Diary about peace and freedom

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos brutally attacked Freedom Flotilla 1...

2011-09-02T05:55:00.000+02:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos brutally attacked Freedom Flotilla 1, killing eight Turkish and one American passenger on board the Mavi Marmara, most having been killed at close range, execution style.. They injured more than 50 other passengers, both on the Mavi Marmara and on the other four boats sailing to the embattled territory of Gaza to bring the attention of the world to Israel’s illegal blockade of 1.6 million Palestinians. Not only were our passengers murdered and maimed, but the Israeli government has refused to return over $1 million in money and equipment, including cameras and videos which are of evidential value.
In the 15 months since Israel’s unwarranted attack on five boats carrying human rights watchers, Israel has been trying to spin the story that their well-armed soldiers were the victims and we were the aggressors. Several reports have already been written, most squarely blaming Israel for its attack on unarmed civilians.
The UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission took evidence from 112 eyewitnesses, reviewed forensic evidence, including autopsy reports and inspected the Mavi. It found that, because a humanitarian crisis exists in Gaza, Israel's blockade is ulawful and ‘cannot be sustained in law…regardless of the grounds” used as justification. Israel’s blockade is collective punishment and in violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, inflicting civilian damage disproportionate to any military advantage. Therefore, since Freedom Flotilla 1 neither presented an imminent threat to Israel nor was designed to contribute to any war effort against Israel, intercepting the flotilla was ‘clearly unlawful’ andcould not be justified as self-defense.Israel refused to cooperate with this UN panel even though the United Nations and governments all around the world called for just such an independent investigation of the events.
Instead, the Israeli government set up its own investigatory panel, The Turkel Commission, led by Israeli retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel and three other Israelis issued a report on January 23, 2011 exonerating the commandos, then saying the blockade was legal. The commission did not interview a single passenger or crew member from any of the boats but only received testimony from the Israeli military.
On January 28, 2011, Amnesty International condemned the Turkel findings as no more than a whitewash. “Despite being nearly 300 pages long, the report crucially fails to explain how the activists died and what conclusions the Commission reached regarding the IDF’s specific actions in each case.” http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.html
Free Gaza shares Amnesty International's analysis that the conflict between the Israeli armed forces and unarmed civilians was NOT armed conflict, making international humanitarian law (IHL) the wrong framework; international human rights law and law enforcement norms should have been applied, which would have made the use of force – and especially lethal force –an act of last resort.

Now there is the Palmer/Uribe report due to be released tomorrow, which apparently adopts the same faulty IHL framework.

According to Audrey Bomse, Board member and Legal Adviser to Free Gaza : “If the leaks we've heard from Israeli officials are correct, the holes in this report are big enough to sail a flotilla of ships through. There are serious problems with the Panel’s composition, mandate and legal analysis. But most disturbing of all is the fact that the Secretary General’s Panel apparently condones Israel’s gross violations of the human and national rights of the Palestinian people and the rights of those in solidarity with them.”

The Panel has 4 members, one from Israel and one from Turkey, plus Geoffrey Palmer, former prime minister of New Zealand and ex-president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe. The choice of Uribe as vice-chairman is suspect, given his intimate association with the military and paramilitary practice of murdering civilians in Colombia. The Panel, was only tasked to review the reports of the national investigations by Turkey and Israel (the Turkel Committee), not to conduct an in-depth objective investigation. Its ultimate goal, was to “positively affect the relationship between Turkey and Israel.”

International humanitarian law (IHL, the law of armed conflict) is the wrong legal framework to be used as the basis for judging the lawfulness of the actions taken by Israel both against the civilian population of Gaza (the blockade) and against those resisting the boarding of the MM. The conflict between the Israeli navy and unarmed civilians on the Mavi Marmara was not armed conflict. International human rights law and law enforcement norms should have been applied, which would have made the use of force – and especially lethal force –an act of last resort. Nor should the legality of the blockade of occupied Gaza be analyzed in the framework of the law of armed conflict.

If indeed the Uribe Rport has concluded that the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza - a serious measure of war - is legal and in accordance with international law, then this Report will contradict numerous other UN reports and resolutions, most recently that of the Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission, on the issue of the legality of the Gaza siege.

As the Human Rights Council Fact‐Finding Mission observed, “public confidence in any investigative process ... is not enhanced when the subject of the investigation either investigates himself or plays a pivotal role in the process.”

Contact: Audrey Bomse +44 (0)78615610932, audreybomse@hotmail.com
Huwaida Arraf +970-598-336-215, huwaida.arraf@gmail.com
Greta Berlin +1 310 422 7242, Iristulip@gmail.com

UNESCO Sharply Condemns Israel

2011-06-29T19:48:00.002+03:00

Yedioth Ahronoth (p. 31) by Itamar Eichner -- UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee yesterday decided to call on Israel to stop immediately all archaeological excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem and not carry out its plan to demolish the temporary bridge to the Mughrabi Gate, linking the Western Wall to the Temple Mount, and to build a new bridge in its stead.

The decision was initiated by Jordan along with three other Arab states: Egypt, Bahrain and Iraq. The decision was passed by a consensus of all the 21 members on the committee. Four countries—Australia, Switzerland, Brazil and Mexico—expressed sharp reservation to the anti-Israel content in the decision, but did not vote against. These countries, along with Estonia and Sweden, also demanded to postpone the debate on the charged subject, but their demand was denied by a majority. The Israeli ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, who has the position of observer, asked to speak and to present Israel’s positions against the Jordanian document—but the Egyptians refused, and the Israeli ambassador was not given permission to speak.

Along with the harsh condemnation of Israel and the demand to stop immediately all archaeological excavations in the Old City, including the Western Wall, the committee also called to send a delegation to Israel on behalf of UNESCO to ensure that the work stop. Israel announced that it would not let such a delegation enter.

Political officials in Israel reacted angrily to Jordan’s conduct and said that it had broken an explicit agreement signed last week on the demolition next week of the temporary bridge that is in danger of collapse. In the agreement, Jordan promised not to demand a condemnation of Israel in UNESCO.

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
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Tell them to let our people go

2011-06-26T12:33:00.002+03:00

Tell them to let our people go

To all: By now you’ve no doubt heard the news about Hillary’s people defining the about to take off Gaza flotilla as a “provacative act”! Could Obama be getting a bit nervous that he might have to take a stand? He may be nervous but not as much as the Israeli government that is throwing everything in the book at them to prevent them from even leaving the shores. Below is a partial dialogue from the State Dept. press conference where Matt Lee of the AP was a bit persistent in his questioning. I’m sure he’ll pay for it in some way but good on him as Molly used to say.

Reporters hector State: Is the blockade legal? What right does Israel have to ‘defend itself’ from humanitarian aid?
by Philip Weiss on June 25, 2011

Matt Lee of AP is on fire. Be like Matt Lee, you docile bovine seven-stomached beasts of the mainstream media, grow a pair. And it looks like other State Department reporters are emulating him. Here's the video . And here's an extended excerpt from the briefing, below. Gaza is just about the first order of business. And listen to Lee's genius question toward the end about Saudi Arabian women driving and breaking the law. "It seems to me that's a pretty provocative act," too, but Hillary Clinton defends them. I have to believe stuff is shaking. Oh brave flotilla, be safe and make it to Gaza!!!!

QUESTION: This morning, Victoria, you put out a statement – or a statement went out in your name – about the flotilla. This is the third warning in three days from this building or people in this building about this. What is the big concern here? Are you – is there a worry that this is going – that this may upend your efforts to get the peace talks restarted?

MS. [Victoria] NULAND: I think this just continues a year of diplomacy and public statements that we’ve had making clear that we don’t want to see a repeat of the very dangerous situation that occurred last year. So we thought it was timely to put out all in one place our views on this issue, and I do commend to all of you the very detailed statement that we put out earlier in the day.

QUESTION: Right. But is there a concern that this may have broader – if it goes ahead, that there may be broader implications for the effort?

MS. NULAND: We have seen some warming in relations between Turkey and Israel, as we talked about I think it was on Tuesday. We want to see that effort continue. We want to see those who want to aid humanitarian situation in Gaza use the appropriate channels. There has been some progress, as the statement makes clear, in opening the way for more humanitarian aid. More humanitarian aid is getting in through legitimate channels. So we’d like to see that process continue and not have a repeat of the dangerous situation we had last summer.

QUESTION: Okay. Well, one of the things that the Secretary said yesterday in – when – in her comments to this was that attempts to go into Israeli waters were provocative and irresponsible. And it’s my understanding that the flotilla organizers do not intend to go into Israeli waters but in – they will stay in international waters. Is that your understanding or is that not your understanding per what the Secretary said yesterday?

MS. NULAND: I can’t speak to the intentions of those involved in the flotilla. I think the Secretary was clear it was in response to a question yesterday --

QUESTION: Correct.

MS. NULAND: -- as you remember, so that also speaks to the fact that publicly this issue is out there, that we do not want to see the bad situation of last year repeated. We do believe that channels exist for providing humanitarian aid to Gaza in a safe and secure way and that that situation is improving. And we urge all NGOs who want to participate in that to use those channels.

QUESTION: But does a flotilla sitting in international waters off the Gaza – off the coast of Gaza, is that a problem for the U.S.?

MS. NULAND: Again, I don’t want to get into the Law of the Sea issues here. I simply want to say that we don’t want to see a conflict at sea, on land. We want to see appropriate legitimate channels used for the --

QUESTION: I understand, but in the briefing that just preceded this --

MS. NULAND: Yes.

QUESTION: -- you talked about wanting to – in another instance, in the South China Sea, the U.S. has been very concerned about the freedom of navigation.

MS. NULAND: Yeah.

QUESTION: And so I’m not quite sure what the U.S. problem would be with a flotilla that stays in international waters, whether it’s off the coast of Gaza or off the coast of the Philippines.

MS. NULAND: I think we’re not talking about a freedom of navigation issue. We’re talking about appropriate and safe and agreed mechanisms for delivering aid to the people of Gaza.

QUESTION: So it’s --

MS. NULAND: So I think the statement speaks for it --

QUESTION: Well, but you believe that Israel is within its rights to defend itself to take on or to prevent ships from going into international waters?

MS. NULAND: Again, I’m not going to speak to international waters, territorial waters. I’m simply saying that we are encouraging those who want to aid the people of Gaza to use the channels that have been established.

QUESTION: All right. And then was – on the flotilla – this is on the Middle East – I just want to know, wondering if there’s any update on the Quartet meeting in Brussels?

MS. NULAND: Simply that they had a good meeting today, they did begin a conversation about when they’re going to meet next, and they’re looking to do that in the next few weeks. But I don’t have any specific announcements out of the Quartet today.

QUESTION: Is there – is the thought that the next meeting would be at the principals level or is it going to be, again, at the – at an envoy level?

MS. NULAND: I think decisions have not been made on that subject.

Yes.

QUESTION: To follow up on --

QUESTION: Just to – this is a follow-up.

MS. NULAND: Are we on flotilla too or are we --

QUESTION: We’re on flotilla. Just to make sure, does the U.S. consider that blockade legal?

MS. NULAND: I think the main point that we were trying to make in the statement was that we’ve got to use the channels that are safe, the channels that are going to guarantee that the aid get where it needs to go to the people it’s intended for, and to discourage, in strongest terms, any actions on the high seas that could result in a conflict.

QUESTION: Right, but again, that doesn’t answer the question of the legality or the – whether the U.S. perceives that blockade as legal or not.

MS. NULAND: I don’t have anything for you on legality here. We can take a stronger look at that if you’d like, but again, the reason that the Secretary spoke to this yesterday when she was asked, the reason that we’ve put out this very fulsome statement that points people in the correct direction, is because we want to avoid the problems of last year, and we do believe that there are good and reliable channels for getting assistance to the people of Gaza.

QUESTION: And just one more. I’m sorry. The people who are putting this together have a rather elaborate website, and they say that – on that that the U.S. should be protecting the rights of American citizens, protecting their safety abroad. So that is the argument that they are making. They’re very disappointed and shocked that the State Department would be warning people off. What do you say to that?

MS. NULAND: It is in the interest of protecting both Americans and other citizens from around the world who might be thinking about engaging in provocative moves like this that we were putting out these warnings so strongly in the same season where we had this problem last year. We don’t want to see a repeat, and we do believe that those who want to aid Gaza can do so and need to do so in the correct manner.

Please.

QUESTION: You kept repeating that they have available to them --

MS. NULAND: Yes.

QUESTION: -- proper channels and so on. What – could you share with us some of these proper channels?

MS. NULAND: Well, the Rafah Crossing, as you know, is open again, and we have seen an uptick in the humanitarian aid that is going through there. There are also channels through Israel, and we’ve been relatively encouraged that the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza through these appropriate channels is improving.

QUESTION: But the Rafah Crossing was only recently opened. I mean, until then, it was completely closed. So that’s one issue. And another: Could you clarify for us whether, in fact, the Gaza waters or crossing through the Gaza waters, is that legal or illegal under the Laws of the Seas and so on? Could you clarify that, please?

MS. NULAND: I think that’s the same question that Jill was asking. And I will admit to you I’m not a Law of the Sea expert here, but let me take the question.

QUESTION: Okay. And a quick follow-up on the Quartet: You said that it was a good meeting. Now what constitutes a good meeting? How was the, let’s say, the meeting today different or improved the situation from, let’s say, 24 hours ago?

MS. NULAND: Well, as you saw and as we’ve been discussing here for the course of the last week, David Hale has been involved very intensively with the parties, with the regional states. For the members of the Quartet, I think it was a chance to compare notes on diplomacy that we’ve been doing, on diplomacy that other members of the Quartet have been doing in our shared effort to get these parties back to the table. So, from that perspective, there was a lot to discuss and then to take stock of where to go next.

Please.

QUESTION: Can I do a follow-up on the flotilla?

MS. NULAND: Please, yeah.

QUESTION: My understanding is that there were a number of the Americans who planned to participate and went into your – I believe in your Embassy in Athens and sought some advice. Can you tell us what the message to them in person was today?

MS. NULAND: I’m sure that the message to them in person was identical to the statement that we’ve put out today, that we would ask them to use established and reliable channels and to refrain from action that could lead to the kind of difficulty that we saw last year.

QUESTION: When you say that you want – you don’t want a repeat of last year, you want people to refrain from action that could lead to the kind of difficulty that you saw last year, does that only apply to the flotilla organizers or does that also apply to Israel?

MS. NULAND: We’ve been urging all sides, whether it’s the NGOs or whether it’s governments involved, that we not have a repeat of what happened last year.

QUESTION: Right. Well --

MS. NULAND: And I think this speaks to the fact that the neighboring states that – to Gaza have worked hard to establish legitimate mechanisms, efficient mechanisms to get aid in so that people have a way to do this other than to risk provocative action.

Please, Jill.

QUESTION: Another subject?

MS. NULAND: Anybody – anything else on this? Lachlan?

QUESTION: Just one more on this. Yeah. I don’t think you said it, but people at the State Department have said Israel has a right to defend itself against these flotillas. What exactly would it be defending against, though? That’s what’s not clear to me.

MS. NULAND: Like all states, Israel has a right of national self-defense. Again, I don’t want to get into where the boat might be and Law of the Sea and all this kind of stuff. We are simply saying this is the wrong way to get aid to Gaza. The correct way to get aid to Gaza is through the established mechanisms which are improving, which are open, and which can get aid to the people that it’s intended for.

QUESTION: But it’s just humanitarian aid, so I don’t see why it would be – Israel would have to defend itself if it’s just humanitarian aid coming in.

MS. NULAND: It’s the matter of all states to provide coastal defense, but I’m – again, I’m not going to get into the Law of the Sea issues here. We’re simply trying to make the point that we want this done in a way that not only is going to get the aid where it’s intended, but is going to ensure that we don’t have dangerous incidents.

QUESTION: In general, would you say that the Administration, the U.S. Government, is – would advise anyone against provocative acts?

MS. NULAND: I think that’s a fair point.

QUESTION: It is. Okay. So you don’t see, when the Secretary comes out in support of women who want to drive in Saudi Arabia, deliberately violating Saudi laws and regulations, that – her support of that is – doesn’t mean that you’re not – I mean, I don’t understand where you – if you’re coming out against all provocative acts, it seems to me that that’s a pretty provocative act, and yet she’s supporting that.

MS. NULAND: The Secretary was supporting the right of not only Saudi women, women around the world, to live as men do. She wasn’t encouraging any particular course of action one way or the other. She was simply making a strong public statement of empathy and support for the campaign that these women are on to have these laws changed.

QUESTION: Okay. So a provocative act in support of the Palestinians in Gaza is not okay, though?

MS. NULAND: I don’t think we are supporting provocative acts of any kind. I think you can’t equate these two issues. The Secretary was simply speaking to the aspirations of Saudi women to have the laws of their country changed. She wasn’t encouraging any particular course of action for that.

QUESTION: Okay. Let me try and put it a different way, then. You believe that because there are established – already established means, the Israeli port where things are inspected and the Rafah Crossing, that in this case, being provocative is unnecessary and unwise because it’s just not needed; there are other ways to do it? Is that – that’s the bottom line?

MS. NULAND: That’s certainly the case, and we don’t want further incidents. It’s not in anybody’s interest.

QUESTION: Is the regular blockade a provocative act?

MS. NULAND: I think we’ve gone as far as we’re going to go on this subject.

QUESTION: I’ll ask again. Is the naval blockade a provocative action?

MS. NULAND: We would consider it provocative and it would be dangerous to have a repeat of the situation that we saw last year.

QUESTION: But the current existing blockade, the naval blockade of Gaza, is that provocative action or is it not?

MS. NULAND: As I said, we believe that there are legitimate and efficient ways to get assistance into Gaza and that those mechanisms are working and that we’re seeing, as a result of them, an improvement in the humanitarian situation.

Jill, are we moving on now? Yeah. Thanks. Please, go ahead.

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

Israel Proves that Flotillas Work

2011-06-24T01:04:00.000+03:00

Israel’s announcement of authorization for construction materials for 1,200 homes and 18 schools in Gaza is the latest achievement by the Freedom Flotilla, scheduled to sail next week.

In the weeks leading up to the flotilla, Israel has taken a number of steps to try to address the concerns raised in the public eye by the Freedom Flotilla 2 – Stay Human initiative. However organizers say that these steps are symbolic at best, fall far short of Israel’s obligations under international law, are insufficient to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza, and are fundamentally designed to maintain the occupation and system of control that Israel exerts over Palestinian lives. Ultimately, these measures fall short of the greatest test – that of freedom for Palestinians.

In addition to the authorization of a limited amount of construction materials, Israel has also recently permitted 19 trucks of medicine to be delivered by Palestinian sources from the West Bank to Gaza. This was in response to an emergency announcement from health authorities in Gaza that crucial medicines had run out due to Israel's illegal blockade. Prior to that, Israel increased the number of aid trucks entering Gaza to between 210 and 220 per day. However, this still falls 35% short of what is required by Gaza Strip residents.

The pattern developing shows that as the sailing date of the Flotilla nears, Israel is increasing efforts to allow humanitarian goods into Gaza, including previously banned reconstruction materials. This proves three important things: (1) the Flotilla is effective in generating changes, even if they are insufficient, on the ground; (2) the ‘normal channels’ for delivering aid exist, but are useless without pressure on Israel to allow them to function; and (3) Israel’s standard excuse for preventing reconstruction material into Gaza is rendered baseless, given the approval to allow 1,200 homes and 18 schools to be constructed.

Even as the Freedom Flotilla welcomes this latest achievement and proof of the necessity and effectiveness of the Flotilla tactic, we also reiterate that our effort is not simply about delivering humanitarian aid. The goal of the Flotilla is not aid; it is freedom for Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. As such, there are no ‘established channels’ for freedom – there is only one - an end to the Israeli occupation.

Flotilla preparations continue apace, buoyed by the support of people around the world. Next week Freedom Flotilla 2: Stay Human sails for Gaza; our destination is freedom.

