Politics

June 28, 2011December 11, 2020

Scuttlebutt Downunder: Australia Betrays Its Citizens on Israel’s Directive

Australian flotilla participants ‘have been told by DFAT that Israel will deny and restrict consular assistance to them should Israel board their boats and detain them and the Government is accepting this without any protest. The Australian delegates are angry at the failure of the Australian Government to stand up for their rights or Australian sovereignty.’

Sylvia Hale, former Greens NSW MP and on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2, said via satellite phone:

“I find it … perturbing that the Israeli Government should propose to deny consular access, not only to Australian nationals but also to nationals of other countries.

“….[C]ould you please explain why the Australian Government has remained silent in the face of the possible injury, imprisonment or deportation of Australian citizens from Israel, especially as they have absolutely no desire to set foot, willingly or unwillingly, on Israeli territory,” Ms Hale said.?
Audio recordings of Ms Hale’s comments are available on request.

Jake Lynch, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at University of Sydney, said:
“The Australian government has a responsibility to protect its citizens against illegal military aggression, especially with prior knowledge of Israel’s plans.

“Both Australia and Israel are signatories to the Vienna convention, under which consular access must be allowed to detained persons. For Australia to waive this right at Israel’s behest shows our government places greater importance on supporting Israel’s flouting of international law than it does on the safety of Australians.

“With this decision, DFAT legitimises both the siege and naval blockade, both of which contravene Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, forbidding collective punishments.

“Australian diplomacy places our government on the extreme pro-Israeli fringe of world political opinion. The international community opposes the illegal siege of Gaza, the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and the ongoing expulsion of the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem. On all these issues, Australia is one of a tiny minority of countries which routinely provide diplomatic cover”, Associate Professor Lynch said.

Our muppet politicians seem to have forgotten that even drug runners, rapists, murderers and ‘terrorists’ like David Hicks are supplied consular assistance. The four Australians participating in the flotilla are peaceful humanitarians engaged in a principled action to break the villainous Israeli blockade, collective punishment of a civilian population of 1.6 million people, half of whom are children. The blockade of Gaza is illegal under international law.

If Australian politicians want to put the wishes of Israel first before the welfare and lives of Australian citizens, then they should go live there.

UPDATE 30/6/11

Kate Ausburn: No Diplomats For Gaza Flotilla

Australians taking part in the second Freedom Flotilla to Gaza have been told not to expect consular assistance should they be detained by Israeli authorities.
…
The Australian contingent of the Flotilla has been told through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) that Israel intends to deny or limit consular access to foreign nationals if they are detained during the Flotilla.
…
DFAT said that Israeli authorities had told the meeting that, “if it appears that a vessel intends to breach the blockade, it will be seized and escorted to Ashdod Port.”

Further, DFAT said that the meeting was told:

“Ashdod Port will be declared a closed military zone and no consular access will be possible. Participants will either be deported or transferred to one of three prisons. Limited consular access will be afforded to Australian consular officials to participants at the prison and no consular access will be permitted to participants at the airport prior to deportation. Journalists will be considered to be participating in the Flotilla and will not receive special treatment.”

DFAT told Hale that the Australian Government felt “concerned” about the apparent lack of consular access, however concluded, “the extent to which we will be able to help you will ultimately be determined by the Israeli government.”

Dear Aunty ABC comes good :))

DFAT warns of limited consular assistance for Australian activists

PM has seen emails from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which say the department has contacted Israel but can’t do any more.
…
STATEMENT FROM DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE (Voiceover): Australia will not be denying consular assistance to any of its citizens involved in the flotilla. On the contrary, Australia has made it clear to Israel that we expect that consular access will be made available in the event that any Australians are detained.

If any Australians are detained, consular officials will endeavour to provide appropriate consular assistance. However, access to those detained by Israeli authorities will ultimately be determined by the Israeli government.

CONNIE AGIUS: DFAT also advised PM that the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv has written to Israeli authorities expressing concern following the briefing.

But that’s not good enough for Sylvia Hale.

SYLVIA HALE: The Australian Government says that it will do what it can but it’s inhibited by Israeli local laws. But I expect my government to at least, if it cannot physically intervene to ensure our safety, to issue a public statement saying that it finds the Israeli attitude offensive and one that is worthy of condemnation.

Australians in Gaza flotilla fear limited consular help

Australian activists sailing in a flotilla to Gaza have been told they will have little or no consular assistance if Israel detains them.

