Pages

Gaza responds to the freedom flotilla massacre

by Adam Horowitz, Mondoweiss, May 31, 2010

The following press release was sent out this morning:

We Gaza based Palestinian Civil Society Organizations and International activists call on the international community and civil society to pressure their governments and Israel to cease the abductions and killings in Israel’s attacks against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailing for Gaza, and begin a global response to hold Israel accountable for the murder of foreign civilians at sea and illegal piracy of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza.

We salute the courage of all those who have organized this aid intervention and demand a safe passage through to Gaza for the 750 people of conscience from 40 different countries including 35 international politicians intent on breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. We offer our sincerest condolences to family and friends who have lost loved ones in the attack.

By sailing directly to Gaza, outside of Israeli waters, with cargo banned illegally by Israel, such as the 10,000 tonnes of badly needed concrete, toys, workbooks, chocolate, pasta and substantial medical supplies, the flotilla is exercising international law and upholding article 33 of the Geneva Convention which clearly states that collective punishment is a crime against humanity.

The hardships of Israel's closure of Gaza have been well documented by all human rights groups operating, most recently by Amnesty International in their Annual Human Rights Report concluding that the siege has "deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Mass unemployment, extreme poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused by shortages left four out of five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. The scope of the blockade and statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose showed that it was being imposed as a form of collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation of international law." The United Nations continuously states that only a fraction of the required aid is entering the Strip due to what it calls ‘the medieval siege’, with John Ging the Director of UNRWA in Gaza specifically expressing the need for the Flotilla to enter Gaza. The European Union’s new foreign affairs minister Catherine Ashton has just reiterated its call for, “an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”

The people of Gaza are not dependent people, but self sufficient people doing what they can to retain some dignity in life in the wake of this colossal man-made devastation that deprives so many of a basic start in life or minimal aspirations for the future.

We, from Gaza, call on you to demonstrate and support the courageous men and women who went on the Flotilla, many now murdered on a humanitarian aid mission. We insist on severance of diplomatic ties with Israel, trials for war crimes and the International protection of the civilians of Gaza. We call on you to join the growing international boycott, divestment and sanction campaign of a country proving again to be so violent and yet so unchallenged. Join the growing critical mass around the world with a commitment to the day when Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as any other people, when the siege is lifted, the occupation is over and the 6 million Palestinian refugees are finally granted justice.

Emergency Demonstration For Aid Flotilla Under Israeli Attack

Join us to Protest the Brutal Israeli Attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

As of 12:51 AM on May 31 at least 10 people on board the Freedom Flotilla carrying aid to Palestine have been killed by the Israeli Military and many more injured. There are people from many countries including the U.S. on board these ships.

The U.S. Government gives Israel $3 billion a year & billions in loan guarantees. This must end now! The blockade of Gaza must end now!

Monday - May 31
5:00 pm
Central Ave & The Plaza
Charlotte NC

Sponsored by Al-Awda Charlotte; Action Center For Justice; ISO Charlotte & others.

Humanitarian Aid Flotilla to break the siege of Gaza

Live Stream of Viva Palestina Flotilla

Click here to visit the Viva Palestina Flotilla home page

www.vivapalestina.org/alerts/flotilla_220410.htm

Israeli gunships head to sea to block Peace Flotilla Of Humanitarian Aid

By IAN DEITCH, AP, May 28, 2010


HAIFA, Israel — Israeli gunships headed out to sea on Friday to stop a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists from reaching the Gaza Strip, the military said, setting the stage for what could become a dramatic showdown on the high seas.

Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said the country was prepared to stop the flotilla "at any cost." He called the aid mission a provocation and urged the international community to show understanding for the tough response.

"We really have all determination and political will to prevent this provocation against us," he said. "I think that we're ready at any cost ... to prevent this provocation."

Military officials said an initial group of gunships went out to sea Friday to prepare for the flotilla's arrival. But plans to dispatch additional gunships were put on hold late Friday after reports that the flotilla had encountered mechanical problems, military officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines, said the gunships would remain in port until the flotilla got closer.

The military says it will intercept the ships, escort the vessels to shore and give the activists the choice of deportation or going to jail.

Officials say they hope the situation will be resolved peacefully, but they are prepared to use force if necessary. Masked naval commandos have been trained for the mission, and Israel has built a large makeshift detention center in a southern port to process the activists.

The activists, among them a Nobel peace laureate, are trying to draw attention to a 3-year-old Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip — imposed after Hamas militants violently seized control of the territory. They say they are carrying tons of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

Greta Berlin, one of the organizers of the effort, said a total of seven ships were headed to Gaza, after an eighth vessel suffered a malfunction and had to turn back.