###

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Our message of peace is a call to action, for other ordinary people like ourselves, not to hand over your lives to whatever puppeteer is in charge this time round, but to take responsibility for the revolution. First, the inner revolution -- to give love, to give empathy; It is this that will change the world. -- Vittorio Arrigoni

The real heart deep down doesn't only stand up for what's right but also helps others to learn to stand up for what's right. -- Mary Alfar (age 11)

Email update from Free Gaza

2011-04-16T08:06:00.001+03:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee

April 15, 2011 (London)

The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our work in support of that struggle.

In his honor, we are naming our next voyage, FREEDOM FLOTILLA – STAY HUMAN.

Nothing that we write can capture the man who was so full of the joy of life, a man with the pipe in his mouth and the captain’s hat always tilted at an angle on his head. The man with the big smile and gentle nature, someone who used his physical strength to hold small children in his arms, sometimes several at a time. His laughter and his last comments every time we saw him will ring in all of our ears as we board the boats to return to Gaza at the end of May.

“Stay Human,” he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth.

Vittorio had sailed with us from Greece on the first small fishing boat to enter Gaza in the summer of 2008, one of 44 activists sailing to protest the illegal blockade imposed by Israel against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.

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Greta Berlin,

Email update from Free Gaza

2011-04-15T16:26:00.001+03:00

A message from Mary Hughes Thompson, one of the activists on board the first boat into Gaza,. Vik was on that boat, and we are all devastated with this news. Greta

Throughout the day we prayed this would have the best kind of endings. The kidnappers had given a deadline several hours away. So this latest terrible news has devastated all of us who knew Vik. He and I were on the FREE GAZA when it sailed to Gaza in August 2008. He stayed behind in Gaza, and two months later he was kidnapped and arrested on a fishing boat near the coast of Gaza. He was abducted to Israel, jailed in Ramle Prison and deported home to Italy. Within days he was back in Gaza, where he stayed throughout the massacres of December 08 and January 09, leaving only briefly for Cairo where I last saw him during the Gaza Freedom March.

Words can't express the shock and sense of bereavement at the loss of this beautiful man, who considered himself Palestinian. The videos we saw of him bloodied and blindfolded were chilling, nothing like the Vittorio we knew and loved, always smiling, always wearing a skipper's hat and holding his beloved pipe. After Juliano Mer-Khamis, this is just too much. May they both rest in peace.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/hamas-abducted-pro-palestinian-activist-found-dead-in-gaza-1.356099

Hamas: Abducted pro-Palestinian activist found dead in Gaza

Two suspects have been arrested in the alleged kidnapping and subsequent murder of Italian Vittorio Arrigoni, an activist in the International Solidarity Movement; Arrigoni's body was found in an abandoned house in Gaza.

An Italian pro-Palestinian activist, reported kidnapped by extremist militants on Thursday, was found dead in Gaza, Hamas officials reported.
The body of Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, from Italy was discovered in the home of a member of the extreme Islamist group that claimed responsibility for the abduction. Two suspects have already been arrested.
The video shows a man with a thick black blindfold and a large bruise on his face. Apparently seated, he is held in front of the camera by an unseen person.
In a message on the video, the extremist group that calls itself Monotheism and Holy War demanded that Hamas free its leader, arrested in early March, and two other members whose names had not been previously known.
Sheikh Abu Walid-al-Maqdasi, the leader of the group, was arrested in a crowded beachside neighborhood of Gaza City last month.
Although Hamas authorities were responsible for locating Arrigoni, Hamas itself is a fundamentalist Islamic group. But it faces challenges from even more extremist offshoots of Islam, including Walid-al-Maqdasi's group, that take inspiration from Al-Qaida and the world jihad movement. Hamas has denied that al-Qaida has a presence in Gaza.
Kidnappings of foreigners were common before the Hamas takeover. Most of those abducted were foreign correspondents, including Alan Johnston of the BBC, who was abducted and held for 114 days before being freed in July 2007, just after Hamas overran Gaza, expelling forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
ISM, the organization to which Arrigoni belonged, operates in the West Bank and Gaza and is known for trying to prevent the Israeli military from carrying out its missions. Arraf said this activist has been going in and out of Gaza for more than two years. He was working with farmers and fishermen.
The ISM incident that got the most attention was the 2003 death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in southern Gaza while trying to block its path.Hamas authorities claim to be taking measures to locate additional suspects involved in the alleged abduction and subsequent murder.
Earlier Thursday, a video claiming to show the victim emerged from Gaza along with a demand by an extremist group to the Hamas government to release its leader, who was arrested last month. The group set a deadline of Friday afternoon, threatening to execute the hostage.
Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, said the abducted man in the video appeared to be one of its activists, identifying him as Arrigoni.
Hamas police reportedly stormed the Gaza City apartment, home of a member of the extremist group that released the video, where they found Arrigoni dead. It is unclear how he was killed.

--

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire

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Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
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Email update again..

2011-03-07T12:42:00.001+02:00

The winds of change blowing through the Middle East are bringing enormous hopes for change.

In Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak helped to maintain the siege on Gaza, there is now a big public campaign to open to Rafah crossing. It has not succeeded yet, but the situation in Egypt remains very fluid and hopeful. And the pressure is growing on Israel also to abandon the illegal siege.

Viva Palestina is liaising constantly with our friends in the Middle East to assess what the next steps are to break the siege and to take other initiatives to end Palestinian suffering in the occupied West Bank and Al Quds, and also to highlight the injustices facing Palestinians within the borders of 1948 Israel. These steps need to be coordinated at a high level with the people across the region who are engaged in a heroic struggle to bring democracy and freedom.

We should remember that these struggles have come at an extremely high price. Some of the people who welcomed us on our first convoy through Tunisia and Libya, for example, have faced or are facing very bloody repression and we urge VP supporters to be part of broad-based initiatives to highlight that suffering.

As the political situation in the Middle East become clearer in the next few weeks, we hope to be in a position to announce the next initiatives Viva Palestina will be taking.

There will be considerable discussion with activists in the Middle East about that at the Second Summer University of Palestine, organised by VP-Arabia. It is taking place in Beirut, Lebanon, from 23 to 30 July: The New Middle East - people power, democracy and Palestine. It is an educational event, and one of the aims of Viva Palestina is to raise public awareness of the Palestinian issue. It will also be a place where humanitarian initiatives can be coordinated. For details of the event, which looks like it will book up quickly, go towww.vivapalestinaarabia.org. Viva Palestina is participating in the event, and we encourage others to as well. A leaflet for the event is attached.

A number of supporters are asking about the second flotilla to Gaza. VP was represented on the first flotilla on the Mavi Marmara, which was so brutally attacked by Israeli forces. The trustees have decided that VP cannot be a sponsor the second floitlla given our charitable status, though we are, of course, entirely supportive of the aim of breaking the siege. So please refer any questions you have about to forthcoming flotilla to the organisers in Britain - an umbrella group, Britain 2 Gaza.

The Beirut Summer University will be a major event at which we hope to coordinate our work with others who are on the ground in the Middle East and who are building support for the Palestinian people as never before.

That will enable us to work with major partners, as we have done on our previous missions, to make the most effective contribution we can in the new and historic circumstances that are opening up in the region.

Two years after "Operation Cast Lead"

2011-01-05T08:53:00.000+02:00

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5424

Two years after "Operation Cast Lead"--Israel’s horrific 22-day all-out assault of the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip--which killed approximately 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, Israel continues to collectively punish 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip through an illegal blockade, and to avoid accountability for its actions.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation will collect 22,000 signatures in the next 22 days, on the petition at the link above. This petition calls upon the Obama Administration to:

1. Demand that Israel end its illegal siege of the Gaza Strip, and
2. Stop blocking the international community from holding Israel accountable for its actions.

Help us reach that goal by signing this petition. After doing so, you can help us spread the word about this petition by alerting your friends. Thanks for taking action!

Greta Berlin

Second anniversary of Israel's brutal assault commemorated

2010-12-27T21:09:00.002+02:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_LIfs__jHE

Some people wonder why we put ourselves on boats and sail across the Mediterranean to Gaza. We face one of the most vicious armies in the world, armed with only our determination.

On this, the second anniversary of Israel's brutal assault on Gaza when 1400 Palestinians were killed, we want you to know you are not forgotten.

If governments refuse to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes against a civilian population, we, in civil society will continue to sail again and again until Israel's brutal siege is over. We will return in the spring.

--
Greta Berlin Gaza Friends

Corporate Complicity in Israeli War Crimes X

2010-11-19T20:55:00.000+02:00

The second international session of the RToP will take place in London, on 20, 21 and 22 November 2010. It will examine International corporate complicity in Israel’s Violations of International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, and War Crimes.

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/sessions/london-session

You will be able to watch the London session of RToP LIVE on your PC from Saturday morning 10am GMT.

Please share these two links as widely as possible. Thanks.

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/live

witnessgaza.com

VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY BREAKS SIEGE AND ENTERS GAZA TO JUBILANT CROWDS

2010-10-21T22:31:00.001+02:00

The Viva Palestina convoy of almost 150 vehicles, 370 people from 30 different countries and $5 million of aid has entered Gaza.
Amidst scenes of jubilation from thousands of Palestinians there to greet the convoy, Kevin Ovenden, the convoy director, expressed his joy at being in Gaza once again. "We have driven more than 3,000 miles to bring this essential aid and to break this illegal siege of Gaza. We have been joined by supporters from Morocco and Algeria and from the Gulf States and Jordan, to make this the biggest convoy ever to break the siege of Gaza. We are absolutely overjoyed to be here and to bring with us the soil from the graves of those who were massacred on the Mavi Marmara which will be used to plant trees as a memorial to their sacrifice."

The convoy set out four weeks and five days ago from London. It travelled through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Syria. Everywhere the reception was fantastic and the generosity of well-wishers unsurpassed. Towards the end there was a frustrating delay in Syria whilst negotiations at the highest levels were conducted with the Egyptian authorities. In the end it was all worth it as the Egyptian authorities decided to allow passage of the whole convoy, sadly excluding just 17 members of the convoy including George Galloway.

The convoy will be handed over in its entirety to the relevant bodies tomorrow and the members of the convoy then expect to leave Gaza and return home in the next 48 hours after celebrations and formal thanks are given.

CONVOY FINALLY SETS SAIL FOR GAZA

2010-10-20T07:36:00.002+02:00

After a wait in Syria lasting sixteen days, the convoy of 150 vehicles and 370 people is just setting sail from Latakia, Syria, on the final leg of the epic journey to deliver aid to Gaza.

The last formalities have been completed and the vehicles are on board. Convoy members are jubilant that their objective of bringing medical aid to the besieged people of Gaza is finally in sight.

Some 30 of the human rights activists, including survivors of the Mavi Marmara, will make the voyage to Al Arish in Egypt, passing the place at which the Mavi Marmara was attacked. A memorial ceremony will be held at the exact spot where the massacre was carried out.

The convoy will reach Al Arish tomorrow evening. The bulk of the activists from Britain, Northern Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Qatar, Malaysia and more than a dozen other countries will be reunited with their vehicles there, having flown the final leg of the journey into Egypt.

Convoy leaders are now hopeful that the convoy will enter Gaza on Friday.

http://www.vivapalestina.org/

Dershowitz Vs Abulhawa - Watch and pass on

2010-10-18T09:00:00.002+02:00

watch the YouTube versions as it seems many people could not view the video from the website:

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2lOOb80hsM

part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHRnKOxenY

part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l58IEKJQeRk

Amazing to watch Dershowitz lose his cool and the plot as the event progresses, pointing his finger at Susan Abulhawa, calling her names (part 2) and finally asking the audience to shutup (part 3).

The First Ever Palestinian suicide bombing in 1994

2010-10-18T08:16:00.000+02:00

The Cave of the Patriarchs massacre occurred when Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler and member of the far-right Israeli Kach movement, opened fire on unarmed PalestinianMuslims praying inside the Ibrahim Mosque (or Mosque of Abraham) at the Cave of the Patriarchs site in Hebron in the West Bank. It took place on February 25, 1994, during the overlapping religious holidays of Purim and Ramadan. 29 worshippers were killed and 125 wounded. The attack ended when Goldstein had expended his ammunition, then he was subdued and beaten to death by survivors.

The attack set off riots and protests throughout the West Bank, and an additional 19 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli Defense Forces within 48 hours of the massacre.

The Israeli government divided the Cave of the Patriarchs into two sections, one for Jewish worshippers and the other for Muslim worshippers. At 05:00 a.m. on 25 February, 800Palestinian Muslims passed through the east gate of the cave to participate in Fajr, the first of the five daily Islamic prayers.The cave was under Israeli Army guard, but of the nine soldiers supposed to have been on duty, four were late turning up, and only one officer was there.
Shortly afterwards, Goldstein entered the Isaac Hall of the cave. He was dressed in his army uniform and carried an IMI Galil assault rifle and four magazines of ammunition, which held 35 rounds each. He was not stopped by the guards, who assumed that he was an officer entering the tomb to pray in an adjacent chamber reserved for Jews.
Standing in front of the only exit from the cave and positioned to the rear of the Muslim worshippers, he opened fire with the weapon, killing 29 people and injuring another 125.
Reports after the massacre were often contradictory or ambiguous. There was initial uncertainty about whether Goldstein had acted alone; it was reported that eyewitnesses had seen "another man, also dressed as a soldier, handing him ammunition."There were also reports that he had thrown grenades at the worshippers. Yasser Arafat suggested that the attack was the work of up to 12 men, including Israeli troops. There were also various questions as to the Israeli guards outside the cave having opened fire; while Israeli military officials claim that no Israeli troops fired on the Palestinian worshippers, the New York Times reported that over 40 different Palestinian eyewitnesses, many of them confined to hospital beds with gunshot wounds and thus "unable to compare notes", all corroborated that three Israeli guards opened fire in confusion as the Muslims fled the shrine, with one firing into the crowd.
The testimony of various Israeli military officials was often contradictory. For instance, a Major General asserted that the guards had fired only in the air, but the guards themselves later testified to firing some shots "chest high".The guards' testimony was also at odds with the testimony of their ranking officer in claiming they had seen another Jewish settler enter the cave bearing arms.

The first successful suicide bombing carried out by Palestinian militants inside Israel was launched by Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades in 1994, in retaliation for the massacre carried out by Goldstein. Eight people were killed and 34 wounded in the attack which took place in Afula on April 6, 1994, at the end of the forty day mourning period for Goldstein's victims.

Baruch Kopel Goldstein was an American-born Jewish Israeli physician who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in the city of Hebron, killing 29 Muslims at prayer there and wounding another 150.

On February 25, 1994, that year's Purim day, Goldstein entered a room in the Cave of the Patriarchs serving as a mosque, wearing "his army uniform with the insignia of rank, creating the image of a reserve officer on active duty" (Shamgar report). He then opened fire, killing 29 people and wounding more than 125. Mosque guard Mohammad Suleiman Abu Saleh said he thought that Goldstein was trying to kill as many people as possible and described how there were "bodies and blood everywhere." Goldstein was attacked and killed by the worshippers.

According to Ian Lustick, 'by mowing down Arabs he believed wanted to kill Jews, Goldstein was reenacting part of the Purim story'.

Palestinian riots immediately followed the shooting, leading in the following week to the deaths of 25 Palestinians and five Israelis. According to Aditi Bhaduri, writing in The Hindu, following the massacre, Israel imposed a two-week curfew on the 120,000 Palestinian residents of the city, while the 400 Jewish settlers remained free to move around.

Goldstein is buried across from the Meir Kahane Memorial Park in Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement adjacent to Hebron.

The gravesite has become a pilgrimage site for "Israeli extremists"; a plaque near the grave reads "To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel."

At Goldstein's funeral, Rabbi Yaacov Perrin claimed that even one million Arabs are "not worth a Jewish fingernail." Samuel Hacohen, a teacher at a Jerusalem college, declared Goldstein the "greatest Jew alive, not in one way but in every way" and said that he was "the only one who could do it, the only one who was 100 percent perfect."

In the weeks following the massacre, hundreds of Israelis traveled to Goldstein's grave to celebrate Goldstein's actions. Some Hasidim danced and sang around his grave.

According to one visitor to the gravesite in the wake of the attacks, "If [Goldstein] stopped these so-called peace talks, then he is truly holy because this is not real peace."Some visitors kissed and hugged the gravestone, or even kissed the earth under which Goldstein was buried, declaring him a "saint" and "hero of Israel.

In the years after the dismantling of the shrine, radical Jewish settlers continued to celebrate the anniversary of the massacre in the West Bank, sometimes even dressing up themselves or their children to look like Goldstein.

AID CONVOY SET TO SAIL FOR GAZA

2010-10-15T05:17:00.002+02:00

14th October 2010

AID CONVOY SET TO SAIL FOR GAZA

After a tense ten day stand off in Syria, the Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza has now been cleared to sail.

The convoy started out from London on Saturday 18th September and drove down through France, Italy, Greece and Turkey before arriving in the port of Latakia, Syria, on Saturday 2nd October. In Latakia, the convoy has been joined by two other convoys. One came from Morocco and Algeria, the other originated in Doha and came through the Gulf states and Jordan.

There are now 147 vehicles about to board two ships together with 380 people from some 30 countries stretching from New Zealand and Australia to Canada and the United States carrying aid worth some 5 million dollars. This includes 40 people who were on the Mavi Marmara flotilla which was attacked by Israeli commandos murdering ten human rights activists from Turkey.

Over the last ten days in Syria, the convoy has taken on medical supplies urgently needed in the besieged Gaza Strip. Simultaneously negotiations have been conducted with the Egyptian authorities to allow passage into the port of Al Arish and then on to the Rafah Crossing. The support of the Syrian authorities and others has been vital in the successful negotiations.

Last night word finally came through that the Egyptian authorities would allow the ships to dock, unload and passage through to the Rafah Crossing and Gaza would be guaranteed.

The ships will now sail past the place where the Mavi Marmara was attacked and flowers will be laid in memory of the victims. When the convoy reaches Gaza the soil from the graves of some of those who were murdered will be used to plant trees as a memorial to the Mavi Marmara victims.

The convoy hopes to reach Gaza this Saturday or Sunday.

http://www.vivapalestina.org/

Regarding the attack on the flotilla, below is what we have found out.

2010-10-11T12:58:00.000+02:00

Regarding the attack on the flotilla, below is what we have found out. In addition, we are providing a link to the attack on the Irene from the 'most moral army in the world.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hphSiBrnBYw

Please distribute to your lists and, if in the US, write to your representatives asking them why we Americans support murder on the high seas. Greta Berlin

The military units are "Shayetet 13" (the navy commando unit).

The helicopters that were used to drop them on the ship (according to the media and to the army spokesperson as well) are from The IAF's Black Hawk squadron. All the helicopters of the IAF, including the Black Hawk squadron, were given to Israel as part of the US military aid.

The new black hawks given to Israel in 2002 (of the Lima model) are most likely the ones that were used in the attack on the Maramara.

Almost all of the weapons used by the IDF are US made, and it is 100% clear that some was used to kill the passengers on the Mavi Marmara.

Viva Palestina 5 Convoy Log

2010-09-21T07:11:00.002+02:00

Monday 20th September

The convoy was welcomed in the city of Valux-en-Velin, adjacent to Lyon, by the mayor, M Bernard Genin. The city has the distinction of being the only one in France to fly the Palestinian flag.

But not if the French government gets its way. The regional prefect, responsible for the central government administration of the area, has told the city that the flag has to come down.

'I've written back to him to say that he's welcome to try,' responded the mayor, 'if he can fight his way through the mass crowds who will defend it.'

The convoy left Paris early - the muster was 6am - after another night on the floor of the gymnasium. Most of the 85 had less than four hours sleep, but the road south was mainly motorway and the group, split into three elements, arrived at a service station outside Lyon shortly after 1pm. After a quick lunch provided by local supporters the convoy moved off first to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) in an ear-splitting cacophony of noise, horns honking and the sirens of the two Swedish ambulances screaming.