Four Australians will be aboard one of the vessels which aims to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has contacted former NSW Greens Upper House member Sylvia Hale, who is one of the four Australians making the voyage.

She says she was told the department had been briefed by the Israeli government earlier in the month about plans to intercept the flotilla and limit consular access to the activists.

“I gather the Israelis more or less said what they were proposing to do, namely to intercept the flotilla, to force it to divert to the port of Ashdod, which would be declared a closed military zone, at which there would be no possibility of consular access,” she said.

“Then participants would either be deported immediately or they would be taken to one of three prisons, at which there might be the possibility of consular access.”

Last year a similar flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli Defence Force.

Nine people were killed and hundreds arrested.

Ms Hale and legal experts say they are critical of DFAT’s response to Israel’s plans.

ABC Radio’s PM program asked the department to clarify what it would do if Australians were detained.

A statement in response said Australia would not deny consular assistance to any Australians involved in the flotilla.

It also said the Australian embassy in Tel Aviv had written to Israeli authorities expressing concern over the flotilla briefing.

In emails from DFAT seen by PM the department said it had contacted Israel but could not do any more.

Ms Hale says that is not good enough.

“The Australian Government says that it will do what it can but it’s inhibited by Israeli local laws, but I expect my government to at least, if it cannot physically intervene to ensure our safety, to issue a public statement saying that it finds the Israeli attitude offensive and one that is worthy of condemnation,” she said.

Lawyer’s concern

Legal experts are also concerned about the Australian Government’s position.

Australian Lawyers’ Alliance director Greg Barns says activists may be subjected to abuse in the time it takes the Australian embassy to reach them.

“People could be held incommunicado for a number of days before seeing anybody from the Australian embassy,” he said.

“It could mean that people are subjected to physical and mental abuse; it could mean that people are subjected to interrogation which wouldn’t be allowed if they had access to lawyers or to consular access.

“And it could mean that those people then are forced to make false statements or seek to cut some form of deal so they can just get out of the detention they’re being held in.”

Mr Barns says DFAT should take a tougher stance.

“What we have here is Israel – which is a signatory to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which is the international instrument that governs the way in which diplomatic relations are to be conducted between countries, and including it looks at the issue of consular access,” he said.

“Australia should not tolerate Israel simply saying, ‘well we will drag people into a closed military zone and have no consular access’.”

Israel has signed the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations but it has not been ratified.

The flotilla is scheduled to depart in the next few days.

What you can do

Contact your Australian Federal MP and demand they ask a question in Parliament regarding Australia’s abandonment of its citizens on directives from Israel.
Contact your local media and ask that they highlight the issue.
Viralise the issue through through your choice of social media.
Phone DFAT and your local Consulate and complain on behalf of the Australian flotilla participants.
Insist that the peaceful humanitarian activists must be protected from Israeli violence and piracy.

Sylvia Hale: “But whoever asks us ‘what about the Aborigines,’ are not the ones who are interested in their rights, and not the ones fighting for those rights. They are using this as a diversionary tactic for evading the debate over Israel’s policy, or to delegitimize criticism of Israel.”

No Turkish boat to Gaza as Ankara, Tel Aviv mend fences
What does fraudulent “anti-gay flotilla” video tells us about Israeli hasbara strategy?
Gaza flotilla organizers demand Greek police provide security for ships
Freedom Flotilla doing what government won’t: supporting Palestinian human rights
If any Australian MPs support the Gaza flotilla, the press here isn’t reporting them
Freedom Flotilla Ready to Sail Despite Threats and Sabotage
Harper Should Support Canadians Safe Passage to the Gaza Strip on Freedom Flotilla Two
Socialist Party Member of European Parliament joins Palestine “Freedom Flotilla II” — Aim of Flotilla to break siege and highlight blockade impact on Gaza population
Gaza Freedom Flotilla organizers dismiss Israeli lies they plan to “attack” Israeli hijackers as they board ship “The organizer of the Gaza-bound flotilla dismissed Tuesday Israeli allegations that extremists aboard the ships plan to harm Israeli soldiers who would be dispatched to stop them. ”
The deep reach of Zionist lobby in the Australian Parliament and society

We now have, thanks to Greens leader Bob Brown, the list of politicians and journalists who took the junket last year. The fact that so many were willing to be taken on a propaganda tour (and how many even thought of visiting the West Bank for longer than five minutes, let alone Gaza?) shows the level of obedience to the Zionist agenda in Australian elite circles. Thankfully, studies prove that the general public are increasingly supportive of the occupied Palestinians.

