Remo does not confer any right to impose a permanent blockade outwith times of armed conflict, and in fact specifically excludes as illegal a general blockade on an entire population.” http://www.freedomflotilla.eu/en/information/13-opinion/130-the-blockade-is-illegal-no-matter-what-israel-claims

11} UNSC Resolution 1860 “Calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment” http://daccess-dds ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/204/32/PDF/N0920432.pdf?OpenElement

12) The United Church in Canada http://www.countercurrents.org/uc110610.htm

13) Other groups who signed on a report (see link below) calling the blockade illegal:

  1. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK
  2. BROE DERLIJK DELEN
  3. CAFOD
  4. CCFD-TERRE SO LIDAIRE
  5. CHRISTIAN AID
  6. CHURCH OF SWEDEN
  7. CORDAID
  8. DIAKONIA
  9. EURO-MEDITERRANEA N HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK (EMHRN)
  10. HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL
  11. ICCO
  12. IKV PAX CHRISTI
  13. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (FIDH)
  14. MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS
  15. MEDICO INTERNATIONAL
  16. MERLIN
  17. MS ACTION AID DENMARK
  18. NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL (NRC)
  19. QUAKER COUNCIL FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
  20. OXFAM INTERNATIONAL
  21. Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT )
  22. REDD BARNA
  23. SAVE THE CHILDREN UK
  24. TROCAIRE
  25. UCP

“Dashed Hopes” published by the above organizations about Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/conflict_disasters/downloads/dashed-hopes-continuation-gaza-blockade-301110-en.pdf

Related Links

Freedom Flotilla 2 Assailed by Piratical Scuttlebutt – other relevant international law

International Terrorism by Israel Against the Irish Boat to Gaza?

Dr. Fintan Lane from the MV Saoirse: “If this boat had gone to sea, it’s almost certain we would have lost lives – this boat would have sank.”

From Haaretz:

“This was done by hostile divers and identical sabotage was carried out to the Swedish ship, Juliana,” ISG spokesman Raymond Deane told DPA. “The inference is that the saboteurs were Israeli,” he said.

“This is attempted murder. The damage done to the propeller means that the ship could have sailed but the propeller would have come up through the hull after some time. We are a small ship and we would have gone down,” Deane added.

The Israeli embassy in Dublin said it had no connection with the incident and no information on it, Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE reported.

Six of the 20 crew and passengers who intended to sail on the MV Saoiree will transfer to another ship in the flotilla, ISG said. Those include former Ireland rugby player Trevor Hogan and Paul Murphy, a Socialist Party Member of the European Parliament, as well as ISG campaign coordinator Fintan Lane. They are joining activists on board the joint Italian and Dutch ship in the flotilla.

State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday the U.S. has seen no independent confirmation of the ships having been sabotaged, yet nevertheless stated that “our opinion that’s been stated very clearly from the State Department, both from the secretary down to this podium, is that these flotillas are a bad idea.”

The sabotage against the Irish and Swedish boat, both of whose propeller shafts were similarly damaged, could just as well have been done by US navy divers, as a favour to Israel.

The Irish government is showing some spine, with Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore backing calls for an investigation into damage.

Minister Gilmore said he takes the matter seriously.

“I do have concerns about it, and that is something that is going to have to be investigated initially by the Turkish authorities,” the Tánaiste said.

“I would take a very serious view of it, if it turned out that there was sabotage of that vessel.”

Mr Gilmore last week told Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Modai, that any interception of the flotilla must be peaceful.

He said while the activists were well intended and well motivated, they had been warned it would it would be dangerous to travel on the MV Saoirse vessel and on the mission.

“I met with a delegation from the people who are travelling a couple of weeks ago and subsequent to that I met with the Israeli ambassador and made it clear to him both what our travel advice was but also our expectation that there would not be a repeat of last year and that people who engaged in what is essentially a form of peaceful protest activity, that there is not to be a disproportionate response to that activity,” he added.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has also called for a probe into the incident.

“The Irish government has a responsibility to protect Irish citizens abroad and must demand answers from the Israeli government on this matter,” Deputy Adams said.

“I would also urge the government to ask the Turkish authorities to carry out a full and thorough investigation into what has occurred.”

Sign the petition for an independent inquiry into the sabotage.

Related Links

Sabotage of MV Saoirse in Turkey: ‘An Act of International Terrorism’
MV SAOIRSE SABOTAGE PHOTOS AND VIDEO
Israel army uses fabrications to assert flotilla financial links to Hamas
Gaza flotilla activists: Queers welcome aboard aid ships
Alice Walker : “Settlers are the Klan,” she says definitively, referring to the notorious white supremacist terror organization. “They don’t have their white sheets because I guess they don’t need them.”
Warding off the evil eye in the Eastern Mediterranean
Why breaking Israel’s illegal blockade on the people of Gaza is essential.
Political Zionism has always been an ideology of force and violence. Israel has become a society of force and violence

This is a recurring pattern: first demonization, then legitimization (to act violently ). Remember the tall tales about sophisticated Iranian weaponry coming through arms-smuggling tunnels in Gaza, or those about how the Strip was booby-trapped? Then Operation Cast Lead came along and the soldiers hardly encountered anything like that.

The attitude toward the flotilla is a continuation of the same behavior.

British Parliamentarians add support for Flotilla to Gaza
Peaceful flotilla essential step to win freedom for Palestinians

Palestine / Israel Links

Insane racism update: Danny Danon: Send African migrants to Australia

“The arrival of thousands of Muslim infiltrators to Israeli territory is a clear threat to the state’s Jewish identity,” Danon told The Jerusalem Post.

“The refugees’ place is not among us, and the initiative to transfer them to Australia is the right and just solution.

“On the one hand, it treats the refugees and migrants in a humane way. On the other hand, it does not threaten Israel’s future and our goal to maintain a clear and solid Jewish majority,” he explained.

U.S. Senate passes resolution threatening to suspend aid to Palestinians

The PLO General Delegation to the U.S. said in response that while it respects the right of Senate members to pass resolutions expressing their views, “we urge them to use an even-handed, fair, and unbiased approach when addressing their concerns on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”

The delegation added that “the Israeli government has failed to reciprocate, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly chosen a policy of land grabbing and settlement expansion over a just solution to the conflict and an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

Janan Abdu on the detention of her husband, political prisoner Ameer Makhoul