After the meeting with the mayor the convoy moved off again to the main square in Lyon, the Place Bellecour, parking the 36 vehicles in the middle of it and setting up a stage and amplification for a rally. Hundreds of people crowded around, dozens of postcards and posters were handed out and the organisers had to rebuff the appeals of dozens of people to come on the convoy to Gaza.

After another meal provided by VP local volunteers the convoyers were put up in a hotel, the first time they has slept on a mattress, between clean sheets since they set out.

Watch Press TV report on Convoy in Paris on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opgaEe34hG0
Watch convoy at La Place de La Bastille in Paris at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjVzDoujqOk

This email was sent to the subscription only email list information@vivapalestina.org . You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time to this email list by visiting http://www.vivapalestina.org/alert.htm . To ensure that your own computer's anti-spam filters do not block these emails please add alice@vivapalestina.org and clive@vivapalestina.org to your email address book.

VP5.jpg

YouTube - Letter to Israel

2010-09-12T12:17:00.000+02:00

YouTube - Letter to Israel

Journalist Lauren Booth was on the first Free Gaza voyage and stayed to work in Gaza after the boats left. Her heartfelt letter to the people of Israel should be read and seen by everyone who hopes for peace in the Middle East. This stunning video tribute to her words was designed and produced by the Free Gaza movement.

Army Radio reports Rabbi Ovadia Yosef denounces Palestinians as bitter enemies of Israel ahead of upcoming direct peace talks.

2010-08-29T04:11:00.000+02:00

Shas spiritual leader: Abbas and Palestinians should perish from this world - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Shas spiritual leader: Abbas and Palestinians should perish from this world

Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef denounced upcoming peace talks with the Palestinians, which are set to start September 2 in Washington, and called for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to "perish from this world," Army Radio reported overnight Saturday.

	Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef
	Photo by: Daniel Bar-On

"Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world," Rabbi Ovadia was quoted as saying during his weekly sermon at a synagogue near his Jerusalem home. "God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."

The Shas spiritual leader also called the Palestinians "evil, bitter enemies of Israel" during his speech, which is not the rabbi's first sermon to spark controversy.

In 2001, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox faction gave a speech in which he also called for Arabs' annihilation.

"It is forbidden to be merciful to them," he was quoted as saying. "You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable."

The Palestinian Authority had condemned the speech as racist and inciteful.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, also from Shas, earlier this week also remarked on the forthcoming peace talks with the Palestinians, saying that Shas would oppose extending the West Bank settlement building freeze due to expire in late September.

Yishai has suggested that Israel would continue construction in the main settlement blocs likely to remain part of Israel in the framework of a peace deal, but freeze construction in outposts or more remote settlements.

Israeli Education Ministry Approves New 'Whites Only' Settlement School

2010-08-29T04:05:00.000+02:00

Israeli Education Ministry Approves New 'Whites Only' Settlement School

By Salem-News.com |

August 26, 2010

(IMMANUEL, Occupied Palestine) - Several months ago, a religious school in the illegal Israeli settlement of Immanuel was criticized for segregating white Jewish students from non-white Jewish students in classes.

Originally, the school was fined for this policy of racial segregation, because the school was state funded.

Now, the Israeli education ministry has agreed with the white parents' request to allow the school to continue with its racial discrimination under private funding.

There is no law preventing racial discrimination by private organizations, even schools, in Israel.

The Israeli court has interpreted these laws to also apply to illegal West bank settlements, like Immanuel, which are located in areas that are supposed to be under Palestinian control.

The Palestinian Authority does not allow racial discrimination, but due to the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian Territories, it has no authority over the area in question.

74 white girls who have been studying in a building next to the school will now be allowed to study in whites-only classrooms that are privately funded, as their parents claim they do not want their girls to study in racially-mixed classrooms.

Israel is the only nation with apartheid laws that is accepted as a full ally by the United States and other nations.

In fact the population of Israel has been discriminating openly and often viciously, since the inception of the Jewish state in 1947.

Arabs and other non-Jews are literally subjected to different laws; Palestinian children can be arrested at the age of eight years; jailed and regarded as a terrorist for throwing a rock at fully armed Israeli Defence Force soldiers.

It is a travesty of justice in the modern world that Israel's decades-long attempt to rid the land of native Palestinians has been allowed, approved and even funded.

Source: International Middle East Media Center

Category: News

Tags:: apartheid; israel

Source: http://salem-news.com/articles/august262010/israeli-racism.php

Happy Birthday, Free Gaza

2010-08-28T12:20:00.002+02:00

When we wrote the text for Happy Birthday, Free Gaza, our wonderful video producer, Paola, asked if she could design a video tribute to Free Gaza. It is here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAMFRkATYX0

Many of you have also sent birthday wishes to us as we get ready to sail again in the fall. To all of you... thank you. None of this could have been done without the support from around the world. Below are just some of the birthday wishes.

Happy Birthday Free Gaza. I pray the next ships make it and bring joy blowing in the winds to greet the ships from the wonderful Gazans. Georgianne, California

Happy birthday. my hopes for the end of the blockade of Gaza. Wafa, Palestine

Happy 2nd Anniversary from the Sabra Shatila Foundation, the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign and all who salute what you have achieved on the behalf of all people of good will…'Sail on, Sail on, oh boats of resistance and may Allah decree that never shall ye trim your sails against the dark winds.'..........Mabrouk! Franklin, Lebanon

NEVER give up. This siege MUST BE BROKEN and you will see, IT WILL BE BROKEN.

FREE GAZA !!!!! Ingrid, Italy

Mabruk to you all. You are awesome. It all is. Brilliant. Happy B-Day, Love Ann, New York

It isn't just Gaza that you creative and brave people have begun to free. You have also freed the millions who have been watching Israel's abuse of the Palestinians of Gaza and feeling helpless because they could think of nothing they could do to make things better. If we can't sail with you on a Free Gaza boat, we can help fund and support you in myriad other ways. Thanks. Don, California

Happy Birthday Free Gaza. Mairead, Ireland

Happy 2nd anniversary. Keep up the wonderful work. We are all so proud of you !
Dale, US

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Free Gaza, happy birthday to you. Hip, hip hooray! I'm feeling sea sick all over again and can taste those awful vegan biscuits, Yvonne, UK

From the deepest recesses of our heart: happy birthday Free Gaza. This date will be etched in the golden annals of people's history, because free gaza is creating a new chapter in the history of human liberation as we speak…Proud to be associated with some of the most courageous & creative people in the world. Feroze, India

I have been given no greater gift than the opportunity to be on board the FREE GAZAwhen it landed on Gaza beach two years ago. May we all one day meet together inGaza. Mary, California

Celebrate what we could. Overcome what we could not. David, Washington

Go!ddess Bless You all. Two years ago you sailed into Gaza, alerting the world to the absolute moral imperative for every civilized human being to say NO MORE to tyranny and state terrorism, bullying and lies. You who sailed to see a free Gaza told the rest of us, we all must take a stand for the dignity and freedom, the full human rights, of all the Palestinian people, and all peoples everywhere. Steve, California

Happy Birthday and may you go from strength to strength. Viva Free Gaza! The end is always the beginning. Gloria, UK

Happy Birthday Free Gaza. Well done for keeping going with the most just campaign on the planet. I will keep supporting and doing what I can to keep the campaign and the plight of the Palestinians up there. Always on your side. Joe, Ireland

Happy Birthday, all our love. Free Gaza is much more that what you do, it is in its spirit pure , loving, extreme well-considered, and highly intelligent. Free Gaza is for us a symbol of how we citizens should always behave, in daily life as whether it comes to your own family or the world family. Neils and Marie, Denmark

Happy Birthday Free Gaza :) you guys are true freedom fighters..very inspiring in a world gone mad, that's for sure. Sean, California

Happy Birthday Free Gaza!! You have achieved such a lot in such a short space of time. You should be very proud of all you have achieved. Excellent job :) All the best for now. Hanan, UK

Great Text..this is the spirit…Happy Birthday. Ton, Netherlands

Happy Anniversary! Thanks for letting me be a first! One day, Gaza will be free! Kathleen, California

Happy Birthday Free Gaza to everyone! And I wish everyone a Free Palestine! Mahmoud, Gaza

The flotillas will grow, more and more boats and ships, thousands of people will board the boats and tens of thousands will demand to board. The people of the world say enough is enough - Free Palestine Now! Tear down all the Apartheid Walls Now! Right of Return for all Palestinians. Donna, California

An open letter to Israel

2010-08-21T17:54:00.000+02:00

By Lauren Booth, one of 44 passengers on board the first voyage, August 23, two years ago.

“This morning I set out to write a piece about the looting of the aid Flotilla to Gaza, by your soldiers. As you may have read, an Israel Defense Forces officer, has been remanded by a military court, suspected of stealing laptop computers from passengers. Interestingly, Haretz newspaper, now refers to the fleet as an ‘aid flotilla.’ Which it was. Rather than the ‘terror’ fleet your leaders would have had you call it. But I digress.

So, there I was, all ready to write my piece, when I came across an article on ynetnews. It sought to spell out the shock perhaps felt by some about the looted goods. A senior Israel Defense Forces officer said of the flotilla thefts: ‘there must be a serious problem in the IDF in terms of values."

I looked at those words for a long time. And, instead of writing my piece, decided to write to you instead. Because I can’t help wondering, who on earth still has any reserves of ‘shock’ to spare for the behaviour of your military? I mean really, come on guys. Beyond the comfortable avenues of Tel Aviv, the rest of the world finds the phrase ‘Moral Army,’ when applied to the IDF, nothing short of a huge, (sadly catastrophic), global sized joke. One on the same level as, say, climate change denial or George Bush’s presidency.

Now, here I’ve done it again. I’ve made you really mad at me. But please, just give me a moment or two to explain why I’m writing this letter. Because I didn’t set out to, nor do I want to insult you. Certainly not anymore than I have in the past. I’m sit here with washing up undone and housework piling up, to ask you one question. As a mother and as a fellow human being I need to know why you don’t see the evil that’s being done in your name?

How can you not see?

As you may already know, I was on the first Freegaza mission in 2008. This means that I not only have the pleasure of knowing personally the fine ladies who founded the FGM (Freegaza Movement). It also means that I had many friends and colleagues on the Flotilla that your military attacked in May.

You know, (again just for a second see me as a mum and not an ‘enemy’) not one of those fine people is a terrorist, wanting to run weapons to ‘extremists’. They are to a man (and to a woman) kind, concerned citizens of the world. People, who simply cannot go about their normal daily lives whilst your state, your army, your settlers torment other human beings. Every minute of every day. Of every month. Of every year. For sixty two years.

I don’t mean to be rude guys. But there comes a time when saying ‘I didn’t know what was going on’ wears a bit thin. You know what I mean? This whole charade about being ‘shocked’ by your soldiers' bad behavior, it makes non Israeli’s...well...it makes us laugh.

Because, this week's looting by your soldiers, it’s not the first of its kind. is it? Come on. Think back. There have been an awful, awful lot of others. Forgotten? Let me help you. Get to a computer and type the words ‘IDF looting’ into google's search engine. You may (or may not be surprised) when this search produces more than 64,000 results. Now before you go off the deep end, crying ‘our enemies are telling lies about us.’ Please, I beg you. Read just some of the results on the first page. It won’t take you long. Okay why not spend the whole morning reading them? After all it’s kind of your duty to know what’s being done in your name isn’t it? I mean, when military crimes are being committed with YOUR tax shekels, you have a right to know.

One of the google results reveals that an Israel Defense Forces soldier confessed to stealing a credit card from a home in northern Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Remember that? The soldier in the Givati infantry unit's reconnaissance battalion used it to withdraw NIS 1,600 in Israel. A small criminal act.

Part of a much wider crime.

A crime against humanity, that you’ve been either ignoring. Or have been deliberately blinded to by your leaders.

As I have already said though, you have access to the internet, you don’t have to remain in the darkness. Unless of course you’re comfortable there.

The most recent looting by the IDF of civilian goods, made me think of the Al Samouni women, I met them last year, on the rubble of their homes in Al Zaytoun (I’ve attached some photos for you to see). You may, vaguely recognize that name ‘Al Samouni’. Let me jog your memory. On Saturday, 3 January 2009, the Israeli incursion into Al Zaytoun neighbourhood began.

The following day, on 4 January 2009, your forces bombed the same area.

On Monday at 7:00 Am, 5 January 2009, again your forces bombed the very same area of Hay (neighborhood) Al Zaytoun. One of the missiles struck the third floor of Tallal Hilmi Al Samouni’s home. Then came the soldiers shooting to kill.

Overall, 26 members of the Al Samouni family were killed, including 10 children and 7 women. The Red Cross was only allowed entry three days later to evacuate the dead and injured, the majority of whom were so critical that they were taken to Belgium, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia for treatment.

Allow me, if you don’t mind to give you their names as you probably don’t know them. As kind human beings, I’m sure you’ll wish to pay them your respects, and perhaps pray for them.

Names of children killed

• Azza Salah Al Samouni, 3 years of age
• Waleed Rashad Al Samouni, 17 years of age
• Ishaq Ibrahim Al Samouni, 14 years of age
• Ismail Ibrahim Al Samouni, 16 years of age
• Rifka Wael Al Samouni, 8 years of age
• Fares Wael Al Samouni, 12 years of age
• Huda Nael Al Samouni, 17 years of age
• Ahmad Atieh Al Samouni, 14 years of age
• Mu’tassim Mohammed Al Samouni, 6 years of age
• Mohammed Hilmi Al Samouni, 5 years of age

Names of Women Killed
• Rahma Mohammed Al Samouni, 50 years of age
• Safa’ Hilmi Al Samouni, 25 years of age
• Maha Mohammed Al Samouni, 22 years of age
• Rabbab Azzat Al Samouni, 32 years of age
• Laila Nabih Al Samouni, 40 years of age
• Rifqa Mohammed Al Samouni, 50 years of age
• Hannan Khamis Al Samouni, 36 years of age

Names of Men Killed
• Tallal Hilmi Al Samouni, 55 years of age
• Attieh Hilmi Al Samouni, 25 years of age
• Rashad Hilmi Al Samouni, 42 years of age
• Tawfiq Rashad Al Samouni, 23 years of age
• Mohammed Ibrahim, 26 years of age
• Ziyad Izzat Al Samouni, 28 years of age
• Nidal Ahmad Al Samouni, 30 years of age
• Hamdi Maher Al Samouni, 23 years of age
• Hamdi Mahmoud Al Samouni, 70 years of age

Last March I was shown around the rubble of their community by the surviving women and children. I saw the racist grafitti left behind on the walls of the room where a teenage girl still had to sleep. Left for her by your ‘Moral Army’ no less. It said in places in Hebrew, in places English stuff like ‘we’ll be back’ and there was a coarse cartoon of a house exploding with the words ‘you are here’ wittily added. A beautiful young woman, told me of how she was about to get married before the attack. Her family had saved several thousand dollars for her dowry (many people of one family saving for a very, very long time, as you can imagine). It had been hidden under a bed in a suitcase for the happy event. Her mother had a few ancient pieces of jewelery that had been passed down through the generations in gold as well. Well, you see, your soldiers bombed these people, then shot their children, then finally looted everything the survivors owned. I swear to you, look on google, look into your own hearts, you know, this happens.

You know this is how your army deliberately treats Palestinians.

Before you scream ‘lies!’ or ‘anti Semite!’ please, I beg you. Parent to parent. Human to human. in the name of the God of all faiths, take a breathe, suspend your disbelief a while longer, then read on. Because, oh Israel. What if, just suppose, I’m not the anti Semite your wiki trained extremist supporters try to paint me as? And what if, just ten per cent of the 64,000 google entries for “IDF looting’ are utterly true? What then? What does that make you complicit in? What will you do if just for a second the truth that the rest of the world sees about your leaders barbarism fills your mind and your hearts as it one day surely must?

My words, as an outsider will no doubt seem harsh, even naive. This then, is from today's Jerusalem Post:

“According to information analyzed by the human rights organization Yesh Din, between September 2000 and the end of 2009, less than six percent of nearly 2,000 investigations opened against IDF soldiers suspected of crimes against Palestinians ended in indictments.

During the same period, according to various estimates, thousands of Palestinian civilians were killed as a result of IDF activities. How many of these fatalities resulted in convictions? Four. Not four percent – just four.”

It’s becoming increasingly clear that your young men and women are being trained to behave like animals. These events, the looting, the photos posted online by Eden Abergil, they can’t be explained away as ‘one off’’s any longer.

It’s for you to ask yourselves what they mean.

I’m truly sorry if my words have offended you. I just wanted to talk with you directly for once.

By the way there are an estimated 400 laptops, 600 mobile phones plus other personal cash and effects, which your military still has not returned to the passengers of the aid flotilla. You see, when then they set sail. For some reason, those good people, didn’t think the IDF would steal from them.

Yours in Hope

First Murder, then Theft and Lies from the “World’s Most Moral Army”

2010-08-21T10:06:00.000+02:00

[London, August 21, 2010] An investigation revealed by Israeli news sources confirms that an Israeli military officer and soldiers stole and sold laptops belonging to passengers on board the Freedom Flotilla, which was illegally boarded by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010.

The Israeli military now claims that “[t]he IDF did not receive complaints of stolen computers after the Navy raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla,” and is suggesting that “the civilians who were on the ships chose not to complain in light of the complicated incident they had gone through.”

The Free Gaza Movement, one of the organizers of the flotilla, says that statement is patently untrue. Passengers immediately filed complaints with their consular representatives and embassies about possessions taken from them. They also submitted extensive affidavits to lawyers, and reported it to the media: millions of dollars’ worth of computers, cameras, phones, cash, jewelry and other equipment was taken, and none has been returned. Embassies have repeatedly told us that they are in touch with the Israelis about getting our belongings back.

Col. Ann Wright, one of the passengers on board the U.S. flagged ship, Challenger 1, stated, “Since the U.S. State Department has assured me that they are in touch with the Israeli authorities about our belongings, I expect that they would respond to these articles that say the Israeli government did not know that passengers were missing any personal possessions.”

In addition, our lawyers at Adalah have been corresponding with the Israeli military authorities about the missing personal property, including computers. Therefore, it is a deliberate lie to say they have not received any complaints.

“Many of these computers, cameras and phones may contain vital evidence of Israeli military crimes committed during the attack on our ships,” said Free Gaza chairperson and attorney Huwaida Arraf. “Despite repeated requests, Israel has refused to return the equipment or turn it over to the United Nations. Instead it has stolen documents from our computers and cameras to use for propaganda purposes.”

While the actions of the officer and soldiers who stole and sold a half dozen laptops is reprehensible, it is Israel’s military and political leaders that must be held accountable for the larger crimes of aggression, murder, unlawful detention, bodily harm, confiscation and pillaging of property, tampering with evidence and more. All of these issues are being pursued by lawyers in Europe, Turkey, and the United States.

Contact: Huwaida Arraf, +970-598-336-215

Col. Ann Wright +1 808 741 1141

Audrey Bomse, legal coordinator +44 786 156 0932

Adam Shapiro +1-202-294-8813

#####################

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder, The Free Gaza Movement
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

Gaza-bound aid ship aims to leave Lebanon on Sunday - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com

2010-08-19T16:20:00.000+02:00

BEIRUT — A Gaza-bound ship carrying women activists and aid for the blockaded Palestinian territory will leave Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli for Cyprus on Sunday, an organizer said on Thursday.

Israel has warned that it will not allow ships to reach Gaza, controlled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas since 2007. Nine pro-Palestinian Turks died on May 31 when Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of aid vessels heading for Gaza.

Yasser Qashlaq said the ship Mariam would leave Tripoli at 10 pm (2p.m. ET) on Sunday for Cyprus. A second ship, the Naji al-Ali, would sail a couple of days later, he told Reuters.

"The aim is to break the blockade on Gaza," Qashlaq said, adding that the Mariam would be carrying around 60 Lebanese, U.S. and European women, as well as cancer drugs. The Naji al-Ali will take medical equipment including dialysis machines.

"We will sail for Cyprus and from there we will head for Palestine," he said. "We have received permission from Lebanese authorities and we have not had any refusal from Cypriot authorities."

He did not say when the ship will leave Cyprus for Gaza.

