Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:57 pm Post subject: Viva Palestina - Gaza mission #4
Viva Palestina aid convoy to attempt to break Gaza sea blockade
By Thameen Kheetan
jordantimes.com
AMMAN - A fourth Viva Palestina international aid convoy will head to Gaza by sea in June, British organisers announced Monday. They said the convoy will head directly towards the Gaza harbour to avoid passing through Egyptian territory, due to a previous decision by Cairo to ban the convoy from coming back, after Viva Palestina activists clashed with Egyptian police in the port city of El Arish on their way to the besieged enclave in January.
Convoy leaders have already started collecting donations for the event, as they look for more sponsors to facilitate logistics related to the trip, which will depart from the UK in June, according to Viva Palestina coordinator Kevin Ovenden.
“We are looking to collaborate with various organisations and sponsors… and other international NGOs that support the Palestinian cause,” Ovenden told The Jordan Times over the phone from the UK yesterday, adding that they are aiming to collect “hundreds of thousands of dollars” of medical and humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip.
He noted that the convoy’s route will start from Britain, passing by western European countries and across the Mediterranean Sea to reach Gaza. The activist said he had no further details about the June convoy, noting that more information would be available soon as the activists proceed with preparations. The convoy will be the fourth organised by Viva Palestina activists in the UK and other countries after the 2008-09 Israeli attacks on Gaza, which claimed the lives of more that 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women.
The coastal enclave has been under Israeli siege since 2007, when the Hamas movement took power there following a bloody dispute with the Fateh-ruled Palestinian Authority. In spite of the Egyptian ban, Ovenden said more convoys will continue to travel to Gaza by land later in the year, voicing hope that Cairo would reverse its decision and allow the activists to enter the strip via Egypt. “We don’t think the Egyptian government would be able to stick to its decision,” he remarked. Sources at the Egyptian embassy in Amman were unavailable for comment yesterday.
During its trip to Gaza after one year of the war, the third Viva Palestina convoy had to return from the port city of Aqaba through Jordan and Syria to reach El Arish after the Egyptians refused to let them in from the port of Nweibeh. Days after the convoy reached Gaza, Egyptian authorities told Viva Palestina activist and British MP George Galloway he was persona non grata. His fellow activists had clashed with police at the port amid Egyptian intentions to send some of the convoy’s trucks to Gaza through Israel.
Another British activist who took part in the third convoy, Nicholas Hall, doubted that Cairo would lift its ban, describing the Egyptian government as “firm” in this regard. Speaking to an audience of about 40 in a presentation he gave in Amman on Sunday about his experience, Hall highlighted the contrast between what the “hospitality” of people in Greece, Turkey, Syria and Jordan, and the “indifference” which he said the convoy faced in western Europe.
He accused the media in these countries of “suppressing” the Palestinian issue and not providing the public with enough information about the conflict. “The more they knew, the more they were coming and talking to us,” Hall told the audience, giving as an example the “thousands of Turks” who he said came out onto the streets at night in the rain to cheer on the third Viva Palestina convoy as it passed through Istanbul.
It has been confirmed by I.H.H. that the sailing of the boat convoy will be delayed until the first week of May, this is due to the huge international response to this venture.
I.H.H. now have a cargo ship of 3,200 tons to be filled with building supplies and medical aid for Gaza. They decided rather than many small boats that a large cargo ship is more suitable. Countries taking part in the boat convoy are Turkey, U.K., Ireland, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordon. The total number so far of ships taking part is 10.
A short interview about the boat convoy is on Remember Palestine this week on Press T.V. Tuesday 19.00 and repeated on Saturday at 12.05.
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 12:55 am Post subject: Israel threatens Gaza-bound aid convoy
Israel threatens Gaza-bound aid convoy
Sun, 09 May 2010
presstv.com
Israel has threatened to attack an international aid convoy bound for the Gaza Strip, carrying tons of relief material and accompanied by 600 activists. The convoy, nicknamed "Freedom Flotilla," is the biggest internationally coordinated effort to directly challenge Israel's blockade of the tiny sliver, the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency reported Sunday. Tel Aviv imposed the crippling blockade on Gaza in mid-June 2007, when Hamas took charge of the coastal strip. The siege has deprived some 1.5 million Gazans of food, fuel and other necessities.
The Flotilla is set to break the siege with three ships and five passenger boats. The first of its three ships will set sail from Greece, according to the International Middle East Media Center. Jamal Al-Khudari, head of Gaza's Popular Committee Against the Siege, said the threat against the convoy embodies "state terrorism" against peaceful individuals.
Israel training its pirates to block Freedom Fleet!
