EU’s new foreign affairs minister made a statement!
EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 28 May 2010
Statement by the spokesperson of High Representative Catherine Ashton on the flotilla sailing to Gaza
The spokesperson of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton issued a following statement today:
“We strongly urge that all involved act with a sense of restraint and responsibility and work for a constructive resolution. The EU remains gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive.
We would like to reiterate the EU’s call for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”
Freedom Flotilla delayed but undaunted: Press TV
Fri, 28 May 2010 20:17:22 GMT
Israeli threats and technical glitches have forced a delay in the Freedom Flotilla, a multinational relief mission heading for the Gaza Strip.
The flotilla, which is currently off the coast of Cyprus, consists of nine vessels from Turkey, Ireland, Britain, and Greece.
The approximately 750 activists of the Freedom Flotilla, who intend to break the siege of Gaza, are carrying around 10,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment, and school supplies.
Israeli officials have said the relief effort will be blocked.
Israeli media outlets have announced that the activists will be arrested if they attempt to enter Gaza.
“We’ve changed the coordinates twice because reportedly Israel has threatened to capture the Turkish ship so we decided to delay getting all the boats together,” Audrey Bomse of the Free Gaza Movement, which has coordinated the contributors to the mission, was quoted by AFP as saying on Friday.
“This has delayed everything by a day because changing coordinates takes time… There were also technical difficulties with one of the boats so we had to move passengers from it on to the Turkish one,” she added.
On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on Israel to lift the restrictions and allow the flotilla to enter Gaza.
Tel Aviv has imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza since mid-June 2007, when the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas gained control of the territory. The restrictions have deprived the enclave’s 1.5 million people of food, fuel, and other necessities.
A blockade on Israel: Haaretz Editorial
The government has to decide right away to resume indirect talks with Hamas, to be more flexible about releasing prisoners and to lift the siege on Gaza.
Ships adorned with banners and Palestinian flags in support of Gaza Strip residents, laden with consumer goods for a population that has been under siege for about four years, are threatening Israel. The Israeli government’s response and its preparations to block the “peace flotilla” give the impression that Israel, not Gaza, is under a brutal siege.
Israel is finding it increasingly difficult to explain the rationale behind the blockade to the rest of the world. If it is intended to prevent Qassam rocket fire on Israel, then what was the reason for Operation Cast Lead? If Israel wants to use the blockade to put more pressure on the people of Gaza until they rise up against Hamas and topple it, or to spur Hamas to respond to the Israeli pressure, then the past four years have shown that this policy has failed.
Moreover, the suffering that Israel is causing 1.5 million people for this purpose is not only inhuman, but extremely detrimental to Israel’s status around the world. If the pressure being put on Gaza is indeed the only effective measure, what is the point of the new law that aims to worsen the prison conditions for Hamas members behind bars? It seems the government is unable to develop an appropriate strategy to free abducted soldier Gilad Shalit, and is clutching at any straw to demonstrate some kind of “action.”
But the Israeli government knows exactly the price it must pay to free Shalit. It has already conducted indirect negotiations with Hamas and even announced that it was willing to release a large number of prisoners who are members of the Islamic group. The deal has been held up due to a number of prisoners who committed extremely serious crimes whom Israel refuses to release.
Israel’s firm refusal to free those prisoners is becoming its most costly move so far. Relations with Turkey have deteriorated significantly due to Israel’s policy in Gaza.
Several European countries that also view Hamas as a terror organization criticize the blockade policy. Israeli goods are being boycotted, while world public opinion no longer accepts the siege. The number of people, including diplomats and public figures, taking part in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, clearly shows that.
Israel argues that there is no hunger in Gaza and that vital products enter the Strip regularly. Israel even said it was prepared to deliver the boats’ contents to the Gaza Strip, but via Ashdod Port and using the Israel Defense Forces, not the boats directly.
If so, this indicates that Israel is not opposed to the aid itself, but to the demonstration of support for Gaza’s people. However, this show of support could have been prevented from the outset had Israel lifted the pointless blockade and allowed Gazans to live normal lives.
Even if Israel manages to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza, it will still have to contend with other demonstrations of support. The government would do well to decide right away to resume indirect talks with Hamas, to be more flexible about releasing prisoners and to lift the siege on Gaza. This price may well turn out to be lower than the cost of the damage to Israel’s status.
Israel Threatening to Stop “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza: FreeGaza
WRITTEN BY FREE GAZA TEAM | 29 MAY 2010
POSTED IN PRESS RELEASES
The British Guardian reports: “A flotilla of eight boats carrying thousands of tons of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid is [sailing to] Gaza … setting the scene for a confrontation with Israel which has vowed to prevent the ships [from] breaking the blockade on the Palestinian territory.” See “Gaza aid flotilla to set sail for confrontation with Israel: Israelis promise to stop eight ships carrying 10,000 tons of aid, 800 activists and politicians from more than 40 countries.”
The ships from different locations are meeting in international waters in the Mediterranean and heading toward Gaza this weekend.
Those aboard the ships reportedly include over 30 parliamentarians from various countries and other notables. Among the Americans on board:
Amb. EDWARD L. PECK, JOE MEADORS, HEDY EPSTEIN, ANN WRIGHT
Ambassador Peck was chief of mission in Iraq and Mauritania and deputy director of the White House Task Force on Terrorism in the Reagan administration. Meadors is a survivor of the 1967 attack by Israel on the U.S. military ship the USS Liberty in which 34 Americans were killed. Epstein is a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust and author of Remembering Is Not Enough. Wright is a 29-year U.S. Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former U.S. diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the invasion of Iraq. She just wrote the piece “The Audacity of the Free Gaza Flotilla: Breaking the Israeli Siege of Gaza May Lead to an Attack at Sea, Detention Camps and Deportation.”