Israel, which eased its Gaza blockade in response to intense international criticism of its lethal seizure of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in May, has said it has the right to "use all necessary means" to bar the Lebanese ships from reaching Gaza.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations said last month the vessels could "carry weapons or individuals with provocative and confrontational intentions," a charge Qashlaq denied.

"Any Israeli operation against the ships would be considered an act of piracy," he said. "I don't think the enemy (Israel) will repeat the stupid act that it carried out."

U.N. officials have urged countries not to attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade and urged all parties to show restraint.

Last month a Libyan-chartered aid ship bound for Gaza was diverted to an Egyptian port and its shipment was delivered to Gaza by land.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38769952

Poisoning of Gaza water puts population at risk

2010-08-12T05:53:00.000+02:00

By PCHR, Electronic Intifada |

August 11, 2010

The signs which dot the beach along the Gaza City waterfront are clear: "THIS BEACH IS POLLUTED," they read, and yet they seem to serve only as obstacles for children running to the sea rather than warnings to be heeded of the serious health risks associated with swimming here. For those who care to doubt the sign's veracity, one need only to stroll north along the beach for a couple hundred meters to see raw sewage being pumped directly into the Mediterranean Sea from one of the 16 discharge sites along the coast. Yet thousands fill Gaza's beaches and waters in spite of the clear dangers.

For the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip, deprived of their freedom of movement, worn down daily by the all-pervasive effects of the Israeli-imposed closure, the sea is one of the few sources of respite available in their lives, and for a people that have been denied their economic livelihood, it is the only such activity that is affordable and available. The sea plays an integral part in the lives of this coastal community: it is a place to fish, to play and to gather with family. The importance of the sea to the people of Gaza cannot be understated: "without the sea there is no Gaza," explains Abdel Haleem Abu Samra, public relations officer of the Palestinian Center for Human Right's Khan Younis Branch.

The intimate relationship Palestinians in Gaza share with the sea thus makes the current state of Gaza's beaches and sea all the more disheartening and disconcerting. Due to the effects of the total closure imposed by Israel in 2007 -- principle among them a complete lack of construction materials to build new wastewater treatment facilities or spare parts to repair existing ones, as well as an acute lack of fuel and electricity to run necessary waste treatment cycles -- an average of 20,000 cubic meters of raw sewage is dumped directly into the Mediterranean Sea every day, estimates Monther Shoblak, director general of the Coastal Municipality Water Utility, although in some areas this figure reaches 70,000-80,000 cubic meters per day.

Beyond tarnishing Gaza's once pristine shores, the noxious consequences of the deterioration of the wastewater treatment operation in Gaza resulting from the closure hold much more grave implications: the Gaza Strip is, quite literally, being poisoned. Ninety percent of the water available in Gaza from its only source -- the coastal aquifer -- is undrinkable, and nitrate and chloride levels reach six and seven times the international safety standards put forward by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the director of the operation to keep the water in Gaza clean, it is Monther's job to cure this poisoning, but, like a doctor without medicine, there is little he can do while the tools he needs are denied to him and his operation under the policy of closure, which has been practiced on Gaza by Israel in various forms since 1991.

Like all Palestinians in Gaza, Monther and his staff at the Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities are forced to improvise, to make do with very little; few others, perhaps, must do so much with so little. Monther is tasked not only with disposing of the wastewater created by the 1.5 million people in this tiny strip of land but also with ensuring that they have access to safe, clean drinking water. That approximately 80 percent of Gaza's population lives in refugee camps, some of the most densely populated areas on earth where adequate infrastructure is rare and the conditions for waterborne disease are rife, is the least of Monther's concerns: for more than three years now, Monther has been forced to conduct his efforts while being deprived of the resources needed to do so, with perseverance in place of concrete and ingenuity instead of a supply of clean water. Monther analogizes the plight of Gaza's wastewater treatment facilities with an old car that is forced into continual use despite being denied the spare parts needed for upkeep: eventually the car falls into disrepair and begins to spit plumes of jet black, highly polluted smoke -- a highly relevant image in Gaza, where adulterated gasoline is the normal input into cars due to sharp restrictions on fuel under the Israeli closure.

Compounding the challenge facing Monther and his staff is the fact that they must also adapt Gaza's deteriorating wastewater treatment facilities for a rapidly increasing population which, accordingly, produces a rapidly increasing volume of waste. Gaza's current wastewater treatment facilities were constructed with an operational capacity of 32,000 cubic meters of waste a day. With a growth rate that is one of the world's highest -- an estimated 3.6 percent annually -- Gaza's surging population has overwhelmed the capacity of the waste treatment facilities, and Monther estimates that the facilities are now receiving at least 65,000 cubic meters of waste daily. Unable to handle more than half of its intake, much of the sewage is directly transported to the sea, where it is dumped completely untreated. Much of this sewage washes back onto Gaza's shores, polluting the beaches and creating toxic swimming conditions for the countless children and adults seeking escape from the intense summer heat.

Nowhere is the deteriorating condition of Gaza's wastewater operation more evident than in Beit Lahiya, in the northern region of the Strip. One of the Gaza Strip's three wastewater treatment facilities, the Beit Lahiya station receives more than 25,000 cubic meters per day, almost twice its operational capacity. Exacerbating this problem, the facility is cutoff from access to the sea, and thus the untreated wastewater flows directly into the surrounding area, creating a cesspool -- literally a lake of sewage -- that now comprises approximately 450 dunam (a dunam is the equivalent of 1,000 square meters). The Beit Lahiya station stands as one of the most extreme examples of the environmental and health disasters that the Israeli policy of closure has realized in the Gaza Strip. The consequences of the sewage lake have been fatal and not only because, in March 2007, the lake's embankment broke and the subsequent flooding killed five people: the contamination of the groundwater in the northern Gaza Strip caused by the pollution has resulted in nitrate levels that are in some places seven times higher than WHO's international safety standards.

"Nitrate is a silent killer," says Monther: it is colorless, odorless and tasteless, but when consumed at levels even much lower than those present in Gaza, continued nitrate intake results in a reduced oxygen supply to vital tissues such as the brain. Nitrate intake is particularly dangerous for infants, for whom it can result in brain damage and possibly death. Information regarding the long term consequences for the people of Gaza in this regard is still unknown, however, for, as one donor has said: "Nowhere else in the world has such a large number of people been exposed to such high levels of nitrates for such a long period of time. There is no precedent, and no studies to help us understand what happens to people over the course of years of nitrate poisoning."

The implications of Gaza's growing population thus also present serious concerns for the other aspect of Monther's task, which is to provide safe and clean drinking water to the people of Gaza Strip. The coastal aquifer, which runs underground along much of the Strip, is Gaza's only source of potable water and its most important natural resource. Historically, this aquifer has served as the lifeblood for the people of Gaza and has given rise to the agriculture, particularly citrus farms, for which the Gaza Strip is famous. Once, before the imposition of the closure policy by Israel in the early 1990s, one could dig a hole within 100 meters from the beach and find drinkable water, says Monther. Now, he explains, the CMWU has been forced to issue a warning against the drilling of wells within two kilometers of the beach, which, taken in combination with the "buffer zone" unilaterally imposed by Israeli military on Gaza's border with Israel -- tacitly acknowledged at 300 meters but practiced sometimes at distances much further -- leaves little space for water extraction.

As inconvenient as it may seem, the reason behind the ruling is even more worrying: the aquifer is polluted, poisoned by sewage and depleted by the rising population which it can no longer support. Only 10 percent of the aquifer's water now meets international standards for consumption, and, if no changes are made, Monther fears that this figure may soon reach 0 percent. A UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) report published in September 2009 stated that water extraction is roughly double the capacity of the aquifer. Accordingly, Monther explains, people in Gaza are drilling more and deeper wells, further polluting the aquifer with water from the saline aquifer to the east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and from the sea.

Confronted with this rapidly deteriorating situation and denied by Israel the resources with which to address it, Monther and his staff have been forced to adopt unconventional means of tackling Gaza's wastewater issues. In the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, Monther explains, the wastewater situation had reached a crisis level: like Beit Hanoun, waste was being dumped directly into the land area surrounding the cities, as the area lacked both an adequate waste treatment facility and the materials needed to construct it. In response to the crisis, which threatened to deny access to safe drinking water for the combined population of 350,000, Monther and his staff turned to a practice employed by many Palestinians in Gaza surrounded by rubble left by Israel's latest offensive: they begin to collect aggregate from the nearby remains of the Philadelphi Route, the border between Gaza and Egypt which was partially destroyed in 2008 when thousands of Palestinians flowed into Egypt seeking food and supplies. With these secondhand supplies, the CMWU was able to construct what Monther refers to as a "near state-of-the-art facility." Although chloride levels -- the counterpart to the pollution problem poisoning Gaza's water -- are still as high as six times the international standard in this southern area, Monther believes that they "are saving the city of Khan Younis by addressing the increasing levels of nitrates and removing the raw sewage from the densely populated urban areas."

In such ways, Monther and his staff at CMWU continue their efforts to keep the water of Gaza clean, but, as he admits, "we know its not enough: the water in Gaza is deteriorating quickly. Until we find another source of water, the population in Gaza remains at great risk." For now, the poisoning of the Gaza Strip continues, and, for all Gaza's efforts and ingenuity, there is little that can be done to stop it as long as the closure continues. The treatment of Gaza's wastewater cannot progress as long as Israel restricts basic building materials and adequate levels of fuel and electricity, and, with a rising population over-burdening the capacity of the current facilities, Gaza's wastewater treatment operation only deteriorates. As Desmond Travers, a member of the UN Fact-finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, concluded in the Mission's Report: "If these issues are not addressed Gaza may not even be habitable by WHO standards," and the September UNEP report has warned that the damage being incurred now "could take centuries to reverse."[ 6] As long as the closure persists, however, the people of Gaza remain helpless to combat these problems; they have little choice but to wait, spending their time at the beach trying to ignore the pollution that piles up around them.

This report is part of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights' Narratives Under Siege series.

Category: News

Tags:: water; gaza; pollution

Source: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11455.shtml

All Aboard the Mavi Marmara

2010-08-07T00:49:00.000+03:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnqItpJI4rs

David Rovics has written an evocative song called "All Aboard the Mavi Marmara." The Free Gaza team has added images in tribute to the nine brave men on board who gave their lives in pursuit of justice for the Palestinians.

This is our tribute to the men. They had names and families and children. They dreamed their dreams just as the Palestinians do.

Israeli commandos took all of that away from them by murdering them... 31 shots, most through the head and the back. The world needs to remember them. The world needs to remember the Palestinians who Israel kills every day. "All Aboard the Mavi Marmara" will be a song you will sing in your head for days. The images, we hope, you will never forget.

We sail again in the fall. Help us make that happen.

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder, The Free Gaza movement
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

Keep your eye on witnessgaza.com for the US Boat to Gaza launch videos

2010-08-06T11:23:00.000+03:00

They said it couldn't be done, that Americans couldn't raise money fast enough to buy a boat to join Freedom Flotilla 2 in the fall. But never underestimate American determination in the face of Israeli intransigence and brutality. The launch of the US Boat to Gaza began last night in New York, and Free Gaza was there to participate.

Listen to Col. Ann Wright's eloquent speech, then watch our TWITTER page for the next video uploads.

And this is just a beginning, as witnessgaza.com gets ready to go live for events across the US and across Europe.

"The Audacity of Hope" is more than just a book title. It is a call to everyone who believes in justice for Palestine... that there is hope, that civil society will do what governments refuse to do, that we will sail again and again until Palestinians gain the human and civil rights that have been denied to them for 62 years.

WE SAIL UNTIL PALESTINE IS FREE.
--
Greta Berlin,
witnessgaza.com

Freedom Flotilla Coalition Meets in Stockholm Next Flotilla on its Way Back to Gaza

2010-08-04T19:49:00.000+03:00

(Stockholm, August 4, 2010) It has been over two months since Israel’s 31 May 2010 deadly assault on the Freedom Flotilla and little to nothing has been done to hold Israel accountable for its savage attack that led to the killing of nine of our colleagues, or to end Israel’s continued violations against the Palestinian people, especially the 1.5 million residents of Gaza. Therefore, we are continuing our global, grassroots effort to stand up to Israel’s ongoing intransigence, including planning our next direct action, plans to enlarge our coalition to include groups from around the world who want to join us, as well as intensify our efforts to mobilize for the new Freedom Flotilla 2.

The world must continue to demand that Israel cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation committee to ensure independence, thoroughness, credibility, and justice for the victims.

We have real concerns with the new UN panel tasked by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to investigate Israel’s raid. as an apparent attempt to downgrade the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation, which Israel has yet to accept. The Secretary General’s new panel will have a very limited mandate of evaluating only current national investigations by Israel and Turkey, and therefore will hardly meet international standards for being impartial, and thorough.

Moreover, the appointment of ex-Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as its vice-chair further corrodes the legitimacy of this UN panel. Not only is the Uribe government on record stating a desire to strengthen Colombia's military relationship with Israel, but President Uribe’s own human rights record in Columbia should be a matter for investigation as evidenced by the report from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.http://forusa.org/content/report-military-assistance-human-rights-colombia-us-accountability-global-implications.

The United Nations must not be involved in any attempt to whitewash atrocities or to preempt international legal action on behalf of the victims of the flotilla. Israel’s alleged easing of the closure on Gaza has been purely cosmetic, intended only to deflect criticism from its illegal policies. Expanding the list of items permitted into Gaza does not address the most fundamental concern of the people there – freedom of movement. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children are still denied the right to travel freely for medical care, educational opportunities, or even to reunite with family members in other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. What we demand is an immediate and complete lifting of the closure including a lifting of the travel ban as well as the ban on exports from Gaza. We also demand that Israel release, unconditionally, our captured vessels and stolen equipment.

Israel and our respective governments must know that we represent a growing movement of international civilians unwilling to stand idly by while Israel continues to act with impunity -- killing, maiming, jailing, stealing, and assaulting the very basics of our common humanity. Israel has not only deliberately created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but it has created a crisis of human rights and human dignity in all of Palestine that the world must address.

This is why our flotilla aimed to challenge the very policies that have left Palestinians in need of humanitarian aid, and not just to deliver essential goods to Gaza. It is why, in the coming months, we will send larger and larger flotillas to Gaza.

--
Contact: Huwaida Arraf 970-598-336-215, 972 54 881 7046
Mattias Gardell: +46 703036666
Dror Feiler: +46 702855777
Greta Berlin, +33 607 374 512

Flotilla members include: IHH, Free Gaza movement, Swedish Ship to Gaza, European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza and the Greek Ship to Gaza

Israeli Hamas

2010-08-02T22:01:00.000+03:00

I'm not comparing Israel and Hamas. Israel is the country that justifiably slaughtered more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza 19 months ago – more than 300 of them children – while the vicious, blood-sucking and terrorist Hamas killed 13 Israelis (three of them soldiers who actually shot each other by mistake).

Robert Fisk: Israel has crept into the EU without anyone noticing

The death of five Israeli servicemen in a helicopter crash in Romania this week raised scarcely a headline.

There was a Nato-Israeli exercise in progress. Well, that's OK then. Now imagine the death of five Hamas fighters in a helicopter crash in Romania this week. We'd still be investigating this extraordinary phenomenon. Now mark you, I'm not comparing Israel and Hamas. Israel is the country that justifiably slaughtered more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza 19 months ago – more than 300 of them children – while the vicious, blood-sucking and terrorist Hamas killed 13 Israelis (three of them soldiers who actually shot each other by mistake).

But there is one parallel. Judge Richard Goldstone, the eminent Jewish South African judge, decided in his 575-page UN inquiry into the Gaza bloodbath that both sides had committed war crimes – he was, of course, quite rightly called "evil" by all kinds of justifiably outraged supporters of Israel in the US, his excellent report rejected by seven EU governments – and so a question presents itself. What is Nato doing when it plays war games with an army accused of war crimes?

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-israel-has-crept-into-the-eu-without-anyone-noticing-2040066.html

Thank you from the Free Gaza movement

2010-08-01T21:32:00.000+03:00

Dear Donors:

If you have followed the Freedom Flotilla, you know that we will not stop going to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza. Now, several initiatives have begun under the wide umbrella of the Free Gaza movement, with plans to sail a boat from the US, the UK and Northern Europe. We will help in any way we can, from setting up systems for them to teaching them how to choose passengers to helping them fund their voyages.

We intend to go back in the fall with 9 to 12 boats including three cargo ships. But our primary purpose for these voyages is to bring to the attention of the world that 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are imprisoned with no access to their own sea, the only territory IN THE WORLD with no access to its waters.

You have donated in the past to keep us going. Now we ask you again to donate what you can. Our new PayPal account is up and running and our new bank account is open in London. If you would like to wire money into the account, please email me privately and I will give you all of the information you need.

Otherwise, you don't have to do anything except go to http://www.freegaza.org/ On the front page on the left-hand side is our PayPal button if you are outside the U.S. You can also still donate in the US through the PayPal account on our DONATE page and through our fiscal sponsor, AET.

Please donate so that the international arm of Free Gaza can continue to help the local initiatives and continue to send boats to Gaza. This initiative has truly been a grassroots uprising, funded and supported by all of you. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing to the attention of the world what Israel does to the Palestinians in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank.

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+33 607 374 512
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

Viva Palestina 5 working closely with Gaza officials to bring vital medical aid on next convoy

2010-07-30T18:04:00.000+03:00

Despite the recent claims by Israel that they have "eased" the siege on Gaza , vital medical supplies and equipment are still prohibited from entering the besieged region. In June, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Israel blocked the delivery of essential medical equipment, including a CT scanner, defibrillators and monitors.

In addition, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Israel confiscated seven oxygen machines, donated by a Norwegian development agency, and refused to allow delivery of x-ray machines, claiming they could be used for military purposes.

As a result, there is a critical shortage of vital medicines and essential life saving equipment. Other supplies are expected to run out this summer, harming chronic disease sufferers the most.

In addition, only 30 percent of the medical aid, sent to Gaza after the last Israeli military offensive 19 months ago, was used at hospitals and medical aid centres. This was due to the fact that there was a surplus supply of certain medical supplies, and other medical supplies were out of date.

Another significant problem is an over-supply of bulky items like cotton wool which requires expensive storage, and the disposal of waste medical supplies in an area where rubbish disposal is a major issue.

In the light of this, Viva Palestina is working closely with the Ministery of Health in Gaza and independent medical organizations to accurately identify the kind and quantity of medical supplies that Gaza actually needs. We intend to bring a wide range of these vital medical supplies and equipment on board the upcoming convoy. These urgently required supplies will go a long way in helping to ease the suffering of so many in Gaza .

Viva Palestina are appealing for people to donate towards the cost of these medical equipment and supplies. People can donate via the web site at: http://www.vivapalestina.org/vp5/donate.html

Alternatively, if people have access to medical aid that they can donate, please contact us via email at: aid@vivapalestina.org. Please send a detailed list of this aid, and if it is on the required list, we will arrange collection.

We also need dedicated volunteers to join us on our next convoy to Gaza, leaving on September 18th 2010. If you can raise money to help the people of Gaza, we want to hear from you. Please visit the Viva Palestina 5 website

worlds youngest fisherwoman from gaza

2010-07-24T22:16:00.000+03:00

Slaughter at Sea

2010-07-12T22:06:00.000+03:00

As we get ready to challenge Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza once more, we would ask you to remember the nine men murdered in cold blood by Israeli commandos, who came down from helicopters firing live ammunition.

The official autopsy reports will be released in the next couple of weeks, but preliminary reports say the nine men were shot over 31 times, most through the face and the top of the head. If you have not seen their photos or read who they are, we have now uploaded their information as well as how they were killed onto our FLICKR site. Please take a moment to pay your respects and maybe, add a comment.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza/?saved=1

These nine men were husbands and fathers, an American student who wanted to become a doctor, a fireman who came to help on board the Mavi Marmara, a photojournalist shot through the middle of the forehead as he tried to photograph Israel's assault on a civilian ship in international waters in the dark.