Gail Evelyn Alfar
May 12, 2010 at 6:14pm
Israel's naval forces are allegedly in training to prepare to seize eight boats scheduled to dock in the Gaza Strip on 24 May from Europe, Arabic-language media reported on Wednesday. "About half of the Israeli naval forces will participate in an operation that was approved by the cabinet. [Israeli] Defense Minister Ehud Barak will supervise the operation," an Israeli official told the Arabic-language satellite TV station Al-Hurra.
An Israeli security source told Ma'an that authorities will prevent the arrival of the boats "at any price."
The Freedom Fleet is scheduled to set sail from the UK, Greece and Turkey. The European Free Gaza campaign said Israeli authorities informed them that the flotillas would be prevented from docking in Gaza. The boats will be loaded with prefabricated homes, cement, and medicine and will be accompanied by 600 individuals in a bid to break the siege on Gaza.
On Sunday, Jamal Al-Khudari, head of Gaza's Popular Committee Against the Siege, said Israeli threats to open fire at the boats reveal Israel's weakness. "Such threats reflect the occupation's failure and embody state terrorism against peaceful individuals who come to support a people under siege and aggression," a statement issued by Al-Khudari said.
Under international law, the activists attempting to dock in Gaza have the right to participate in breaking the siege, Al-Khudari added, saying the threats will not deter participants from arriving in Gaza. The popular committee organizer said the group was coming well-equipped, and would be ready should the Israeli navy surround them for a long period of time.
The Freedom Flotilla announced plans in late April, saying a group of ships would depart from several corners of the Mediterranean and gather in international waters with the intent to deliver some 5,000 tons of building and medical supplies to the population under siege. According to flotilla organizers, 600 activists will sail three cargo ships and five passenger boats for Gaza in what a statement called the "biggest internationally coordinated effort to directly challenge Israeli's ongoing occupation, aggression, and violence against the Palestinian people."
FGM: Israel’s Intimidation Tactics Won’t Stop Us, First Ship Sets Sail for Gaza!
May 15, 2010
Free Gaza Movement
At 22:45 local time tonight, the MV Rachel Corrie, a 1200-ton cargo ship, part of the eight-vessel Freedom Flotilla, set sail from Ireland on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. There, ships from Turkey and Greece will join her, then sail to Gaza.
This past week reports from Israel have indicated that the Israeli authorities will not allow the Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza with its cargo of much-needed reconstruction material, medical equipment, and school supplies. According to Israeli news sources, clear orders have been issued to prevent the ships from reaching Gaza, even if this necessitates military violence.
The Free Gaza Movement, which has launched eight other sea missions to Gaza, confirms that Israel has tried these kinds of threats and intimidation tactics before in order to try to stop the missions before they start. “They have not deterred us before and will not deter us now,” said one of the organizers.
Ship to Gaza – Sweden, a Freedom Flotilla coalition partner, together with parliamentarian Mehmet Kaplan (Green Party) yesterday asked for an audience with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Carl Bildt, to discuss what measures the Swedish government and the European Union will take to protect the Freedom Flotilla’s peaceful, humanitarian voyage. Earlier this week during a meeting with the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza – another coalition partner, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyib Erdogan expressed his support for “breaking the oppressive siege on the Gaza Strip…which is at the top of Turkey’s list of priorities.“
Coalition partners, Ship to Gaza – Greece and the Turkish relief organization IHH, stressed that the ships, passengers, and cargo will be checked at each port of departure, making it clear that we constitute no security threat to Israel.
Israel’s threats to attack unarmed civilians aboard vessels carrying reconstruction aid are outrageous and indicative of the cruel and violent nature of Israel’s policies towards Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla is acting in line with universal principals of human rights and justice in defying a blockade identified as illegal by the UN and other humanitarian organizations. Palestinians in Gaza have a right to the thousands of basic supplies that Israel bans from entering, including cement and schoolbooks, as well as a right to access the outside world. The Freedom Flotilla coalition calls on all signatories to the Fourth Geneva Conventions to pressure Israel to adhere to its obligations under international humanitarian law, to end the lethal blockade on Gaza, and to refrain from attacking this peaceful convoy.
Gaza aid flotilla to set sail for confrontation with Israel
A flotilla of eight boats carrying thousands of tonnes of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid is preparing to sail to Gaza in the next few days, setting the scene for a confrontation with Israel which has vowed to prevent the ships breaking the blockade on the Palestinian territory.
Three cargo ships and five passenger vessels plan to meet up in international waters between Cyprus and Gaza Strip before heading towards Gaza City. The Israeli military is expected to stop the flotilla and divert it to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
One of the organisers of the flotilla, which includes three vessels from Turkey, is IHH, a humanitarian aid group supported by Ankara. Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since the Israelis launched a three-week war on Gaza in 2008-09. An attempt to block the flotilla is likely to increase tensions between the two countries. The Turkish prime minister, Racep Tayyip Erdogan, has called on Israel to avoid this be allowing the boats through.
