Press releases

Palmer/Uribe Report Whitewashes Israeli Crimes

2011-09-04T15:45:44Z

FREEDOM FLOTILLA II PRESS STATEMENT

Sunday, 4 September 2011

For immediate release

Sadly the Palmer/Uribe Report on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla attacks, (leaked to the New York Times on 1 September), is an expected whitewash of Israeli crimes. While it blames Israeli forces for using excessive force when they raided our Gaza-bound civilian ships while we sailed in international waters, it erroneously justifies Israel’s blockade of Gaza, casts doubts on the intentions of the flotilla organizers, and does not seek accountability for perpetrators of human rights abuses.

The Palmer/Uribe Panel was flawed from its inception. The appointment of ex-Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as the Panel’s vice-chair casts serious doubt on the integrity and impartiality of the Panel. Uribe’s intimate association with the military and paramilitary practice of murdering civilians in Colombia and notorious disdain for human rights defenders makes his appointment to a Panel dealing with human rights issues problematic. Furthermore, Uribe’s government is on record as advocating closer military cooperation with Israel. [1]

In addition to the problems in the composition of the Panel, its goal was not to arrive at the truth of what happened or to seek justice for victims, but rather to reach political compromise in order to repair relations between Israel and Turkey. The mandate of the Panel was limited to reviewing the reports of the national investigations by Turkey and Israel, and it did not interview witnesses or otherwise conduct an in-depth objective investigation. This is a political attempt to overshadow the only independent and impartial investigation and report on the flotilla raid, which was commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/15/21) and conducted by three internationally renowned human rights experts. The findings and recommendations of this report, released on 23 September 2010 have yet to be acted on by the United Nations.

One of the most outrageous findings of this Panel is that Israel had a right to impose the naval blockade on Gaza as a “legitimate security measure.” This finding completely ignores the fact that the naval blockade is part of an overall closure regime that numerous human rights bodies, including various UN agencies, have declared illegal. Furthermore, it ignores incontrovertible evidence that the naval blockade and overall closure are not about security, but rather about putting pressure on the people of Gaza. Israeli leaders are on record noting that the purpose of the blockade is economic warfare – to keep the Gaza economy on the brink of collapse in order to pressure the civilians to rise up against the Hamas government. [2]

Using civilians as a means of pressuring a government violates international humanitarian law, which prohibits intentionally harming civilians, and constitutes collective punishment, forbidden under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The Palmer/Uribe Report mistakenly identifies IHH as the “leading group involved in the planning of the flotilla,” accuses us (the Freedom Flotilla organizers) of acting recklessly, and casts doubt on the humanitarian nature of our action (pages 46-48). Six non-governmental, international civil society organizations, all having equal say and responsibility, planned Freedom Flotilla I. Our action was a legitimate form of nonviolent direct action. We reject the Panel’s finding that Israeli soldiers faced “organized violence.” What the heavily armed commandos faced while they tried to forcefully take over the Mavi Marmara on the high seas was legitimate acts of non-armed self-defense by a handful of passengers, acting against unwarranted aggression.

Although our ships carried 10,000 tons of much needed cargo for the people of Gaza, we have repeatedly stated that our goal is to break the illegal blockade of Gaza, not simply to deliver aid. The humanitarian crisis that exists in Gaza is a result of a deliberate, illegal and immoral policy. To challenge that policy in order to bring an end to the cause of people’s suffering is humanitarian.

While the Report correctly faults Israel for using excessive force on unarmed civilians, it does not call for accountability. The Report notes that Israel has not accounted for the forensic evidence showing that most of the nine volunteers killed were shot multiple times, including in the back, or at close range, or for the consistent accounts of abuse suffered by other volunteers at the hands of Israeli forces. The Report’s recommendation that Israel simply express regret over the incident is insulting to the victims and their families, and seriously undermines international human rights and humanitarian law.

Finally the report fails to address the issue of the remaining four ships of Freedom Flotilla I still held by Israel as well as its refusal to return to the passengers over $1 million in money and equipment including cameras and videos which are of evidential value.

We welcome Turkey’s decision to downgrade relations with Israel, expelling the Israeli ambassador, and cancelling military ties, as well as its statement that it will take legal action against those Israelis responsible for the attack on the flotilla. Such sanctions are needed in order to put an end to the impunity with which Israel has been violating Palestinian human rights and disregarding international law.