The above and others aboard the ships are available for a limited number of interviews via:
GRETA BERLIN
Israeli spokesperson Yigal Palmor claimed the flotilla “is against international law.” Berlin, who is the land contact with the Free Gaza Movement, is quoted in the Guardian article: “Berlin accused Israel of ‘sabre-rattling’ in the hope that the flotilla plan will be abandoned. ‘They have no right to control Gaza waters unless they want to admit they are occupying Gaza,’ she said. ‘They are the illegal entity, not us.'” Pictures of the boats are avaialble at “Flickr.
RAMZI KYSIA
An organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, Kysia is in the Washington, D.C. area.
AMJAD SHAWA, [in Gaza]
Shawa is Coordinator of PNGO, the Palestinian NGO Network. He said today: “People in Gaza are anticipating the arrival of the flotilla. We’re calling on civil society around the world to help protect it in case the Israelis interfere or attack it as they have in the past, especially since the Israelis have set up detention facilities. … The siege has been devastating to the people in Gaza for over three years, and especially since the Israeli ‘Cast Lead’ bombing campaign. The Israelis have not allowed the sea port to function for decades and severely limit and constantly harass the Palestinian fishermen.”
Video from the boats is available at WitnessGaza.com — which also released the document “Israel’s Disinformation Campaign Against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla,” which states: “For over four years, Israel has subjected the civilian population of Gaza to an increasingly severe blockade, resulting in a man-made humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. Earlier this month, John Ging, the Director of Operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza, called upon the international community to break the siege on the Gaza Strip by sending ships loaded with humanitarian aid. …
“Israel claims that there is no ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Every international aid organization working in Gaza has documented this crisis in stark detail. Just released earlier this week, Amnesty International’s Annual Human Rights Report stated that Israel’s siege on Gaza 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.'”
What is in a word? Quite a lot actually: Al Jazeera TV
By Jamal Elshayyal in
on May 28th, 2010
At a time when media and spin are arguably as powerful as armies, the outcomes of battles for hearts and minds often shape the world we live in.
This is truest when it comes to the Palestinian struggle for liberation. As a journalist I’m aware of the simple nuances that can, and are, often used which ultimately affect the lives of millions of people. For example, a “war” can be described as a “conflict”, or civilians “killed” in an air strike could also be referred to as civilians who “died” in an attack etc.
Whoever said words were just words was lying.
From Mark Regev, to Press TV, as spin doctors and media outlets decide how to react and report on the Freedom Flotilla in the coming days, it’s important that one scrutinises their words (or lack of) in every way possible.
For starters, one must ask why such a big story is not being covered by many of the large international news networks. Surely one of the biggest demonstrations of collective international civil resistance, involving 50 nationalities, more than 30 parliamentarians, and costing millions of dollars is news worthy.
This Flotilla directly affects the lives of 1.5 million Gazans who have been living under siege for over 3 years; in fact it also affects the lives of many Israelis too, as they struggle to cling onto a two faced fallacy of democratic colonisation. It baffles me how some news outlets think the European launch of Apple’s i-Pad is more of a story.
When it comes to Arab media, the case is similar. In Egypt for example, there is little mention that were it not for Cairo’s collaboration with Israel, the siege on Gaza would never have succeeded, and this Flotilla would probably not be necessary.
Instead, newspapers and talk shows alike, label the Flotilla organisers as disingenuous for refusing the benevolent offer by the Egyptian government to allow the ships through Alarish and into Gaza.
And Egypt is not alone, even those in the Arab world who have commended the passengers on board the Flotilla in their attempt at breaking Israel’s inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza, have failed to question why their governments have not done more.
Why have a few hundred individuals taken it upon themselves to relieve a besieged people, whilst their “brother” nations with all their wealth and military might do nothing?
In the coming days, as journalists and politicians alike ponder on what words to use (or not to use) let us not forget that beyond all this, 1.5 million people remain besieged.
Un spin the spin and you will find that a territory ravaged by 23 days of Israeli bombardment remains crippled.
Read between the lines and you will see that this Flotilla is nothing more than a flame of hope, for people who possess little more than just that. Hope. Just a word.
Bateau sur la Seine pour Gaza: Press TV on YouTube
Israel’s Ready Media Campaign and Military Action: Counterpunch
Targeting the Free Gaza Flotilla
By JAMES MARC LEAS
According to an article in the Jerusalem Post on May 25, 2010, the Israeli “Navy is preparing an operational plan to stop the flotilla of nine ships–loaded with hundreds of international activists and thousands of tons of supplies–– which are scheduled to try and break the sea blockade on Gaza by anchoring in the newly-expanded port later this week.” The article describes a military campaign coordinated with a major media campaign.
The web edition of the largest circulation paper in Israel, YNET News.com, reports that “Israel is also preparing for the media blitz certain to follow the flotilla, which many believe will harm the state’s [Israel’s] already floundering reputation.” According to the article, “Foreign Ministry, IDF, and PR spokespersons are preparing interviews for global news agencies in order to explain Israel’s position, mainly that the flotilla serves the terror organization ruling Gaza and not its residents.”