No matter what spin Israel sends out or its slick talking heads who try to justify murder and mayhem, it is important to remember that none of these men were armed with guns, sound bombs or tear gas. No Israeli soldier was shot... as members on board the Mavi Marmara tried to defend themselves... something every one of us would have done if our family, friends, ship or home was attacked by masked armed intruders.

No Israeli soldier was killed. The few who were injured were treated by Turkish doctors, then sent back to their unit.

The terrorists on board that ship as well as the other five ships, (where passengers were beaten, tied up, tear gassed and wounded), worked for the Israeli navy.

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

It is Only Palestine � GAZA DIARIES OF PEACE AND WAR

2010-07-09T07:16:00.000+03:00

It is Only Palestine � GAZA DIARIES OF PEACE AND WAR

The Second World Power

2010-07-05T08:07:00.000+03:00

By Vittorio Arrigoni, Gaza City, Gaza

July 4, 2010

Ketchup, mayonnaise, thread and needles are the items that were included last week by Israel on the list of those few goods now allowed into Gaza. Farming tools, spare parts for cars, toys and make-up were added to the list on Tuesday, items we watched being carried into the Strip loaded onto 130 trucks.

Taking into account the decision of the Israeli government to "loosen" the siege of Gaza by allowing the entry of more goods, B'Tselem, the Israeli organisation for human rights commented: "This is a first, tiny step towards the right direction, the direction which'll bring Israeli policy in line with its obligations."

A veritable microscopic step, considering that before the start of the siege, more than ten thousand trucks a month would drive through the Karni pass alone, and even then, these deliveries were miles away from the 500 truckfuls of goods a day (15,000 trucks a month), the minimum decreed by the United Nations to cover the basic needs of one and a half million people.

According to some Palestinian political analysts, this step might even be counterproductive, because it proposes to attempt to legitimise the siege. This is a siege that is a form of collective punishment against a civilian population. As such, it violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and is considered illegal by all major human rights organisations, whether governmental or otherwise, as Amnesty International and the International Red Cross have recently decreed.

Cement, iron and any other building material continues to be banned from the Strip, so much so that according to the UN, one year after the Cast Lead bombings, 75% of the damaged buildings still gape open among the rubble.

According to Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UNRWA (UN Agency for Palestinian refugees), Israel's new policy is an attempt to throw smoke into the eyes of the international community and hide its blatant violation of international law: "The Israeli strategy is that of getting the world to talk about a random bag of cement being let in on one side, and a sponsored project on another. What we really need is complete and free access through all the passes."

All eyes are now turned towards the mirage of the opened Israeli passes. Yet, forgetting to take note of the Egyptian border is a mistake. Rafah continues to remain semi-open, or better still…semi-closed. The Egyptian border authorities refuse to let any type of goods through, including tons of food supplies and medicine collected during the last weeks by the union of Cairo chemists. The bullies of the infamous Egyptian Mubarak, renowned for their rough treatment of Palestinian civilians, including women, children and sick people, have sent back hundreds of travellers with regular passports and visas over the past few weeks.

For internationals in Egypt who plan to come and report on what they see, or support the population of Gaza in any way, entering "the Rafah Pass" remains forbidding. John, a freelance journalist who accompanied us from the International Solidarity Movement to report on the daily harrassment that the farmers face from Israeli snipers at the border, eventually came in through the tunnels when he had grown tired of waiting for a pass that never came at Al Arish.

Italian state television is trying to put through the message that the siege has been loosened as an act of generosity on the part of the Israeli government, but the reality is indeed very different. The siege itself needs to be totally lifted, because the people here certainly don't need potato chips or toothpicks. They need cement, iron, medicine, medical supplies and all the essentials coming in the way they would normally come in…through import and export. Only that means will help boost the economy and make Gaza self-sufficient, besides opening the borders to make it possible for anyone to come into or leave this prison.

All that we have before our eyes these days is the artificial image of a tragic situation, made up to seem like an improvement after the cosmetic surgery of Israeli and Egyptian propaganda. Amid these far-reaching echoes of propaganda, Tony Blair's congratulations to Israel for the alleged "loosening" of its blockade comes across as a strident contradition. Behind the smile of Blair, one the of puppet masters of the Quartet (USA, EU, Russia and UN) who for years has produced nothing but useless press releases, is all the rot of the stone caryatids jointly holding up the current Iraqi genocide, as well as the political laxity of European governments in the face of the Palestinian tragedy.

I'm keen to remind Tony Blair that if two extra bags of flour enter the besieged Strip, it certainly isn't thanks to his work within the castrated quartet, or any other institution in charge of resolving the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It's actually thanks to the sacrifices over many years of thousands of ordinary civilians throughout the world committed to the rights of Palestinians. It's an effort that has culminated in the murder of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara, much the same way as before them, Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie gave their lives for the good of Gaza.

On the eve of the second Gulf war, the New York Times coined the phrase "second world power", to define the global pacifist movement that filled thousands of squares around the world. These civilians were protesting against a war "that never before in history had been met with as much blatant hostility." Well, that second world power has now joined us on the field and is siding with the Palestinians: it is now Israel that's under siege.

Stay human.

Vittorio Arrigoni from Gaza city

(translated by Daniela Filippin)

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

Mavi Marmara report (MUCH PHOTOS!)

2010-06-29T07:21:00.000+03:00

http://www.freegaza.org/attachments/1234_Mavi%20Marmara%20Report.pdf

On May 31, 2010, the six ships reached 75 miles away from the coast of Israel. We constantly reiterated that we were traveling in peace and carrying nothing but humanitarian and construction aid to the people of Gaza. At around 3:00 am, the battleships were still following us along with nearly 30 zodiacs that surrounded the flotilla in international waters.

At 4:10 am, messages from the ship, Define stated, "Mavi Marmara, all of the boats and ships are approaching you." Shortly after, when most of the participants were performing their morning prayers, pursuit boats carring masked, armed soldiers came alongside the boats. At least 10 Israeli soldiers were in every boat. As they tried to get onboard, they began shooting. Then we heard sounds that were similar to gas bombs. The third sound was the constant sound of machine gun fire. At the same time, military helicpters full of armed soldiers rappeled down, shooting as they descended.

This operation was hostile from the very beginning, directed towards killing and killing as many as possible. Israeli soldiers did not open fire on the ships as a warning. They opened fire to kill. The first two people on board were shot in the head, killing them instantly.

Message on people visiting our websites

2010-06-24T07:55:00.000+03:00

From Andrea: The facts below come from our webmaster, Andrea. These are the numbers in just one month, from May 20 to June 20. Please visit witnessgaza.com in particular, because it has all of the latest testimonies from the passengers. Greta

witnessgaza.com: 205711
freegaza.org: 321534

they are measured with two different systems, Andrea thinks witnessgaza is
underestimated and freegaza overestimated, so he believes about 250000 per site

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

Video Shows Israeli Commando Executing Turkish-American Aid Student

2010-06-11T17:27:00.000+03:00

More updates on the aftermath of the Freedom Flotilla massacre:

Video Shows Israeli Commando Executing Turkish-American Aid Student

The Israeli military attempted to confiscate and erase the photographic
and video evidence of its brutal asault on the Mavi Marmara ...The most
damaging is a film of an Israeli soldier kicking an American citizen while
the latter is on the ground,and then executing him.

SEE THE VIDEO:

---

Appeal to Parliamentarians Worldwide for MK Haneen Zoubi

MK Haneen Zoubi (BALAD) faces death threats as the Israeli Knesset House
Committee votes to revoke her Parliamentary privileges for participating
in the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid Flotilla and protesting against the
blockade. Take Action!

READ MORE:

---

Averting Another Gaza
by BERNARD KOUCHNER, FRANCO FRATTINI, and MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS
The foreign ministers, respectively, of France, Italy and Spain

The whole world was shocked by the tragic consequences of the Israeli
military operation conducted in international waters against the “Peace
Flotilla” convoy of ships. The human cost is unacceptable. Nothing can
justify the use of such violence, and our countries immediately condemned
it.

Following these dramatic events, the time must come for analysis and
reflection on the root reasons of the tragedy. The cause of the boarding
of the Mavi Marmara can be summarized in a single word, one that is very
familiar to us: Gaza.

READ MORE:

---

U.S. Congress Defends Israeli Attack
by Stephen Zunes

...To rationalize what virtually the entire international legal community
recognizes as an act of war, congressional Democrats have engaged in a
series of falsifications and radical reinterpretations of international
law. ...[M]any Democrats who have engaged in these right-wing attacks on
human rights and international law consider themselves "progressive."
...Peace and human rights activists should raise an outcry in response to
the dangerously intemperate and inaccurate statements from congressional
Democrats and then deny support for the re-election of any member of
Congress who continues to support this latest Israeli atrocity.

READ MORE:

###

[GazaFriends] Two important articles about the Freedom Flotilla - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-10T20:16:00.000+03:00

Two important articles about the Freedom Flotilla:

Turkish Doctor Describes Treating Israeli Commandos During Raid
New York Times Blog

In an interview with The New York Times, Dr. Hasan Huseyin Uysal, a
Turkish doctor, said that he treated Israeli commandos who were captured
and briefly detained during the initial stages of a raid on a ship
challenging Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza last week.

Dr. Uysal’s account seems to be supported by two photographs that show him
treating one of the three bloodied commandos whom passengers said they
subdued and disarmed at the start of the predawn raid on the main ship in
the flotilla on May 31.

READ MORE AT:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/turkish-doctor-describes-treating-israeli-commandos-during-raid/

---

The crimes I saw on the Mavi Marmara
By Free Gaza board member Lubna Masarwa, Electronic Intifada

During the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, deep in international
waters, I was inside the body of the ship. We were unarmed civilians
ranging in age from a one-year-old child to an 88-year-old priest. We were
going to Gaza to break the siege that Israel has imposed on a
million-and-a-half people for the last four years. We were carrying a
cargo of humanitarian and construction aid as well as letters from Turkish
children to the children of Gaza. We were full of hope.

READ MORE AT: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11327.shtml
###

[information@vivapalestina.org] The heroes of the Flotilla are set to attend the Summer University of Palestine in Lebanon this July 25th for one week - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-08T20:37:00.000+03:00

The heroes of the Flotilla are set to attend the Summer University of Palestine in Lebanon this July 25th for one week - Bülent Yildirim leader of NGO I. H. H (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı) and other leaders of the Flotilla will be hosting a special session on the massacre on the 'Mavi Marmara' and lessons for the future.

Our other key speakers include: George Galloway, Ghada Karmi, Norman Finkelstein, Abdul Rahim Mourad, Dr Ali Fayad, Ziad Hafez, Reem Nimer, Vangelis Pissias, Dr Daud Abdullah, Ma'an Bashour, Yvonne Ridley, Ramzy Baroud, Gabi Baramki, and Dr Azzam Tamimi who will all provide lectures on Past, Present and the Future of Palestine.

Spaces are limited!

Visit https://www.vivapalestinaarabia.org/en/sign-up or contact Alice Howard at alice@vivapalestina.org to make your reservations. Group bookings are available.

---------------------
Alice Howard
Viva Palestina UK
Tel: +447889726777
Email: alice@vivapalestina.org
Website: http://www.vivapalestina.org/
Sign up to the Viva Palestina Mailing List http://www.vivapalestina.org/alert.htm
Viva Palestina, helping to make the positive steps in breaking the siege of Gaza!

[GazaFriends] Jewish boat to Gaza is sailing soon - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-07T16:20:00.000+03:00

The Jewish boat to Gaza is sailing soon

In an undisclosed harbor in the Mediterranean, a small vessel is waiting
for a special mission. She will be sailing to Gaza. In order to avoid
sabotage, the exact date and name of the port of departure will be
announced only shortly before her launch.

"Our purpose is to call an end to the siege of Gaza, to this illegal
collective punishment of the whole civilian population. Our boat is small,
so our donations can only be symbolic: we are taking school bags, filled
with donations from German school children, musical instruments and art
materials. For the medical services we are taking essential medicines and
small medical equipment, and for the fishermen we are taking nets and
tackle. We are liaising with the medical, educational and mental health
services in Gaza..

''In attacking the Freedom Flotilla, Israel has once again demonstrated to
the world a heinous brutality. But I know that there are very many
Israelis who compassionately and bravely campaign for a just peace. As
broadcasting journalists from mainstream television programs are
accompanying our boat, Israel will have a great chance to show the world
that there is another way, a way of courage not fear, a way of hope not
hate'', says Edith Lutz, one of the organizers and passenger on the
''Jewish boat''.

The ''Jüdische Stimme'' (Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Near East),
along with her friends of EJJP (European Jews for a Just Peace in the Near
East) and Jews for Justice For Palestinians (UK) are sending a call to the
leaders of the world to help Israel find her way back to reason, a sense
of humanity and a life without fear. ''Jewish Voices'' expects the
political leaders of Israel and the world to guarantee a safe passage for
the small vessel to Gaza, thus helping to form a bridge towards peace.

For More Information Please Contact:
(Germany) Edith Lutz, EJJP, +49 152 0451 9740
(Germany) Kate Leiterer, EJJP, +49 1629 6604 72472
(Great Britain) Glyn Secker, Jews for Justice For Palestinians, +44 (0)79
1709 8599
###

Israel admits it altered flotilla audio

2010-06-06T12:13:00.000+03:00

New York - The Israeli military admitted on Saturday that it had released a misleadingly altered audio recording of a radio transmission with the "Freedom Flotilla" aid convoy in which activists are allegedly heard telling Israeli soldiers to "shut up, go back to Auschwitz."

The military released a statement indicating that a recording it made public on June 4th had been edited to remove the context around the offending statements, which also included an unidentified man saying, "We're helping the Arabs go against the US. Don't forget 9/11."

"So to clarify: the audio was edited down to cut out periods of silence over the radio as well as incomprehensible comments so as to make it easier for people to listen to the exchange," the military spokesperson's office said. "We have now uploaded the entire segment of 5 minutes and 58 seconds in which the exchange took place and the comments were made."

This statement comes after American journalist Max Blumenthal reported that several aspects of the "Auschwitz" video were suspect. The military claimed that the radio exchange was with the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, whereas in the recording the voice of flotilla organizer Huwaida Arraf is heard. Arraf was not on the Mavi Marmara, and was on a smaller passenger boat in the flotilla, the Challenger One. She confirmed to the New York-based media organization Institute For Middle East Understanding (IMEU) that her voice appeared in the apparently doctored clip.

This is the "edited" (or doctored) audio clip:

This is what Israel claims is the unedited radio transmission:

However, the release of the new "unedited audio" raises further questions. In the "unedited tape," the Israeli officer is heard radioing the Defne Y, another of the Turkish-owned ships, not the Mavi Marmara.

In the new audio released on Saturday, a man's voice comes over the radio at 1:56 saying "Yeah go ahead, navy." Oddly, the same voice reappears at 2:24 saying the same thing. The intonation of his voice is the same in both places.

The Israeli military also did not explain the discrepancy between the video released on June 4th, and the one it released on May 31st, which depicts the same Israeli soldier apparently contacting the Mavi Marmara over the radio, in which the "Auschwitz" and 9/11 comments do not appear.

This is the original May 31st video:

Update: Israeli journalist and Palestine Note contributor Mya Guarnieri, writing for the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, reports that Huwaida Arraf was listening to the flotilla's radio transmission as the ship approached Gaza, and said she did not hear any of the alleged remarks released by the Israeli military:

"I was by the radio the whole time there was any communication. Mine was the only boat in which I answered and not the captain and they all answered in a very professional manner." Arraf told Ma'an that while she might have spoken of having permission from the Gaza Port Authority on a previous attempt to break the blockade, she is certain that she did not say it on Monday morning. "When they radioed us, we were still 100 miles away," she explained.

Update 2: Max Blumenthal reminds readers that Haaretz, Yedtioth, and other Israeli media, in addition to US media like the Washington Post, published the "Auschwitz" tape as an unquestioned fact. Will they retract?

http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/05/israel-admits-it-altered-flotilla-audio.aspx

[GazaFriends] What happened to us is happening to Gaza - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-06T12:10:00.000+03:00

This article appeared on page A - 13 of the San Francisco Chronicle

What happened to us is happening in Gaza
by Iara Lee
Saturday, June 5, 2010

In the predawn hours of May 31, I was aboard the Turkish ship Mavi
Marmara, part of a convoy of humanitarian vessels aiming to deliver aid to
besieged civilians in Gaza, when we were attacked in international waters
by a unit of Israeli commandos.

Our ship had been inspected by customs agents in Turkey, a NATO member,
who confirmed that there were no guns or any such weapons aboard. Indeed,
the Israeli government has produced no such arms. What was aboard the ship
were hundreds of civilian passengers, representatives of dozens of
countries, who had planned to deliver the flotilla's much-needed
humanitarian materials for the Gazan people. These Palestinians have
suffered under an illegal siege - first imposed by Israel in 2005 and
strictly enforced since early 2009 - which Amnesty International has
called "a flagrant violation of international law."

The passengers on our ship - including elected officials, diplomats, media
professionals and human rights workers - joined the flotilla as an act of
peaceful protest. Israel's powerful navy could have easily approached our
boat and boarded it in broad daylight or pursued nonviolent options for
disabling our vessel. Instead, the Israeli military launched a nighttime
assault with heavily armed commandos. Under attack, some passengers
skirmished with the boarding soldiers using broomsticks and other items at
hand. The commandos and navy soldiers shot and killed at least nine
civilians and seriously injured dozens more. Others are still missing. The
final death toll has yet to be determined.

I feared for the lives of my fellow passengers as I heard shots being
fired on deck, and I later saw the bodies of several people killed being
carried inside. I had expected soldiers to shoot in the air or aim at
people's legs, but instead I saw the bodies of people who appeared to have
been shot multiple times in the head or chest.

When it was over, the Israeli soldiers commandeered our ships, illegally
kidnapped us from international waters, towed us to the port of Ashdod,
and arrested all of us on board.

The Israeli government has confiscated all of our video equipment, hard
drives with video footage, cell phones and notebooks. They detained the
journalists aboard my ship, preventing them for days from speaking about
what happened. Acting on Israel's behalf at the U.N. Security Council, the
United States has attempted to block a full, impartial, international
investigation of the incident.

Nevertheless, even at this early stage the world has expressed outrage
around a basic fact: There is no justification for launching a deadly
commando attack in the dark of night on a humanitarian-aid convoy.

The Israeli government denies that its punitive blockade of Gaza is the
source of hardship for civilians there. While its spokespeople actively
work to create confusion in the media, the truth is clear for all who
would care to see it. The overwhelming conclusion of highly respected
human rights authorities is that the Israeli government, because it does
not accept the legitimacy of the elected Hamas government, is pursuing a
policy of what Human Rights Watch calls "collective punishment against the
civilian population," illegal under international law.

With regard to the flotilla I was on, the Israeli government says it would
have permitted our humanitarian aid to enter Gaza by land had we submitted
it through "proper channels." But Israel's "proper channels" - restrictive
checkpoints that have repeatedly turned away World Health Organization
medical supplies and rejected or delayed the delivery of U.N. food aid -
are the very source of the humanitarian crisis.

Israeli spokespeople insist that the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a
provocation. It was, in the sense that civil rights protesters in the
American south who sat at segregated lunch counters represented a
provocation to segregationists, or in the sense that all nonviolent
protests against the illegitimate acts of a government are by definition
provocations. Under an illegal siege, the delivery of aid to civilians is
a prohibited act; the intent of our humanitarian convoy was to violate
this unjust prohibition.

At least nine of my fellow passengers were killed by the Israeli military
for attempting to defy the ban on delivering aid. Far more Palestinian
civilians have died as a result of the siege itself. What happened to our
flotilla is happening to the people of Gaza on a daily basis. It will not
stop until international law is applied to all countries, Israel included.

Iara Lee is a filmmaker and a co-founder of the San Francisco's Caipirinha
Foundation (www.culturesofresistance.org/caipirinha-foundation).

