Irish Ship to Gaza update

Israeli Navy Warships surrounding the humanitarian convoy

The Israeli Navy today intercepted the MV Saoirse and it is being towed to the port of Ashdod by Israeli military after what it described as a peaceful takeover. Former rugby player Trevor Hogan, an MEP and several other politicians are among human-rights activists on board.

Along with the Canadian ship MV Tahrir, which also set sail as part of a humanitarian mission with medical supplies, the vessels are carrying 27 passengers from seven countries. The Israeli military said the boats were "attempting to break the maritime security blockade that is in place in accordance with international law".


MV Saoirse leaving Turkey

Amnesty UK says;

“Collective punishment is prohibited under international law and constitutes a crime against humanity. The primary responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza lies with the Israeli policy of blockade, which amounts to collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza. All states, including the UK are obligated under international law to intervene to put an end to the blockade.”

The last time Israel enforced its illegal blockade of Gaza at sea ......

Irish Ship to Gaza

MV Saoirse

I am proud as a citizen of Ireland that the Irish ship MV Saoirse is on course to arrive at the port of Gaza tomorrow accompanied by a Canadian ship, in an effort to break Israel’s Illegal naval blockade of the territory. The names of the ships “Saoirse” and “Tahrir” mean the same in Gaelic and Arabic “Freedom” and as Ireland as a nation knows what it is like to fight for its freedom there is great sympathy for the plight of the long suffering people of Gaza. Dr Fintan Lane, co-ordinator of the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign, this morning said the ships were in international waters south-west of Cyprus, some 400km from Gaza. “Everything is going well,” Dr Lane said from the ship this morning. “It’s still early to be contacted by the Israeli navy” he added.

Tonight the Irish Ship To Gaza shore team were informed that Israeli warships were seen 6 miles from the Irish (MV Saoirse) and Canadian (Tahrir) ships attempting to break the siege of Gaza. The ships are currently in international waters around 200 miles from Gaza. Israeli spotter planes were also observed flying overhead according to Dr Lane. Crew and passengers on the boats fear being boarded tonight.



Responding to an urgent call for international solidarity from 46 civil society organisations in Gaza, an Irish ship MV Saoirse and a Canadian ship Tahrir have successfully reached international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on a mission dubbed Freedom Waves to Gaza. The boats, two civilian vessels carrying 27 passengers from nine countries, are currently en route to Gaza, Palestine. They are sailing from international waters directly to Gaza, and will not pass through Israeli territorial waters.



This is the 11th attempt to break the siege of Gaza via the sea, with five missions arriving safely in Gaza between August and December 2008. The remaining six were violently intercepted by Israel. In May 2010, Israel attacked passengers participating in the first Freedom Flotilla in international waters, killing nine civilians and injuring over 50. Israel’s actions were widely condemned and led to protests around the world. Efforts to bring a second flotilla to Gaza were thwarted by the government of Greece last July following pressure by Israel and Western governments.


Palestinian girl in a protest on Nakba Day 2010 in Hebron, West Bank. Her sign says "Surely we will return, Palestine." There are 788,108 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in the West Bank, most of whom are the descendants of people whose families hail from areas incorporated into Israel in 1948.

The Irish vessel, MV Saoirse, was sabotaged while in port in Turkey when its propeller shaft was gouged in a manner almost identical to damage suffered by a Swedish ship. The Irish ship has since been repaired, with funds raised via small donations from Irish people. In total, the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign has raised over €140,000 for its mission, a clear sign of the depth of support among ordinary Irish people for the beleaguered people of Gaza.



Israeli warships are on the move tonight, preparing to attack the pair of aid vessels from Ireland and Canada which are attempting to deliver medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, insisting they will “take whatever measures will be necessary” to prevent the ships from reaching Gaza. Israeli officials were quick to condemn the move as a “provocation” and claimed that an attempt to deliver aid amounted to a “deplorable propaganda exercise.” The ships left from the Turkish port of Fethiye today, and were supposed to sail to Rhodes, according to Turkish officials. Instead the ships are heading to Gaza, with 19 activists and five journalists between them.


Gaza University burning during the 2010 Israeli attack

The sail was something of a surprise and activists from the two ships said they deliberately kept a low profile until reaching international waters, fearing that they would be detained in port or sabotaged like previous ships.