The 700 human rights workers on the nine boats of the International Freedom Flotilla come from 40 countries and include 35 members of parliament from 15 different countries . The humanitarian aid includes medical supplies, such as wheel chairs and medicine, toys for children, pencils, and building supplies, ranging from bags of cement to pre-fabricated homes.
According to the Jerusalem Post article, in preparation for the military campaign the Israeli Defense Force “has established a joint taskforce together with the Israel Police, the Foreign Ministry and the Prisons Service to coordinate efforts to stop the flotilla and manage the potential media fallout.”
The Jerusalem Post article also describes the basic elements of the Israeli government media campaign, “to stress that the supplies the ships are carrying are unnecessary and that Israel – together with various international organizations – already transfers these supplies to Gaza via land crossings.”
The article then gives the Israeli government talking points of its media campaign:
“Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that existing land crossings were more than capable of meeting Gaza’s needs;” that “15,000 tons of supplies enter Gaza each week;” and that “building materials are allowed in when monitored by international organizations who ensure that the materials will not be commandeered by Hamas for the fortification of bunkers.
Citing a story in the Financial Times, the article says that the 200 to 300 smuggling tunnels from Egypt into Gaza “have become so efficient that shops all over Gaza are bursting with goods.”
Contradicting the Foreign Ministry spokesman, a United Nations report says says the “Livelihoods and lives of people living in the Gaza Strip have been devastated by over 1000 days of near complete blockade.”
Also contradicting, a May 23, 2010 article on the Israeli YNET News.com, “UN says Gaza blockade hinders reconstruction aid,” says “Most of the property and infrastructure damaged in Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip was still unrepaired 12 months later and aid efforts have been largely ineffective, a UN report said Sunday.” The article goes on to quote from a UN report that says “In view of the scale of the needs, international assistance in Gaza is tantamount to tinkering at the edges.”
Also contradicting, a January 20, 2010 World Health Organization fact sheet states that
“The lack of building materials is affecting essential health facilities: the new surgical wing in Gaza’s main Shifa hospital has remained unfinished since 2006. Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during operation ‘Cast Lead’, have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into Gaza.”
If tunnels are so efficient and food and building material so widely and cheaply available in Gaza as the Israeli government says, then the blockade is not working anyway. So why is Israel continuing the blockade, including threatening the flotilla?
Furthermore, the Israeli government has not backed up its far-fetched claim of tunnel efficiency by building its own tunnels to replace its traditional land, sea, and air import and export means.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev was quoted in the article smearing the human rights activists saying ‘they are the opposite’ for failing ‘to say anything about human rights of Israeli civilians who have been on the receiving end of Hamas rockets for years.’”
However, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs own website “One Month of Calm Along the Israel-Gaza Border.” provides evidence that Israel successfully stopped rocket fire on June 19, 2008 with an Egyptian brokered ceasefire. Then the Israeli military launched an attack on Gaza on November 4, 2008 ending that ceasefire. Then, according to another Ministry of Foreign Affairs website , during the Israeli government’s 22 day Operation Cast Lead attack on Gaza that started on December 27, 2008, 776 rockets and morters landed in Israeli territory, a doubling of the intensity of rocket fire from Gaza from the previous peak, until a new cease fire was announced on January 18. Thus, it was Israeli government action that belies its supposed concern about the safety of Israeli civilians.
“Regev also condemned the activists for failing to say anything about ‘the human rights of Palestinians who live in Gaza under the jackboots of the Hamas regime that oppresses women, Christians, and gays – a regime that has brutally suppressed all political opposition, destroyed independent media, closed down internet cafés, and has even made it illegal for a male hairdresser to cut the hair of a woman.’”
However, if the Israeli government is concerned about jackboots of a regime, why does the Israeli government suppress civil liberties of Israeli human rights organizations, as described in a New York Times article, “Israeli Rights Groups View Themselves as Under Siege,” published on April 5? One could well ask about the jackboots of the Israeli occupation of Palestine that includes targeted assassinations, detention without trial, torture, demolishing houses, bombing civilian neighborhoods, destroying civilian infrastructure and siege on a defenseless civilian population in Gaza.
“Palmer also charged that organizers of the flotilla ‘are less interested in bringing in aid than in promoting their radical agenda, playing into the hands of Hamas provocations. While they have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak, they are engaging in political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid.’”
If it were true that the purpose of the human rights workers is to score political points why does the Israeli government play into their hands by engaging in a blockade that involves the illegal collective punishment of the entire civilian population of Gaza? Collective punishment puts Israeli government political and military leaders in breach of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
Any attack on the ships of the International Freedom Flotilla could also put Israeli government officials in violation of several articles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part VII :
article 87(a) provides for “freedom of navigation.”
article 88, states, “The high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes.”
arrticle 89 states, “No State may validly purport to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty.”
article 90 states, “Every State, whether coastal or land-locked, has the right to sail ships flying its flag on the high seas”
By failing to defend the high seas from Israeli-government piracy other governments and the UN are acquiescing to degradation of international law regarding the freedom of navigation.
Defend the International Freedom Flotilla
As Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University said, “by now it has been demonstrated that neither governments nor the UN will challenge this blockade, only people of conscience and courage will.” Support demonstrations are taking place in cities around the world demanding action from the US government and the UN to defend free passage in international waters and to end the illegal siege of Gaza.
