World Condemns Brutal Israeli Assault on Humanitarian Convoy

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Juan Cole

Israel faced a wave of global condemnation over its military assault on a humanitarian aid convoy in international waters. Everyone from the UN Secretary-General to the Pope came down hard on the Israeli government. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was constrained to cancel his planned visit to Washington, D.C., since that trip would have forced him to face questions from American journalists on why the Israeli navy could not have simply blocked the aid convoy.

The convoy’s passengers included a wide range of European and American activists as well as Turks and others.
Since American television news is predictably slighting the story, here is a report by Russia Today on the Israeli attack.

Russia Today interviews Israeli-American anthropologist and peace activist Jeff Halper on the Israeli strangulation of Gaza and the goals of the aid flotilla that was brutally assaulted by Israeli commandos early Monday morning.

Halper’s account of the dire effects on Palestinian health and well-being of the Israeli blockade of Gaza is supported by a recently released World Health Organization study.
Halper is the founder of the Israeli Coalition against House Demolitions and author of An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel


Here is a footage from the deck of the Mavi Marmara in the aftermath of the violent boarding, in Arabic, English and Turkish. The israeli commandos deployed stun grenades and tear gas, attacking in international waters. “Despite the raising of white flags, the Israeli army is still shooting.”

Families of those attacked on Turkish aid ship devastated

Monday, May 31, 2010

SEVİM SONGÜN

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The families of those on the Gaza aid flotilla that was attacked by Israeli soldiers early Monday morning have rushed to the building of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation in the hopes of receiving good news about their loved ones. Some are relieved to see their relatives alive after the operation, although others are preparing for the worst. The wait has been particularly anxious, especially since no contact has been established with those on board

Aynur Akdeniz's husband, Mehmet Ali Akdeniz, was on a Gaza aid ship in the flotilla. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

As Aynur Akdeniz saw the first videos showing the attacks of Israel on the Gaza aid flotilla, she said she immediately switched off the TV to prevent her two children from seeing it. Her husband Mehmet Ali Akdeniz, 34, was on the ship.

After watching the news of an early morning Israeli army operation that killed as many as 19 people on a flotilla bringing aid to the Gaza Strip, Akdeniz rushed to the Humanitarian Aid Foundation, or İHH’s, building in Istanbul’s Fatih district.

The İHH was the main organizer of the aid shipments and its crisis management center, located at the top floor of the building, was bustling all day. Families rushed to the İHH building in the early hours of the morning and the press conference room was filled with crying families who watched developments on a television in the room.

Multimedia

PHOTO GALLERY: Relatives of Gaza aid ship passengers wait, worry

Akdeniz said she was planning to travel to Gaza together with her husband, but they decided not to because of the young age of their children.

“My son is 4 years old and my daughter is 6. They packed 300 lollipops for their father to take to Palestinian children in Gaza,” she said through tears.

Although her children have still not comprehended the unfolding events, they are also worried, Akdeniz said.

“They are asking about their father and they are worried even though I didn’t let them see the attack videos on TV,” she said.

Like the other families gathered at the İHH building trying to obtain news from their relatives on the ship, Akdeniz said she was shocked by the attacks and that she was worried and crying.

“I did not expect that much cruelty. My husband even did not have a pocket knife on him,” she said. “It was a strict rule for all of them not to have anything that might be used as a weapon. But Israel was afraid of a few civilian people.”

Akdeniz said she heard from friends that they saw a man who looked like her husband and that he was alive after the attacks.

Of the nearly 600 people on the Mavi Marmara ship, roughly 400 were Turkish citizens, according to İHH Vice Director Yavuz Dede, who said the passengers included men, women, and an 18-month-old baby.

Sümeyye Sena Tezcan, a 15-year-old high school student whose mother, Demet Tezcan, was on the ship, said she was relieved when she saw her mother in images on TV. “She was running during the attacks and was helping wounded people.”

Tezcan said her younger sister gave her baby doll to her mother and told her to give it to children in Gaza.

When her mother left home on May 24 for Antalya in preparation for boarding the ship at the Mediterranean port, Sümeyye Sena Tezcan said it was an ordinary day for the family. The mother was excited about the trip and was looking forward to seeing Gaza for the first time when the family last saw her at the İHH building, according to the daughter.

“She told us to take care of each other before leaving. We were afraid, we were worried, but never expected something horrible like this could happen,” she said.

Preparing for bad news

But while some families rejoiced at the apparent safety of their loved ones, many others were much worried about the fate of their loved ones.

Selma Erkal, whose brother Şahin İbrahim Güleryüz, 42, was on the ship, came immediately to the İHH building as soon as she saw the videos on TV.

She said she saw her brother in the videos on TV. “He had fainted, his head fallen on his chest, and there were people trying to help him,” said Erkal, who believed her brother had been wounded.

“We wanted to believe that he is only wounded, but he could also be dead. He has two sons and we did not tell his wife what we saw. We wouldn’t know what to say,” said Erkal, who was waiting at İHH in hope of good news.

Like others, Erkal said she was expecting a response from Israel, although not one so fatal. “I did not expect such a wild intervention. They were all unarmed people carrying humanitarian aid.”

Hatice Çorluk, whose son Fevzi Çorluk, 24, was on the ship, said she had expected the Israeli army’s response.

Struggling to speak due to her anguish, Çorluk said Turkey had abandoned those onboard.