Israeli Hasbara Alert

Last night, the propeller of the Swedish ship with the Freedom Flotilla was sabotaged in Greece. This morning, Israel has obscured this crime with a barrage of propaganda alleging that some participants on the flotilla are intending to use chemical weapons against the Israeli military if (when) they attempt to board.

Notwithstanding that it is illegal for Israel to board vessels without permission in international waters and vessels under attack in such a manner have a right to defend themselves, this shameless rubbish, quoting the usual unnamed ‘defence sources’ that signify the mouthing of Israeli hasbara, projects Israel’s own persistent chemical crimes – its use of skunkwater and CS gas against non-violent protestors against Israel’s illegal apartheid wall in demonstrations held weekly in the West Bank, and its criminal use of white phosphorus in its Operation Cast Lead massacre in January, 2009. Israel also denies the people of Gaza access to clean water – an insidious form of chemical poisoning.

according to the Jerusalem Post today, Israel is preparing to commit more crimes against the peaceful Freedom Flotilla..

Navy commandos have developed new techniques on how to fast-rope down onto the ships’ upper decks quickly. They also have new equipment such as water cannons, attack dogs from Oketz and riot-control specialists from the Prisons Service’s elite Masada Unit.

Above: Video of the damage to the Swedish flotilla boat’s propeller.

Swedish author Henning Mankell, who took part in last year’s flotilla and is joining the currently planned one, said that the flotilla was not a declaration of war, but a declaration of peace.

Fact-checking the State Department on Gaza aid channels
Spirits of Justice Going to Gaza

Palestine / Israel Links

Israel’s draconian anti-boycott bill targeting individuals, corporations and NGOs who support BDS is approved for its final reading.

This bill is politically motivated and unfortunately it is not the only bill promoted in Knesset these days that stands in contrast to democratic values. A boycott by consumers is a legitimate tool of protest and falls within the protection of freedom of expression. It is ironic that this bill will further enhance the criticism voiced against Israel”. A representative of Coalition of Women for Peace, who was present in the committee debate, quoted Rotem as saying “international law is not of my interest.”

The Israel lobby playbook – rewritten by J Street
Israel refuses citizenship for gay man married to Jewish immigrant – so Israel is a welcoming, gay-friendly place?
Israel’s chief clergy decries arrest of top rabbi who called for killing gentiles – rabbis in Israel are employees of the state.
Glenn Beck to address Knesset panel in July – Israel uses anti-semites to legitimise itself? what a joke.

Israel using phone spam promising rewards to recruit spies in southern Lebanon
How Israel nobbles Palestinian students’ education : Israeli Army Detains Tawjihi Students in Bethlehem
The Palestine Entries: Today I saw Hamas for what it’s worth
UNESCO censures Israel over Mughrabi Bridge : UNESCO’s censure calls for the immediate cessation of all renovation work done on the Mughrabi Gate bridge, which leads from the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem to the to the al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount.
Pinkwashed : Solidarity between liberation movements is essential
BOYCOTT! Issue 59
Australian denies being Hamas recruit
Israel remains a Tier 2 country for Human Trafficking in US report [pdf]

inadequate at identifying and protecting labor trafficking victims, prosecuting and convicting labor trafficking offenders … Some agencies for migrant workers require recruitment fees from $4,000-20,000 : these migrants are vulnerable to debt bondage and sex slavery.

Australia Links

Human rights complaint: moral victory the only hope – the current Australian government stance on David Hicks’ case is deplorable

June 25, 2011December 11, 2020

Freedom Flotilla 2 Assailed by Piratical Scuttlebutt

The US state department is fully complicit with Israeli criminality, with similar contempt for international law and human life. Nor does it have any idea of the medical “diet” which Israel has malignantly inflicted on the people of Gaza and the state of medical emergency declared by the Gaza health ministry on the 8th June with shortages of medical supplies since January 2011 noted by the World Health Organisation this month. There seems no comprehension by the US State Department of the impact of Israel’s illegal blockade on the people of Gaza. The tawdry ‘special relationship’ is cemented in the negation of the human needs of the civilian Palestinian population which under the Hague and Geneva Conventions should be met by the belligerent occupier, Israel.

