43 years to the Israeli Occupation!

1500 Days to the Israeli Blockade of Gaza:

End Israeli Apartheid Now!

Help to prevent the next war! Support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of the Israeli regime

Support Palestinian universities – spread the BDS campaign – it is what people under the Israeli jackboot ask you to do

Any army fighting against children, has already lost the war!

Israeli War Criminals and Pirates – to the International Criminal Court, NOW!

Make Zionism History!

Demand the destruction of Israeli WMDs NOW!

BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!BREAKING NEWS!BREAKING NEWS!

Action Alert Update
July 3, 2011 – 6 pm NY time

Just got word from Athens: the 8 people who were fasting in front of the U.S. Embassy have been arrested. They are Ken Mayers, Carol Murry, Medea Benjamin, Paki Wieland, Ray McGovern, Brad Taylor, Kit Kitteridge and Kathy Kelly. We will not have any more news until the morning.

In the meantime, let’s keep the pressure on Washington. They need to pressure the Greek government to release our captain, our boat and now these 8 people as well! Let them sail to Gaza!!!

Throughout this country people have responded to our call to contact the U.S. State Department to demand that they take the steps necessary to ensure that the Greek authorities immediately release the captain and let our boat sail to Gaza. In fact, there has been such a strong response that we are hearing their voice mailboxes are full! That’s great, but of course frustrating for those of you trying to make those calls.

Here are some other phone numbers and email addresses to try:
State Department general number: 202-647-4000 – ask for the Overseas U.S. Citizen Services Duty Officer and you’ll get a live State Dept. official who has to hear you out.
The voicemail for Kim Richter – also at the State Dept. – says she’s out of the office for several days, and that callers with urgent issues should contact a colleague at 202-647-4578.
If you can place an international phone call, the number for the U.S. Embassy in Athens is 011-30-210-721-2951.
You can email the U.S. Embassy in Athens at: athensamemb@state.gov or you can send an email to them at: athensamericancitizenservices@state.gov

Please also try to call, fax or email your members of Congress as well.

Help us keep the pressure up!!

EDITOR: Pirates of the Med are joined by the Bent Sheriff

On top of all the bizarre imbroglios of the Greek government, this one wins the biscuit. While the ones responsible for the murders on the Mavi Marmara are invited to meet world ‘leaders’, the Gaza Flotilla II protesters, the once who are trying to break the illegal siege over two million civilians and bring them supplies and medicines, are the ones hounded, snatched on the high seas, and put into jail! Go on serving your masters, Papandreou, but your end must be nigh – the Greek people had enough, it seems, of this servant of the banking system and international capitalism.Read about the inhuman conditions the captain is held by the Greek authorities, not just in contravention of international law, but also against the Greek law. Viva Papandreou, Pirate of the Mediterreanean! If he can attack Greek protesters with impunity, why not attack the Flotilla, so Netanyahu can say Thank you?

Audacity of Hope stopped at sea (video): YouTube

2 JULY 2011
YouTube – 1 July 2011
The Audacity of Hope was stopped at sea by the Greek Coast Guard 20 minutes after leaving the port. Our captain refused to turn back despite the pleas of the Coast Guard commander. After about two hours, Greek commandos joined the Coast Guard vessel and the decision was made to turn back. We are currently at a military dock in Athens, unable to proceed. Johnny Barber, a passenger on the Audacity of Hope, recorded events as they happened.

U.S. Boat to Gaza Seized by Greek Authorities and Captain Jailed: UStogaza

Passengers Determined to Free Captain and Set Sail Again
July 2, 2011
Contacts:
In Athens – 30-694-266-3852
In New York – Leslie Cagan, 347-581-1782

After a two hour stand off at sea, the U.S. Boat to Gaza – The Audacity of Hope – was seized by the Greek Coast Guard and forced to return to the port of Piraeus under military escort. The boat’s captain has been put in jail, charged with disturbing sea traffic–which includes endangering the lives of those on the ships– and disobeying a police order to remain at dock. The crew is being detained on the boat, which is being held at a military dock just outside Athens. Most of the 36 passengers remain on the ship in solidarity with the captain and crew.

Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army Colonel, responded strongly to the arrest of the American captain of the U.S. Boat to Gaza. “I think it’s outrageous what the Greek government is doing to our captain who was taking a group of Americans to challenge the illegal Israeli blockade. We call on the Greek government to release our Captain and dismiss all charges.”

Yonatan Shapira, a crew member on The Audacity of Hope and former Israeli Air Force captain, said the captain of the U.S. Boat should be praised, not condemned for his actions. “The captain acted out of concern for the safety of the passengers and boat by taking us away from the Greek port where other flotilla boats are being sabotaged,” Shapira said.

After five days of stalling, the Greek authorities produced the results of the inspection of the boat, which took place on Monday, June 27. The Greek government inspected the boat on the basis of an anonymous complaint alleging that the boat is not seaworthy. The anonymous complaint later turned out to have been filed by the Israel Law Center. The list of infractions cited on the inspection report included such things as technical details regarding the construction material of the hull and the fact that the private inspection report emailed to the authorities was unsigned. “None of these alleged infractions are actually regulations that boats are required to meet,” said group’s Greek lawyer Emmanuel Stephanakis. “It’s obvious that these are politically motivated, baseless charges calculated to stop the U.S. Boat to Gaza from sailing.”

“This shameful chapter in Greek history is symbolized by Prime Minister Netanyahu thanking his Greek counterpart Prime MInister Papandreou for his cooperation in helping thwart the flotilla, and by the fully-armed and masked Greek commandos at sea, pointing their guns at unarmed American civilians singing “We are a gentle, loving people,” says passenger Medea Benjamin.

The other boats in the flotilla that are docked in Greece have been denied permission to sail due to a variety of bureaucratic obstacles the Greek authorities have thrown in their way. Greece’s Civil Protection Authority confirmed Saturday the ban on departures of ships “with Greek and foreign flags from Greek ports to the maritime area of Gaza” was in place until further notice. Two of the boats have had physical damage done to them as well. All vow to pressure the Greek government to grant them permission to sail, and have activated their international networks. In the United States, the phones at the Greek Embassy and Consulates were so busy that callers could not get through.

While deeply disappointed that they have not yet been able to sail to Gaza, the passengers feel they have been successful at exposing the ongoing plight of the people of Gaza and the inhumanity of the Israeli government. “The success of the flotilla is shown by the huge expenditure of financial and personnel resources by the Israeli government to counter 10 civilian, unarmed ships with 300 citizen activists who simply want to sail to Gaza out of concern for the people of Gaza,” saya jazz musician and passenger Richard Lopez.

EDITOR: Israeli lies do not wash!

While Israel spread rumours that the Turkish authorities have announced that the Irish boat has not been sabotaged, and all Israeli papers published those reports without checking them for accuracy orveracity, feeding the Israeli public with more lies, the NYT has seen fit to publish the real story, for once.

Irish Flotilla Activists Show Damage to Their Boat: NYTimes

By ROBERT MACKEY

A YouTube video produced by pro-Palestinian activists from Ireland, showing damage to their ship they claim was the result of sabotage by Israeli divers.
Last year, when Israel launched a deadly commando raid on a flotilla of ships challenging its naval blockade of Gaza, many outraged opponents of that action demanded to know why the Israeli Navy had not taken some sort of less confrontational action. Like, for instance, disabling the propellers of the ships.

This week, as a new flotilla struggles to get under way, Irish activists claimed that damage to a propeller shaft on their boat, which forced them to withdraw it from the effort, must have been caused by underwater divers.

As my colleague Scott Sayare reports, the Irish activists in Turkey said on Thursday “that the damage was discovered on a trial run, but that otherwise the vessel might have sunk at sea, endangering the passengers and crew. Activists discovered nearly identical damage to a Greek-Swedish-Norwegian passenger boat earlier this week.”