Neslihan Üstündağ, Fevzi Çorluk’s sister, said those on the ship had called for help many times during the night before the attack occurred. “But Turkey did not do anything. It could have sent a ship to help them.”

The members of the Çorluk family said they had been crying all day and that they simply wanted to receive good news about their loved one’s condition.

Hayrünnisa Abdurrahman, a mother of four, said she was afraid her husband, Abdülahad Abdurrahman, 40, could be dead.

“He is a man who cannot stand injustice. I fear that he might have intervened during the attacks to save people from Israeli soldiers,” she said through tears. Abdurrahman has four children.

Before leaving home, Abdurrahman told his wife that the journey could be potentially fatal and asked for her blessing.

When he boarded the vessel, he had no possessions that could be construed as a weapon except a sewing needle with which to repair any tears to his pants, she said.

Interview: At Least 15 Dead After Israel Attacks Gaza-Bound Aid Flotilla

Democracy Now!

Listen

Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza strip. Dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, the ships were aiming to break Israel’s 3-year blockade of Gaza. At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured when Israeli troops attacked the lead ship in the convoy–the Turkish "Mavi Marmara"–early Monday morning. The attack happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel and Gaza. We reached Adam Shapiro in New York a few hours after the attack. He’s a board member of the Free Gaza movement, one of the groups that coordinated the Freedom Flotilla. His wife Huwaida Arraf is the chairperson of the Free Gaza movement and is on the flotilla.

Just before being kidnapped by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement chairperson and delegation co-coordinator on this voyage, stated that: "No one could possibly believe that our small boat constitutes any sort of threat to Israel. We carry medical and reconstruction supplies, and children’s toys. Our passengers include a Nobel peace prize laureate and a former U.S. congressperson. Our boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot Port Authorities before we departed, and at no time did we ever approach Israeli waters."

More information on the Israeli attack:

Live coverage from Al Jazeera English

FreeGaza.og

Witness Gaza

Follow #flotilla, @JamalDajani, @avinunu on Twitter for the latest updates.

TRANSCRIPT

Amy Goodman: This is Democracy Now!, I’m Amy Goodman. We have on the line with us Adam Shapiro. He is a board member of the Free Gaza Movement. Adam, we got word several hours ago that the Israeli military had attacked the Free Gaza Flotilla. We are speaking to you at about 3:30 AM Eastern Standard Time. Can you tell us what you understand has happened?

Adam Shapiro: The Israelis launched a military operation involving about a thousand soldiers, using ships, using helicopters, and using airplanes to attack the flotilla of six ships–three passenger and three cargo ships, at approximately between 8 and 9 pm Eastern Standard Time. All the ships have been captured. One of the ships that we know for sure, which had a satellite communication ability, the large Turkish ship with about 600 passengers including members of Parliament from different countries, was attacked by Israeli soldiers using live ammunition. We now know that at least 14 people have been confirmed killed, and perhaps as many as 20 killed, with over 60 injured, and currently all the ships are being brought into the Israeli port of Haifa.

Amy Goodman: We are reading Israeli military reports that say when they boarded the Turkish ship, that they were attacked by sticks and knives. What do you understand has happened?

Adam Shapiro: Our people on the ship reported live as the soldiers came onto the ship, and reported that soldiers were opening fire as they were coming onto the ship, and they were descending from helicopters. So, our understanding is that the Israeli soldiers opened fire first. I have not seen or heard any thing else about–and there are many journalists on board that ship–anything else about our people, the passengers on that ship, posing any kind of threat. There was a live feed coming from the ship using satellite, video satellite, on satellite, that has been rebroadcast on CNN, on CNN Turk, on Al Jazeera, on Press TV, on numerous media outlets, not one image from this entire footage shows any of the passengers holding any kind of object that could be construed as a weapon. So, I mean, I am sure that the Israelis would like the world to believe that they were the ones being attacked as they assaulted these ships, but this is just Israeli spin.

Amy Goodman: Adam Shapiro, what is the purpose of the Free Gaza Flotilla?

Adam Shapiro: The purpose of the Free Gaza Freedom Flotilla was to literally break the Israeli blockade that it is imposing on Gaza, a form of collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians who are trying to survive at this point, basically, especially after the Israeli attacks in December, 2008-January, 2009, in which much of Gaza was reduced to rubble, and has not been able to have been rebuilt, where Palestinians can’t get basic food and medicine in, to just survive with. And so, this effort was, yes, to deliver the goods and materials that Gaza, the Palestinians in Gaza need, but also to awaken the international community to the abuse that the Palestinians are suffering that has been regarded by the Goldstone Report, by many other reports and by human rights organizations, including the E.U. and other groups, calling this blockade and this siege criminal, as well as cruel and inhuman.

Amy Goodman: What is your response to what has happened in these last hours, to the Israeli military assault on the Free Gaza Flotilla?

Adam Shapiro: We have always been prepared that the Israelis might attack the ships and try, obviously, try to take control of them, and prevent us from reaching Gaza, but the opening of fire against unarmed civilians who pose no threat to Israel, is something, I think, it is absurd in a way that can’t even be described. We all remember what happened to Rachel Corrie in Gaza, standing in front of a home to protect it and being crushed and run over by a bulldozer driver. In this case, I think in a way, it is almost even worse, because Israel said that they were sending their best commandos on this mission, that they were sending their most professional soldiers, and so if these are their professional soldiers, and they opened fire, then we must assume, then, and I don’t think we are incorrect to assume, that they had orders to open fire, because I don’t think that soldiers operating in this way, if they were truly professional, and they were truly the best, well-trained commandos that Israel had, they would have no reason to shoot, unless they were ordered to do so.