“The U.S. State Department said Friday that attempts to break the blockade are “irresponsible and provocative” and that Israel has well-established means of delivering assistance to the Palestinian residents of Gaza. It noted that the territory is run by the militant Hamas group, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization, and that Americans providing support to it are subject to fines and jail.

Israel’s ‘well-established means of delivering assistance’ are open to limited numbers of trucks with aid from Sunday to Thursday. Predictably, Israel ramped up deliveries yesterday (Thursday) no doubt to create a tenuous facade that 300 trucks a day are ‘normal’. Some weeks the crossings are completely closed. While Egypt opened the Rafah crossing for people several weeks ago, it closed it again after a few days. As revealed at Electronic Intifada:

There is no legal basis for Israel to intercept ships and prevent them from delivering humanitarian supplies, say experts in international law.

“Israel only has jurisdiction over its territorial waters of 12 nautical miles, and neither the waters off Gaza nor international waters are under its authority,” University of the Basque Country professor of international law Juan Soroeta told IPS.

“No UN resolution authorizes the Gaza blockade,” said Soroeta. “On the contrary, it is an illegal, unilateral measure imposed by force by Israel in the context of an equally illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.”

UN Security Council Resolution 1860, adopted on 8 January 2009, calls for “the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment.”

But reports from the international humanitarian organizations working on the ground there confirm that this point is not being fulfilled.

The US State Department further rages:

Groups that seek to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza are taking irresponsible and provocative actions that risk the safety of their passengers. Established and efficient mechanisms exist to transfer humanitarian assistance to Gaza. For example, humanitarian assistance can be delivered at the Israeli port of Ashdod, where cargo can be offloaded, inspected, and transported to Gaza.”

On past record, there is no guarantee that aid if delivered to Ashdod will reach Gaza.

The 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid carried by the first Freedom Flotilla was confiscated by Israel along with the personal effects of the passengers and the reporters’ equipment.

None of the items were ever returned, making it “booty in the best pirate tradition,” said Spanish lawyer Enrique Santiago, who was involved in preparing the charges against Israel for the assault on the flotilla in international waters.

Israeli Ambassador Oren’s plaintive bleats to the US are laced with hyperbole and legal non-starters.

Oren attacked the organizers of the flotilla as “radical anti-Israel organizations…known also for anti-American activities.” He cited statements by the US State Department and UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon criticizing or condemning their actions. Then Oren claimed that the flotilla could simply deliver its aid through a “responsible organization” like UNRWA, or bring their materials through El Arish and allow Israel to offload it. “It’s not a fight between us and the people of Gaza,” Oren claimed. “It’s between us and the group Hamas which is determined to destroy the state of Israel.” (Never mind this Israeli government document). He went on to claim that Israel’s maritime blockade was “in full accord with international law,” though he did not explain how besieging a civilian population that was not actively engaged in a full-scale war against Israel comported with the 4th Geneva Convention or the San Remo Accords.

The US boat to Gaza is carrying letters of hope and compassion for the beleaguered citizens of Gaza, who have been subjected to Israel’s horrific collective punishment, a crime against humanity, for the past 1,473 days.

Author Alice Walker who is on the US boat writes “We will be carrying letters … expressing solidarity and love”. Other vessels with the flotilla will bear humanitarian aid, including construction materials, medical supplies and educational materials.

Such are the frightening things which according to Israel’s premier hasbara source, the IDF Spokesman, threaten Israeli civilians.

Scuttlebutt Updates

Three Brave Israelis Bound for Gaza
Since the blockade is both illegal and evil,

and since the world Establishment, including the US government, is enabling it, it is only natural that upstanding Americans and members of other nations want to challenge it. . It should be remembered that the Civil Rights movement in the United States was mostly illegal and its activists were frequently jailed, beaten, bitten by police dogs, and sometimes shot down by law enforcement.

Israel military ordered to stop flotilla
Greta Berlin who is with the US boat to Gaza says she “is frustrated. Greek government trying to stop us from leaving (read that to really mean the US and Israel), but they could not stop at least three boats from already going. Call the state department and demand that they let us sail. 202 647 4000. Ask for Hillary Clinton office.”
Frivolous Lawsuit Filed against Alternatives International for its Support of Freedom Flotilla

From Joseph Dana:

Early this morning, I discovered that a ‘private compliant’ had been filed against the US boat to Gaza. The compliant, it is still unclear who filed it, stated that the US boat to Gaza is not ’sea worthy’ and requires a detailed inspection.The harbor master where the boat is in port has declared that until the compliant is resolved the boat is not permitted to leave. Currently, lawyers representing the US boat are looking into the origins of the compliant and weather it was filed as a result of Israeli economic or diplomatic pressure on the Greek government. The boat is US flagged and registered in the United States.
…
10 ships are expected to sail as part of the Gaza aid flotilla. Currently three ships, including the US boat, have had complaints levied against them. US boat organizers believe that Greece will attempt to delay the ships indefinitely by using a serious of bureaucratic measures such as endless safety checks and cargo inspections.