Let us not forget in our PC world why Gaza exists is two words never used in Israel; Ethnic Cleansing. Gaza exists because the Palestinians who lived in Ashkelon and the fields around it – Askalaan in Arabic – were dispossessed from their lands in 1948 when Israel was created and ended up on the beaches of Gaza. They – or their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren – are among the one and a half million Palestinian refugees crammed into the cesspool of Gaza, 80 per cent of whose families once lived in what is now Israel. This, historically, is the real story: most of the people of Gaza don't come from Gaza.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/12/free-gaza-free-palestine-free.html

As I have pointed out before the democratically elected Hamas administration in Gaza has had a brilliant master stroke in appointing the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as its recruiting sergeant. Rarely has an organisation had a more effective recruiter in a territory which has been systematically destroyed by Israel (The Airport, Port, Hospitals, Factories, Government offices, power generators, etc ;) in flagrant breach of International Law including the Geneva Conventions on administration of occupied territories, protection of non-combatants and two UN Resolutions.



Here is the “Irish Ship to Gaza” website

http://irishshiptogaza.org/

Here is the history of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/nakba.html

Hostages of the Middle East

Gilad Shalit and Binyamin Netanyahu

I was glad today to see Gilad Shalit and 477 Palestinian hostages released unharmed. During his captivity the IDF has killed over 2,000 Palestinian men, women and children, continued the illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the blockade and collective punishment of Gaza. It has protected over 100 illegal Jewish colonies on the West Bank and the annexation of Palestinian land by the so called “Security Barrier.” Over 5,000 Palestinians are still interred in Israel mostly without any trial with a minority “convicted” by Military Courts by the same IDF army of occupation.


Released Palestinian prisoners arriving in Gaza

The BBC’s reporting was, as always, disgracefully unbalanced focusing on the soldier’s family and Israeli “pain” at the prisoner swap. In this it reflected the amoral “Israel, first, second and always” stance of the United States which provides £1.6 Bn of military aid to Israel annually with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not mentioning the Palestinian prisoners but only saying she was pleased that Sgt Shalit's "long ordeal" had ended, adding that he had been held for "far too long", unlike the prisoners in Guantanamo and Bagram airbase presumably?


Gilad Shalit's "hometown" of Mitzpe Hila in the western Galilee Hills overlooking the Lebanese border. It was founded under a previous Likud Government in 1980 on the West Bank which is under military occupation and subject to martial law by the IDF. The International Court of Justice and the international community say these settlements are illegal and no foreign government supports Israel's settlements. Israel disputes the position of the international community.The United Nations has repeatedly upheld the view that Israel's construction of settlements constitutes violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Glad too that Gilad Shalit could go back to his family in his northern hometown of Mitzpe Hila unlike 40 of the “released” Palestinians who are being obliged to join the thousands more in exile from their homeland. Mitzpe Hila itself is a Jewish settlement on Palestinian land near the Lebanese border established by the previous Likud government as part of the "Lookouts in Galilee" plan, with residents initially living in prefabricated homes imported from South Africa. When reminded about the thousands of Palestinians held by Israel for so many years, while he was held for five years, the interviewer asked directly: "Is it possible that you would lead a campaign to release all Palestinian detainees who are still in captivity?"

"I will be happy if they are released, to be able to go back home to their land and their parents; I will be happy if that happens," Shalit replied. When asked about his plans for the future, Shalit expressed that he hoped this deal will help bolster the peace between Israel and Palestine.


Wall of Palestinian prisoners

The only way forward for Israel and the Palestinian people is a genuine Two State Solution reverting to the 1949 Line of Control and internationalising Jerusalem. There is no long term strategic interest for the United States in having Israel as its proxy military power in the Middle East and for Israel to rely on military might subsidised by a foreign power for its long term security. And for the United States perhaps when the sugar rush from the killing of Bin Laden has worn off perhaps it might reflect that the two greatest threats to its own security come from its own greed. It’s greed for oil which has made it dependant on the Saudi tyranny and its greed for cocaine which has created violent corrupt narco states in South America, in North America (Mexico) and in Afghanistan. Perhaps the greedy and incontinent consumer has to take some responsibility for the consequences of their own prolifigate greed?

Peace with justice in Palestine.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/nakba.html