And I really hope that the United States, the Europeans, and Turkey, and the other governments who had citizens on board press for an independent investigation, not an Israeli investigation, an independent investigation. This attack took place in international waters, not in Israeli waters.

Amy Goodman: Who was on the Turkish ship?

Adam Shapiro: On board the Turkish ship were over, approximately about 600 passengers. We had quite a large number of Turkish activists. Of course, the boat was secured in Turkey, and purchased by a Turkish organization, so many of their people were on board. We also had members of the European Parliament on board, we had members of Arab parliaments on board, including Egypt and Jordan, we had others activists who have been active in trying to raise the awareness of what’s happening to Palestinians in general and specifically in Gaza, and we had media. We had Al Jazeera on board, we had a couple of Turkish broadcasting channels on board, as well as other print and other forms of media on board.

Amy Goodman: Adam Shapiro, thank you for taking the time to talk to us.

Adam Shapiro: Thank you very much.

Amy Goodman: Adam Shapiro is a board member of the Free Gaza Movement.

International solidarity and the Freedom Flotilla massacre

Editorial, The Electronic Intifada, 31 May 2010

Early this morning under the cover of darkness Israeli soldiers stormed the lead ship of the six-vessel Freedom Flotilla aid convoy in international waters and killed and injured dozens of civilians aboard. All the ships were violently seized by Israeli forces, but hours after the attack fate of the passengers aboard the other ships remained unknown.

Israeli naval ships flanking the Mavi Marmara.

Israeli soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara.

A passenger aboard the Mavi Marmara carries a bloody stretcher.

The Mavi Marmara was carrying around 600 activists when Israeli warships flanked it from all sides as soldiers descended from helicopters onto the ship's deck. Reports from people on board the ship backed up by live video feeds broadcast on Turkish TV show that Israeli forces used live ammunition against the civilian passengers, some of whom resisted the attack with sticks and other items.

The Freedom Flotilla was organized by a coalition of groups that sought to break the Israeli-led siege on the Gaza Strip that began in 2007. Together, the flotilla carried 700 civilian activists from around 50 countries and over 10,000 tons of aid including food, medicines, medical equipment, reconstruction materials and equipment, as well as various other necessities arbitrarily banned by Israel.

As of 6:00pm Jerusalem time most media were still reporting that up to 20 people had been killed, and many more injured. However, Israel was still withholding the exact numbers and names of the dead and injured. Passengers aboard the ships who had been posting Twitter updates on the Flotilla's progress had not been heard from since before the attack and efforts to contact passengers by satellite phone were unsuccessful. The Arabic- and English-language networks of Al-Jazeera lost contact with their half dozen staff traveling with the flotilla.

News of the massacre on board the Freedom Flotilla began to emerge around dawn in the eastern Mediterranean first on the live feed from the ship, social media, Turkish television, and Al-Jazeera. Israeli media were placed under strict military censorship, and reported primarily from foreign sources. However, by the morning the Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli soldiers who boarded the flotilla in international waters were fired upon by passengers. Quoting anonymous military sources, the Jerusalem Post claimed that the flotilla passengers had set-up a "well planned lynch." ("IDF: Soldiers were met by well-planned lynch in boat raid")

The Israeli daily Haaretz also reported that the Israeli soldiers were "attacked" when trying to board the flotilla. ("At least 10 activists killed in Israel Navy clashes onboard Gaza aid flotilla")

This narrative of passengers "attacking" the Israeli soldiers was quickly adopted by the Associated Press and carried across mainstream media sources in the United States, including the Washington Post. ("Israeli army: More than 10 killed on Gaza flotilla")

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon stated in a Monday morning press conference that the Israeli military was acting in "self-defense." He claimed that "At least two guns were found" and that the "incident" was still ongoing. Ayalon also claimed that the Flotilla organizers were "well-known" and were supported by and had connections to "international terrorist organizations."

It is unclear how anyone could credibly adopt an Israeli narrative of "self-defense" when Israel had carried out an unprovoked armed assault on civilian ships in international waters. Surely any right of self-defense would belong to the passengers on the ship. Nevertheless, the Freedom Flotilla organizers had clearly and loudly proclaimed their ships to be unarmed civilian vessels on a humanitarian mission.

The Israeli media strategy appeared to be to maintain censorship of the facts such as the number of dead and injured, the names of the victims and on which ships the injuries occurred, while aggressively putting out its version of events which is based on a dual strategy of implausibly claiming "self-defense" while demonizing the Freedom Flotilla passengers and intimating that they deserved what they got.

As news spread around the world, foreign governments began to react. Greece and Turkey, which had many citizens aboard the Flotilla, immediately recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv. Spain strongly condemned the attack. France's foreign minister Bernard Kouchner expressed "profound shock." The European Union's foreign minister Catherine Ashton called for an "enquiry."

What should be clear is this: no one can claim to be surprised by what the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights correctly termed a "hideous crime." Israel had been openly threatening a violent attack on the Flotilla for days, but complacency, complicity and inaction, specifically from Western and Arab governments once more sent the message that Israel could act with total impunity.