Anti-Flotilla video fraud linked to PM Netanyahu’s office, official Israeli hasbara agents Doherty and I have gathered evidence suggesting that the video has links to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, or is at least being promoted through an official government hasbara operation.
Netanyahu staffer confirms to EI he promoted pinkwashing video
Danes to join new Gaza flotilla

despite overall calm over the past 10 weeks, two rockets and two mortars had been fired into Israel from Gaza in the past month. Israel had conducted six incursions and one air strike, a Palestinian civilian had been killed by mortar fire while approaching the border fence at night, and two others had been injured by Israeli forces.

However, Mr. Pascoe welcomed Israel’s approval, earlier this week, of $100 million to build 1,100 housing units in Khan Younis and Rafah, as well as 18 schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), among other construction projects. It had brought the total value of approved United Nations reconstruction in the past 15 months to $265 million. “We continue to stress that the market in aggregate, steel bar and cement can and should be liberalized by the Israeli authorities,” he said.

He noted that on 25 May, Egypt had announced extended working hours and eased procedures at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, but the Egyptian and de facto Hamas authorities had faced difficulties in implementing the changes. Efforts to combat weapons smuggling through the tunnels continued. On illegal settlement activity, he said that, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, 1,774 units had been under construction in the West Bank during the first quarter of 2011, excluding East Jerusalem. In the past month, the Ministry of Defence had approved an additional 294 units in the settlement of Beitar Ilit, he said, adding that settlement activity also continued in East Jerusalem.

Expressing concern that continued demolitions in Area C were displacing Palestinians from their communities, he said the Israel Defense Forces had destroyed 81 Palestinian structures in the West Bank, including two in East Jerusalem, displacing 260 people. In addition, Israeli settlers had attacked Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, resulting in 13 Palestinian injuries and extensive material damage

Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories,

commenting two days after Israel announced it would allow the UN to bring in material for school and housing construction, said the blockade is “a deliberate policy of collective punishment which is legally indefensible and morally reprehensible.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli Government approved the delivery of $100 million in building materials for 1,200 homes and 18 schools in UN-run projects in Gaza. Yesterday Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, called the announcement a “significant step.”

Referring to the recent media reports of widespread health problems in Gaza, Mr. Falk said the situation of health care there is “as nothing short of catastrophic.”

Sailing to Gaza/Cap sur Gaza
BDS and Israel’s Battle for Legitimacy
Amb. Michael Oren dishes out anti-flotilla “marching orders” in Jewish Federations call
With the Gaza Aid Flotilla

“Israel has pulled out the stops in trying to get the flotilla to stop before it begins by threatening the Greek economy,“ said Ann Wright, a retired State Department official and former Army colonel who is the main organizer of the US boat to Gaza. Sitting in the lobby of the noisy Athens hotel, she added, “Greece is caught in the middle. There is tremendous public support for the flotilla, but the government is getting pounded by the Israelis.” Not naming her sources, Wright, visibly exhausted from a year of organizing for the flotilla, contended that “Israel is going to try to sink the Greek economy if they allow the flotilla to sail from Greek ports.”

In response to the growing pressure, the Greek foreign ministry released a public statement on June 22 regarding its own citizens sailing with the flotilla. According to the statement, the ministry “urges Greek citizens as well as Greek-registered vessels not to participate in the new flotilla headed for the Gaza port.”

“Everything is explained in great detail,” foreign ministry spokesman Georgy Delavekouras told me over the phone from his office in Athens, referring to the statement. However, the statement is vague and does not say whether Greece will stop Gaza-bound ships registered in other countries.

Confirming that meetings between Greece and Israel have taken place recently over “many issues, including the flotilla,” Delavekouras said the Israeli government has not applied economic pressure. When pressed on the nature of the Israeli-Greek discussions, he simply referred to the statement.