© 2010 Hearst Communications Inc.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/05/EDC31DQ215.DTL

[GazaFriends] What is not allowed - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-06T08:59:00.000+03:00

RICHARD TILLINGHAST
Richard Tillinghast is an American poet who lives in Co Tipperary. He is the author of eight books of poetry, the latest of which is Selected Poems (Dedalus Press, 2010 ), as well as several works of non-fiction

* href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0605/1224271903842.html

No tinned meat is allowed, no tomato paste,
no clothing, no shoes, no notebooks.
These will be stored in our warehouses at Kerem Shalom
until further notice.
Bananas, apples, and persimmons are allowed into Gaza,
peaches and dates, and now macaroni
(after the American Senator’s visit).
These are vital for daily sustenance.

But no apricots, no plums, no grapes, no avocados, no jam.
These are luxuries and are not allowed.
Paper for textbooks is not allowed.
The terrorists could use it to print seditious material.
And why do you need textbooks
now that your schools are rubble?
No steel is allowed, no building supplies, no plastic pipe.
These the terrorists could use to launch rockets
against us.

Pumpkins and carrots you may have, but no delicacies,
no cherries, no pomegranates, no watermelon, no onions,
no chocolate.

We have a list of three dozen items that are allowed,
but we are not obliged to disclose its contents.
This is the decision arrived at
by Colonel Levi, Colonel Rosenzweig, and Colonel Segal.

Our motto:
‘No prosperity, no development, no humanitarian crisis.’
You may fish in the Mediterranean,
but only as far as three km from shore.
Beyond that and we open fire.
It is a great pity the waters are polluted
twenty million gallons of raw sewage dumped into the sea every day
is the figure given.

Our rockets struck the sewage treatments plants,
and at this point spare parts to repair them are not allowed.
As long as Hamas threatens us,
no cement is allowed, no glass, no medical equipment.
We are watching you from our pilotless drones
as you cook your sparse meals over open fires
and bed down
in the ruins of houses destroyed by tank shells.

And if your children can’t sleep,
missing the ones who were killed in our incursion,
or cry out in the night, or wet their beds
in your makeshift refugee tents,
or scream, feeling pain in their amputated limbs –
that’s the price you pay for harbouring terrorists.

God gave us this land.
A land without a people for a people without a land.

--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+357 99 18 72 75
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

[GazaFriends] Rachel is on her way - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-04T15:28:00.000+03:00

Written by Free Gaza Team | 04 June 2010
Posted in Press releases

[Cyprus, June 4, 2010] The Rachel Corrie is 150 miles away from Gaza in international waters and on her way. They will arrive on Saturday morning. The 1200 ton cargo ship is the last ship from the Freedom Flotilla and is loaded with construction materials, 20 tons of paper and many other supplies that Israel refuses to allow into the imprisoned people of Gaza.

Some of the High-Profile people on board:

Mairead Maguire from Belfast, Ireland, a Nobel Peace Laureate (l976) and Co-founder of Peace People, Northern Ireland. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work for peace and a nonviolent solution to the Ethnic/political conflict in Northern Ireland. Mairead went on the maiden Voyage of Dignity in October 2008, the second successful voyage for the Free Gaza Movement. She was also on Board ‘Spirit’ when Israel hijacked the Boat in International Waters, taking all 2l humanitarian passengers to Israel, where they were arrested, detained for a week in an Israeli prison and then deported.

Denis Halliday, from Ireland, a UN Assistant Secretary-General from 1994-98. Appointed by SG Boutros Ghali, he served as ASG UN Human Resources Management in New York and in mid 1997 to end 1998 as Head, Humanitarian Programme in Iraq to support the Iraqi people struggling under the genocidal impact of UN Sanctions. Since resigning from the UN in 1998, Halliday has delivered numerous parliamentary briefings, provided extensive media inputs and has given public/university lectures on Iraq, human rights, and the UN, in particular its reform.

Matthias Chang Wen Chieh is a Malaysian of Chinese descent. He is a Barrister of 32 years standing and once served as the Political Secretary to the Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. He is the author of three bestsellers, “Future Fast Forward”, “Brainwashed for War, Programmed to Kill”, and “The Shadow Money-Lenders and the Global Financial Tsunami”, published in the US and in Malaysia.

Mohd Nizar bin Zakaria,Perak, Malaysia, MP Mohd Nizar bin Zakaria is a Member of the Malaysian Parliament.

In addition, there is a three-member camera crew on board from Malaysia TV3 and journalis Shamsul Akmar bin Musa Kamal.

The passengers on board the ship have stated, “Communication is difficult and sometimes impossible and there are many rumors out there started by Israeli authorities, but there is no way we are going to Ashdod. We are, for sure, on our way to Gaza.”

Contact: Greta Berlin, 00 357 99 18 72 75

Mary Hughes 00 357 6 38 38 09
--
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder
+357 99 18 72 75
witnessgaza.com
www.freegaza.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

[GazaFriends] Rachel is on her way - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

[information@vivapalestina.org] Fw: Gaza Flotilla: PSC Emergency daily update - June 2nd - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-03T12:54:00.000+03:00

Hostages on the Way Home - But How Many?

The latest news on those peace activists who have been illegally held by the Israeli Government is encouraging. We understand that the majority of those being held have been released and are heading back to their homes, via Istanbul. However, we have been told that not all the hostages have been released, with certain activists being singled out for longer detention.

PSC will continue with its campaign to bring pressure on the Israeli Government to release all those who where taken from the flotillas immediately, including a number of Palestinian Israelis who may face criminal charges.

From the reports we have received from those who have been freed, many have witnessed the shootings that took place on board the boat, and with one PSC volunteer cradling a victim of shootings as he died.

We hope to bring you a detailed account from the eyewitnesses who were on board the Mavi Marama.

Emergency National Demonstration Saturday 5th June

The world has looked on aghast as more and more details emerge of the violent attack by the Israeli Government on the unarmed flotilla of boats carrying essential medical supplies to the besieged people of Gaza. Tens of people have been killed and scores more injured.

Those who survived the brutal attack have been illegally imprisoned, without access to legal representatives.

To show our outrage at the brutal and illegal actions of the Israeli Government, PSC along with CND, Stop the War, British Muslim Initiative, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum of Britain and Viva Palestina have called an emergency demonstration on Saturday 5th June.

The march will start from Downing Street at 1.30 pm and head to the Israeli Embassy in Kensington where there will be a rally.

Reports of Mistreatment
Reports of detained activists being mistreated by the Israeli authorities have already been emerging from those released earlier today and yesterday.
The Guardian contains first hand accounts of the Israeli attack, and of activists being deprived of food, water and sleep while in captivity

Al Jazeera contains reports activists being attacked with plastic bullets, beatings and electric shocks

Lobbying in Parliament - Get your MP to sign EDM 127
Today, Foreign Secretary William Hague made a statement in Parliament in response to an emergency question on the situation in Gaza. Hague answered a number of questions on the blockade of Gaza, the EU trade agreement with Israel and boycotting Israeli goods, and the treatment of flotilla passengers detained by Israel from MPs who are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Over 3,300 people have already used our lobbying tool to send a letter to William Hague demanding a tougher response to Israel. It is vital to keep the pressure up.

Please ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 127 - Israel and the Gaza flotilla.

The motion, which has cross-party sponsorship, condemns Israel's attack on the aid convoy, supports the UN's call for an independent enquiry, and demands an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza. Follow this link http://www.psc.iparl.com/lobby/50 to use our lobby tool, which takes less than two minutes.

Volunteers Needed for Demo on Saturday
We urgently need help stewarding the demo on Saturday. If you can volunteer as a steward, please let us know immediately. You will need to be at Downing Street at 12pm for a briefing. Email us atpsc.admin@palestinecampaign.org to register yourself.

The Rachel Corrie due to arrive in Gaza in the next few days
The MC Rachel Corrie and two other ships carrying a 1,000 tonne cargo of medical, educational and rebuilding supplies are due to arrive in Gaza sometime on Friday night or Saturday morning. The ships were due to travel with the six boats captured by Israel on Monday, but were delayed by mechanical difficulties. Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin has repeatedly called for Israel to allow the ships to deliver their aid to Gaza.

Speaking earlier today from the boat, Irishman Derek Graham said that he was glad that the Irish government was calling for safe passage for the ship, and that "if this aid is not delivered, then Monday's deaths will have been in vain". He went on to say that if Israeli forces attempted to board the ship, all 15 passengers would sit with their arms in the air so that they would not be attacked. He also called for an end to the illegal three-year-old Israeli siege of Gaza.

Ruqayyah Collector

Campaigns and Communications Officer

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

T: 020 7700 6192

E: ruqayyah.collector@palestinecampaign.org

www.palestinecampaign.org

[information@vivapalestina.org] Fw: Gaza Flotilla: PSC Emergency daily update - June 2nd - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

[information@vivapalestina.org] KEVIN OVENDEN SPEAKS OUT IN ISTANBUL AT 05.59 - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-03T12:53:00.000+03:00

KEVIN OVENDEN SPEAKS OUT IN ISTANBUL AT 05.59

THE MASSACRE ON THE MAVI MARMARA MUST BE A TURNING POINT.

PASSENGERS FROM 32 COUNTRIES WERE MURDEROUSLY ATTACKED BY THE ISRAELI FORCES.

THIS IS THE SHARPEVILLE AND THE SOWETO OF THE MOVEMENT FOR PALESTINIAN SOLIDARITY.

PEOPLE OF THOSE COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD MUST NOW TELL THEIR GOVERNMENTS THAT WE ARE NOT PREPARED TO CONTINUE TO ALLOW ISRAEL TO FLOUT INTERNATIONAL LAW.

THE INHUMAN SIEGE OF GAZA MUST END NOW!

THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT HAS USED TERROR FOR POLITICAL ENDS. BUT WE ARE NOT AFRAID.

WE WHO SURVIVED THE MAVI MARMARA MASSACRE WILL REDOUBLE OUR EFFORTS TO BRING HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE PEOPLE OF PALESTINE AND END THIS SIEGE!

KEVIN CONFIRMS THAT HE, NICOLA ENCHMARCH AND NADER DAHER ARE ALL SAFE AND WELL.

http://www.vivapalestinaarabia.org/en/news/95-kevin-ovenden-speaks-out-in-istanbul-at-0559

---------------------
Alice Howard
Viva Palestina UK
Tel: +447889726777
Email: alice@vivapalestina.org
Website: http://www.vivapalestina.org/
Sign up to the Viva Palestina Mailing List http://www.vivapalestina.org/alert.htm
Viva Palestina, helping to make the positive steps in breaking the siege of Gaza!

[information@vivapalestina.org] KEVIN OVENDEN SPEAKS OUT IN ISTANBUL AT 05.59 - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

Flickr: freegazaorg's Photostream

2010-06-03T12:52:00.001+03:00

Flickr: freegazaorg's Photostream

[GazaFriends] VOTE "YES" ON CNN POLL!!! For the Censureship of Israel - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-03T12:52:00.000+03:00

I got this email from the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, asking the pro-Israelis to vote (NO) on the CNN poll. Well, after voting strong YES, I thought to share this rather emusing email with you all, so we can counter the pro-Israeli camp.

(Anonymous)

VOTE “YES” ON CNN POLL!!!

A survey on the CNN website asks:

Should Israel face censure over an attack on a Gaza aid convoy?

To vote click HERE

[GazaFriends] VOTE "YES" ON CNN POLL!!! For the Censureship of Israel - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

[GazaFriends] DID ISRAEL DELIBERATELY MURDER CIVILIANS ABOARD FREEDOM FLOTILLA? - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

2010-06-03T12:50:00.000+03:00

PRESS BRIEFING - WitnessGaza.com

DID ISRAEL DELIBERATELY MURDER CIVILIANS ABOARD FREEDOM FLOTILLA?

Israeli Ambassador to the United States admits that ships were "too large to stop with nonviolent means."

On May 31st, 2010, elite Israeli military commandos stormed six humanitarian aid ships taking part in the 'Freedom Flotilla' to Gaza, killing between 9-20 civilian passengers and injuring dozens more. As the facts of the attack come out it is clear that these killings cannot in any way be justified.

PRIOR TO THE ISRAELI ATTACK - The Freedom Flotilla

The Freedom Flotilla was an effort by a coalition of human rights and humanitarian organizations to nonviolently break through Israel's illegal blockade, and deliver much needed humanitarian and developmental aid to the Palestinians of Gaza. Almost 700 passengers from 40 different countries joined the flotilla, including: human rights workers, humanitarian aid workers, Members of Parliament, doctors, nurses, teachers, community leaders, and international journalists.

The lead coalition partners included:

* Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the largest coalition partner, contributing 2 Turkish-flagged cargo ships, the Turkish-flagged passenger ship "Mavi Marmara," and 380 Turkish nationals to the effort. This was IHH's first attempt to break the Gaza blockade.

* The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, contributing the Greek-flagged passenger ship "Sfendoni." This was the European Campaign's second mission to Gaza.

* The Free Gaza Movement, contributing the U.S.-flagged passenger ship "Challenger I." This was Free Gaza's ninth mission to Gaza.

* A Ship to Gaza, Sweden, and A Ship to Gaza, Greece, contributing the Greek-flagged cargo ship "Eleftheri Mesogeios." This was the first voyage of A Ship to Gaza, Sweden, and the fourth of a Ship to Gaza, Greece.

All ships were thoroughly searched by local port authorities in Greece and Turkey prior to their departure. Additionally, the coalition hired an independent security firm to search the ships and certify that no weapons were on board. All passengers went through nonviolence training and were likewise searched for weapons prior to boarding. The Turkish government, a member-state of the NATO alliance, vetted all the Turkish passengers to insure there was no one with ties to extremist groups. These precautionary steps were deliberately taken to prevent Israeli propaganda officials from ever being able to claim that the Freedom Flotilla posed any 'security risk' to Israel.

There was a live satellite feed broadcasting the voyage from the Mavi Marmara, as well as GPS transponders showing the exact location of the flotilla at all times to anyone viewing the coalition website. The intention of the Freedom Flotilla was never to 'provoke a confrontation,' but simply to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza, and in so doing to draw attention to the brutal Israeli policies that are forcing the Palestinian people into a state of impoverished dependency.

PRIOR TO THE ISRAELI ATTACK - The Israeli Government

On 27 May, Bloomberg News reported that Israel was threatening to use its military forces and “use all available means to stop the ships” ('Israel Threatens Naval Action to Stop Aid Ships Bound for Gaza').

On 28 May the Associated Press reported that the Israeli government was prepared to stop the flotilla "at any cost," including being "prepared to use force." ('Israeli gunships head to sea to block flotilla'). It was further reported that masked naval commandos were being "trained" to stop the flotilla.

On 1 June the Guardian reported that Matan Vilnai, Israel's deputy Defense Minister, suggested that the Israeli military had sabotaged several of the Freedom Flotilla ships. The flotilla was in fact delayed by two days due to unexpected mechanical problems, and 3 of the original 9 ships intending to join the flotilla were forced to drop off. ('Gaza aid flotilla: Israeli sabotage suspected,' Guardian, 1 June 2010)

THE MASSACRE ABOARD THE MARI MARMARA

On 31 May, under cover of darkness, Israeli military forces surrounded the Freedom Flotilla in international waters. Armed and masked commandos stormed all 6 ships from sea and from air, killing between 9 and 20 civilians. After more than 2 days, Israel still refuses to release the names and identities of the dead, nor even confirm the number of passengers killed by their forces.

An Israeli military spokesperson, Avital Leibovich, confirmed the attack took place in international waters, stating: "This happened in waters outside of Israeli territory, but we have the right to defend ourselves."

Did the passengers aboard the Mari Marmara possess a similar right to defend themselves?

Israel released highly-edited videos of the confrontation, claiming that civilian passengers aboard the Mari Marmara attempted to "lynch" the well-armed military commandos when they first stormed the ship. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak praised the commandos, stating: "You carried out the mission and prevented the flotilla from reaching Gaza. We need to always remember that we aren't North America or Western Europe, we live in the Middle East, in a place where there is no mercy for the weak and there aren't second chances for those who don't defend themselves." ('Barak: In the Middle East, there is no mercy for the weak,' Haaretz, 2 June 2010.)

Again, one wonders whether this sentiment extends to the civilians killed by those commandos as well.

In contrast to the Israeli account of events, which is self-evidently absurd, Jamal Elshayyal, an Al-Jazeera correspondent aboard the Mari Marmara was able to issue a brief report before Israeli forces cut all communications with the ships. Elshayyal's report contradict the Israeli version of events, stating that Israel fired live ammunition on the civilians after they had raised a white flag. View the live report yourself at:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053133047995359.html

Eyewitness testimony from the handful of passengers who have been released directly contradicts Israel's version as well. According to Nilufer Cetin, who sailed on the Mari Marmara with her one-year-old baby, "The operation started immediately with firing. First it was warning shots, but when the Mavi Marmara wouldn't stop these warnings turned into an attack," she said."There were sound and smoke bombs and later they used gas bombs. Following the bombings they started to come on board from helicopters."('Israelis opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists,' Guardian, 1 June 2010)

Cetin's account is just one of several contradicting the Israeli narrative. Haneen Zoubi, a Member of the Israeli Knesset, and just one of several parliamentarians aboard the flotilla, stated that Israeli warships surrounded the Mavi Marmara, firing on the ship before the commandos stormed aboard.

At a press conference in Nazareth, shortly after her release, MK Zoubi also stated that: "“Israel had days to plan this military operation. They wanted many deaths to terrorize us and to send a message that no future aid convoys should try to break the siege of Gaza.” ('Israeli Knesset member rejects navy account of attack,' Irish Sun, 2 June 2010)

Yonatan Shapira, former pilot in the IDF for the very squadron that conducted the assault on the Mavi Marmara stated: "No Israeli pilot would drop commandos on a ship in the middle of the sea, in the middle of the night, during such an operation without the soldiers carrying live ammunition. Paint ball canisters may have been attached to the automatic weapons that they had, but there is no doubt that the soldiers had and were prepared to use live ammunition"

In an interview on the Diane Rehm Show on 2 June, a nationally-broadcast radio program in the United States, Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, stated that in planning their assault the Marmara, the Israeli government had concluded that the ship was "too large to stop with nonviolent means."

There is clear evidence present that the State of Israeli may have deliberately and with forethought intended to provoke a conflict in order to assassinate civilians sailing aboard the Freedom Flotilla, and therefore violently discourage any further attempts to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians of besieged Gaza.

The Free Gaza Movement calls upon the international community to enforce international standards and laws, fully investigate these crimes, and hold Israeli officials accountable for the willful murder of international human rights and humanitarian aid workers aboard the Freedom Flotilla.

---

For More Information, please contact:

Free Gaza:

Greta Berlin or Mary Hughes, +357 99 187 275 / + 357 96 383 809

http://www.freegaza.org/

Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH):

Ahmet Emin Dag, +90 530 341 1934

http://ihh.org.tr/

European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza:

Mazen Kahel, +33 1 4681 1292

http://savegaza.eu/eng/

Yonatan Shapira, former IDF pilot

+1 443 465 7610

WitnessGaza.com

###

[GazaFriends] DID ISRAEL DELIBERATELY MURDER CIVILIANS ABOARD FREEDOM FLOTILLA? - ujohanna@gmail.com - Gmail

Marbles, paintballs and nukes

2010-06-02T07:47:00.001+03:00

The Israeli military has been busy spinning the story of their attack on a civilian convoy trying to deliver aid to the imprisoned people of Gaza. They've had a head start, sending out edited videos, posting 'supposed' military footage of the passengers attacking them, saying that they confiscated weapons which turned out to be marbles, sling shots, kitchen knives and aluminum chairs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLrX7fznVgI

But they can't spin for much longer. Video footage from dozens of people is beginning to surface about what really happened. Al Jazeera has posted their coverage as gun shots sound in the background, speakers beg the passengers to go below and a white flag is set out for the paramilitary groups.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn-l_JltCB4

More will come out as passengers are released. We already know that Israel shot the captain of the Marmara and the European Campaign boat, maybe hoping that we would no longer be able to hire captains. Several activists have spoken to their Consulates and told of being kicked, beaten, dragged along the ground, tear gassed and bags thrown over their heads.