There is no doubt that Israel's massacre of 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in Gaza in December 2008/January 2009 was a wake up call for international civil society to begin to adopt boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel similar to those applied to apartheid-era South Africa.

Yet governments largely have remained complacent and complicit in Israel's ongoing violence and oppression against Palestinians and increasingly international humanitarian workers and solidarity activists, not only in Gaza, but throughout historic Palestine. We can only imagine that had former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni indeed been arrested for war crimes in Gaza when a judge in London issued a warrant for her arrest, had the international community begun to implement the recommendations of the UN-commissioned Goldstone Report, had there been a much firmer response to Israel's assassination of a Hamas official in Dubai, it would not have dared to act with such brazenness.

As protest and solidarity actions begin in Palestine and across the world, this is the message they must carry: enough impunity, enough complicity, enough Israeli massacres and apartheid. Justice now. 

International actions to lift the siege on Gaza today

By Mazin Qumsiyeh (posted on Academics for Justice Yahoo Group)

I am convinced more than ever that the end of Israeli apartheid is close. No other system in the world today exists with this much social pathology and spiteful anger. It is lashing out without much logic.  But while they try to fragment our society and finish us off, we still persist.  The Haifa conference for the right of return and one democratic state was a resounding success despite the apartheid laws preventing us from visiting together in our own country (photos at http://www.bokra.net/Article.aspx?id=797968 ).  From both Gaza and Beit Sahour, we had a direct line via the internet when the apartheid laws forbade us.  We heard the great speeches and participated in our own discussions as to how to advance the ideas of a one state as the only viable, logical, and just solution.  On Friday, nearly 150 women from thr Galilee, Jerusalem, and other parts of the West Bank came together for a tour of the wall and threatened areas in Bethlehem district.  THat evening, we also held group prayer at the wall area in Bethlehem called for by the World Council of Churches (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/wwppi.html ).  Internationals and Palestinians joined together.  Now the freedom flotilla is on its way to Gaza carrying 800 brave souls of various nationalities and backgrounds and tons of humanitarian supplies.  Israel sabotage agencies (Mossad) and criminal Navy have tried before and are trying everything to destroy this mission.  They, and unfortunately some collaborative Palestinian and International elites, are panicking about all these initiatives and activities.  But the powers-to-be has already lost and will lose some more as they always overreact giving more publicity to their intransigence. Millions of people are finding the truth.

Please stay tuned to what is happening with the Gaza flotilla by going to http://witnessgaza.com/ , reading the articles below, and most importantly by writing to politicians, media, and other decision makers in your country demanding they pressure the apartheid regime in Tel Aviv to let thiose humanitarian ships through and to end its siege.  That Israeli authorities (and unfortunately some collaborative Palestinians) are panicking about all these growing initiatives and activities. 

A sane voice from Israel: Gaza flotilla drives Israel into a sea of stupidity by Gideon Levy
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/gaza-flotilla-drives-israel-into-a-sea-of-stupidity-1.292959  

Videos on Gaza flotilla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRR07UxQAys  

Israel Does Not Target the Palestinian Civilians
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8tQJAhILm8
Meet the Palestinian Terrorists of Gaza
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuOMiseGCfs

Action: Friday, June 4th, 12:30 PM, Convoy and rally near Herbata village, next to the Apartheid Road 443 to say enough to occupation, expulsion, expropriation and yes to liberation and independence

In good news, the largest German bank divests from an Apartheid company.  "Following pressure from critics, Germany’s largest bank has divested from the Israeli firm that supplies technology for the West Bank security fence. Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann announced at Thursday’s shareholder meeting in Frankfurt that the firm had sold all its shares in Elbit Systems, a major Israeli defense company. The company declined to cite a reason for divesting from Elbit, whose stock value has fallen some 30 percent this year."

And a Teaneck man harassed by someone who supported settlers settles for apology and chance to educate
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/teaneck-harassment-case-ends-with-apology-forgiveness.html#more-19072

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org    
Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities
Chairman of the Board, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, http://www.pcr.ps

We Have Moved!

Join us on our new site at Blogger:
http://cphrpi.blogspot.com/

— George Hartley
Athens, Ohio

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Shock And Anger Follows Flotilla Massacre

31 May 2010

At least 14 activists were killed and up to 60 injured by live fire from the Israeli navy as they staged a pre-dawn raid on the Mavi Marmara today. The Turkish passenger ship, was carrying around 600 civilians when it was attacked in international waters 75 miles off the coast of Gaza.

A flotilla statement released at 2300 Cyprus time announced this communication from the navy: “you will be boarded by highly trained, very efficient and very silent commandos. So be prepared for them”. Shortly after soldiers boarded the Marmara, which was leading the convoy, from air and sea. Videos taken from the ship show soldiers firing almost immediately after, firing which was sustained even after white flags had been raised and a death toll of at least ten had been established.

Avital Leibovich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military, claimed “demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire” in a pre-prepared ‘lynch’ attack. Later officials statements maintained that the activists were the aggressors, although conceding no weaponry beyond “clubs” had been discovered. The army reported two commandos sustaining ‘moderate’ injuries. Greta Berlin of Free Gaza had earlier anounced all ships had been subject to thorough security checks in their countries of origin and could not carry weapons.