Israel is doing everything possible to avoid a repeat of last year’s flotilla debacle, when Israeli commandos stormed the largest of six boats, the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, and killed nine passengers, including one Turkish-American citizen, as they seized control of the ship.’

“Apparently, the State Department subscribes to the view that Israel’s anticipated violence against unarmed protesters is an immutable act of nature,” said Hagit Borer, a professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California and a passenger on the U.S. boat. “This is a remarkable attitude, coming from a government that provides the Israeli government with billions of dollars in military aid…’

Report of the international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance* [pdf]
ICRC information on Gaza from Mathilde De Riedmatten, deputy head of the ICRC’s sub-delegation in Gaza
Robert Lovelace is an Algonquin presence with the Freedom Flotilla
Gisha’s tack on the naval blockade, with link to their position paper.

?’Does Israel have the right to intercept the expected flotilla?
As an occupying power in the Gaza Strip, Israel may prevent ships from reaching the Gaza shoreline. However, exercising this power imposes on Israel an obligation to allow the passage of goods and people through other means, in order to respect the rights of Gaza residents to a normal life, including the right to engage in dignified, productive work and economic, educational and cultural development. The overall closure policy, of which the maritime closure is part, is unlawful due to the restrictions it places on civilians.’

‘The blockade IS illegal no matter what Israel claims

An expert legal opinion on International Maritime Law and the Gaza blockade’

‘”The legal position is plain. A vessel outwith the territorial waters (12 mile limit) of a coastal state is on the high seas under the sole jurisdiction of the flag state of the vessel. The ship has a positive right of passage on the high seas. The coastal state can regulate economic activity exploiting the resources of the seas and continental shelf up to 200 miles, the extent of the continental shelf, or the agreed boundary, but there is no indication of fishing, oil drilling or analagous economic activity in this case. The vessel is entitled to free passage.”
‘”This right of free passage is guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, to which the United States is a full party. Any incident which takes place upon a US flagged ship on the High Seas is subject to United States legal jurisdiction. A ship is entitled to look to its flag state for protection from attack on the High Seas.”
“Israel has declared a blockade on Gaza and justified previous fatal attacks on neutral civilian vessels on the High Seas in terms of enforcing that embargo, under the legal cover given by the San Remo Manual of International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea.”

“There are however fundamental flaws in this line of argument. It falls completely on one fact alone. 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.”

“It should not be denied that Israel suffers from sporadic terrorist attacks emanating from Gaza.

However this does not come close to reaching the bar of armed conflict that would trigger the right to impose a limited naval blockade in terms of San Remo. To make a comparison, in the 1970’s and 1980’s the United Kingdom suffered continued terrorist attack from the Irish Republican Army, with much more murderous impact causing many more deaths than anything Israel has suffered in recent years from Gaza. However nobody would seek to argue that the UK would have had the right to mount a general naval blockade of the Republic of Ireland in the 1970’s and 1980’s, even though the Republic was undoubtedly the base for much IRA supply and operations. Justifications of Israeli naval action against neutral civilian ships by San Remo is based on special pleading and an impossibly strained definition of the term “armed conflict”.’

Israel’s Siege of Gaza and Attacks on the Humanitarian Aid Flotilla – Legal Background
6, count em 6, members of Congress sign letter to Clinton expressing concern for ‘safety’ of US citizens on flotilla
Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip – Facts & Statistics
Israel offers compensation, refuses apology in secret talks with Turkey – these talks are spun in Haaretz.

Palestine / Israel Links

Fayyad to Israel: Give Palestinians freedom or right to vote
The diamond industry’s double-standard on Israel
NSW government MLC slobbers his adoration for apartheid : ‘Secord also encouraged people who support Israel to visit a Max Brenner outlet and make a purchase “as an act of solidarity and defiance against the BDS”.’
Another day, Another Appeal! At this time, the refrain of Palestinian people subsisting under the boot crescendoes and cries for justice – that song is the roots of the blues and so too, punk. International musicians can be a powerful force for change by respecting Palestinian civil society’s call for boycott. Then the Palestinian song demanding justice, freedom and equal rights for all can be heard loud and strong.
Jerusalem Arab Housing Plan Blocked By Zionist Right
Who funds birthright?

In a deliberate bid to co-mingle sex, violence, and nationalism — do these people plan to imitate the SS, or does it just happen? — Birthright’s planners self-consciously try to bind Jewish youth to Israeli youth in the most visceral way possible.

