band annie's Weblog

By Marc J. Sirois
Daily Star staff

Monday, October 06, 2008

For those who wonder why Israel has experienced so much trouble “fitting in” in the Middle East, and why it routinely gets away with mass murder, it is periodically helpful to be reminded.

Witness the highly disturbing pronouncements made on Friday by one Gadi Eisenkot, the general who runs Israel’s Northern Command. Eisenkot’s obvious goal was to intimidate and terrorize Lebanese civilians by threatening to punish them during any future conflict with Hizbullah. And as a bonus, the Western media coverage of his vile threats offered a free demonstration of how and why the Zionist project has always enjoyed blanket impunity for the war crimes it commits – and even acknowledges – on what, in historical terms, has been a regular basis.

Full article here

by Jeff Halper

Now, a few days after my release from jail in the wake of my trip to Gaza, I’m posting a few notes to sum things up.

First, the mission of the Free Gaza Movement to break the Israeli siege proved a success beyond all expectations. Our reaching Gaza and leaving has created a free and regular channel between Gaza and the outside world. It has done so because it has forced the Israeli government to make a clear policy declaration: that it is not occupying Gaza and therefore will not prevent the free movement of Palestinians in and out (at least by sea). (Israel’s security concerns can easily be accommodated by instituting a technical system of checks similar to those of other ports.)

Any attempt on the part of Israel to backtrack on this – by preventing ships in the future from entering or leaving Gaza with goods and passengers, including Palestinians – may be immediately interpreted as an assertion of control, and therefore of Occupation, opening Israel to accountability for war crimes before international law, something Israel tries to avoid at all costs.

Gone is the obfuscation that has allowed Israel to maintain its control of the Occupied Territories without assuming any responsibility: from now on, Israel is either an Occupying Power accountable for its actions and policies, or Palestinians have every right to enjoy their human right of travelling freely in and out of their country.

Israel can no longer have it both ways. Not only did our two little boats force the Israel military and government to give way, then, they also changed fundamentally the status of Israel’s control of Gaza.

READ ON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, please contact:
(at sea, off Gaza coast) Vittorio Arrigoni, +972 598 826 516
(at sea, off Gaza coast) Donna Wallach, +972598 836 420
(Cyprus) Greta Berlin, +357 99 081 767 / iristulip@gmail.com
(Cyprus) Osama Qashoo, +357 97 793 595

(OFF THE COAST OF GAZA) 1 September 2008 – Israeli Naval vessels are
currently firing on unamrmed Palestinian fishing boats and international
human rights workers off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The fishing boats
are several miles off the coast of Gaza City, in Palestinian territorial
waters. As of 11am (4am EST) no one had been injured, but live ammunition
is still being fired in the direction of the civilian boats.

The unarmed boats went to sea at dawn this morning, in an attempt to fish
in their own water. Six international human rights workers from five
different countries accompanied the fishermen in the hopes that their
presence would deter the Israeli military from firing on the fishermen. In
the past the Israeli military has shot and killed unarmed Palestinian
fishermen for trying to fish in their own waters.

PLEASE INFORM THE MEDIA IMMEDIATELY, CALL YOUR EMBASSIES IN TEL AVIV, AND
CALL THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT. TELL THEM TO STOP FIRING UPON UNARMED
FISHERMEN AND UNARMED HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS.

CALL:

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Tel. +972 2 530 3111

The British Embassy in Tel Aviv
+972 3 725 1222

The US Embassy in Tel Aviv
+972 2 625 5755

Received by e-mail
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 12:10:26 AM
Subject: The journey home

We arrived safely last night. The trip home was much less eventful than the trip to Gaza and much less emotional. On board my boat, the FREE GAZA, was a family of Palestinians who had not been let out of the concentration camp called “Gaza” for five years. The mother had given birth to her youngest son four years ago, and the family, living in Cyprus, had not seen him. The joy on the faces of Hana’s family was worth waiting the extra half day to leave. We had to make sure that the Cypriot authorities would allow them in.

On board the LIBERTY was a 10-year-old boy whose leg had been shot off by the Israeli military. He was from Khan Younis. The story (and I haven’t been able to verify it it yet) is that he was standing with his friend as an Israeli tank invaded his town. A sniper shot him through one leg, then when he stood to run, the sniper shot him through the other one, causing huge damage to the leg. It was amputated at the hip. Again, we had to wait for Cypriot authorities to give permission for him to transit to another country.

On the first page of the Cyprus Mail is a photo of the boy with Osama, one of our organizers. Even though we came in at 9 pm, the media was all over the quay waiting for us. Although we didn’t get seasick this time, many of us, because we are so exhausted, are feeling the land effects today, swaying as we try to walk down the streets.

