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11 June 2010 By Stephen Lendman
The European Campaign to End the
Siege on Gaza (ECESG) is "an umbrella body" of 34
European human rights and humanitarian organizations
supporting the right of Palestinians "to live in peace
and dignity," to be free from occupation, and to have
"their own independent and sovereign state, (and)
encourages all peoples of conscience and human rights
advocates to intensify their efforts to highlight this
life-theatening issue and end the catastrophe."
On its June 6 web site posting (savegaza.eu),
ECESG reported that preparations for an even larger
Freedom Flotilla Two are well advanced, and will be
launched in the coming weeks, saying their mission is
humanitarian, and others will keep coming until the
siege is lifted and aid can enter freely.
Its members helped organize
Freedom Flotilla One along with Free Gaza Movement (FG),
Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), Ship to Gaza Greece, and
Ship to Gaza Sweden. ECESG says that if governments
won't help, activist groups like them and others will
keep working until justice for Palestinians is
achieved.
It condemned the Freedom Flotilla
1 massacre, the appalling propaganda that followed,
explained that more missions are coming, and said
funding for "the first three ships" of Freedom
Flotilla Two has been gotten, Campaign president
Arafat Madi saying:
"The extensive calls are taking
place to launch a new fleet to the Gaza Strip,
involving many ships that will be carrying on board
more aid and more peace activists than Freedom 1 which
was carrying (10,000) tons of aid and hundreds of
peace activists from more than forty countries around
the world."
Other Aid Missions Planned
The Iranian Red Crescent Society
is part of the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies, the world's largest
humanitarian organization, comprised of 186 Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies.
On June 7, it announced it will
send three aid ships to Gaza "by the end of the week,"
two with humanitarian supplies, the other with
volunteer Iranian relief workers, and a plane with 30
tons of medical equipment. Iranian Red Crescent
director Abdolraoof Adibzadeh said it will deliver aid
through Egypt's Rafah border crossing.
On June 1, Egypt opened it,
saying it will be "indefinite (and) Additional crews
at the harbor are working on carrying out the
president's instructions so that procedures for
Palestinians to pass into Egypt can be implemented
quickly." In addition, those with Arab or other
passports, students enrolled to study abroad, and
medical patients will be granted free passage in and
out.
In December 2008, Iran's Red
Crescent sent a ship with food and medicine, then
interdicted by Israel's navy and prevented from
reaching Gaza. This time, Iranian ships "reportedly"
will escort the flotilla, setting up a possible
serious confrontation.
Turkey also promised to send aid,
this time with a naval escort and perhaps more after
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he's
considering coming to break the siege and show
solidarity with besieged Gazans.
Washington is trying to dissuade
him. Israel called it a political maneuver. Erdogan
perhaps is serious and intends to come. If so along
with Turkish warships, it will be a significant
development to watch.
Turkey also, along with Brazil,
struck a deal with Iran to further process much of its
enriched uranium, then return it as fuel rods for a
medical research reactor. Erdogan also met with
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at this week's
Istanbul regional security summit, prompting Council
on Foreign Relations member Steven Cook to complain
that he's "running around the region doing things that
are at cross-purposes to what the big powers (read
Washington and Israel) want," then asked - "How do we
keep the Turks in their lane?"
According to Bilgi University
Professor Soli Ozel, "The Americans, no matter what
they say, cannot get used to a new world where
regional powers want to have a say in regional and
global politics. This is our neighborhood, and we
don't want trouble. The Americans create havoc, and we
are left holding the bag."
More Still
Coming
Egyptian lawmaker, Hazim Farouq,
said an Egyptian humanitarian convoy, with political
party members, will head for Gaza next Monday, June
14, carrying construction and other materials. On
board Freedom Flotilla 1, Farouq said the Arab League
was determined to break the siege and open the Rafah
Terminal to Gaza.
On June 6, after an extraordinary
Arab League session, the Secretary General of the
Interim Arab Parliament said a convoy of 44 of its
members, accompanied by journalists, plan to break the
Gaza siege through the Rafah crossing.
Arab Parliament Speaker, Adnan
Omran, said the body will take immediate, urgent
action to cut off all forms of overt and covert
normalization, stop direct and indirect negotiations,
and work to strengthen resistance against Israel.