Free Gaza Movement contact:

Huwaida Arraf +970-598-336-215, huwaida.arraf[at]gmail.com
Greta Berlin +1 310 422 7242, iristulip[at]gmail.com
Audrey Bomse +44 (0)78615610932, audreybomse[at[gmail.com

www.freegaza.org

www.witnessgaza.com

www.freedomflotilla.eu

[1] See “Colombia seeks to broaden Israel ties,” Apr 28, 2010, Jerusalem Post at: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?ID=174179

2 See e.g. “Wikileaks: Israel aimed to keep Gaza economy on brink of collapse,” Jan 5, 2011, Haaretz, reporting on a leaked Cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv saying Israeli officials wanted Gaza's economy 'functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis’ at:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/wikileaks-israel-aimed-to-keep-gaza-economy-on-brink-of-collapse-1.335354

Palmer/Uribe Report: Another Attempt by Israel to Whitewash Murder

2011-09-01T07:35:23Z

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos brutally attacked Freedom Flotilla 1, killing eight Turkish and one American passengers on board the Mavi Marmara, most having been killed at close range, execution style. They injured more than 50 other passengers, both on the Mavi Marmara and on the other five boats sailing to the embattled territory of Gaza to bring the attention of the world to Israel’s illegal blockade of 1.6 million Palestinians. Not only were our volunteers murdered and maimed, but the Israeli government has refused to return over $1 million in money and equipment, including cameras and videos stolen from the volunteers, which are of evidential value.

In the 15 months since Israel’s unwarranted attack on four boats carrying human rights defenders, Israel has been trying to spin the story that their well-armed soldiers were the victims and we were the aggressors. Several reports have already been written, most squarely blaming Israel for its attack on unarmed civilians.

The UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission took evidence from 112 eyewitnesses, reviewed forensic evidence, including autopsy reports and inspected the Mavi Marmara. It found that, because a humanitarian crisis exists in Gaza, Israel's blockade is unlawful and ‘cannot be sustained in law…regardless of the grounds” used as justification. Israel’s blockade is collective punishment and in violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, inflicting civilian damage disproportionate to any military advantage. Therefore, since Freedom Flotilla 1 neither presented an imminent threat to Israel nor was designed to contribute to any war effort against Israel, intercepting the flotilla was ‘clearly unlawful’ and could not be justified as self-defense.

Israel refused to cooperate with this UN panel even though the United Nations and governments all around the world called for just such an independent investigation of the events.

Instead, the Israeli government set up its own investigatory panel, The Turkel Commission, led by Israeli retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel and three other Israelis issued a report on January 23, 2011 exonerating the commandos, then saying the blockade was legal. The commission did not interview a single passenger or crew member from any of the boats but only received testimony from the Israeli military.

On January 28, 2011, Amnesty International condemned the Turkel findings as no more than a whitewash. “Despite being nearly 300 pages long, the report crucially fails to explain how the activists died and what conclusions the Commission reached regarding the IDF’s specific actions in each case.” http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.html

Free Gaza shares Amnesty International's analysis that the conflict between the Israeli armed forces and unarmed civilians was NOT armed conflict, making international humanitarian law (IHL) the wrong framework; international human rights law and law enforcement norms should have been applied, which would have made the use of force – and especially lethal force –an act of last resort.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Contact: Audrey Bomse +44 (0)78615610932, audreybomse[at]hotmail.com

Huwaida Arraf +970-598-336-215, huwaida.arraf[at]gmail.com

Greta Berlin +1 310 422 7242, Iristulip[at]gmail.com

French Campaign PR: They're Coming Home

2011-07-20T16:50:25Z

From the French Campaign: Un Bateu pour Gaza

They’re coming home

The 12 passengers on board of the French boat were expelled from Israeland will be today in Paris. They’re fine, as their boat was boarded by the Israeli commandos in International waters. Canadian, Greek and Swedish passengers were sent back to their countries.

After being brought back to the port of Ashdod, the passengers were transferred to a retention centre in the city of Holon next to Tel Aviv. They were visited by their lawyers and the French Consul in Tel Aviv before the Israeli authorities took to them to Tel Aviv airport where they spent the night.