Knowing that video of this vicious attack in international waters was going to surface, Captain Aria Shaliker of the Israel Defense Forces, who was part of the operation on Monday, said the commandos began the raids armed with paint ball guns. "I was, myself, on one of the boats, the Israeli boats, approaching the flotilla," he told the BBC's World Today programme. "It is true that the Israeli commander unit... came on board with paint ball weapons... in order to disperse people.

No mention of paint-stained clothing.

As Israel's hysteria mounts, "they now claim “self defense” in attacking ships in international waters today, killing 9. Israel informed the US and Britain that the convoy was ferrying stolen nuclear weapons that would be used for a terrorist attack on Israel. The “stolen nukes” have been in Israel for 18 years while the US has spent billions of dollars and thousands of lives looking for them. Today 9 more died"http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/06/gordon-duff-israel-scams-u-s-%E2%80%9Cgaza-convoy-carrying-stolen-nukes%E2%80%9D/

The world is watching a county imploding, having a massive nervous breakdown in full view. It's tragic that thousands of Palestinians have died and 9 human rights workers lost their lives yesterday.

--
Greta Berlin

update from my email

2010-05-23T17:03:00.001+03:00

We will soon have a new page added to our website called witnessgaza.org. You
will be able to follow us as we journey to Gaza over the next two weeks. You
can watch our own 'video reports' twice a day, reports from the boats and from
Gaza. Everything on the page is connected to make it easier for you to access
TWITTER, Facebook, YouTube and FLICKR. Watch for it in the next day or so.

For the update on the boats, the Turkish passenger ship left yesterday from
Istanbul to the next port to pick up more passengers. The Irish/Malaysian ship,
the MV Rachel Corrie, is on her way to the Mediterranean. The Greek/Swedish
cargo ship, the passenger boat from the European Campaign and the Free Gaza
passenger boats are ready to leave Greece this week.

We will all meet in international waters off the coast of Gaza, turn and steam
into Gaza City port sometime between May 28 and June 1 depending on the
weather.

The Israelis are nervous.
The Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to Gaza to the diaspora are
ecstatic.
The internationals are determined.
The boats are ready.
The world waits.

Greta

Press release 20 May 2010 from freegaza.org

2010-05-21T06:47:00.000+03:00

Members of Swedish Parliament demand security for Ship to Gaza

On Wednesday, Helén Pettersson, Social Democratic member of the Swedish Parliament, submitted a written inquiry to Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, asking what measures the government intends to take in order to protect Ship to Gaza’s peaceful, lawful, humanitarian initiative. The reason for the inquiry is that Ship to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla—the coalition in which the Swedish initiative will be included— has been threatened with military resistance from Israeli authorities and private individuals. The following is Petterson’s inquiry in its entirety:

“One and a half million Palestinians are living in isolation on the Gaza Strip, in pure misery. There is a shortage of food, medicine and other necessities, such as building materials to repair homes, schools and other buildings which were destroyed by the bombings during the war around Christmas in 2008. In order to address the situation, Ship to Gaza is planning to take the sea route to Gaza, bringing medicine, desalination plants, cement, etc. in order to help the people in need. Ship to Gaza is a politically and religiously independent, non-profit organization that is working to promote increased respect for human rights and general international law. Israel’s government has now threatened to stop Ship to Gaza and to use force if necessary. Does the Foreign Minister intend to protect this humanitarian initiative?”

As early as last week, Mehmet Kaplan of the Green Party of Sweden requested a meeting with the Foreign Minister, along with Ship to Gaza spokespersons Dror Feiler and Mattias Gardell, in order to discuss which security measures the Swedish government plans to take. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has still not responded to any of the questions. As the convoy is setting sail this weekend, Ship to Gaza-Sweden wishes to emphasize how important a response from the government is regarding this matter. Especially since the Israeli media is reporting that the Swedish Ambassador to Israel has informed the Israeli government that she and the Swedish government intend to discourage Swedish citizens from participating in the Freedom Flotilla’s peaceful, lawful, humanitarian convoy. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and several other human rights organizations have all condemned the blockade. Furthermore, the director of U.N. relief operations in Gaza, John Ging, welcomes initiatives such as Ship to Gaza, in order to break the blockade.

Ship to Gaza-Sweden
Contact:
Mattias Gardell: +46 703036666
Dror Feiler: +46 702855777

Free Gaza Movement

Contact:

Greta Berlin: +33 607374512

www.freegaza.org

Update from viva Palestina

2010-05-16T09:57:00.001+03:00

World-class speakers to attend the Summer University of Palestine!

On the 25th July the first session of the annual 'Summer University of Palestine' is due to begin in Lebanon.

This event is organised by the registered Lebanese charity Viva Palestine Arabia and will focus on Palestine. The week long intensive course will cover 'Past, Present and Future Palestine' on the history, geography and politics of the region.

A-list renowned world-class speakers such as: George Galloway, Ghada Karmi, Abdul Rahim Mourad, Dr Ali Fayad, Ziad Hafez, Reem Nimer, Vangelis Pissias, Dr Daud Abdullah ,Ma'un Bashour, Yvonne Ridley,Ramzy Baroud,Gabi Baramki, and Dr Azzam Tamimi amongst other leading speakers will be there! Will you?!

In addition to this residential educational event there will be visits to Palestinian refugee camps and we will also take you to view Baalbek, city of the sun and Fatima's gate.

This unforgettable experience is priced at $850 USD for 7 days/6 nights. This includes accommodation at the magnificent Lebanese International University, transfers, excursions, a full university syllabus and meals on the campus. You will also receive the official Viva Palestine Arabia T-shirt designed by Philosophy Football.

Spaces are limited! Register here to secure your place www.vivapalestinaarabia.org - Help us raise awareness of the siege of Gaza and also buy humanitarian aid to rebuild lives. Make a donation here: http://www.vivapalestinaarabia.org/en/donate

FreeGaza update

2010-05-15T09:13:00.001+03:00

PRESS RELEASE

Israel's Intimidation Tactics Won't Stop Us
First Ship Sets Sail for Gaza!

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 Flotillato 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.

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.

www.freegaza.org www.savegaza.eu www.ihh.org.tr
www.shiptogaza.gr www.shiptogaza.se

Freegaza.org update

2010-05-12T09:37:00.000+03:00

As we get ready to launch our cargo ship and Israel rattles its sabers threatening to violently stop our 8-boat flotilla, the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza cannot be forgotten. It is they who pay the price for the inaction of governments, particularly in the EU and the US.

According to the BCC and Amira Hass in columns last week, Israel allows only 81 items into Gaza for basic and bare necessity life. These items, many of them that have nothing to do with rebuilding a shattered infrastructure after Israel's brutal Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of 2009, are mostly 'added to the list' of imports because of pressure from Israeli merchants who make a great deal of money if their item gets on the approved list.

http://www.youtube.com/gazafriends#p/a/u/0/o2s_v-DHv0Y

Watch the video and look at the absurdity of banned items... chocolate, jam, sheets, pillows, and all rebuilding supplies. Taking these supplies into Gaza is exactly what the Freedom Flotilla intends to do.
Then watch the flotilla on our website, pressure your government officials to advocate for our safe passage, and continue to donate what you can for our fuel, captain and crew.

We want to thank everyone of you who have donated, advocated, written and called your representatives. This initiative has grown from a few supporters to thousands around the world. http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza

In the words Alice Walker, poet and author:

Goddess Speed your boat. You are doing the work of The Collective as it attempts to bring Comfort, Support and Abiding Love and Solidarity to Itself. What you demonstrate is what we all, deep in our hearts, can know: We are One People, existing in one Love. The Gazans are us, living in a beleaguered place too small for us, dangerous for us, deadly for us. Just as the air connects us, so does thisknowing wisdom of being one expression – human – of an infinitely creative Universe.

I send you my blessings, my prayers for your safety, and my love,
--
Greta Berlin
www.freegaza.org

Peace talks: Palestinian views

2010-04-26T07:14:00.001+03:00

With planned indirect Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on hold after a row over settlement building in East Jerusalem, Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank give their views on the prospects for peace.

ADEL HASSAN RASHED, 81, UNEMPLOYED, NABLUS

We should never go back to negotiations. The solution is always in the hands of the US, but we expect nothing from them. They are the only power in the world - and the Israeli have no-one standing against them.

The idea of the two-state solution is like morphine [ie used to anaesthetise the Palestinians]. There is nothing called a solution. They just keep taking the land from us and building for themselves. Israel took everything from us and the Americans are backing them up, even with weapons.

The only option we have is to take back with force what they took from us. When we have the real power to fight, we will - but not now, we have no power.

KHADER SAMARITAN, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH CENTRE, 55, NABLUS

I think it's better for us to have direct negotiations with Israel, because there is no-one to talk on our behalf in indirect ones.

Face to face talks are better, but the condition for these should be to stop the settlement activity. - and not just for eight months.

East Jerusalem is internationally known as the capital of the future Palestinian state and west Jerusalem is the capital for the Israelis - this should be the two-state solution.

Peace is the key to everything. I'm not convinced about military resistance. The people are already suffering from the economic situation and the first and second intifidas. The people of the world have heard our voices, and all the world is standing behind us - to have a third intifada now would just hurt our own people.

RUBA ZAGHMOURI, 24, ARTS CENTRE WORKER, RAMALLAH

It's not about whether Mahmoud Abbas should go into talks or not. Whether he does or doesn't go into them, I don't think the result will satisfy the Palestinian people.

I don't want a two state solution. Definitely not. A two-state solution could be done when we have equal grounds, both the Palestinians and Israelis, but without us Palestinians having basic rights, you can't discuss a two-state solution.

I have never believed in a two-state solution. I want to be free. I want to live in peace. I want to be able to live here in Ramallah without going back and forth to Jerusalem for my ID problems. I don't want to have to go to Amman just to use an airport. I don't want anyone to be killed, and I don't want anything to be stolen from us.

What I want is so confused at the moment. I feel like Palestinian and Israeli leaders are all lying to us. It's becoming really difficult for the new generation to weigh what's right and wrong and what we actually want out of all of this. We know we want peace, but how it could be achieved - this is what we don't know.

AYMAN AL-NAZER, DENTIST, 48, RAMALLAH

I believe that all the negotiations with Israel should be stopped. The Arab street should take a different way. We've been negotiating for 20 years now, for nothing.

I still support peaceful resistance, but everyone knows what the other option is, and the other option will happen if the Israelis don't sit down for real negotiations.

Unfortunately the Jewish people don't want peace. You can see the facts on the ground. The whole world can see what's going on on the ground. There is no way to achieve peace with these people.

AMINA AL-HASANAT, SALES DIRECTOR, 22, GAZA

I believe that negotiations are the only solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, but must be done in the right way. To take steps to improve the conditions for negotiations, the Arab leaders should maintain pressure on Israel to accept negotiations based on international legitimacy and United Nations resolutions. Israel must stop settlement activity in Jerusalem and the West Bank and recognise the rights of the Palestinian people.

I dream of a two-state solution which is based on a viable independent Palestinian state, side-by-side with Israel. We must find a unified Palestinian strategy to support the position of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, because Israel is taking the division between the Palestinians as an excuse to stop negotiations and continue attacks against the Palestinian people.

MOHAMMED OMAR TAHA, ACCOUNTANT, 32, GAZA

Negotiations would be a waste of time. We have negotiated for more than 15 years, but we got nothing but siege and settlements, killing and destruction. The Arab leaders should take a decision to stop negotiating and go for the military option against Israel, which knows only the language of force. The two-state solution is a big lie. We must end the division [between Palestinians] first and then take a clear decision to stop the negotiations and security co-ordination with Israel, and go to the option of resistance by all means - popular resistance and armed resistance if necessary.

Thirteen Israeli air strikes hit Gaza Strip

2010-04-26T07:12:00.001+03:00

Thirteen Israeli air strikes hit Gaza Strip

The BBC's Jon Donnison says the strikes were on a "relatively small scale"

Israeli planes have carried out 13 air strikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources have told the BBC.

Four of the strikes took place near the town of Khan Younis, where two Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Palestinian fighters last week.

Israel says the operation was targeting four weapons factories. Reports say three children were injured.

The latest violence is the most serious since the end of Israel's assault on Gaza in January 2009.

Palestinians and rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans died in the conflict, while Israel puts the figure at 1,166. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.

Witnesses and Hamas officials said the latest Israeli raids targeted metal workshops, farms, a milk factory and small sites belonging to the military wing of Hamas.

The director of ambulance and emergency, Muawiya Hassanein, said that three children including an infant were slightly injured by flying debris.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has called on the international community to intervene in the latest cycle of violence between Gaza and Israel in order to avoid a possible escalation.

"We are contacting the other Palestinian factions in order to reach an internal consensus as to the measures we may take in order to protect our people and strengthen our unity," Mr Haniya said.

'Retaliation'

Israel says there have been at least 20 rocket or mortar attacks in the past month that have landed on its territory, one of which killed a farm worker.

The BBC's Jon Donnison, in Jerusalem, says Israel appears to be sending a signal that whenever there is militant activity inside Gaza it will respond.

ANALYSIS

Tim Franks, BBC News, Jerusalem

The air strikes were not a surprise. Israeli officials say there is an equivalence: if it is quiet within Israel's borders, then it will be quiet in Gaza.

Among Gaza's leaders there was a slight difference in emphasis. Ismail Haniya, the top Hamas man in the territory, condemned Israel's "escalation". But Ayman Taha, a spokesman, also said that Hamas was "working hard to deter any faction from acting individually".

So both sides are insisting that they want calm. But it is dangerous - and historically inaccurate - to imagine that violence can be neatly calibrated in and around Gaza.

In any case, the received wisdom among Gazans and Israelis is that another major clash is inevitable at some point: there are just too many sources of tension, too many triggers across the region.

It makes the job of pushing ahead with Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, and a wider resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict all the more difficult, and all the more pressing.

In a statement released to the BBC, the Israeli military said Israel would "not tolerate terroristic activity inside Gaza that threatens Israeli citizens".

Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told public radio: "If this rocket fire against Israel does not stop, it seems we will have to raise the level of our activity and step up our actions against Hamas."

Correspondents say this kind of rhetoric has been heard in the past and should not be taken as a cue for imminent military action.

But tension is growing between Israel and Hamas, and some analysts view wider operations against Hamas as inevitable.

Palestinian news agencies reported that Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over parts of Gaza on Thursday warning residents of retaliation for last Friday's killings of the soldiers in Khan Younis.

They were the first Israeli soldiers to be killed in hostile fire in Gaza in over a year. The military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for those attacks.

Over roughly the same period, about 90 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in a mixture of Israeli military operations and border clashes, according to the UN.

Hamas said police stations and training facilities were among the targets of Israel's overnight raids.

Khimar Abu Sada, professor of political science at al-Azhar university in Gaza City, told the BBC he had heard a number of explosions in the city.

In pictures: Aftermath of raids

"[On Thursday] the Israeli army distributed a number of leaflets in Gaza City warning the Palestinians to expect some kind of Israeli retaliation for the killing of two Israeli soldiers... so we were expecting something on Friday but not Thursday night," he said.

Tensions in the region are running high after a recent Israeli government announcement of plans to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish people in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as a capital of a future state.

The US has criticised the Ramat Shlomo project, which prompted the Palestinians to pull out of US-brokered indirect peace talks.

The row has caused one of the worst crises in US-Israeli ties for decades, and the US is reportedly considering abstaining from a possible UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement expansion. The US usually blocks Security Council resolutions criticising Israel.

Rocket fire

Militants in the Gaza Strip have recently stepped up rocket fire directed at Israel.

On Wednesday, they fired a rocket into an empty field in southern Israel, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, military sources said.

In December 2008, the Israeli armed forces launched a 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip, bombing Palestinian cities before sending in ground troops - in response, Israel said, to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel.

After this, Hamas launched its rockets in increased numbers at Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip, before agreeing to a ceasefire.

Our correspondent says that Hamas has tried to rein in rocket fire from Gaza, and that there has been a reduction in attacks in the last year.

Israel would say that is a result of its military operations, our correspondent says.

But there are many militant groups in Gaza and Hamas does not control all of them, our correspondent adds.

a coalition bringing together a number of organizations and movements working to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza

2010-04-04T20:30:00.000+03:00

April 4, 2010

Istanbul, Turkey – Following months of preparation, a coalition bringing together a number of organizations and movements working to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza was announced yesterday in Istanbul. The coalition, comprised of the Turkey-based IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi) organization, the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), the Greek Ship to Gaza campaign, the Swedish Ship to Gaza campaign and the Free Gaza Movement, will launch a flotilla of ships laden with cargo, media, parliamentarians, celebrities and activists to Gaza next month.

The flotilla includes at least eight vessels, including three cargo ships, and will set sail from European ports beginning May 3, reaching the port of Gaza later in the month. Over 500 passengers from more than 20 countries will take part, and 5,000 tons of cargo, including cement, prefabricated housing, other building materials, medical equipment, and educational supplies will be delivered to Palestinians in Gaza.

The Free Gaza Movement has been launching ships to Gaza since August 2008, partnering with organizations and activists around the world on these missions. In December 2009, IHH led a land convoy to Gaza that brought tons of humanitarian aid and other supplies. In January 2010 the European Campaign brought 50 parliamentarians to Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to witness the devastation wrought by Israel’s illegal policies. Ship to Gaza/Greece and Ship to Gaza/Sweden meanwhile have had ongoing campaigns in their countries to raise awareness and funds for this effort and for materials to be brought to Gaza.

“Through this coalition, these organizations will be able to maximize resources, experience and commitment to ending the illegal siege on Gaza. Even as Israel continues its daily persecution of Palestinians, we will use this action to wake the world’s consciousness about the crimes committed against Palestinians,” said IHH President Bulent Yildirim.

The coalition invites organizations and individuals from around the world to join the effort by providing supplies for Gaza and contributing financial support for the mission.

Contact:

Free Gaza Movement – Greta Berlin – +33607374512; www.freegaza.org

ECESG – Arafat Madhi – +44 7908 200 559; www.savegaza.eu

IHH – Ahmet Emin Dag – +90 530 341 1934; www.ihh.org.tr

Ship to Gaza / Greece – Vangelis Pissias – +30 697 200 9339; www.shiptogaza.gr

Ship to Gaza / Sweden – Dror Feiler - +46702855777; www.shiptogaza.se

END

International Women's Day

2010-03-09T09:35:00.001+02:00

March 8, 2010

This International Women's Day, March 8, candles will be lit across homes in Gaza – not in celebration of women, but because an electricity crisis has plunged Gazan families into darkness – and desperation.

According to Oxfam International, only 48% of the 3.5 million litres of fuel and 36% of the 1,750 tonnes of cooking gas needed per week in Gaza are being delivered.

Since the European Commission stopped the funding of fuel in the Gaza Strip, its one and only power plant has seen a severe shortage of fuel and it is now running on just one of four turbines.

Israeli authorities have shut down the Nahal Oz crossing, which was the main source of entry for cooking gas, forcing residents to rely on the much smaller supply trickling through Karem Shalom Crossing.

'In the absence of electricity or cooking gas, we have gone back to the middle ages style of life… My children gather old clothes from nearby streets to help build a fire. My children are now used to this kind of cooking', says Gazan mother Jameela Abu Shallouf, known as 'Um Ameer' (Mother of Ameer) to friends and family.

Jameela's story is painfully common around Gaza. Food cannot be stored in refrigerators, and many mothers resort to clay ovens and open fires to cook food for their families. Money is painstakingly saved to provide what little light can be found.

'At night, we light candles and set them on the ground inside the room, where my duty and their father's is to observe the candles and warn the children not to get too close to them,' she explains.

'Electricity is our life. I cannot provide hot water for my children to shower. I am very sad… When I look into the eyes of my children, I feel the desire to scream,' says Nahla, a 31-year-old mother of five.

'There is no cooking gas, so we use a kerosene stove despite the danger that my children and I face, as I heard that such stoves can cause a house fire,' says 29-year-old mother of three, Samar El Atamneh, known as 'Um Jamal'.