The Turkish foreign ministry denounced the “unacceptable” attack, claiming “Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour". The Israeli embassy in Istanbul has been subject to angry protests and attention will now turn to the international response to unprecedented loss of civilian life, with activists calling for condemnation, criminal trials and severance of diplomatic ties with Israel.

The UN released a statement “condemning” the violence while EU spokesmen called for a “full enquiry”. PM Netanyahu is due to visit Washington this week, a trip now thrown into doubt. Representatives of the PM’s office expressed “regret at all the fatalities”.

The flotilla has now been led to Ashdod port near Tel Aviv, with passengers reporting further threats of violence from the navy. One reported “phone calls from Israeli thugs telling us we should drown or can we swim”. The identities of those killed and injured are still largely unknown, but Sheikh Raed Salah, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel, is thought to be seriously injured.

President Mahmoud Abbas has declared a three day mourning period for the dead.

Follow updates from the flotilla here http://witnessgaza.com/

Only a government that crossed all red lines

Press Release 05/31/2010

Uri Avnery: this night a crime was perpetrated in the middle of the sea, by order of the government of Israel and the IDF Command
A warlike attack against aid ships and deadly shooting at peace and humanitarian aid activists
It is a crazy thing that only a government that crossed all red lines can do 
"Only a crazy government that has lost all restraint and all connection to reality could something like that - consider ships carrying humanitarian aid and peace activists from around the world as an enemy and send massive military force to international waters to attack them, shoot and kill

.

"Noone in the world will believe the lies and excuses which the government and army spokesmen come up with," said former Knesset member Uri Avnery of the Gush Shalom movement. Gush Shalom activists together with activists of other organizations are to depart at 11:00 from Tel Aviv to protest in front of the prepared detention facility where the international peace activists will be brought.

Greta Berlin, the spokeswoman for the flotilla organizers located in Cyprus, told Gush Shalom activists that the Israeli commandos landed by helicopter on the boats and immediately opened fire.

This is a day of disgrace to the State of Israel, a day of anxiety in which we discover that our future was entrusted to a bunch of trigger-happy people without any responsibility. This day is a day of disgrace and madness and stupidity without limit, the day the Israeli government took care to blacken the name of the country in the world, adding convincing evidence of aggressiveness and brutality to Israel's already bad international image, discouraging and distancing the few remaining friends.

Indeed, today a provocation took place off the coast of Gaza - but the provocateurs were not the peace activists invited by the Palestinians and seeking to reach Gaza. The provocation was carried out by Navy ships commandos at the bidding of the Israeli government, blocking the way of the aid boats and using deadly force.

It is time to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, which causes severe suffering to its residents. Today the Israeli government ripped the mask of its face with its own hands and exposed the fact that Israel did not "disengage" from Gaza. Real disengagement from the area does not go together with blocking the access to it or sending soldiers to shoot and kill and wound those who try to get there.

The State of Israel promised in the Oslo Accords 17 years ago to enable and encourage the establishment of a deep water port in Gaza, through which Palestinians could import and export freely to develop their economy. It's time to realize this commitment and open the Port of Gaza. Only after the Gaza port will be open to free and undisturbed movement, just like the Ashdod and Haifa ports, will Israel really have disengaged from the Gaza Strip. Until then, the world will continue - and rightly so - to consider the Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation and the State of Israel as responsible for the fate of the people living there.

Contact: Uri Avnery 0505-306449
Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesman 03-5565804 or 054-2340749
Coalition Against the Siege Yacov - 050-5733276, 09-7670801, Sebastian -050-6846056

Greta Berlin  spokeswoman for flotilla organizers
35799187275

הודעה לעיתונות 31.5.2010     

 

אורי אבנרי: בלב ים בוצע הלילה מעשה פשע בפקודת ממשלת ישראל ופיקוד צה"ל

התקפה מלחמתית על ספינות סיוע וירי קטלני על פעילי שלום וסיוע הומניטארי  

היא מעשה מטורף שרק ממשלה שעברה כל גבול מסוגלת לעשותו

"רק ממשלה מטורפת שאיבדה כל רסן וכל קשר למציאות הייתה מסוגלת למעשה כזה – להתייחס לספינות הנושאות סיוע הומניטארי ופעילי שלום מכל רחבי העולם כאל אויב ולשלוח כוח צבאי אדיר כדי לתקוף אותן במים בינלאומיים, לירות ולהרוג. התירוצים השקרניים שמביאים דוברי הממשלה והצבא למעשה הזה לא ישכנעו איש בעולם" אומר חבר הכנסת לשעבר אורי אבנרי מתנועת גוש שלום. פעילים מגוש שלום ותנועות אחרות עומדים לצאת בשעה 11.00 מתל אביב לקיים הפגנת מחאה לפני מתקן המעצר אליו הובאו פעילי השלום הבינלאומיים.

גרטה ברלין, דוברת מארגני המשט הנמצאת בקפריסין, מסרה לפעילי גוש שלום כי חיילי הקומנדו הישראלים נחתו בהליקופטר על הספינות ופתחו מיד באש לעבר נוסעיהן.

זהו יום של חרפה למדינת ישראל, יום של חרדה בו אנו מגלים כי עתידנו הופקד בידי חבורה של אנשים חסרי כל אחריות שידם קלה על ההדק. זהו יום הוא יום של בושה וחרפה וגם שיגעון וטפשות ללא גבול, יום בו דאגה ממשלת ישראל להשחיר את שמה של המדינה  בעולם כולו, לספק הוכחות חדשות ומוחצות לתדמית הכוחנית והברוטאלית שכבר יצאה לישראל בזירה הבינלאומית, לייאש ולהרחיק את מעט הידידים שעוד נותרו לה.