"This could make relations between Israel and Turkey more complicated," said Yigal Palmor, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman.
On board the ships are 10,000 tonnes of cargo and about 700-800 activists and politicians from more than 40 countries. The cargo includes building materials, medical supplies and paper for schools. One boat is carrying a complete dental surgery including drills. Crayons and chocolate are also on board for Gazan children. The cargo has been paid for by donations.
"We're trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and tell the world that Israel has no right to starve 1.5 million Palestinians," said Greta Berlin, of the Free Gaza Movement, another organiser of the flotilla. "We are bringing in vitally needed supplies so the people of Gaza can rebuild their infrastructure."
Israel has imposed an economic blockade on Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas seized control almost three years ago. Nearly all exports and imports are banned and only a limited supply of food and medical aid is allowed in.
Free Gaza has organised six previous aid boats to the Palestinian territory, the last three of which were blocked from reaching their destination by the Israeli military. This is the biggest attempt to take aid to Gaza. "The previous boats were making a statement ‑ these boats will be making a real impact," said Berlin.
The Israeli navy enforces a 20-nautical mile (23-mile) closure of the sea off Gaza, which has had a devastating impact on its fishing industry. "The boats will not be allowed to enter Gaza territorial waters," said Palmor. "This is a territory in a self-declared state of war with Israel. There can be no uncontrolled transportation in or out of Gaza."
Berlin accused Israel of "sabre-rattling" in the hope that the flotilla plan will be abandoned. "They have no right to control Gaza waters unless they want to admit they are occupying Gaza," she said. "They are the illegal entity, not us." Israel claims it is acting within international law.
The Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara was today docked in Antalya, Turkey, along with two cargo ships, waiting to be joined by boats from Greece. "We will all go together in the next couple of days," said Hosain Orut, of the IHH.
John Ging, head of the main UN agency in Gaza, urged more ships carrying aid to be sent: "We believe that Israel would not stop these vessels because the sea is open, and many human rights organisations have been successful in previous similar steps, and proved that breaking the siege on Gaza is possible."
Earlier this week, a UN report said that three-quarters of the damage caused to Gaza's infrastructure during the three-week military conflict has not been repaired because of the blockade.
Mark Regev, the Israeli prime minister's spokesman, said: "It is strange that human rights activists are acting as apologists for a regime that is brutally repressing human rights. Hamas oppresses women, gays and Christians, has crushed independent media and destroyed all political opposition." He added that 15,000 tonnes of aid was allowed into Gaza every week.
Dozens of boats manned by Israeli citizens took the water at the weekend in protest at the aid flotilla.
JERUSALEM — Israel set up three massive white tents at its main southern seaport on Thursday to hold hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists who hope to breach Israel's 3-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The activists are headed toward Gaza's waters on board a flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of supplies. Israel says it won't let the eight boats reach Gaza's shores, and that it will deport or imprison the activists aboard.
The military said it would divert the boats to the Israeli port at Ashdod, where the activists will be taken into the tents for identification and medical attention.
Officials said 40 buses will be on hand to ferry them to Israel's international airport for deportation or to a nearby prison if they refuse to be deported voluntarily.
"We want to do this as quick and efficiently as possible," said Maya Kadosh, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
Israeli authorities said they will make every effort to avoid using force, but they were prepared for a military confrontation if necessary.
Speaking by satellite phone to The Associated Press from his ship, "Free Mediterranean," flotilla organizer Dror Feiler was defiant. "We are on a humanitarian and solidarity action, we intend to continue it until we reach our goal and will not be stopped," he said.
Feiler, 68, a musician who renounced his Israeli citizenship, said he brought a saxophone with him and will greet Israeli sailors boarding his boat with music "from the time when Jews didn't have armies and police to harass freedom fighters, when Jews were victims, and were standing at the forefront of the fight for the dignity of people."
Feiler said there are four passenger boats and four cargo ships in the flotilla. He said his left the Greek island of Rhodes on Thursday morning. Others embarked from various European ports, organizers said.
Israel's navy chief, Vice Adm. Eliezer Marum, has overseen a series of drills in recent days simulating the boarding of the ships and their transfer to shore, the military said. Authorities refused to provide further details, including how large a force they planned to deploy.
As for the supplies on board, Israeli authorities said they would undergo a security check, and then transfer them to U.N. agencies to be distributed in Gaza. Israel said the activists should have chosen this option in the first place if they wished to get the materials to Gaza.
"If they were really interested in the well-being of the people of Gaza, they would have accepted the offers of Egypt or Israel to transfer humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev. "Instead they have chosen a cheap political stunt."
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the coastal area in June 2007. The situation worsened following an Israeli military offensive meant to stop Hamas rocket attacks early last year.