Driven by desperation, many families in Gaza purchase low-power generators- another dangerous alternative to darkness. These cheaper, low-power generators have resulted in carbon monoxide poisoning and generator fires, which in the past two months alone have claimed the lives of 15 people, including three children who were sleeping next to a generator, according to Oxfam International.

A further 75 people died due to generator leaks and fires last year.

Assistance is trickling down in the form of what little aid international humanitarian organisations manage to offer. But for Jameela, Nahla, Samar, and so many other mothers in Gaza, the future looks bleak.

All of their husbands are unemployed, and their families are reliant upon organisations such as World Vision and UNRWA, as well as the kindness and charity of family and friends.

In the words of Um Ameer, 'Every day, I witness my children growing up in an ongoing blockade and conflict. I always dream of a day such things end...I hope my children will have a better future.'

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/from...2fec83058b.htm

A Call from Gaza | Global BDS Movement

2010-03-01T08:53:00.001+02:00

Posted by RORCoalition on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 06:00

Gaza, 20.December.2009 -- This week marks one year since Israel began its attack on the Gaza Strip: a year since phosphorus bombs, dime bombs and other weapons of death and destruction were unleashed on a defenseless civilian population. A year since the people of the world demanded that Israel end its attack on Gaza.

In this Israeli war of aggression on the occupied Gaza Strip, many of our civilians were massacred by Israel’s indiscriminate bombing, condemned by UN experts and leading human rights organizations as war crimes and crimes against humanity. This assault left over 1,440 Palestinians dead, predominantly civilians, of whom 431 were children. Another 5380 Palestinians were injured. We, the 1.5 million Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the overwhelming majority of whom are refugees who were violently expelled from our homes by Zionist forces in 1948, were subjected to three weeks of relentless Israeli state terror, whereby Israeli warplanes systematically targeted civilian areas, reduced whole neighborhoods and vital civilian infrastructure to rubble and partially destroyed scores of schools, including several run by the UN, where civilians were taking shelter. This came after 18 months of an ongoing, crippling, deadly hermetic Israeli siege of Gaza, a severe form of collective punishment described by John Dugard,the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights as “a prelude to genocide.”

The war on Gaza was predicated and advocated for by Israeli generals and politicians. Matan Vilnai, ex-Deputy Defense Minister of Israel, told Army Radio during "Operation Hot Winter" (29 February 2008):

They will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.

In the days following this statement, 107 Palestinians, including 28 children, were killed. The international community failed to take action. This inaction, followed by European declarations of intentions to upgrade their trade agreements with Israel, served as a green light for the atrocities that were to be committed in January 2009.

But the attack on Gaza is not yet over: we, the Palestinians of Gaza are still living with our physical, mental and emotional wounds. Our bodies cannot heal because the medicine that we require is not allowed into the Gaza Strip .Our homes cannot be rebuilt and the mangled steel and concrete cannot be removed because the trucks and bulldozers that can remove them are not allowed into the Gaza Strip.

Never before has a population been denied the basic requirements for survival as a deliberate policy of colonization, occupation and apartheid, but this is what Israel is doing to us, the people of Gaza, today: 1.5 million people live without a secure supply of water, food, electricity, medicines, with almost half of them being children under the age of 15.

It is a slow genocide of the kind unparalleled in human history.

Earlier this month, Ronnie Kasrils, ex South African Intelligence Minister and member of the ANC, said in the UK, that what Israel is doing to the Palestinians is far worse than what was done to black South Africans under apartheid. And, former American president Jimmy Carter said, on his visit to Gaza, that the Palestinian people trapped in Gaza are being treated "like animals."

The people of Gaza need your support to end the blockade. Over 1400 international activists from over 42 countries will be in Gaza on December 31. They will march with us to demand that Israel lift its’ blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately and permanently. We ask you to show your solidarity with Gaza on the same day: wherever you may be, organize a protest, a march or a petition collection in your own country.

There are 1.5 million people in Gaza: we want to see 1.5 million people around the world support us as we take our demands to the Israeli state.

We need you to show Israel that we have a common humanity; that you watch what it does and you will not tolerate it because silence is complicity.

We need you to show Israel on December 31 2009 that there is no place for their kind of war mongering and barbarism in the world and that the people of the world reject it.

We need you to show us, the people of Gaza, that you remember the horror that we face each day, and that you are with us as we fight against the Israeli-apartheid killing machine.

Gaza
20.December.2009

Signed by:

Academic Sector
BDS National Committee (BNC)
Palestinian NGO Network (Civil Society Sector)
Labor Sector
Women's Sector
Students' Sector
Youth Sector

Al-Sammuni

2010-02-26T10:38:00.001+02:00

It all started on January, 5th 2009, around two in the morning, the 8th day of a ferocious war the 'Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) waged against heavy-populated Gaza strip of more than (one million and a half) Palestinians packed in three-hundred-and-sixty square kilometers of the coastal area, south-east of Palestine– now, known as 'The Palestinian Territories'-- and claimed the lives of more than fourteen hundreds of civilian residents. This was but another brutal episode in the long series of a well-performed twenty-two episodes of a tragic, really tragic, play spitefully called 'Operation Cast Lead'. Its heroes, or anti-heroes in a time utter confusion prevailed, are the Palestinian children, women, elderly people, and resistance while its anti-heroes are three: two men and a woman; they nodded the tragedy in the first place and then nodded off, not even questioned in the least.

We headed toward Al-Zaitoon Camp, east of the Gaza Strip to listen to Helmi Al-Sammuni, twenty-seven narrating what apparently has turned out to be nothing but a sad story to be recalled with all its minute details each time some foreigner or Arab journalist, seeking some word-press or other world-wide award, comes over to take some pictures at one of the richest areas across the region in terms of photography. This sad story we also, not so differently, came to refresh in the memory of a bereaved Helmi who, in the wake of this tragedy, lost his father, his mother, his wife, and his only five-month-old son.

We arrived. It was around three in the afternoon of an unexpectedly-hot sunny day of February 14th. Helmi, alongside with Abu Taleb, forty-four, was working on a new small tent to erect right opposite what he described as 'the crime scene'. "This spot is where twenty-nine of my relatives were killed, the same day, the same hour, the same spot," said Helmi in a journalist-like style, pointing at an approximately twenty-square-meter open piece of land. Shaking hands with us, Abu Taleb said jokingly in an old-Palestinian-refugee dialect: "ktab jdeed Ah? bas halmara bedoon ajaneb. ahsan bardoo ha-ha tfadaloo tfadalo" Another book, ha? But this time, no foreigners, that is better; come on inside" Abu Taleb directed us into the half-erected tent.

Before January 3rd, the neighboring areas to Al-Sammuni Family of Abu-Jarad and other places thereabout were being so heavily bombarded at night that as the night slipped by, the family members would slowly but surly have stopped being apprehensive about what was going on about the area. This exact situation persisted for the five past nights of the war; and meanwhile, the family members had unconsciously become familiar with it in the long nights of a cold winter of that year. On January 4th, however, around two in the morning, the family members, who had inhabited a three-storey building, now the only building still standing, sensed a looming danger as the continuing bombarding drastically intensified around the area, and the sounds of drones overhead mingled with numerous others of warplanes dropping bombs, artillery firing, and Apaches shelling penetrated their ears all night long. Helmi says: "We didn't sleep all night long because of the continuing firing, and the children kept crying the whole night while sticking to their mothers."

Helmi and his family were staying in the third floor when it was hinted that it was, then, a threatening situation and to spend the night right there in the third floor, being the top floor, would make a great danger, and Helmi and his family were in jeopardy. For that reason he decided to move down to the ground floor which was already jam-packed with more than one hundred members of an extended family.

Long dreadful hours passed by. A new morning. But, Helmi started his day in a way he would have given half of what he owned to avoid it. Some guy whom, to my surprise, Helmi could not recognize— but, he would definitely be one of his relatives – was calling out to him from a neighbouring ground house that his apartment on the third floor was now burning up and he would better rush to put the fires out, the apartment he had evacuated just a few hours ago. Helmi was not grateful, though. And this time he would have given everything he owned to avoid it, not the fire burning his apartment, but him tying to extinguish it.

"ya zalama ana basob mayya we en-nar betzeed" "I was pouring water, and that damn fire was just increasing. The more water I poured, the more the fire grew. I was totally confused and didn't know what to do." narrated a wide-eyed Helmi. Poor Helmi hadn't a clue what a phosphorus bomb could do. He, like anyone in his position, could not figure it out that chemically one particle of Oxygen in water would actively interact with phosphorus and that would produce phosphorus pentoxide, more fire, to burn! That would produce more fire to burn the bodies, the flesh, of innocent people like Helmi, his wife, his five-month son, his father, and his mother. This is precisely how an evil policy is defined. That was a nasty policy; a mischievous exploitation of your one refuge and turning it into your bloody and cruel death.

"Water!" Helmi asked for some water and stopped to drink. I knew what he exactly asked for.

Desperately, Helmi left his apartment burning down and headed back down to the ground floor when on his way back, and through a gap in one of the house's half-knocked-down walls, he stole a look: an army of soldiers swarming down across the area and another surrounding their building.

Hemi's heart sank.

He rushed all the steps down to hide inside the apartment on the ground floor. As soon as he made it into the apartment, the door was shot open again as the soldiers were shouting at them some Hebrew words which later came to mean 'get out of the house'. Hemi's father, Abu-Salah, was the first to get out, followed by Helmi, his brother, Salah, before all of them were driven out of the house with the soldiers pointing their guns at them. "My father talked to them in Hebrew and told them we are civilians and hadn't any kind of guns inside the house," He said.

Most of the members of Al-Sammuni family are farmers and peasants; the feed upon agriculture and live in what is far more like a farm than a real house, regardless of the misleading description of a 'three-story-building'. The green scenery is even still visible now all around their tents and little chambers. They had not the least involvement in any kind of military action. Nor did they have any political affiliation with either Hamas or Fateh or any other political faction. They didn't stock arms which belong to Hamas inside their houses. Nor did they launch rockets onto Israel. They are mere peasants and farmers. And they made it clear they are none but civilians. As such, Al-Sammuni family would have been the last thing to cause to the Israelis any kind of trouble whatsoever. The war claimed to destroy Hamas destroyed a mere farmer called Wael Al-Sammuni. It took away the life of cute Resqa, his daughter as it took away the life of little Fares, his son. That is possibly a complex equation you; and me, too, need some while to absorb: the equation of "Destroy Wael; destroy Hamas"

The fragile-looking soldiers, as Helmi put it, gathered all the family members, more than a hundred persons including all women and children, and directed them into the house of Wael Al-Sammuni which less than fifty meters away from the three-story building on the other side of the back street-- As Helmi was telling us the story, Wael was all by himself smoking a cigarette right outside the tent, next to him on a standing brick was a big mug of dark Arabian coffee. He must have enjoyed it.

Wael's house, already described as 'the crime scene' by Helmi, was where all of them were packed to stay throughout the day. It was now mid-afternoon. And there were almost a hundred of them. It looked as though they were fated to have their day of judgment a little while earlier. Oh, Day of Judgment!

"We moved into the house as ordered, and we sincerely thought they are not going to harm us because they knew that none of us was a militant, and we had no weapons stocked inside the house as they inspected it thoroughly" Helmi thought, loudly!

"NO! You were absolutely mistaken, brother!" I thought- to myself.

As the family members were wholly herded inside, tens of soldiers encompassed the house blocking their way from reaching food, water and even from using toilets. Loud explosions were constantly heard nearby. Commotion took over the place while the little children panicky cried. And their mothers were in no better condition that their children were. Afterwards, after what seemed to be ages of horror, night fell, just to make matters worse. "It was like adding more fuel to the fire." becoming-eloquent Helmi stated. "We had tried all the night to call the ambulance service but to no avail. Not until Mahmoud, my cousin, got an answer, but they told us that we are in a closed security zone, and that they can't reach us." Helmi got pale as he said this, I assure you. Meanwhile, the kids were now quiet as they gathered to their supper, home bread dipped in tea; although the kids almost certainly did not like their supper so much, they must have found an outlet in having it since it was the only activity where they could successfully forget about their fears, even if for moments.

It got darker and darker until it was impossible for them to see each other.

Baaam! Booo! Baaaam! Wheeeee Boooom!

Wheeee Boooom!

Boooom

Wheeeeee ….. Bam

The night passed slowly, very slowly.

Seven in the morning of Monday, the January 5th 2009. Wael, and his cousins, Salah, Iyad, and Mohammed made up their minds to cross the threshold into the small one meter-wide 'garden' to the inside of the walls. Not to launch rockets obviously, and not to throw the soldiers with stones either, but to collect some woods: some woods that would help them light a small fire and make it possible for them to cook, or rather make some hot tea for the morning meal- this time it'd bread dipped in hot tea. The four courageous men carefully stepped outside the door and went on collecting woods as fast as they could, but not fast enough to escape a first shell that directly targeted them. The shell hit Mohammed straight in the head, and he immediately dropped dead to the ground. Wael, Iyad, and Salah ran off under a heavy shelling that seemed to be coming from everywhere, but they could make it into the house. Mohammed later chanced to be achieving what some disgusting graphite, perhaps were then being gently drawn on the walls of the three-story house on the other side by the soldiers occupying it, harbingered," One dead! 999, 999 to go!"

Dirty Dogs!

Meanwhile, it seemed that all hell brook loose while heavy firing continued indiscriminately targeting who was inside and the helicopters overhead shelled ceaselessly for more than a half-hour.

As I was jotting down my notes, I glimpsed Wael get up and step inside the tent. I could tell he wanted to take part narrating the events. "ya zalama Wallah masameer banat kalb betlef fe jesmi kanat" "Damned nails flew in every direction after each shell and I felt them tear my flesh from inside," Suddenly Wael broke in, uttering his first words in anger. "It was horrible. I was stumbling at bodies, vision was blocked with heavy smoke, and crying was coming from here and there. How could I describe it to you? It was just horrible." he continued, shooting me a biting smile.

Well, it was just horrible.

Things calmed down, and vision got clearer: blood, bodies lying all around the spot, children tumbling and crying at their mothers' bodies…

"I was hysterically trying to call the ambulance service, civil defense, or anyone who could get us of there, but each time I got the same answer, "there is no way we can reach you." And so, we had only once choice before us." said Helmi, in a curiosity-arousing style. Wael and the others had only one choice left to them. And they helplessly clang to it.

Wael, Iyad, Salah, Helmi, and many others who were fortunate enough to miraculously escape a close death just to drag their lives for a few more days, hours, or perhaps moments as was the case with Iyad, carried their wounded children, wives, and whoever they could on their arms, and, not wasting their counted breath, opted to break the shackles of their fears. Raising white flags, they stepped out of the house to meet their silly death; hopefully, in case they had another narrow escape, time would save them to reach the closest hospital and those on their arms still had the capacity to produce another breath. It was almost a half-kilometer away from the main street of Salah Ed-Din. As they walked on, the soldiers were taking their positions at the top-floor of the three-storey building and higher points elsewhere. All of a sudden there came the sound of straight shooting that seemed to be targeting them when Iyad immediately fell to the ground. From this point starts the story of Iyad. A man. A daring, unflinching man in his late-twenties who lost every thing but a willful courage through which he resolved to save others' lives, although he'd already lost his. But uncontrollable ruthless power crushed him mercilessly. And he died like a man, like a real man.

Wael, who was hurrying alongside Iyad when he was shot, plainly by snipers stationed on the three-story building narrated what happened, "I was running besides him carrying my daughter on one hand, and my son on the other, both badly bleeding when Iyad's mobile rang. All I knew, then, is that Iyad was lying on the ground, still embracing Nagham. I could not stop because the shooting continued targeting him,"

In fact, the soldiers did not target Iyad to kill him.They didn't want him dead because if they did, they could have killed him on the spot, or at least they would have targeted his head, chest, anything, but not his leg! And to the extent that it would disassociate form the rest of his body. These sly soldiers thirsted for more blood; they desired to torture Iyad. They admired the view of him crawling. Yes, he crawled. He crawled not for his life but to save the life of little Nagham. When every body was gone, the scene was clear, and Iyad was all by himself on the spot; still crawling, the soldiers had the courage necessary to get out from behind the barricades they had erected to protect themselves form probably some invisible arms Al-Sammuni family had hidden somewhere. They got to Iyad, tied his hands and legs, which had not separated from his body yet, with metal wires, and got back to their positions getting ready to enjoy some last moments of Iyad crawling before he was dead. How defenseless those soldiers were!— Or is it 'how calculating they were!'– Oh, yes, this was perhaps a precautionary measure in case he'd rise and attack them by some miraculous power. Why should they get back to their positions? Why should they hide themselves behind vast barricades and mounds? Why should they deny themselves the pleasure of the view being watched from some closer distance?

Anyway, Iyad died. but, Nagham lived.

From As-Shifa' hospital, Al-Hilal hospital, Al-Quds hospital and others, Helmi, Wael and the other lucky ones were calling out for the Red Crescent, Red Cross, and whoever else they appealed for to rescue the injured and to get out the corpses of their relatives from under the rubble of the unfortunate house of Wael.

"It is a closed security zone …"

Not until the forth day came, the twelfth day of the war, January 9th, the ambulances were allowed to get through to the 'closed security zone' and 'rescue' the injured. Perhaps everybody inside was dead by then. None would have a chance to rescue after four days under the rubble. Many were still breathing, however, and they are still today— Most of them were little kids; some were now playfully running outside the tent; others were asking Saleh to take photos of them, and others were listening to their story from Helmi.

Eight days later, the war ended and the lucky ones could get back to their 'houses'.

"We started pulling out the dead bodies from under the ruins and carrying them ourselves since there was no cars or ambulances. One after the other that we even started to lose count of the bodies" Helmi said half in jest.

Twenty-nine members of Al-Sammuni family lost their lives in the wake of Gaza War. Some lost their fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandparents, and grandsons. Two or more bodies had to be buried in the same grave due to the fact that Gaza residents, then, suffered a severe lack of graves only similar to Gaza's present-day lack of drinking water, food, gas, fuel, building materials, stationary, and other basic needs.

The Story of Ahmed Al-Saummi. (as told by his brother Mohammed, twelve years)

On the early morning of the fist day of the tragedy of Al-Sammuni family, a four-year-old Ahmed had to enjoy his usual breakfast— I believe there is no need to mention what kind of breakfast he had to have— singing what he used to daily listen to on 'Toyor Aljannah' (Birds of Heaven) and reciting 'Qul Howa Allahu Ahad' (Say: He is Allah, the One and Only)— some verses from the Quran— in a fashion that of a four-year-old child when, out of the blue, came the dreadful sound of powerful knocking at the door mixed with the harsh voices of soldiers shouting in Hebrew and coming from outside which would obviously mean 'open up!'. Ahmed's father, Atiyya, fourty-four years, had his children and wife clam down, got to the door and opened it. Attiya could speak Hebrew due to the fact that he was one of a large number of Palestinian workers who used to work inside Israel before the second uprising. "They asked him something in Hebrew which we didn't understand at first, but later I knew it was about who the owner of this house is, and my father told them that this house belongs to him," Mohammed said. "Then, I saw the soldier in front point his gun towards my father and he just shot him dead right in the head." hastily uttering his words, Mohammed continued. Attiya died. And his children began crying wildly—almost hysterically. Little Ahmed, however, wouldn't see his father being killed before his eyes and do nothing about it. Mohammed narrates, "My brother, Ahmed, came up to them and asked them loudly amid waves of wild crying, "Why did you kill my father?"-- presumably in a child-like manner.

It must have been harsh on them. Little-Ahmed-confronting-the-Israeli-soldiers must have been a punch on the nose, a knock-out, for, if not the whole 'IDF' and those present at the scene, at least, for that gypsy who killed his father in cold blood— I wonder at this moment if this 'cold blood' would serve the meaning right. They should have killed him. And they did. 'The same day, the same hour, the same spot' as Helmi had put it earlier. Right next to his father.

written by, Mohamed Suliman

February, 20th