After they discovered the problem with their ship, the Irish activists produced two YouTube videos to explain the damage and complain about what they presumed was an effort by Israel’s government to keep them from making it to Gaza.

In one clip, an activist named Fintan Lane said the damage could have endangered the lives of the passengers on the ship and described it as an act of “international terrorism” by Israel.

Appearing just a week after a YouTube clip was posted online by an Israeli actor who pretended to be an activist disillusioned with the flotilla, these clips, with their somewhat shaky images and poor sound, also serve to remind viewers that video shot by activists tends not to look like a slickly-produced commercial.

Gaza flotilla to set sail Monday despite numerous setbacks: Haaretz

Activists say all operational ships will be ready to depart, but exact number is yet unknown.

The organizers of the Gaza-bound flotilla said Sunday that all operational ships will set sail on Monday, despite the numerous delays the flotilla activists had encountered in the past week.

The decision to depart on Monday was made following several days of deliberations on the subject, and the exact number of ships due to sail is still unknown.

In contrast to recent reports, most of the Gaza flotilla activists are still participating.

Moreover, activists in several countries of origin of the ships participating in the flotilla such as Canada and Belgium held protests in support of the Gaza flotilla and against the Greek government, which had issued an order to bar the ships from leaving Greek ports.

An activist stands in front of the “Stefano Chiarini” ship, during a demonstration against the Greek authorities’ ban on Gaza-bound ships, July 2, 2011.

Photo by: Reuters
Eight of the ten ships due to participate in the Gaza flotilla were delayed over the weekend in various Greek ports, following an order by the Greek government to bar the departure of the vessels.

The activists as well as members of the leftist opposition in Greece accused the Socialist government of caving in to Israeli pressure. Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis said that the Greek government is preventing the departure of the vessels in order to avoid a ‘humanitarian disaster’ which will result from a violent confrontation with the Israeli navy.

The foreign minister also promised that he will continue to negotiate with the UN in order to find a solution to the flotilla crisis.

The Greek ban applies to all Greek and foreign vessels in Greek ports heading to Gaza.

The organizers of the flotilla were considering legal action to cancel the Greek ban on the departure of the ships. They were also trying to rally members of leftist parties in various countries and the European Parliament to convince the Greek government to change the orders.

Before the official publication of the instructions at 4:30 P.M. on Friday, the boat of the American delegation tried to set sail from the port of Perama without clearance from the Greek authorities. The ship was carrying 51 passengers, including five members of the crew and 11 journalists.

According to the flotilla organizers, the delays by the Greek authorities in granting permission to sail stemmed from political pressure.

The American ship, Audacity of Hope, named after President Barack Obama’s book, was blocked by a vessel of the Greek coast guard.

After the members of the American delegation were warned that their ship would be taken over by force they agreed to sail back to port, shadowed by the coast guard vessel.

Gaza flotilla prevented from leaving Greek port: The Observer

Campaigners accuse Israel of ‘outsourcing’ its blockade as Greek coastguard stops flotilla sailing from Athens

Greek police contain Gaza flotilla activists protesting against the blockade of their boats at Athens. Photograph: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images
Greece has banned all ships in the Gaza-bound “freedom flotilla” from leaving port, dealing a further blow to activists trying to break Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian territory.

Greek authorities said an international group of vessels planning to sail from its ports and deliver aid to the Gazan population would be stopped, a move that lends the support of the Prime Minister, George Papandreou’s administration to Israel’s contentious four-year naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

An American boat participating in the flotilla was forced to return to shore after it tried to defy the ban and set sail from Athens on Friday. The Audacity of Hope was turned back by the Greek coastguard. Passengers claim Greek commandos pointed machine guns at those on board to stop the boat reaching open water.

Campaigners accused Israel of “outsourcing” its blockade to Greece. “Greece sold its body to the banks and its soul to Israel and the United States,” flotilla activist Dror Feiler told Israeli news outlet Ynet. “I don’t think – I know – that Israel and US pressure caused this.” Hamas also condemned the Greek decision, describing it as “inhumane” and “contrary to international regulations and norms”.