Readers can track the flotilla, click links to latest news, and find a list of emergency response plan actions that they can take at http://gazafreedommarch.org/cms/en/flotilla.aspx
James Marc Leas is a Jewish patent lawyer who is a co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild Free Palestine Subcommittee. He participated in the NLG delegation to Gaza in February, 2009.
Hamas: If Israel acts like pirates against aid convoy, we will win: Haaretz
Delayed Freedom Flotilla expected to set sail towards Gaza Saturday; IDF prepares to intercept convoy as it enters a 20-mile Israeli-controlled zone off Gaza.
Tags: Israel news IDF Ehud Barak Gaza Freedom Flotilla
The Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that if Israel behaved like pirates and attacked the international Freedom Flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of aid meant for Gaza, then the Palestinians will have won.
“The flotilla’s message is clear and it will reach the entire world,” Haniyeh said Saturday morning during a press conference held at the Gaza port where the ships were expected to dock.
“The meaning of the flotilla is that the entire world opposes the siege on the Gaza Strip, and if Israel behaves like pirates and sea-terrorists – we will win,” he added.
The 8-ship Freedom Flotilla protesting Israel’s blockade on Gaza, is expected to set sail from the international waters off the shores of Cyprus towards the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon, Israel Radio reported.
According to Palestinian media sources, if the ships set sail at the expected time, they should arrive in Israeli territorial waters on Sunday morning.
Israel has said it will overtake the ships as soon as they enter a 20-mile Israeli-controlled zone off Gaza. They will then be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where the foreign nationals will be handed over to Immigration Police for deportation abroad, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
The Israel Navy started preparing for the arrival of the Gaza aid flotilla by sending ships to counter the convoy in the Israeli-controlled waters. Despite the convoy’s delay, the Israel Defense Forces continued to prepare for its arrival as planned.
Earlier on Friday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the Freedom Flotilla violent propaganda against Israel’s sovereignty, and added that Israel would not allow such a threat to continue.
“The aid convoy is violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow its sovereignty to be threatened in any way, in any place – land, air or sea,” Lieberman said during a foreign ministry briefing on the aid convoy’s progress towards the shores of Gaza.
“There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip,” Liebeman added. “Despite Hamas’ war crimes against Israeli citizens and the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns, Israel continues to respond in the most humane way possible.”
Lieberman stressed that Israel permitted thousands of tons of products to enter the Gaza Strip on a daily basis.
Organizers of an eight-ship flotilla said Friday they continued to head for Gaza despite Israel’s warnings to intercept them as soon as they enter Israeli-controlled waters off the coast.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry held meetings with ambassadors of European countries from where the ships are sailing, urging them not to cooperate and calling the campaign – aimed at drawing attention to the stringent Israeli economic embargo of Gaza – a “blatant provocation.”
The organizers had ignored Israeli offers for the flotilla to dock in its southern port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza, and to transport the 10,000 tons of aid to the coastal enclave from there, it said.
Foreign Ministry officials said Cyprus authorities notified them that Nicosia would not allow the pro-Palestinian activists to dock on the island.
But Audrey Bomse, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, one of the organizers, told the German Press-Agency DPA the flotilla never planned to dock in Cyprus because of the heavy pressure by Israel on the Cypriot government.
The ships that had sailed from various ports over the past week were in the process of hooking up in international waters and scheduled to arrive off the coasts of Gaza on Saturday afternoon, she said.
The IDF on Thursday completed its preparations for countering the international aid flotilla. Israel announced that it will prevent the ships from reaching their destination, and warned that it will not hesitate to make use of limited force if it becomes necessary.
Israel considers the effort by international left-wing elements and Islamic organizations as intentional provocation under the guise of humanitarian aid.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Ministry Director General Yossi Gal held a round of explanatory calls with foreign ministers from countries whose citizens are participating in the flotilla, and also with foreign diplomats yesterday. The Israeli message has been that the activists are welcome to bring the humanitarian aid to the port of Ashdod, where it will be examined and if found suitable will be permitted to enter the Gaza Strip through the land crossings. If the activists try to break the siege, they will be arrested.
Barak and Gal insisted that there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
IDF sources say that a clash with the activists on the ships will produce bad press from Israel’s point of view – but they believe that this is inevitable in any eventuality.
The instruction from the political leadership to the Israel Navy is to stop the flotilla from entering the Gaza Strip. From the point of view of the navy, a successful mission would be if they manage to perform their duty in a controlled manner, with minimal use of force.
The flotilla with some 700 passengers is the largest yet attempt to break the Israeli-imposed embargo on the Gaza Strip.
Gaza flotilla to arrive only Sunday: Ynet
Further delay hits activists waiting for politicians stranded in Cyprus to be transferred to boats. Meanwhile Hamas prepares welcome wagon, while Danny Ayalon vows ‘Islamist, Hamasist’ flotilla will not be allowed to pass
AFP and Ali Waked
Published: 05.29.10, 12:54
An aid flotilla bound for Gaza was poised to set sail on Saturday, after a delay caused by technical snags and fears Israel might seize one of the ships, while the Hamas government prepared a welcome wagon headed by its prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and equipped with Turkish flags.
Hundreds of activists waiting in international waters off Cyprus were bracing for the final leg of their attempt to “break the siege” on the Strip, but organizers were having difficulty haggling with the Cypriot authorities for the transfer to the flotilla of a group of 25 multi-national parliamentarians waiting on the island.
“We are currently sailing to the limits of Cypriot waters to try and negotiate with authorities,” Thomas Sommer-Houdeville, a French pro-Palestinian activist on board one of the vessels, said.