אכן, היום התבצעה פרובוקציה מול חופי עזה – אך הפרובוקטורים לא היו פעילי השלום שביקשו להגיע לעזה על פי הזמנתם ובקשתם המפורשת של התושבים הפלסטינים. את הפרובוקציה ביצעו ספינות חיל הים וחיילי הקומנדו, במצוותה של ממשלת ישראל, כאשר חסמו את דרכן של הספינות והפעילו כוח קטלני.

הגיע הזמן להסיר  את המצור על רצועת עזה, הגורם סבל קשה לתושביה. היום קרעה ממשלת ישראל במו ידיה את המסכה מעל פניה וחשפה את העובדה כי מדינת ישראל לא "התנתקה" מעזה. מי שהתנתק באמת משטח אינו חוסם את הדרכים לשטח הזה ואינו שולח חיילים להרוג ולפצוע את כי מי משנסה הלגיע אליו.

מדינת ישראל התחייבה בהסכמי אוסלו לפני 17 שנה לאפשר וגם לעודד הקמת נמל עמוק מים בעזה, דרכו יוכלו הפלסטינים לייבא ולייצא באופן חופשי ולפתח את כלכלתם. הגיע הזמן לממש את ההתחייבות הזאת ולפתוח לרווחה את נמל עזה. רק ברגע שיפתח נמל עזה לתנועה חופשית ובלתי מופרעת, בדיוק כמו בנמל אשדוד ובנמל חיפה, תסתיים באמת התנתקותה של ישראל מרצועת עזה. עד אז, ימשיך העולם – ובצדק – לראות את רצועת עזה כנתונה לכיבוש ישראלי ואת מדינת ישראל כאחראית לגורל התושבים בה.

לפרטים:   אורי אבנרי 0505-306449

אדם קלר, דובר גוש שלום 03-5565804 או 054-2340749

קואליציה נגד המצור יעקב- 050-5733276, 09-7670801,  סבסטיאן-050-6846056

גרטה ברלין דוברת מארגני המשט  מדברת אנגלית

+357 99187275

Call for an international campaign to Stop the Jewish National Fund

Call for an international campaign to Stop the Jewish National Fund

Posted by marcy/مارسي newman/نيومان on USACBI

To join the campaign and endorse this statement, contact: stopjnf@bdsmovement.net.

The Jewish National Fund (JNF)[1] was instrumental in the ethnic cleansing[2] of Palestine in the 1948 Nakba, and continues to play a central role in maintaining Israel’s regime of apartheid.[3] The JNF provided political, financial and intelligence[4] support for the Zionist forces in their conquest, massacres and ethnic cleansing operations that characterized the 1948-49 war and the Palestinian Nakba. Today, the JNF controls vast properties belonging to millions of Palestinians, developing them exclusively for persons of “Jewish nationality,” a concept established and promoted in the JNF’s charter to exclude all others.

The JNF was created in 1901 to acquire land and property rights in Palestine and beyond for exclusive Jewish settlement. While indigenous Palestinians are barred from leasing, building on, managing or working their own land, the JNF holds the land in trust for “those of Jewish race or descendency” living anywhere in the world to “promote the interests of Jews in the prescribed region.”[5]

To ensure such racist control over the majority of confiscated Palestinian lands, Israel adopted the JNF model of discriminatory land management as official state policy. In 1953, the Israeli Knesset legislated special status for JNF, enabling it to carry out governmental functions as a Zionist institution (“for Jews only”). The JNF continues to operate as a state-chartered organization[6] under Israeli law with direct control over some thirteen percent of the land in pre-1967 Israel. Further, the JNF appoints six out of thirteen members of the governing board of the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), which manages the JNF’s thirteen percent, in addition to another eighty percent of all land in Israel. It is through this relationship with the JNF that Israel, while portraying itself as the only democracy in the Middle East, in fact, outsources the land-management functions of the state to this discriminatory state-chartered organization.

After the 1948 Nakba and the expulsion of approximately two-thirds of the Palestinian population from their homeland, the JNF was repackaged as an environmentalist organization carrying out forestation activities. The JNF’s forests, parks and recreational facilities, planted and built on the ruins of hundreds of destroyed and depopulated Palestinian villages, have critically served to veil from public view the continuing official Israeli attempts to erase the traces of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The JNF is thus fundamentally complicit in the denial of displaced Palestinians’ rights to return, restitution and compensation, and in green-washing Israel’s regime of apartheid, colonization and occupation.

The JNF’s activities are not limited to the part of mandate Palestine that became Israel in 1948. The JNF’s Canada Park, for example, covers the remains of the Palestinian villages Imwas, Yalu, and Beit Nuba, which the Israeli army depopulated and razed on the explicit orders of the then Chief-of-Staff, General Yitzhak Rabin, in the course of the 1967 war. Moreover, through its subsidiary Hemnuta, the JNF has illegally acquired lands and houses in the occupied West Bank, and particularly in 1967 occupied Jerusalem.

Today, the JNF’s projects of displacement and forestation continue, particularly in the Naqab (Negev) and the Galilee. In these areas, “development” projects in which the JNF plays a central role, aim to continue the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens of Israel to make way for exclusively Jewish settlements and JNF parks and forests.