He emphasized "the need to take
urgent action before the competent courts to file
lawsuits against the leaders of Israel in favor of
freedom and peace activists from around the world, and
to document this criminal incident to make these
documents irrefutable proof of prosecution."
The Parliament also condemned
Washington's "justifi(cation of) Israel's crimes, in
particular the attack on the freedom flotilla." It
also dismissed Security Council timidity that "clearly
demonstrates bias and lack of credibility" as well as
providing Israel cover.
The German-based Jewish Voice for
Peace movement said it will send one or more aid ships
in July, according to spokesperson Kate Leitrer,
saying:
"We have one small craft so
far....Getting another boat means more expenses, and
we're discussing this possibility." On June 6, the
Israeli news service, Ynet.news.com, headlined "Jewish
flotilla to break Gaza siege," saying:
Kate Leitrer announced, along
with other supplies, it will carry school equipment,
candy, and musical equipment with musicians aboard to
teach Gazan children how to play.
"Jews have been to Gaza in the
past," Leitrer said, "and they were treated in a
friendly manner. We have also talked with them
recently, and they are very keen for us to come. We
are frightened by what happened on the Marmara, but if
you are committed to do good things, you have to act.
People were also killed in the fight against
fascism."
Another organization member,
Edith Lutz, said many Jews wish to come. "We began in
Germany, but many have called us from England, Sweden
and the US. There may also be another boat" with us,
carrying reporters. Two years ago, Lutz was on the
Free Gaza flotilla that arrived safely. She met Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh who told her Palestinians have
nothing against Jews, just the illegal occupation.
On June 5, the Union for Good (UFG)
umbrella organization of over 50 Islamic charities
plans a land convoy with food, clothes, shoes, and
other supplies it hopes to deliver through Egypt's
Rafah crossing "within a few days," urging other
charitable groups to do the same.
On June 6, British MP and noted
anti-war activist George Galloway announced he's
helping organize new land and sea convoys to break the
siege, saying:
"After extensive discussion in
Istanbul, I can announce that a land convoy will leave
Britain shortly after the end of Ramadan in September
and travel through Europe, down through Turkey and
Syria into Jordan. We will ask the Egyptian government
then to ensure passage from the port of Aqaba to Rafah
and into Gaza."
"At exactly the same time, a
flotilla of boats will be leaving to tour the
countries of the Mediterranean before heading for
Gaza. These combined sea and land convoys will be co-ordinated
by Viva Palestina with other organizations in Britain
and with our friends throughout the Middle East and in
Turkey."
His announcement can be read on
his web site: georgegalloway.com, with more
information on Freedom Flotilla I.
Global BDS
(Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Momentum Building
New reports keep surfacing in the
wake of the Flotilla massacre, including:
-- on June 4, South Africa's
Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) announced a motion to
declare every municipality in the country "an
Apartheid Israel free zone" to ensure "no commercial,
academic, cultural, sporting or other linkages
whatsoever with the Israeli regime."
SAMWU also pledged support for
the Coalition for a Free Palestine (CFP). Earlier, its
sister union, SATAWU (South Africa Transport and
Allied Workers' Union) refused to handle Israeli goods
at South African ports.
A Ynet.news.com/InFact Institute
survey showed 40% of Norwegians are already boycotting
Israeli products, and Norway's health minister,
Kristin Halvorsen, called for an international boycott
on arms sales to Israel, in line with her government's
policy.
The University and College Union,
representing about 120,000 teaching and related staff
in UK colleges and universities, voted to support BDS
efforts against Israel, saying:
The National Executive
Committee's Motion 30 condemned "the failure of the
international community to confront the Israeli
government over the humanitarian disaster it is
continuing to perpetrate in Gaza and the continued
development of illegal settlements in the West Bank."
Other motions also condemned
Israel's longstanding human rights abuses and the
international community's failure to hold its leaders
accountable.
The Palestinian Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
called for an emergency June 5 Global BDS Day of
Action (observed in New York and elsewhere), the 43rd
anniversary of Israel's Occupation. It also urged
pressuring governments to implement arms and trade
sanctions, and called on global transport and dock
workers as well as unions to refuse to load, offload
or in any way handle Israeli made products or
shipments to the country.