The Cyprus authorities “last night (Friday) detained the captains of boats that were trying to take the MPs on board,” he told AFP by telephone, adding that the mariners were released shortly afterwards.
Organizers have accused the Cyprus government of reneging on an earlier agreement to let the flotilla sail from Cyprus waters, alleging Israeli pressure which Nicosia has denied. The flotilla had originally been due to sail on Friday.
“We won’t begin leaving until Saturday but the boats are still going,” Audrey Bomse of the Free Gaza Movement told AFP on Friday.
“We’ve changed the coordinates twice because reportedly Israel has threatened to capture the Turkish ship so we decided to delay getting all the boats together,” she added.
“This has delayed everything by a day because changing coordinates takes time… There were also technical difficulties with one of the boats so we had to move passengers from it on to the Turkish one,” Bomse said.
Two cargo ships and five smaller boats loaded with thousands of tons of supplies and hundreds of passengers are preparing for the final leg of their journey, and organizers said an eighth ship, the Rachel Corrie en route from Ireland, was lagging behind and would travel towards Gaza separately.
Turkish flags and Haniyeh
Meanwhile Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called the flotilla “a provocation and a gross violation of marine laws”.
Speaking at a cultural event in Beersheba he added, “We will not allow this flotilla to pass. It is a blow to Israel’s security… There is a problem with public relations, but we are prepared and explaining the situation in Gaza. There is no humanitarian crisis. At the Foreign Ministry we are making use of Youtube and Facebook to explain the situation. This is an Islamist and Hamasist event.”
Earlier French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said his country is “still concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for a complete implementation of Security Council Resolution 1860.” Pro-Palestinian activists identified with the flotilla by carrying Palestinian flags on a boat in the Seine River.
Meanwhile the Hamas government is preparing to welcome the activists with Turkish flags and a welcome party headed by its prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.
Residents of Gaza are expecting 750 people from more than 40 different states to bring them 10,000 tons of food, medical supplies, and construction equipment. Recent preparations include decorating the Strip’s port with flags, especially Turkish and Algerian.
Hamas has also warned of an Israeli “pirate” attempt to stop the flotilla, and Palestinian news agencies have been reporting on IDF preparations to prevent the boats from reaching Gaza’s shores.
But sources in the Strip say the flotilla has already achieved its aim by drumming up international press coverage. Some hint that a staunch Israeli response would be preferable, because it would provide even better advertisement for the residents of Gaza.
NPT declaration to name Israel: Al Jazeera online
The US has agreed to a deal at the United Nations that would put pressure on Israel to join the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), according to Western diplomats.
Delegates in New York are concluding a month-long round of talks aimed at updating the NPT. Their final draft reportedly urges Israel to join the treaty and subject its nuclear facilities to oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The document also calls for the United Nations secretary-general to call a meeting of Middle East states in 2012, aimed at creating a region free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
But General James Jones, the the national security adviser on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, said the US “will not permit a conference or actions that could jeopardise Israel’s national security”.
US defends Israel
“We will not accept any approach that singles out Israel or sets unrealistic expectations,” he said in a statement.
“The United States’ long-standing position on Middle East peace and security remains unchanged, including its unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.”
The United Nations is scheduled to vote on the draft later on Friday; Syrian and Iranian diplomats have both hinted they might not support it.
“We have a deal that everyone can live with,” an unnamed Western diplomat told the Reuters news agency.
“Now the question, is will Iran do the right thing? Will they go against something the entire Arab League and everyone else here is ready to support?”
Opposition from either country would be enough to stall the agreement, because all signatories to the treaty are required to approve the changes.
Iranian negotiators want a provision requiring the five official nuclear powers – the US, UK, France, Russia and China – to establish a timetable to dismantle their nuclear arsenals.
The NPT is intended to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. It allowed those existing nuclear powers to keep their weapons.
“The five nuclear-weapon states cannot easily and totally ignore this legitimate request. If so, then the conference will not be successful,” Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, said.
Israel is one of only three states which never signed the NPT, the other two being India and Pakistan.
It is believed to have a nuclear arsenal, though it refuses to confirm or deny its existence.
An sraeli government official described the deal as “hypocrisy” because it makes no mention of other countries that have not signed the NPT.
Israel’s reaction
“This accord has the hallmark of hypocrisy,” the senior government official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
“Only Israel is mentioned, while the text is silent about other countries like India, Pakistan and North Korea, which have nuclear arms, or even more seriously, Iran, which is seeking to obtain them.”
The 2012 meeting – on a “weapons of mass destruction”-free Middle East – could effectively force Israel to declare and dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
Israel has said it backs such an agreement in principle, but only after signing peace treaties with other countries in the region.
The US had initially sought to block the provision; Washington has long shielded Israel from pressure to disclose the details of its nuclear programme. But American diplomats eventually agreed to the provision to salvage the conference.
“The Arab group basically drew a line in the sand and said, this is as far as we can go in compromising. This language must stay, or we will not back the final document,” Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey said, reporting from New York.
“[And] the United States was very interested in moving this agenda of non-proliferation forward.”
Ellen Tauscher, the US under-secretary of state for arms control, said “the United States deeply regrets” that the draft pressures Israel to join the NPT.
If negotiators agree on a bargain, it would be the first successful NPT review meeting since 2000.