The JNF continues to serve as a global fundraiser for Israeli colonization and apartheid. Despite its complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, and despite its status as a chartered agent of the State of Israel, the JNF and its affiliate organizations enjoy charitable status in over 50 countries as environmental charities. These JNF branches worldwide also work to muster the political support necessary for legitimizing and promoting Israeli apartheid, a task greatly facilitated by the political, economic and cultural elites in each country that have signed on as JNF patrons.

As part of the global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the state of Israel until such time as it respects and implements international law, we the undersigned organizations call on global civil society to join us in a campaign to challenge the JNF by:

* exposing and documenting the role of the JNF in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine;

* protesting and disrupting the JNF’s fundraising activities across the globe;

* opposing and acting to nullify the JNF’s charitable and tax exempt status in Europe, the Americas, Oceania and Asia, and Africa;

* condemning the activities of the JNF through popular tribunals and truth commissions;

* supporting Palestinian and Israeli organizations resisting the forced displacement of Palestinians in the Naqab and Galilee; and

* urging those organizations collaborating with the JNF, and especially those with environmental and anti-racist mandates, to break ties with the JNF.

Endnotes

1. In Hebrew, Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael (KKL) [literally, the 'Perpetual Fund for Israel.'] In some states, JNF affiliate organizations use this name instead of JNF.

2. Ethnic cleansing by means of expulsion, massacre and population transfer and related grave breaches and crimes defined in the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), as well as the Charter of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal (1945) and the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court (1998).

3. The term apartheid refers to the crime defined in article 2 of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

4. The JNF played an important role in the preparation of the “Village files,” used by Zionist forces as a primary reference in planning and executing the depopulation and destruction of Palestinian communities in the 1948 Nakba (See Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Oxford: One World Press, 2006, pp.

5. Jewish National Fund Memorandum of Association (1907).

6. State-chartered, or para-state, organizations are organizations that through a formal, legal agreement, participates in the functions of the state.

7. Most villages of Palestinian Bedouin of the Naqab were rendered non-existent by Israel’s 1965 Planning and Construction Law. Today, over 80,000 of these Palestinian citizens of Israel live in the “unrecognized villages,” their land has been confiscated, they receive no water, electricity, or any other form of government-provided means of existence, and face the constant threat of home demolition and forced eviction. The state aims to displace them to the urban townships and use their land for exclusively Jewish settlement.The JNF aims to play a leading role in this process through its “Blueprint Negev” fundraising campaign, through which it plans to invest $600 million in 10 years “supporting a new generation of Israeli pioneers.” See the electronic book JNF:Colonizing Palestine Since 1901, pg.18

PCHR Weekly Report: 2 killed, 30 wounded by Israeli forces this week

Friday May 28, 2010 12:09by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

In its Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for the week of 20– 26 May 2010, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights found that two Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip this week, while 30 Palestinian civilians, including 9 children and 6 women, were injured and dozens of civilian facilities were destroyed or damaged.

Palestinian home destroyed by Israeli strike in Khan Younis (PCHR photo)

Israeli attacks in the West Bank:

During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 26 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Israeli forces abducted 35 Palestinian civilians, including 11 children. They also abducted 14 civilians, including 11 international and Israeli human rights defenders, during peaceful demonstrations against the construction of the Annexation Wall and settlement activities.

During the reporting period, Israeli forces ordered the expulsion of Sheikh Mohammed Abu Tair, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, from Jerusalem by 19 June 2010.

Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:

On 22 May 2010, in the Gaza Strip, two Palestinian militants were killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, to the east of Khan Yunis.

During the reporting period, 5 Palestinian workers, including a child, who were collecting bricks and construction aggregate were wounded by Israeli troops stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

During the reporting period, Israeli warplanes bombarded civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. A number of civilian facilities were destroyed or damaged and 30 Palestinian civilians, including 9 children and 6 women, were injured or shocked.

Israeli gunboats also fired at Palestinian fishing boats sailing along the beach in the Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.

Also in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces conducted two incursions into Palestinian areas, during which they razed a 2-donum area of agricultural land and demolished a house and a bird farm.

Israeli forces razed a 2-donum[1] area of agricultural land and demolished a house and a bird farm in Khan Yunis.

Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for over two and a half years. The illegal Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

The primary concern of the population of the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.

Israeli settlement activities:

Israeli forces have continued settlement activities and Israeli settlers living in the West Bank in violation of international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

On 24 May 2010, Israeli forces issued a military order confiscating large areas of Palestinian agricultural land in Hebron to establish "a secure road for settlers" linking the "Kiryat Arba" settlement and the Ibrahimi Mosque. The road is expected to be at least 1,300 meters long. The order gave those adversely affected one week to appeal against it.

At approximately 09:00 on Friday, 21 May 2010, at least 200 Israeli settlers from the "Avni Hefetz" settlement, to the east of Kufor al-Labad village, and from the "Ennab" settlement to the west of the village, east of Tulkarm, stormed 'Izbat al-Hafassi area near the village while Palestinian civilians were farming their lands. The settlers expelled the Palestinian civilians from their lands and conducted religious rituals. They also raised Israeli flags and uprooted a number of olive trees belonging to Sa'id Hussein Jab'eiti.