While aid shipments and a bustling smuggling trade along the Egyptian border have managed to get most basic items into Gaza, the blockade has made it impossible to repair damage to thousands of homes that were damaged or destroyed in the Israeli offensive.
Israeli authorities reject allegations that a humanitarian disaster is brewing in Gaza.
"There is no shortage of fuel, there is no shortage of medication, there is no shortage of any necessities in the Gaza Strip," said military spokeswoman Avital Liebovitch. "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The situation is stable."
Statement by the spokesperson of High Representative Catherine Ashton on the flotilla sailing to Gaza
The spokesperson of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton issued a following statement today:
"We strongly urge that all involved act with a sense of restraint and responsibility and work for a constructive resolution. The EU remains gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive.
We would like to reiterate the EU's call for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza."
JERUSALEM — Ships carrying 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to blockaded Gaza were being held up near Cyprus on Saturday, as organizers tried to get nearly two dozen high-profile supporters on board.
The flotilla was to set sail toward Gaza on Saturday afternoon, in any event, and approach the territory on Sunday, about 24 hours behind schedule, said Greta Berlin, one of the activists.
A showdown with the Israeli navy appeared inevitable. Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, reiterated Saturday that the ships would be intercepted, denouncing the sea convoy as a provocation and violation of maritime laws. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory by force three years ago.
In Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the flotilla signals the end of the blockade.
"If the ships reach Gaza, it's a victory for Gaza," Haniyeh told some 400 supporters Saturday, after touring Gaza City's small fishing harbour where several smaller vessels breaking the blockade have docked in the past. "If they are intercepted and terrorized by the Zionists, it will be a victory for Gaza, too, and they will move again in new ships to break the siege of Gaza."
In Cyprus, organizers were trying to find a way to have two dozen would-be passengers, including 19 European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor, join the ships anchored in international waters off the island. The Cypriot government did not allow smaller boats to ferry the group to the flotilla, Berlin said.
Authorities in Cyprus said the decision was made to protect the island's "vital interests" -- including economic ties with Israel.
Organizers then appealed to the Turkish government to get the group out via a Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus port. Turkish Cypriot officials have said they want to help the group as much as they can.
But a diplomatic tangle wasn't the only factor delaying the mission. Mechanical problems forced the flotilla to shrink from eight ships to five, and the boats have lost the ability to communicate by satellite phone twice, Berlin said.
Israeli authorities have said they will not comment on military tactics, but are determined to intercept and search the vessels, then tow them to an Israeli port. Israel has prepared a makeshift detention centre in its southern port of Ashdod, and officials have said the activists sailing on the ships face deportation or arrest. The cargo, meanwhile, would undergo a security check, and then be transferred to U.N. agencies for distribution in Gaza.
"We will not let this flotilla get through. It harms Israeli security," Israel TV's Channel 10 on Saturday quoted Ayalon as saying.
Still, the aid convoy poses a serious dilemma that was debated at the highest levels of the Israeli government this week.
Scenes of Israeli naval commandos taking over vessels with aid shipments and detaining high-profile activists could further harm the Jewish state's image. However, Israel is concerned about setting a precedent and eroding the blockade if it lets the vessels dock in Gaza.
Critics say the blockade has been counterproductive, failing to dislodge Hamas while deepening poverty in Gaza. There have been growing demands by the international community that Israel ease its grip or lift the closure altogether.
Earlier this week, Turkey urged Israel to end the blockade and said it was using diplomatic channels with Israel to avert a showdown over the flotilla. However, Ankara has also said the sea convoy, arranged in part by a Turkish aid group, is a private initiative.
Turkish-Israeli relations cooled after Israel's military offensive against Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.
In Gaza City, Haniyeh, the prime minister of Gaza, praised Turkey as a leader among Muslim nations. Gaza's harbour was decorated with Turkish flags.
"This fleet indicates that Turkey ... is leading strategic changes in the region based on disconnecting itself from the Zionist enterprise and joining the Muslim nations," he said.
Since December 2008, Israel has not permitted boats carrying aid to reach Gaza. Israel rejects claims that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying that it allows a sufficient amount of aid into the territory to meet the residents' needs.
Since Hamas took power in 2007, Gaza has come to rely on a series of underground tunnels connecting it with Egypt to smuggle in goods ranging from weapons to motorbikes. Two Gazans were killed and 15 injured Saturday afternoon when a gas canister exploded in one of those tunnels, wounding and partially suffocating workers who were performing maintenance operations, according to Gazan security sources.
source: CTV News
-----
Israel sticks to the laughable claim that the aid shipments are against international law. And the Associated Press has no problem perpetuating the lie that the 2006 elections were not for all Palestinians. ("Haniyeh, the prime minister of Gaza...")
On the up side, Turkey's support of this mission sets it apart from most nations, including beholden Egypt.
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