Jews Against
Zionism Condemn the Siege and Flotilla Attack
The International Jewish
Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) "strongly condemn(ed)
Israel's barbarous early-morning raid, carried out in
international waters, on a maritime humanitarian
convoy, during which Israeli soldiers attacked with
live ammunition peaceful civilians on board, murdering
at least fifteen according to the Israeli army,
perhaps many more, and wounding scores."
IJAN "call(ed) on all governments
to end Israel's impunity, enforce international law
and hold Israel accountable for its recurrent
violations," and also asked Jews and civil society
everywhere to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian
people, and demand the Gaza siege be lifted.
UNWRA
Condemnation
On June 7 UNWRA head, Filippo
Grandi, appealed for more ships to come, saying he
hoped the Flotilla "tragedy will be a turning point,"
in calling the Gaza siege "absurd, tragic and totally
unacceptable," adding:
"It is terrible to say this but I
hope that the tragedy could be a turning point, a
watershed in terms of the blockade. I hope that world
leaders, those who make decisions, open their eyes to
the suffering of the Palestinians. (The) crisis is
much bigger that just humanitarian. This is a crisis
that encompasses every aspect of life: access to
services, water and sanitation, poverty, the economy.
(It affects) Gazans' physical and mental health, and
impoverishing the population in what is also known as
the world's largest outdoor prison."
Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights (PCHR) Calls for All Nations to Support the
Rule of Law and Accountability
During the May 31 - June 11 first
Review Conference of the Rome Statute (attended by all
State Parties to the International Criminal Court -
ICC), PCHR asked all participants "to uphold victims'
rights and seek accountability for international
crimes," saying those most serious must not go
unpunished.
Israel long ago proved itself an
out-of-control rogue state, and has been unwilling to
"genuinely....carry out investigations and
prosecutions." It's thus up to the international
community to do it and hold its officials accountable
for their crimes of war and against humanity. The Rome
Statute, UN Charter, and other international law
demand no less.
"History has shown that as long
as Israel is allowed to act with impunity, it will
continue to violate international law. It is innocent
Palestinian civilians who continue to suffer the
horrific consequences." No longer can this be allowed
to stand.
Lawsuits Filed
On June 5, French lawyer, Lillian
Glock, filed two lawsuits (in Marseille and Ivory)
against Israel, for kidnapping and detention without
reason, on behalf of the French charity, the Committee
of Charity and Relief for Palestinians. Six of its
members were aboard the Flotilla are are suing over
Israel's violence, piracy, and abduction in
international waters. According to Glock, the French
judiciary has jurisdiction to hear cases brought, so
she'll press ahead with them.
Others are following her example.
The European Campaign says enough evidence warrants
bringing Israel to international justice, and intends
to file lawsuits for acts of violence. According to
Amin Abu Rashid:
"The campaign held meetings with
a team of lawyers and legal personnel to carry out
immediate practical measures to prosecute responsible
Israeli officials and soldiers before international
courts in the Netherlands for the crimes they
committed against the Freedom Flotilla in
international waters."
He expects to bring a strong case
charging "crimes against world peace, crimes against
humanity, (and) criminal offenses" in light of clear
violations of the organizational charters of the
International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Lawyers involved said Israeli
military and political officials may be prosecuted,
even in absentia, over crimes as grievous under peace
as during war.
On June 8, the Palestinian
Information Center reported that two Spanish
activists, Manuel Tapial and Laura Arau, will file a
lawsuit against Israel for attacking the Flotilla.
The Swedish legislature held an
emergency Sunday session, discussing actions to take
against Israel, one lawmaker saying:
'How can the world's countries be
obliged to respect the international law if Israel's
violation....was condoned."
The body also demanded
condemnation and global sanctions on Israel in
response to its actions. So do 21 regional countries
led by Turkey. Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Razak,
called Israel's officials "gangsters." According to
the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Tel Aviv's justice
ministry is preparing to face a wave of international
indictments against Israeli soldiers, senior officers,
and government officials. They can't come a moment too
soon.
Stephen Lendman lives in
Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished
guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the
Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central
time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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