The story of the boarding by Israeli journalist Amira Hass who was on board shows how disproportionate was the Israeli operation. 7 commando boats and 3 missile ships with 150 on board to stop 16 unarmed civilians on a 16 ms long boat.

The Israeli boarding happened in International waters is illegal. Even though no shot was fired, diverting a boat and its passengers under the threat of guns, with military boats, is an act of violence. Let us remind that if the Israeli army took the precaution of not attacking a boat with European citizens on board, it does not hesitate to fire at the Palestinian population.

http://www.unbateaupourgaza.fr/

French boat Dignité of Freedom Flotilla II leaves Greece

2011-07-17T04:23:00Z

16 July 2011
For Immediate Release

Contact on Dignite:
00870 7764 16715 or 0046 707 229 165
dror.feiler@gmail.com or cleostic@free.fr

French boat Dignité of the Freedom Flotilla II leaves Greece

The French boat “Dignité/Karama” (Dignity) left the Greek island Kastellorizo around 8:30PM local time on Saturday July 16, 2011, heading south. The ten passengers onboard view themselves as representatives of the whole Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human. The rest of the Flotilla’s ships have been detained in different Greek ports, through bureaucratic obstruction, sabotage, sudden restrictions and withdrawals of flags.

The Dignité, sailing under a French flag, left Corsica on June 25th, and has, over the past weeks, been in Greek waters. It has now left– so far without being followed by the Greek coast guard or Navy.

Among the delegates on board is Jacqueline Le Corre, member of the French Communist Party, Jean Claude Lefort, former French Member of the European Parliament, as well as representatives of the Canadian, French, Greek and Swedish initiatives within Freedom Flotilla II. Onboard the Dignité are also renowned Israeli journalist Amira Hass, reporting for Haaretz, and a team from Al-Jazeera TV. (Full list of passengers below).

Kastellorizo, in the far east of the Greek archipelago, is only miles from Turkish mainland. A substantial part of Kastellorizo’s population fled during the Second World War to Gaza, where they stayed for years. The present mayor of the island, Paul Panigiris, was born in Gaza, and feels strongly, as do many other people from Kastellorizo, for a population that once hosted them and is now under siege.

The action of Dignité is not a mini-version of Freedom Flotilla 2, but a first wave that will be followed by others. It is a message to the Israeli government, to the international community and to the besieged people of Gaza: The Free Gaza Movement and the coalition of Freedom Flotilla II are not giving up, until the inhumane and illegitimate blockade of Gaza is lifted.

Gaza, we are coming!

www.freegaza.org
www.witnessgaza.com
www.freedomflotilla.eu

------

Passengers on the Dignité

Stéphan Corriveau, Coordinator of Canadian boat to Gaza

Dror Feiler, spokesperson of Ship to Gaza-Sweden, President of the European Jews for a Just Peace, artist, musician, composer

Jérôme Gleizes, France, Europe Ecologie Les Verts

Jacqueline Le Corre, France, Médecin-Collectif 14 de soutien au peuple palestinien, member of Parti communiste francais

Jean Claude Lefort, former MEP, French Communist Party –PCF

Claude Léostic, spokesperson of Un bateau français pour Gaza

Yamin Makri, France, Collectif 69 de soutien au peuple palestinien

Omeyya Naoufel Seddik, Tunisian, Fédération des Tunisiens pour une citoyenneté des deux rives (FTCR), and Ligue tunisienne des Droits de l'Homme (LTDH), Phd in Political Science

Thomas Sommer-Houdeville, spokesperson of Un bateau français pour Gaza, Researcher, Political Sciecnce, Middle East Studies, at the Institut francais du proche Orient

Vangelis Pissias, spokesperson of Ship to Gaza-Greece, Professor at Technical University of Athens

Amira Hass, Israeli journalist - Haaretz

Ayyache Derradji, Journalist from Al Jazeera

Stéphane Guida, Cameraman from Al Jazeera

Hilaire Folacci, Mariner

Yannick Voisin, Captain

Jo Leguen, Navigator

Sabotage of M.V. Saoirse in Turkey 'an act of international terrorism'

2011-06-30T16:49:00Z

30 June 2011 | Irish Ship to Gaza

The Irish-owned ship, the MV Saoirse, that was meant to take part in Freedom Flotilla 2 has been sabotaged in a dangerous manner in the Turkish coastal town of Göcek, where it had been at berth for the past few weeks. Visual evidence of the undership sabotage, which was carried out by divers, will be presented today at a press conference in Dublin at 11am in Buswell's Hotel. Photographs and video footage of the damage are available from the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign.

