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

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

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UNESCO Sharply Condemns Israel

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

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

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Israel Proves that Flotillas Work

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)

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Email update from Free Gaza

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.

--
Greta Berlin,

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Email update from Free Gaza

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.

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"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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www.freegaza.org
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Email update again..

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.

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Two years after "Operation Cast Lead"

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

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Corporate Complicity in Israeli War Crimes X

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

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VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY BREAKS SIEGE AND ENTERS GAZA TO JUBILANT CROWDS

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.

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CONVOY FINALLY SETS SAIL FOR GAZA

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/

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Dershowitz Vs Abulhawa - Watch and pass on

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).

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The First Ever Palestinian suicide bombing in 1994

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.

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AID CONVOY SET TO SAIL FOR GAZA

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/

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

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.

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Viva Palestina 5 Convoy Log

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

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Happy Birthday, Free Gaza

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

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About

This is a diary born out of concerns of a never ending misery of Palestinian people trying to survive in conditions where they have no human dignity, no oppertunity to ordinary life, no daily life supplies, things that some of us don't think about much...A diary of 2 friends bonded with freedom, and looking for spreading the truth. [As my friend from Palestine is unavailable to write att the moment, I will try to cover the Palestinian view by copying news and interviewing my other Palestinian friends and asking them to write stories too] A gate to the land of Palestine, where freedom is a dream, and truth is hard to be seen. Help us to spread the truth by spreading this blog. Thank you for your support.

Diary about peace and freedom

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

UNESCO Sharply Condemns Israel

Tell them to let our people go

Israel Proves that Flotillas Work

Email update from Free Gaza

Email update from Free Gaza

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.

Email update again..

Two years after "Operation Cast Lead"

Corporate Complicity in Israeli War Crimes X

VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY BREAKS SIEGE AND ENTERS GAZA TO JUBILANT CROWDS

CONVOY FINALLY SETS SAIL FOR GAZA

Dershowitz Vs Abulhawa - Watch and pass on

The First Ever Palestinian suicide bombing in 1994

AID CONVOY SET TO SAIL FOR GAZA

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

Viva Palestina 5 Convoy Log

Happy Birthday, Free Gaza

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