Australia Links

The spy who came in from the desert – new book about Pine Gap

June 23, 2011August 24, 2022

The Illogicality of Liberal Zionism

With acknowledgement to Professor Ran Greenstein from Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg ….

Naomi Chazan may wish for self-determination for both “peoples”, yet equal rights under the law – individual human rights – precede any presumed collective rights. This is the contradiction which to their discredit, liberal zionists cannot resolve. Yet typically, racism is full of contradictory anomalies. Is it reasonable to oppose equal rights for all as a basic principle of democracy?

There is no customary law which defines a collective “right to exist”. If Israel cannot institute equal rights for all its citizens and cease from being a racist state which entitles some people above others on the artificial basis of ethno-religious identity, it guarantees its own disintegration – such tyrannies of privilege inevitably collapse under the weight of the contradictions required to sustain them.

The two state solution which Chazan proffers is reminiscent of the ‘separate but equal’ propaganda pushed by white South African apartheidists when they attempted to justify their horrific bantustans.

The liberation movement at which liberal zionism baulks and casts as a chimera, BDS, is ethical, legitimised by its grounding in human rights as the unified grassroots call for global solidarity of people of conscience from oppressed Palestinians themselves. BDS addresses the apartheid perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, the hideous Occupation, the lack of recognition of Palestinians’ right of return and the lack of equal rights for all in Israel. All these aims are supported solidly by international humanitarian law.

Like the apartheid South African state, Israel cannot halt the inevitable – boycotts, divestments and sanctions are an unstoppable non-violent means to ease the transformation of this belligerent oppressor and its supporters, be they rightwing or cognitively dissonant ‘liberal’ zionists.

Chazan’s efforts to undermine BDS need to be seen in context. At the end of the day, Chazan will go home to Israel where she is a privileged Jewish citizen with all her rights intact. She is part of and an enabler of the establishment that denies Palestinians their basic rights and freedoms, and as such, she is not in a position to be dictating to the Palestinians their methods of struggle or acting as gatekeeper for the international solidarity movements, preaching to them what is allowed and what is not in standing with the Palestinians. As in every human struggle for freedom, justice and equality, that right is the prerogative of those who live behind the walls, hindered by checkpoints and held captive to siege and military oppression.

Naomi Chazan understands that Israel’s fascist anti-boycott law is destructive of Israel and that it means settlement-only boycotters may increasingly back full boycott but clings to her irrational belief that BDS is counter-productive.

Marriage, gay marriage: Just how liberal is Israel?
BDS a last resort counter to Israeli exceptionalism
Israeli democracy exploits its weakest citizens
Israeli Apartheid is Worse Than Apartheid Practised by White South Africa
Have current events in the Middle East made a solution more or less likely? Hear both sides of the debate when International and Australian speakers Ghassan Hage, Naomi Chazan, Saree Makdisi and Peter Hartcher discussed recent events in Israel and Palestine and what they meant for the future.

Palestine / Israel Links

Academics Support Israel’s “Civil Disobedience Women” Willing to Break Israel’s Entry Laws
Razing of Palestinian homes picking up speed
Michael Brull lays it on the line to the callow Australian zionists who banned pro-BDS speakers like Vivienne Porzolt from Limmud-Oz. ‘I do not intend to beg Limmud Oz to end its censorship of a woman courageously resisting a crime against humanity. Given the depraved nature of what our organisations consider acceptable, and what they consider outrageous, I would prefer to be banned too.’
State Department Travel Warning: If You Try To Sail To Gaza, Israel May Kill You
Why aren’t Cut/Copy @cutcopy acknowledging our call to boycott apartheid Israel? Shame! act now
Shakira: Let me tell you about Palestine. Open letter from a Colombian citizen
Quartet Rep Tony Blair meets with @UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador… on Twitpic
Another wall, another fact on the ground, another land grab by Mordor : ‘The Israeli government agreed on Sunday to build a wall along the borders of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to block infiltration of Palestinians through the border town of Majdal Shams.’
‘The humanitarian aid convoy, called “Miles of Smiles 3”, entered Gaza with about 30 tons of medicine, medical supplies and milk powder on Sunday’
Jerusalem baby denied rights by Israeli apartheid – this story highlights more than many others the ruthless depravity of the racist Israeli state.
EU’s Ashton to Haaretz: UN vote on Palestinian state not a done deal
Israeli crossings officials said they would permit 300 truckloads of commercial goods, humanitarian aid and limited construction materials into the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Illegal Israeli settler thugs attack Palestinian family and attempt to takeover their home
Veteran Palestinian academic describes ‘land swap’ as a farce
Gaza Feature: You Can’t Develop An Economy Based On Tunnels
Red Card Israeli Apartheid – Palestinian sports groups challenge UEFA on Israeli hosting of 2013 Under-21 tournament
#BDS: Too Little Too Late: Mostafa El-Sayed: I would never repeat the Hebrew honorary doctorate experience

Other Links

Goodbye Melanie! Phillips leaves the Spectator as the complaints pile up.