Concerns for the boat first emerged on Monday evening following a short trip near the Göcek marina and an inspection was carried out by divers and by skipper Shane Dillon on Tuesday morning. Evidence was found that the shaft of the starboard propeller has been interfered with and it was decided to take the boat out of the water for a further visual inspection. On Wednesday, the boat was put on land at a local shipyard and the extent of the sabotage was immediately visible.

Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human will sail to Gaza

2011-06-17T17:57:50Z

17 June 2011 | Istanbul

For Immediate Release:

Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human is a rainbow coalition of human rights defenders. It does not only concern Muslims, but everyone, be they Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, secular or whatever. This is world citizenry united. Our destination is Gaza. Our means are non-violent. Our goal is to lift the illegal siege, completely and permanently and freedom for the Palestinian people.

With national campaigns in over 20 countries and around 10 ships being readied, Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human is on track to sail to Gaza to break the illegal Israeli blockade. The Turkish aid organization IHH remains part of the flotilla, even though the Mavi Marmara is unable to sail.

Israel’s policy of collective punishment remains intact. There is no doubt about the need for the flotilla. The so-called “established channels” for delivering aid to Gaza, referred to by global leaders seeking to stop our mission, do not allow for the needs of the people of Gaza to be met due to Israel’s many restrictions, nor do they permit freedom for Palestinians.

Nowhere else in the world are people required by the international community to accept humanitarian aid instead of freedom. And even that humanitarian aid is not forthcoming, owing to Israel’s blockade. This month, the health authority in Gaza proclaimed a state of emergency due to an acute shortage of vital medicines. Approximately 178 types of medications and 123 types of medical supplies have run out, and an additional 69 types of medications and 70 types of medical supplies are expected to run out within the next three months.

A few days ago, 46 Palestinian civil society organizations announced their full support of the Freedom Flotilla 2.

The fact that the Mavi Marmara will not participate in the FF2, means that the misinformation put forward by the Israeli government and its supporters that the flotilla is a “Turkish” and “Islamist” effort will be completely exposed. Hundreds of people from around the world are sailing to break the blockade on Gaza. Freedom Flotilla II will include more ships than the first flotilla, even without the Mavi Marmara. Moreover, the coalition consists of significantly more member organizations this time, from all over Europe, North America, the Middle East and North Africa.

The International Coalition of Freedom Flotilla II

Israel Responds to Flotilla Pressure by “Allowing More Crumbs” into Gaza

2011-06-05T09:46:33Z

Aid Does Not Equal Freedom

June 5, 2011

For Immediate Release

Contact: Adam Shapiro, +30-694-781-5798, adamsop@gmail.com

Huwaida Arraf, +30-694-781-5798, huwaida.arraf@gmail.com

Greta Berlin, +33 607 374 512, Iristulip@gmail.com

Israel’s announcement today that it is “allowing between 210 and 220” trucks into Gaza with humanitarian aid is a direct response to the pressure that the upcoming Freedom Flotilla II is creating. Since July 2007, Israel has kept the number of allowed trucks at 25% of what the pre-blockade numbers were and of what is required by Gaza residents. To date, Israel has not responded to calls by human rights organizations or the UN to increase the numbers. Only as a result of the mounting pressure from the Freedom Flotilla has Israel altered its policy. However, today’s allowance still falls 35% short of what is needed in Gaza.

Letting in more trucks is not enough. More trucks with food and medicine are only meant to give the appearance of an open Gaza. More trucks does not mean freedom; more trucks does not mean rebuilding the hundreds of homes and buildings that the Israeli military destroyed during Operation Cast Lead (only 12 of the trucks being allowed in contain construction material for UN projects); more trucks does not mean Gaza is not occupied and its residents subjected to collective punishment; more trucks does not mean that Israel has ended its cruel blockade; more trucks does not mean that Palestinians are any less imprisoned.

More trucks do, however, mean that Israeli farmers and merchants make money off the occupation. as most international agencies bringing aid into Gaza are forced to buy their supplies from Israel.