EDITOR:The Pot Calling the Kettle Black…
The most violent of Israeli politicians, the fascist Israeli Foreign Minister, now facing trial for corruption, is calling the peaceful Gaza flotilla ‘violent’. It seems that Mr Lieberman is well versed in the version of truth favoured in his own USSR. At the moment, the great (and only) democracy in the Middle East seems to be behind this criminal, as are the country’s intellectuals. Let us not forget another moment of shame in the history of Israeli apartheid!
Lieberman: Gaza flotilla ‘violent’:Ynet
Foreign minister says ‘there is no humanitarian crisis in Strip,’ calls fleet of aid ship en route to Gaza ‘an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel.’ We will not allow violation of our sovereignty, he adds
Attila Somfalvi
Published: 05.28.10, 15:16 / Israel News
Hours before its arrival, the foreign minister lashes out at the Gaza flotilla. Avigdor Lieberman said Friday afternoon that “the flotilla is an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow a violation of its sovereignty at sea, in the air, or on land.”
Lieberman, who spoke during a visit to the Forgein Ministry’s situation room, added, “There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and despite the Hamas leadership’s war crimes and rocket fire, Israel is conducting itself in the most humanitarian manner, and is allowing the entrance of thousands of tons of food and equipment to Gaza.”
The Foreign Ministry on Friday held a situation evaluation along with representatives from the ministry.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Palestinians are preparing for the arrival of the ships. Palestinian and Turkish flags have been hung at several locations across the Strip.
As the Free Gaza ships made their way to the shores of the Strip on Friday morning, the organizers broadcast live footage from one of the ships.
Moments after the footage was published on Ynet, the number of viewers tripled, and the organizers replaced the live feed with propaganda films displaying images from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Minutes later, the broadcast from the ship was renewed.
The Israel Defense Forces said they would block access to the live footage as the ships near the shores of Gaza, meaning a takeover of the ships will be done secretly.
Before the live feed was replaced with the propaganda, a camera was planted on one of the ships broadcasting activity on it. Flags of Algeria, Turkey, Sweden, Ireland and the Palestinian Authority could be seen in the background.
Turkish could occasionally be heard being spoken, and several of the activists could be seen looking to the waters of the Mediterranean and taking pictures.
A calm atmosphere was seen in the footage, with mattresses on the deck and occasional announcements to the passengers in Turkish.
On Thursday, the Israeli Navy prepared for the expected encounter with the aid flotilla making its way to Gaza. IDF sources said they were concerned that terrorists may try to use the “Freedom Flotilla” to enter the Strip or smuggle in weapons.
Israeli navy prepares for action as activists’ flotilla nears Gaza: The Guardian
Organisers of eight-ship fleet predict standoff as they attempt to cross into 20-mile exclusion zone off coast
Workers hang Turkish and Palestinian flags at Gaza port as they wait for the flotilla. Photograph: Adel Hana/AP
The Israeli navy was today preparing to confront a flotilla of eight ships carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists and 10,000 tons of aid which is attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The flotilla is expected to head towards the Gaza coastline tomorrow. The Israeli military has declared its intention to block the flotilla’s progress as soon as it attempts to cross from international waters into the 20-mile exclusion zone Israel maintains off Gaza’s coast.
The military declined to confirm a report in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv detailing a five-point plan for the confrontation, including warnings, takeover by force, and the detention and deportation of the activists on board.
A temporary detention centre has been established in the Israeli port of Ashdod, 23 miles north of Gaza City, where officials will reportedly offer activists the choice between immediate deportation to their country of origin or being bussed to jails across the country while a legal process to expel them takes its course.
Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement, one of the organisations behind the flotilla, indicated today that most of those on board would refuse to comply with the Israeli authorities.
She said: “We are committed to getting into Gaza. We expect a standoff at sea.”
The activists were braced for a violent confrontation, said Berlin, pointing to a previous incident in December 2008 when a similar attempt to reach Gaza by sea ended in the activists’ boat being rammed by the Israeli navy.
She claimed the navy was attempting to stop the eight boats converging into a flotilla by threatening to attack one of their number, a Turkish passenger ship carrying around 650 people. “They’re going to try to pick us off one by one,” she said. Israel had jammed satellite phones and radars on board the ships, she claimed.
However, an Israeli military spokesman said there had been no contact between the navy and the activists. “We’re waiting to see what happens – it depends on how things proceed,” he said.
The Ma’ariv report said the military feared that there could be “terror activists”, explosives and weapons on board the ships.
Berlin denied this, saying every item on board each ship had been inspected by port authorities and manifests issued. “Yet the Israelis are coming towards us armed to the teeth.”
As well as the prospect of a physical confrontation, a propaganda war between Israel and the activists was well under way today.
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s foreign minister, said the flotilla was “an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow a violation of its sovereignty at sea, in the air, or on land.”
He added: “There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and despite the Hamas leadership’s war crimes and rocket fire, Israel is conducting itself in the most humanitarian manner, and is allowing the entrance of thousands of tons of food and equipment into Gaza.”
However, the UN and other aid organisations have repeatedly pointed to the devastating impact of the acute shortage of construction materials to rebuild homes and infrastructure following the 2008-9 war, as well as restrictions on foods, medical equipment and school supplies allowed into Gaza.