June 20, 2011December 11, 2020

Join BDS, Support the Freedom Flotilla 2 to Gaza, End Israeli Oppression!

In his message of support for the new “Freedom for Palestine” single by OneWorld, Archbishop Desmond Tutu recognises the power of music and art against Israeli apartheid and colonialism in the same way that they were central to the struggle against apartheid oppression in South Africa.

“True peace comes only with justice.”

The Freedom Flotilla 2, with 12+ boats carrying humanitarian aid and 1000+ peace activists, is sailing to Gaza in late June. Alice Walker, who’s sailing with us, calls this the Freedom Ride of our generation. We want to help open this Palestinian port and end the illegal Israeli blockade, which has caused so much suffering. Meanwhile, the global BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement is calling on Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson and Kiri Te Kanawa to cancel their 2011 Israel concerts and get on the boat!

Palestine / Israel Links

Let them eat cheese! Rechavia Berman examines Israeli neoliberalist exploitation, settler pogroms, sex in politics and the superiority of zionist dairy cows amongst other things in his Weekly Holyland overview.

June 18, 2011December 11, 2020

Illegal Settlers Infesting Occupied East Jerusalem

Thaer Qirresh is a 14-year-old Palestinian living in the Muslim quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem. His family are the last Palestinian family left in the block after a settler organisation purchased the lease and moved in

A group of students gathered outside of one of Max Brenner’s franchise cafes in Sydney in protest at its support for the Israeli army.
The protest is part of the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS campaign, which was called from a broad cross-section of Palestinian civil society organisations in 2005.
Max Brenner is a chocolate retailer owned by the Strauss Group, which is the second largest Israeli food and beverage company and is largely touted as one of the greatest successes of Israeli industry.
On its website in the section on “Corporate Responsibility,” the Strauss Group emphasises its support for the Israeli army, noting: “Our connection with soldiers goes as far back as the country, and even further. We see a mission and need to continue to provide our soldiers with support, to enhance their quality of life and service conditions, and sweeten their special moments”.
Max Brenner has been the target of BDS actions throughout Australia for over two years. Protesters here say that this action is part of their commitment to the global BDS campaign which seeks to pressure companies that either profit from or support the Israeli military occupation until Israel ends the occupation and complies with international law and United Nations resolutions.
Early in the protest the police officers present tightened their control over the students movements. A number of police officers asked our crew to leave on a number of occasions, forcing us to stop filming and physically removing our crew away from the protest.
The students marched on chanting anti-Apartheid messages. The police officers then attempted to disperse the crowd and put an end to the protest. The police then used force to disperse the protesters, beating a number of students. Two students were charged with hindering police and their trials set for July 13.
The students have vowed to continue protesting outside of the ten Max Brenner cafes throughout Sydney, saying it is their legal right. They also criticized the police’s role in protecting a company that openly supports an illegal military occupation while at the same time using violence against a peaceful student protest

Palestine / Israel Links

Israeli hasbara machine touts ‘culture’ as propaganda in Marrickville
From Arab Spring comes a new form of Palestinian unity
Will Free Gaza Flotilla Be Safe from Israel’s Murderous Threats?
Israeli Entrepreneurs, Fearing BDS and UN Recognition of Palestine, Announce New Peace Initiative
Old but useful: Peace Now wants to collaborate with Lieberman
Ask Jello Biafra to observe the cultural boycott of Israel.

Jello Biafra, Please Boycott Israel

Jello Biafra : Please Don’t Play Apartheid Israel – Find Out The Facts
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Interview with Jello Biafra

Other Links

Empire Games: Who Writes the Rules? the Western left is not merely trapped in the illusion of a liberal democracy, it has contributed to its creation and the Western left is itself a product of liberal democracy.
Challenging economic (ir)rationalists’ addiction to growth, neoliberalism & capitalism