Freedom Flotilla II will sail at the end of June to press Israel and the international community to end the occupation of Palestine and to ensure freedom for Palestinians – just as any other people in the world have the right to be free. Instead of pressuring countries to stand in our way, or coming up with ways to bribe governments to stop our ships, the UN, the United States and the rest of the international community should recognize the power of this non-violent civilian effort to pressure Israel to change its policy. With Israel’s change in policy after Freedom Flotilla I, and now these moves to pre-empt our flotilla, it seems we are succeeding where the international community continues to fail.

###

Dear Ban Ki-Moon, Your Concern for Our Safety is Touching

2011-05-29T17:48:47Z

But We Will Continue to Sail to Gaza until Israel Lifts its Illegal Blockade

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 30, 2011

Contact: Audrey Bomse, audreybomse@hotmail.com, +1 856-986-2213

Greta Berlin, Iristulip@gmail.com, +33 607 374 512

Ewa Jasiewicz, freelance@mailworks.org, +447749421576

The Free Gaza movement welcomes Ban Ki-Moon’s request that all nations, including Israel avoid violence when our flotilla sails to Gaza at the end of June. We also welcome his comments that, “Israel take "meaningful and far-reaching steps to end its closure of Gaza.”

News organizations over the past two days have decided to emphasize Ban’s concern for our flotilla by reporting he is telling governments to stop us. He can’t tell them that. We are not engaged in illegal activity in the Mediterranean; it is Israel’s blockade of 1.5 million Palestinians that is illegal. And as head of the United Nations, he knows that the UN High Commission for Human Rights (UN HCHR) produced a report that identified the blockade of Gaza as collective punishment – a war crime.

Audrey Bomse, attorney for Free Gaza stated, “The Report concluded that Israel was “clearly unlawful” when it intercepted Freedom Flotilla I in May 2010. Israel had no right to use force against us or detain flotilla passengers. Finally, UN HCHR asked for recognition of the activities of the Flotilla as “an agreed form of intervention” by civil society in humanitarian crises.”

We would remind the Secretary-General that the flotilla violates no international laws or laws of the sea and so an outright ban on our sailing to Gaza is essentially a statement against the rights of the Palestinian people to control their own ports, and lives.

Huwaida Arraf, chair of Free Gaza added, “Suggesting that aid to Gaza should be delivered via "legitimate crossings and established channels" implies that we accept Israel’s brutal and unlawful regime. Would the Secretary-General have said the same to the Egyptian and Tunisian people, telling them to address their grievances to Mubarak and Ben Ali?”

We do not sail just to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Palestinians don’t want humanitarian aid, they want the right to trade and have open borders and come in and out of their territory without walls and gunboats and snipers shooting at them. Palestinians in Gaza have a right to their own sea, something Israel has denied to them in some form since 1967, and almost completely since 2006.

Our mission is to end Israel’s deliberate policies that have left Gaza in need of humanitarian aid. Since governments seem to have their hands tied behind their backs, it is up to civil society to hold Israel’s feet to the fire. It seems as though, in diplomatic language, Ban is more concerned about how Israel’s violent response to our flotilla looks and does not want another international incident like last year where Israel murdered nine of our volunteers.

Freedom riders in the US during the 1960s paid no attention to governmental warnings; and Arabs in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain and Syria seeking freedom are also ignoring similar threats, and so will we. We are sailing at the end of June.

Mr. Secretary-General, the choice is Israel’s – either end the blockade or continue its violence against the Palestinians and their supporters. The blockade is an act of violence and our effort reflects the will of the international community to stand up to injustice. Therefore, your choice is to support tyranny or to support freedom.

Palestinians call for release of Italian activist kidnapped in Gaza

2011-04-14T20:45:22Z

http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17643/

Posted on: April 14, 2011 |

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
FREE GAZA MOVEMENT
For Immediate Release

[April 14, 2001] Today, our friend and colleague, Vittorio Arrigoni, a journalist and human rights defender working in the Gaza Strip, was kidnapped by Salafists, members of a very small extremist group in Gaza.