Nuclear arms treaty agreed with hope for deal on Middle East: The Guardian
• US changes stance over Israeli atomic arsenal
• Non-proliferation talks succeed after one month
The 189 member nations of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) last night struck a deal on a series of small steps towards disarmament, including a 2012 conference to discuss a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
After a month of wrangling, signatories to the NPT agreed a deal, despite “deep regrets” from the US over a clause singling out Israel’s unacknowledged nuclear arsenal. A 28-page final declaration requires the world’s five self-confessed nuclear states – the US, Russia, France, Britain and China – to speed up arms reductions. They will report on progress in four years.
But the main point of contention was over an Arab idea for a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, intended to put public pressure on Israel to scrap its nuclear weapons.
Initially reluctant, the US changed tack and went along with the proposal. Iran and Syria had expressed dissent over whether the treaty was tough enough, but no objections were raised in the final session, and Iran’s chief delegate, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, joined other nations in applause at the deal in the UN’s general assembly hall.
“All eyes the world over are watching us,” said the conference’s president, Libran Cabactulan of the Philippines, bringing down a gavel on the agreement.
For the US, undersecretary of state Ellen Tauscher said the document “advances President Obama’s vision” of a world free of nuclear weapons. She said the US would work with Middle Eastern nations to organise a 2012 conference; but she added that its ability to do so had been “seriously jeopardised because the final document singles out Israel in the Middle East section, a fact that the US deeply regrets”.
Israel, which, like nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, never signed the NPT, is presumed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal. It is not participating in the meeting. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is due to meet Barack Obama in Washington on Monday. Israel had said it would attend a Middle Eastern disarmament conference as long as it was not singled out for criticism.
Signatories of the 1970 NPT have spent a tense month trying to bolster it after crises over Iran, North Korea, and the slow pace of disarmament by the big five.
The NPT is often described as a “bargain” under which the nuclear weapons states move to disarm, while others forgo seeking the bomb in return for help to develop civilian nuclear programmes. Supporters say it was becoming dangerously eroded by cumulative setbacks.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, welcomed the agreement, saying Britain had pushed hard for a deal, not least by making public the extent of its nuclear arsenal for the first time. “The negotiations have not been easy and the outcome represents a compromise,” said Hague. “But it also marks the first time in 10 years that the international community has been able to come to agree on the collective efforts that will be required.”
NPT signatories gather every five years to review the objectives of the original treaty which presses for non-nuclear nations to remain free of weapons, while forwarding moves by nuclear nations towards disarmament. The last gathering, in 2005, failed to reach consensus, partly because the Bush administration declined to back a ban on nuclear testing.
This week’s final deal commits the five official weapons states to “accelerate concrete progress” towards reducing their arms stockpile and to reduce the role of nuclear arms in their military doctrines.
Anne Penketh, director of the British American Security Information Council, said last night’s deal amounted to victory from the jaws of defeat: “The decision to convene a conference in two years to move towards a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction is a major achievement, after 15 years of inaction. It is a creative way of bringing Israel and Iran to the same table to address pressing security concerns.”
Israel vows to halt flotilla aiming to break blockade: The Independent
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Israeli warships were yesterday on full alert in the Mediterranean to prevent an eight-vessel flotilla carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists and an estimated 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies reaching the coast of Gaza.
Naval vessels were expected to confront the flotilla of cargo and passenger ships later today with the intention of diverting it to the Israeli port of Ashdod and away from its intended destination of Hamas-controlled Gaza.
The flotilla is the largest attempt yet to circumvent the three-year-old Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
While the Israeli authorities have indicated they want to minimise the risk of violence, Israeli media reported yesterday that they are prepared to take over the vessels by force if they ignore warnings not to cross from international waters into a 20 mile exclusion zone enforced by Israel along Gaza’s coast.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused the participants of mounting a “cheap publicity stunt” and said that if they had been “really interested in the well-being of the people of Gaza they would have accepted the offers of Egypt or Israel to transfer humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, along with the other 15,000 tons sent every week.”
Israel has previously said that if the flotilla agreed to head for the port of Ashdod it would send the aid supplies on to Gaza. Ordinarily, supplies to the Gaza strip are subject to a strict blockade that excludes most commercial goods, although those conditions would not necessarily apply to the flotilla.
But Edward Peck, a retired US diplomat who argued strongly against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, told The Independent from one of the vessels that the purpose of the flotilla was entirely humanitarian. “The boats are unarmed, the passengers are unarmed, and they pose no threat to Israel,” he said by satellite phone 10 miles south west of Limassol.
Mr Peck said that one of the vessels, a freighter, had taken on a cargo in Athens of 180 motorised wheelchairs, 150 prefab dwellings and two water purification installations, plus medical supplies. “I have been on several trips to the Middle East to promote a resolution but I wanted to do something tangible instead of just talking,” he said. He added he had heard unconfirmed reports that three vessels had mechanical problems.
The Israeli authorities have created a temporary detention centre in Ashdod for arrested passengers. Detainees are likely to face the choice of summary deportation or a trial in Israeli courts.
What’s allowed into Gaza…
Fabric Softener: As well as other household and bathroom products, including shampoo and facial scrubs.
Wood: As long as it’s intended for use in doors or windows – but not if it’s suitable for larger-scale construction.
Canned Foods: Such as beans and meats, although canned fruits are excluded from the category.
…and what the blockade keeps out
Jam: Because it could be used to produce other goods for export. The same applies to fresh meat.
Musical Instruments: Because they are not classed as “basic humanitarian supplies”.
Donkeys: And other live animals including cattle and chicks (but chick transportation cartons are permitted).