It has been a week of over-riding joy, sadness at the condition of so many sick and wounded Palestinians, hope for the future, and disbelief that we not only arrived safely but left safely. As we pulled out of Gaza yesterday, seven Israeli naval vessels surrounded the Palestinian fishermen who joyfully escorted us six miles out. The last view we had of Gaza was of the seven gunboats surrounding the fishermen. We’ve heard from our Israeli sources that they arrested four of them.

As usual, the Palestinians will face the wrath of the Israeli military, because they had egg on their faces and will take it out on the weakest.

We meet this morning to plan the second trip.

Greta

The boats of SS Liberty and SS Free Gaza arrived safely in LarnacaCyprus last night with some of the original passengers and 9Palestinians from the Gaza Strip aboard.
About 9 of our original international passengers stayed on in Gaza to do media and other work.

Yesterday, British Journalist Lauren Booth and I attempted to exit via Eretz Crossing into Israel, accompanied by sick Palestinians needing specialty care not available in Gaza. The Israeli border guards threatened to shoot us, but we advanced slowly with our arms raised holding our passports up high; We advanced right through the tunnel right up to the iron gate, but the Israelis would not open it. The US and British Embassy’s gave us the Royal runaround and would not help us.

So after a visit to Beit Hanoun to see the Al Athamna Family, who are still in a state of grief from the massacre of 19 members of their family by Israeli mortar shells 2 years ago, we headed back to Gaza City. So now we are waiting for the Egyptian authorities to let us out of Gaza through Rafah. They are under pressure from Israel to keep us trapped in here. Now I am getting a better appreciation of what it means to be a Palestinian from Gaza.

Bill Dienst, MD

—
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 08 17 67
http://www.freegaza.org
http://www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

by e-mail :

FREE GAZA MOVEMENT announces the arrival at 20:30 (10:30am PDT), Friday 29 August, 2008 of the FREE GAZA and LIBERTY vessels, in Larnaca Harbour, returning from Gaza, and a successful end to this first of such missions.

The historic return voyage represents the first time ever that Palestinians have been able freely to enter and leave their country. The Free Gaza Movement will mark this historic moment with a reception at Larnaca Harbour , as will Palestinians in Gaza , as both boats return safely from Gazan and international waters after a calm and uneventful crossing.

Organiser Paul Larudee: “This endeavour has been a huge success, far more significant and wide-reaching than anyone ever dreamt it could be. It has had obvious beneficial effects on the Palestinian people, but also on Israel . In fairness, credit must go where credit is due — despite threats or obstacles, a responsible decision was made by Israeli authorities not to interfere with our mission and this is a model for the future.”

As reported by the world press, news has travelled worldwide of the Free Gaza Movement. Supportive messages have come in, including from UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the OPT, Richard Falk, who wrote:

“The landing of two wooden boats carrying 46 human rights activists in Gaza is an important symbolic victory. This non-violent initiative of the Free Gaza Movement focused attention around the world on the stark reality that the 1.5 million residents of Gaza have endured a punitive siege for more than a year. This siege is a form of collective punishment that constitutes a massive violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The siege, the coastal blockade, and overflights by Israeli aircraft all bear witness to the fact that despite Israel’s claimed ‘disengagement’ in 2005, these realities on the ground establish that Gaza remains under Israeli occupation, and as a result Israel remains legally responsible for protecting the human rights of its civilian population. By severely restricting the entry of food, fuel, and medicine the economic and social rights of the people of Gaza have been systematically violated. There is widespread deafness among the people of Gaza that is blamed on the frequent sonic booms produced by over-flying Israeli military aircraft. For this reason the peace boats brought 200 hearing aids to Gaza.”

Mr. Falk strongly urged the international community to take action to uphold human rights in the Gaza Strip.

“Above all, what is being tested is whether the imaginative engagement of dedicated private citizens can influence the struggle of a beleaguered people for basic human rights, and whether their courage and commitment can awaken the conscience of humanity to an unfolding tragedy.”

Or, in the words of Palestinian voyager, Musheir El-Farra, originally born and raised in Khan Younis in Gaza but currently living in Sheffield , UK :

“For the first time in my life, I went to Gaza without being humiliated, without having to ask Israel for permission. We did it. We finally did it. And now others must join us and do it as well.”

Radio Interview of Paul Larudee on board SS Liberty on Thursday 8/28/08 returning to Cyprus from Gaza

Interview starts at 8 min:39 secs into program and ends at 15 min:07 sec HERE