Vittorio has been active in the Palestine cause for almost 10 years. For the past two and a half years, he has been in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement, monitoring human rights violations by Israel, supporting the Palestinian popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and disseminating information about the situation in Gaza to his home country of Italy. He was aboard the siege-breaking voyage in 2008 with the Free Gaza Movement and was incarcerated in Israeli prisons several times. He was in Gaza throughout Israel’s brutal assault (Operation Cast Lead), assisting medics and reporting to the world what Israel was doing to the Palestinian people. He has been arrested numerous times by Israeli forces for his participation in Palestinian non-violent resistance in the West Bank and Gaza. His last arrest and deportation from the area was a result of the Israeli confiscation of Palestinian fishing vessels in Gazan territorial waters.

Vittorio frequently writes on the issue of Palestine for the Italian newspaper, IL Manifesto and Peacereporter. Additionally, he maintains a popular blog (http://guerrillaradio.iobloggo.com) and facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vittoriatio-Arrigoni/)

Khalil Shaheen, a friend of Vittorio and Head of the Economic and Social Rights Department at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said, “This is outside of our traditions. We are calling for the immediate release of my best friend. Vittorio Arrigoni is a hero of Palestine. He was available everywhere to support all the poor people, the victims. I’m calling on the local authorities here in Gaza, and all security departments, to do their best to guarantee his safety and immediate release.”

Vittorio was granted honorary citizenship for his work on promoting the cause of the Palestinian people. Members of Gazan civil society are demanding his release; tomorrow at 4:00pm there will be a mass demonstration in Jundi Square.

Inge Neefs, ISM Gaza, 00 972 597 738 436

Nathan Stuckey, ISM Gaza, 00 972 597 650 864

Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement, 00 972 598 336 215

We Will Not Be Intimidated

2011-04-12T06:53:17Z

Over the past weekend, the two dozen initiatives who are working on sending boats met to discuss their strategy for sailing into Gaza. Of utmost importance to everyone were Israel's ongoing threats to attack the flotilla, a civil society attempt to do what governments refuse to do...hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity. Countries that are included continue to grow as they either buy boats or raise the money to partner with others. At the last count, more than 25 countries are now involved. Yet Israel continues to saber rattle, saying that it is we who have no right to sail to Gaza. It is Israel that has no right to illegally blockade Gaza. Instead of asking the world bodies to stop us, they should be lifting the siege on the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in this small enclave.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Athens, April 11 2011

FREEDOM FLOTILLA 2 Press Release

Athens – The Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee met in Athens 9 and 10 April to continue preparations for the upcoming flotilla. Since our last meeting in Amsterdam, Israel has launched an international campaign of incitement against the Flotilla and its coalition members who are participating in this next voyage and come from around the world.

The Greek Ship to Gaza hosted this international meeting and emphasized that the Greek government has failed until now to pressure Israel to release the two Greek boats hijacked from international waters and held in Israel since 31^st May 2010. The Greek Ship to Gaza has complied with all of the roadblocks put into place by Israel in order to bring back its ships, but our efforts have been to no avail. The Greek government should have pressured Israel to release immediately the ships, as Israel did for the Turkish ships in August, 2010.

Now, on the eve of the second Freedom Flotilla 2 voyage, the Israeli government is threatening to attack us again. As occurred last year before the first Freedom Flotilla, Israeli leaders are busy developing an atmosphere of hostility that should leave no doubt as to their intentions if and when they illegally attack this civilian flotilla.

Therefore, we are calling on all our governments, the international community and the United Nations not to succumb to Israel's intimidation. Governments need to fulfill their ‘responsibility to protect’ their own citizens. The threats against the Flotilla are not just at sea, but also in our home countries, as Israeli agencies are targeting individual groups and personalities. Flotilla partners insist that their governments take preemptive action to assure that Israel will not use force to interfere with this peaceful international effort to secure Palestinian human rights, human dignity and humanitarian assistance. It is Israel that is acting illegally and not us.

On May 10, Freedom Flotilla 2 partners will go to the European Parliament for meetings with MEPs as well as the United Nations and other international bodies, and to present Freedom Flotilla 2 and its goals. In addition to the partner organizations, there will also be participants from more than 50 countries on board the ships. This past week the European Jews for a Just Peace announced that they will join the Flotilla as a delegation and in sending humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

We are putting Israel on notice...

We are coming

We are unarmed

We are civilians

You have no right to threaten us

We expect to reach Gaza without any Interference.

Contact: Dimitris Pilonis, Greek Ship to Gaza +30 6977664737

Greta Berlin, Free Gaza movement +33 607 374 512