Israeli Annexation Wall:

During the reporting period, Israeli forces used force against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders in protest to the construction of the Wall and settlement activities. At least 3 Palestinian civilians, including a disabled child, were injured, and dozens of others suffered from tear gas inhalation. Israeli forces also abducted 11 international and Israeli solidarity activists and 3 Palestinian civilians.

Following the Friday Prayer on 21 May 2010, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in Bil'in village, west of Ramallah. The demonstrators moved towards the Wall and attempted to cross it towards the annexed lands. Immediately, Israeli troops fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. As a result, 14-year-old Tariq 'Adnan Abu Rahma was hit by a tear gas canister to the foot. Dozens of demonstrators also suffered from tear gas inhalation. Israeli troops also abducted 3 Israelis: Israel Portman, 62, a journalist; Tal Sabira, 26; and Hamoutal Artwa, 32.

Also following the Friday Prayer on 21 May 2010, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Ne'lin village, west of Ramallah, in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall. They clashed with Israeli forces troops positioned near the Wall. Israeli forces troops fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at demonstrators. Dozens of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation and other sustained bruises.

Also following the Friday Prayer on 21 May 2010, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Nabil Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah, in protest to land confiscation in Wad al-Raya area between Nabi Saleh and Deir Nizam villages. When the demonstrators attempted to reach areas of land seized by Israeli settlers near "Halmish" settlement, Israeli troop fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, two Palestinian civilians were injured.

Also following the Friday Prayer on 21 May 2010, dozens of Palestinian civilians organized a peaceful demonstration in al-Ma'sara village, south of Bethlehem, in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall. The demonstrators included Dr. 'Aziz al-Dwaik, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and a number of deputies, in addition to a number of international and Israeli solidarity activists. The demonstrators moved towards the western entrance of the village. Israeli troops fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the demonstrators and beat a number of them. As a result, Hassan Ahmed Braijiya, 40; and Jawad Zawahra, 25, sustained bruises.

On Sunday morning, 23 May 2010, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli solidarity activists organized a peaceful demonstration in Beit Jala town. They moved towards areas of Palestinian land in the north and northwest area of the town in protest to land leveling being carried out there by Israeli forces for the purpose of the construction of a section of the Annexation Wall. Israeli troops attacked the demonstrators and dispersed them. A number of civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation. Israeli troops also abducted 8 international and Israeli solidarity activists, but released them in the evening.

Recommendations to the international community:

Due to the number and severity of Israeli human rights violations this week, the PCHR made a number of recommendations to the international community. Among these were a recommendation that the European Union activate Article 2 of the Euro-Israel Association Agreement, which provides that Israel must respect human rights as a precondition for economic cooperation between the EU states and Israel. PCHR further calls upon the EU states to prohibit import of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The PCHR calls on the international community to recognize the Gaza disengagement plan, which was implemented in September 2005, for what it is—not an end to occupation but a compounding of the occupation and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

For the full text of the report, click on the link below:

 palestine | human rights | news report  saed at imemc dot org

Related Link(s): http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_...d=183

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http://www.imemc.org/article/58791
IMEMC is a media center developed in collaboration between Palestinian and International journalists to provide independent media coverage of Israel-Palestine.

Episcopal Peace Fellowship Joins BDS Campaign

Posted by RORCoalition on Sun, 05/09/2010 - 21:00

EPF’s Executive Council Statement on Divestment, Boycott and Economic Sanctions as a means of Nonviolent Resistance

The National Executive Council of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship voted to endorse the statement below with a vote of 8 yes, 2 no and 1 abstention.

“In response to the ongoing cycle of violence – including Palestinian terrorist bombings and the well documented military and economic violence of the government of Israel against Palestinians – that undermines negotiations and hope for an enduring peace- The NEC of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, in support of the principles of the Kairos Palestinian Document 4.2.6. endorses the application of divestment and an economic and commercial boycott of products linked to oppression of Palestinian people and occupation of their land. As peacemakers committed to nonviolent resolution of deep-seated conflicts, the National Executive Council joins a growing number of international and religious partners, including Jewish, Muslim, and Christian voices, who believe that economic sanctions can inspire a more useful dialog and negotiation towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Respect for the dignity of every human being, alongside a vision to put aside the violence of terrorism, oppression and military force is key to moving negotiations forward for a lasting peace for all involved.

The National Executive Council asks the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Israel/Palestine Action Group to offer resources to our membership and the wider church on effective strategies for boycott, divestment, and sanction, including links to partner groups and educational resources on the history of the cycle of violence and obstacles to peace in Israel/Palestine. We are all the children of Abraham, let us no longer profit at the expense of the safety and security of one another. Instead let us end the violent cycle and build a circle of peace.”

Settlers Torch Farmlands In The Jordan valley

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies, Sunday May 23, 2010

The torched lands were planted with wheat and barley.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Palestinian firefighters arrived at the scene and prevented a bigger disaster.

The Popular Campaign in the Northern Plains reported that Israeli soldiers are aiding the settlers in their attacks instead of stopping they, and that the army obstructs firefighters and civil defense teams from reaching their destination.

The army did not evacuate the settlers and did not conduct any arrests. Yet, the solders several residents who rushed to the torched lands in order to extinguish the fire.

The attack came only two weeks after the soldiers forced the residents out of the Ein al-Hilwa area as the settlers are planning to install an illegal outpost there.

A group of fundamentalist settlers torched, on Saturday, several farmlands in Wad al-Maleh in the northern plains of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.

File - Maan Images