The organizers' website said the flotilla remained off the southern coast of Cyprus, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Gaza, Friday evening. Berlin said the flotilla would halt under darkness, and resume the journey early Saturday. It was unclear when they would reach Israeli waters, she said.

The ships originally embarked from Turkey, Greece and other European ports.

Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, from rearming.
It rejects claims that a humanitarian crisis is brewing in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the strip. Critics, however, say the blockade has crushed Gaza's economy, eliminated some 100,000 jobs and prevented the territory from repairing the destruction caused by an Israeli military offensive early last year.

Israel has reached out to its Mediterranean neighbors to stop the flotilla from approaching. Turkey, whose president has harshly condemned Israel's Gaza offensive, has rejected the gesture. A Turkish charity is spearheading the aid mission, and Turkish authorities have declined to intervene.

But on Friday, Cyprus said was banning any ship from sailing to Gaza from its shores because organizers of a flotilla trying to break a blockade of the Palestinian territory ignored a government appeal not to involve the island.

Acting government spokesman Titos Christofides condemned the Israeli blockade and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people, but said the appeal was made to protect the island's "vital interests."

This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza Movement, the pro-Palestinian organization behind the effort, has sent a flotilla of supplies to Gaza. Israel permitted five deliveries to reach Gaza, but has not allowed any ships through since its military offensive, which ended in January 2009.

Among the passengers are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Holocaust survivor in her 80s, a retired U.S. army colonel and lawmakers from a dozen European countries.

Video: Cleveland Police Brutalize Student Protesters - Sign Petition for Students



Click here to sign online petition in support of Collinswood Students

Detroit Cops Murder 7-Year Old Girl In Her Home

Detroit Police Say 7-Year-Old Shot in Home Search
Detroit police say 7-year-old girl fatally shot when officer's weapon fired during home search
AP, ABC News, May 16, 2010
Charles Jones, Aiyana's father, told the Detroit News the woman Godbee referred to was his mother and the child's grandmother.

"They came into my house with a flash grenade and a bullet," Jones said. "They say my mother resisted them, that she tried to take an officer's gun. My mother had never been in handcuffs in her life. They killed my baby, and I want someone to tell the truth."...

...Jones said he was trying not to be angry but wanted the story to be told.

"This was a wrongful death," he said.
DETROIT - A sleeping 7-year-old girl was shot and killed when an officer's gun went off while Detroit police were searching a duplex for a suspect in the slaying of a teenager, a police official said.

Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said at a news conference Sunday that Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck by a single bullet and died at a hospital. Police said the girl was sleeping on a couch when she was shot.

"This is any parent's worst nightmare. It also is any police officer's worst nightmare," Godbee said.

Godbee said officers with the department's Special Response Team set off a flash grenade as they entered the apartment with their guns drawn about 12:40 a.m. Sunday with a warrant to look for a suspect in the Friday slaying of a 17-year-old boy.

The lead officer encountered a 46-year-old woman immediately inside the front room of the house and "some level of physical contact" ensued during which the officer's gun went off, Godbee said. The officers had identified themselves as police, he said.

Charles Jones, Aiyana's father, told the Detroit News the woman Godbee referred to was his mother and the child's grandmother.

"They came into my house with a flash grenade and a bullet," Jones said. "They say my mother resisted them, that she tried to take an officer's gun. My mother had never been in handcuffs in her life. They killed my baby, and I want someone to tell the truth."

Godbee said the shooting was being investigated and all information was preliminary. The officer was put on paid administrative leave, he said. Police do not believe the gun was fired intentionally, he said.

"We cannot undo what occurred this morning," Godbee said. "All we can do is to pledge an open and full investigation and to support Aiyana's family in whatever way they may be willing to accept from us at this time."

Jones said he was trying not to be angry but wanted the story to be told.

"This was a wrongful death," he said.

The officers had a search warrant and were looking for a 34-year-old man suspected in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jarean Blake.

Blake, a student at Southeastern High School, was gunned down Friday by a liquor store in front of his girlfriend. Blake stumbled across the street, collapsed and died, police said.

Officers arrested the suspect during the search, Godbee said. Jones said the suspect wasn't in his apartment but one upstairs that officers raided at the same time.

Godbee would not comment on newspaper reports that neighbors told police there were children in the house and showed them toys in the front yard.

"This is a tragedy of unspeakable magnitude to Aiyana's parents, family and all those who loved her," Godbee said. "It is a tragedy we also feel very deeply throughout the ranks of the Detroit Police Department."

The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality called the girl's death "the pain of pains" in a statement issued Sunday and questioned what protocols police used in the raid. The coalition said it would host a candlelight vigil Sunday evening at the home where she was shot.

****************
For more information:
Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality