Israeli Minister of Defence Cancels Trip Due to Possible International Charges for Role in Attack on Freedom Flotilla: AIC
Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled an official visit to Paris on Sunday (13 June), announcing he would stay in Israel while the government establishes an investigative committee to explore Israel’s deadly naval attack on the Freedom Flotilla.
The announcement comes after French activists who were aboard the Gaza bound aid convoy threatened to bring charges against Barak over the raid that killed nine. The suit would be filed under the principle of universal jurisdiction, a principle that allows the prosecution of suspected war criminals in countries that have no direct connection with the events, in France and in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, according to the Associated Press. Three members of French parliament have also joined the effort.
“We must stop this bloody Israeli escalation and the only way is international judiciary. We want to stop Israel through punishing its leaders who partook in the operation. We will mainly target the leaders who gave the orders and those who executed them,” said Lilian Jalok, who represents the French activists.
Barak was set to dedicate a new Israeli booth at the Eurosatory arms fair, which opens in Paris this week.
“We believe it is unacceptable and unjust that the French government hosts Ehud Barak honoring him with official ceremonies after he claimed responsibility for the attack on our flotilla and the bloodshed,” said Tomas Hud, one of the Freedom Flotilla activists.
A small French cinema chain also took action to protest the Freedom Flotilla attack. The Utopia art cinemas canceled screenings of the Israeli comedy “Five Hours from Paris” and replaced them with the documentary “Rachel,” about an American student crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza.
“It was a protest of our whole company,” Anne-Marie Faucon, the co-founder of Utopia, said in an interview. “We show many Israeli films, we organize a lot of debates on what happens in the world, but this time we reacted very strongly and in a very emotional way.”
“Rachel” is a documentary made by Simone Bitton, a Moroccan-born, French-Israeli director who emigrated to Israel with her family as a child, served in the Israeli army, became a pacifist and mostly lives in France, wrote the New York Times. Bitton is also the director of “Wall,” a 2004 documentary about the Israeli Separation Wall that is dividing Palestinian communities and carving up land.
After Israeli-Dutch director Ludi Boeken told the Utopia he planned to withdraw his film, “Saviors in the Night,” from the cinemas “in solidarity with the censored,” and Culture Minister of France, Frédéric Mitterrand, contacted Ms. Faucon voicing his “incomprehension” and “disapproval,” the cinemas relented.
It “was a symbolic and limited gesture” Ms. Faucon said, stating that Utopia had planned to eventually release the Israeli comedy. She called “Rachel” “a film that corresponds perfectly to this mission of participating in democratic debate.”
EDITOR: War Criminal Blair rises from his deep slumber
As a prize for his war crimes on behalf of the House of Bush II, Mr. Blair got this cushy job in Jerusalem, which also allowed him to collect $1million from Israel through the Tel Aviv University. He has spent the last few years in hibernation, seldom arising from his lair. He has managed to keep his silence through thick and thin, and now appears set to collect some coupons for the coming end of the blockade, when in reality he was one of the main supporters of the blockade. You can see what he said a week ago in the item below, speaking to the Jewish Chronicle.
Gaza blockade to be eased within days declares Tony Blair: The Independent
By Geoff Meade, Press Association
Monday, 14 June 2010
The world must give “hope, help and prospects” to the people of Gaza, Tony Blair insisted today.
Emerging from talks with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, he repeated his belief that the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip will be eased within days.
The key, he said, was an agreement to change from a situation in which Israel operates a limited list of permitted goods allowed through border crossings into Gaza, to a prohibited list of goods – weapons and “combat material” – which are not.
“After my talks (with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), there is now in principle a commitment by Israel to move to such a list,” he said.
That would mean Israel maintaining the existing blockade to keep out arms while allowing in building materials and foodstuffs essential to normal daily life, Mr Blair said.
The change would simplify access for non-military goods, “rather than people struggling to get household items and foodstuffs in, rather than them having to fight over almost every bit of construction material”.
The former UK prime minister and current Middle East envoy added: “Most of all we must give the people of Gaza some hope, some help and some prospects.
“I believe and hope that we can reach a situation where we get a policy with regard to Gaza which is right regarding security, and regarding the people of Gaza and which gives the people of Gaza eventually the prospects of joining a two-state solution.”
Baroness Ashton, European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said EU governments were ready to send monitors to help police border crossings as part of any Israeli decision to ease access.
She gave a cautious welcome to Israel’s decision to launch an inquiry into how nine people aboard a flotilla of humanitarian aid ships attempting to breach the blockade were killed by Israeli fire when troops halted the convoy.
A spokesman for Baroness Ashton described the inquiry as “a constructive step” while Mr Blair said: “The issue of the inquiry continues to be an issue of strong political debate … it is a step forward.”
But some EU Governments, notably the Dutch and Swedes, want to see a full international investigation.
That view was included in a statement at the end of today’s talks in which EU foreign ministers expressed deep regret for the loss of life during “the Israeli military operation in international waters” and condemned the use of violence.
The statement declared that “an immediate, full and impartial inquiry into these events and the circumstances surrounding them is essential”.
It went on: “To command the confidence of the international community this should include credible international participation.”
The statement also called for “an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza including goods from the West Bank”.
It said the EU stood ready to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza and its economic revival, adding: “To this end, full and regular access via land crossings, and possibly by sea, on the basis of a list of prohibited goods, should be the prime aim, while at the same time providing strict control over the destination of imported merchandise.”
Oxfam warned that the Gazan economy would continue to “unravel” unless the blockade was completely and immediately lifted.
Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, said: “The blockade has unleashed a tragic chain reaction that has affected many of Gaza’s one and a half million residents. When a factory is forced to shut down because it can’t import or export, it doesn’t just affect the employees who lose their jobs – entire families relying on that salary also lose out, becoming dependent on humanitarian aid.”
He said that in recent months, Israel had allowed in an increasing number of food items, such as coriander, jam, biscuits and other sweets:
“While this is certainly welcomed, what Gaza needs most are jobs, raw materials for reconstruction and for industry, and the ability to export – not just short-term aid and consumer products like jam that, without a job, they can’t afford to buy.
“The civilian population has been kept just above the bar of a humanitarian crisis. It is trapped in a crisis of dignity that the international community must help resolve.”
Oxfam said Israel currently allows about 100 types of items into Gaza, compared with more than 4,000 before the blockade.
Meanwhile, a ban on political delegations entering Gaza angered Euro-MPs in Brussels today.
The Israeli embassy in Brussels has advised the European Parliament that Israel will no longer “facilitate the entry of political delegations to Gaza”.
The same ban applies to British MPs.
The Israeli letter to all MEPs said the accumulation of political visits “not only undermines Israel’s security but also undermines the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to lead the Palestinian people to peace”.
UK Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, who has been to Gaza four times, said: “I’m not surprised that Israel wants to keep politicians away from Gaza: every time one visits they return horrified at the results of policies that leave more than a million people undergoing collective punishment.”
Mr Davies, a member of the European Parliament’s Palestine Delegation, urged the British Government to open direct talks with Hamas – described in the Israeli letter as a “brutal terrorist organisation which openly calls for Israel’s destruction and appears on the EU’s list of terrorist organisations”.
Mr Davies responded: “I don’t agree with the policies of Hamas but the organisation cannot be ignored. The new British Government should follow the recent lead of the Russian president and meet with their representatives face to face.
“You cannot make peace without talking to your enemies.”
Blair: Israel has right to check what goes to Gaza: Jewish Chronicle
June 9, 2010
Tony Blair said Israel has his full support
Tony Blair has said in an interview that Israel has the right to check supplies that are sent into Gaza.
Speaking on Israeli television, the former British prime minister and Middle East Quartet envoy said the Gaza blockade should be lifted but “when it comes to security, I am one hundred per cent on Israel’s side.”
Mr Blair added: “There’s no question that there are rockets fired from Gaza and that there are people in Gaza who want to kill innocent Israelis.
“Israel has the right to inspect what goes into Gaza.”
He also said that any probe into the clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and the Israel navy should be “full and impartial”.
Mr Blair reiterated concerns about Iran gaining nuclear weapons. “That is not something we should contemplate or allow,” he said.
Poland backs German request to extradite suspect in Dubai killing: Haartez
Poland to rule within month on extraditing alleged Mossad man suspected of obtaining forged passport for January assassination of Hamas leader.
Tags: Israel news Israel Mossad Dubai assassination
Polish prosecutors will ask a Warsaw court to heed Germany’s request to extradite an Israeli man wanted there in connection with the Dubai assassination of a top Hamas official, a prosecutor spokesman said Monday.
The spokesman said prosecutors were not taking politics into consideration, but were acting in accordance with procedures, according to the Polish Press Agency.
An Israeli citizen using the name Uri Brodksy was arrested in Poland over the weekend on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining a German passport believed to have been used by a member of the hit squad that killed Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room in January.
A spokesman for the Polish court said earlier Monday that justices were to rule within a month whether to extradite the suspected Mossad agent in connection with the assassination.
Dubai has accused Israel of being behind the killing and provided the names of more than two dozen alleged members of a team it says tracked and killed the Palestinian, using fraudulent British, Irish, French, German and Australian passports.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any role in the assassination, prompting international indignation.
“The man sought by Germany was detained a week ago. He will be held for up to 40 days and during this time the court will have to rule whether to extradite him,” said Wojciech Malek, a spokesman for the Warsaw district court.
A spokesman in the Polish foreign ministry said there had been no formal request from Israel that its citizen be allowed to return home.
A spokesman for the German justice ministry declined to comment on the case, but said EU rules mandated that extraditions take place within 40 days of an arrest.
Mabhouh, born in the Gaza Strip, had lived in Syria since 1989 and Israeli and Palestinian sources have said he played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to militants in Gaza.
Australia and Britain have both ordered the expulsion of some Israeli diplomats over the use of fake passports in the assassination.