Harrowing Update from Family of Ameer Makhoul: The Only Democracy
May 26th, 2010 | by Rebecca Vilkomerson
Ameer Makhoul, Director of Ittijah, a coalition of Palestinian Israeli Community Organizations, was arrested three weeks ago from his home in Haifa. Makhoul was unable to see his lawyer for the first weeks of his arrest and now his lawyers and his family, having seen him, assert that he has been tortured.
Makhoul has not yet been charged with any crime, but the Israeli government is clearly paving the way for his indictment soon, and in the process using extreme, though vague, language about “security” concerns designed to repress any public questions about Makhoul’s treatment.
Seen as part of a long line, in the past year, of arrest and persecution that includes Ezra Nawi (who went to jail on Sunday for protecting a Palestininan home from destruction), the campaign against the NIF and human rights organizations in Israel, the arrests of Jamal Jum’a and Mohammed Othman, and the ongoing arrests and raids and arrests in villages like Bil’in and Ni’alin, it is clear that Israel’s strategy in the face of its human rights violations and crackdown on dissent, is to attack, persecute, and attempt to destroy those who speak out.
What follows, in its entirety, is a press statement from the family of Ameer Makhoul on his arrest and treatment, titled, “We Accuse.”
Today is the 21st day since the arrest of Ameer Makhoul at his home in Haifa, Israel, under the cover of darkness, by the International Crimes Investigation Unit and General Security Service (GSS or Shabak) officers. The arrest was conducted in a brutal and terrifying manner. Our house was raided, its contents ransacked, and various pieces of equipment and objects of special value to us were confiscated. Violations of our fundamental rights to human dignity and privacy were committed, and physical, verbal and psychological violence were employed against us and in front of our two daughters. On this day we, Ameer’s family, announce that we are extremely worried about what is happening to him and about the conditions of his detention.
We know that Ameer has suffered and continues to suffer from acute pains in his head, his back and in both of his legs as a result of the severe torture he was subjected to, in breach of his most basic human rights. These include the rights to sleep, drink and eat, and the rights to dignity and not to be exposed to humiliating and degrading treatment. His complete isolation from the outside world, the control exercised over him by the GSS interrogators, and his interrogation for hours and days on end without sleep, while in shackles and bound by his hands and feet to a low chair in a way that did not allow him to move, causing him severe pain, from which he still continues to suffer now, all resulted in his losing his sense of time and ability to think and concentrate, and in his mental disorientation. These methods are illegal under Israeli and international law.
Until today, 26 May, the court refused to allow Ameer’s attorneys to read the medical report written by a doctor who visited him twice during the interrogation. It also refused to allow an independent doctor sent from Physicians for Human Rights – Israel to examine him, as demanded by Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. These refusals raise concerns and questions about the information that the GSS, with the backing of the court, wants to conceal regarding his conditions of detention and their methods of interrogation. What, we wonder, is the GSS hiding and why is it stalling? Is it in order to hide signs of the physical and psychological violence it has inflicted on him? And why has the court given its consent to these procedures?
What particularly worries us is that Ameer continues to complain of acute pains, and his eyesight has deteriorated, which has compelled him to ask for a stronger pair of glasses. The question is how and why this severely diminished eyesight was caused during his detention, and what the methods of interrogation were that led to this deterioration and to the pains he is complaining of.
The bigger questions are: What is the Israeli security establishment trying to cover up? Why is the court colluding with the GSS and concealing the conditions of detention and methods of interrogation/torture that have been used against Ameer?
Why did the court block the publication of the details of Ameer’s affidavit as it relates to the illegal methods of interrogation used against him, and which he spoke of before his lawyers in his initial meeting with them, held after around two weeks of being banned from access to legal counsel?
We appeal to the local and international communities and to individuals to continue to act quickly to put pressure on the Israeli government and legal system to open an independent investigation into the methods used by the GSS interrogators against Ameer, and to demand the indictment of those responsible for the use of torture against him. We also call on the local and international communities to consider any indictment by the GSS to have been fabricated and extorted under torture and gained solely by obstructing democratic freedoms and human rights. These acts are invalid and illegitimate, and in flagrant violation of international law.
We call for demands on the Israeli authorities to immediately call off this trial, which is based on an investigation in which Ameer was prevented from defending himself in any genuine manner. Ameer was denied the basic human rights to which he is entitled under Israeli and international law. The independence of the judiciary and democratic freedoms were dangerously subjected to the dictates of the GSS in this case.
We greatly appreciate the community, institutional and individual solidarity with Ameer, local and international, and all efforts to defend his freedom. We are aware of the importance of the role played by all political movements and political parties in challenging the circumstances of Ameer’s arrest, and this attack against the Arab public and its leadership, and on democratic freedom and human rights. We are also aware that the clear strategic choice of the Arab public in Israel has been and continues to be the that of unyielding and legitimate political struggle.
The fact is that Ameer Makhoul does not belong to any specific political party. Rather, he reserves for himself an independent position, which is a clear indication that the main target of this attack is the Arab Palestinian public and their leadership, their rights and freedoms. Defending the freedom of Ameer and his rights as a detainee, and rejecting incitement against Arab citizens in light of his detention, are not an individual or class issue, but a national, democratic mission.
The real indictment is against the GSS and the Israeli establishment, which are trampling on democratic freedoms and human rights and resorting to illegal methods of interrogation and torture.
Janan Abdu, Partner of Ameer Makhoul (+972-54-756-2171)
Issam Makhoul, Brother of Ameer Makhoul (+972-50-551-0433)