The Greek announcement is the latest in a series of setbacks for the organisers of this summer’s flotilla, which comes just over a year after a similar mission ended in the deaths of nine activists following the boarding of their boat by Israeli military forces. Participants claim that two of the 10 ships in the flotilla had been sabotaged by Israeli agents – a claim Israel dismissed as “ridiculous”.

The Israeli government has described the flotilla as an act of anti-Israeli provocation rather than an attempt to convey much-needed aid to Gaza’s 1.6 million inhabitants, who have lived under an economic blockade since Hamas took control of the territory in June 2007.

However, Israel has been embarrassed by the release of an anti-flotilla video which was later exposed as an elaborate hoax.

The U.S. may be heading toward talks with Hamas: Haaretz

Perhaps U.S. dialogue with Hamas is not as far-fetched as current American policy toward the group makes it seem.
By Zvi Bar’el
How would Israel respond if a “senior American official” were to declare that the United States was prepared to speak with Hamas leadership?

Don’t be alarmed just yet. The United States still maintains its policy of not speaking with Hamas, yet last week America did lift its ban on speaking with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. From this point on, there’s no need for meetings in a dark alley. Official American representatives can talk with any member of the Brotherhood. Washington has not acted prematurely. The Egyptian army and the temporary Egyptian government, along with the majority of presidential candidates in Egypt, view the Brotherhood as an integral part of society and politics in Egypt. The announcement by one of its leaders, Abdel Moneim Abu al-Fotouh, that he intends to run for president, was not seen as an unusual step in Egypt.

“There will not be free, just elections in Egypt unless we agree to speak with persons who are part of the democracy,” said Edward “Ned” Walker, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel. While Israel hides its smirks over pictures of the broken propeller on one of the flotilla ships, and while it threatens to wage war against a few hundred citizens of the world who want to challenge its “sovereignty” in Gaza, Washington has decided suddenly to pursue realistic diplomacy.

The decision should come as no surprise. An American administration that engages in a dialogue with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which had a political discussion with terror organizations in Iraq, and which cooperates with a Lebanese government that includes Hezbollah members, does not need to make excuses when it holds meetings with an Islamist movement that takes part in Egyptian politics, even if its ideology is radical.

Those alarmists who search for a “tsunami” can view this as the first wave. That is because the Muslim Brotherhood is the mother organization of Hamas, and the next question that will arise is why America shouldn’t speak with Hamas. After all, Hamas is an integral part of Palestinian politics and society, and has also won a decisive majority in election balloting; and now, after its reconciliation with Fatah, Hamas will vie in the next Palestinian parliamentary elections. The official excuse for a no-discussion policy is that Hamas has not denounced terror as a means of attaining political objectives, and that it also does not recognize the state of Israel – neither as a Jewish state nor as a state at all. At first glance, these are compelling justifications. Yet the Muslim Brotherhood does not exactly view Israel as the Jewish state either. The Muslim Brotherhood does not uphold terror, but it does not view the armed Palestinian struggle as terror. Rather, the Muslim Brotherhood sees it as a liberation struggle against occupation. And if terror is the yardstick, how can Washington justify its cooperation with the Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah, a group listed by the United States as a terror organization?

The contradictions in U.S. foreign policy are not the key point. Instead, the crux of the matter is the way Washington is drawing its new map of enemies and friends. To be precise, the United States isn’t drawing the map – instead, developments in the Arab world are compelling America to revisit its policy in the region. What has been happening in Cairo, cities in Syria, and in Bahrain does not stem from planned American policy; these are venues where American policy is refashioning itself, and those who claim that policy will soon be compelled to reconsider their position on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Washington defines enemies and friends not just for itself; its foreign policy positions become a road map for other countries of the world. The “threat” posed to Israel has to do with this fact. Suddenly, it is becoming clear to the American government that Mahmoud Abbas is not cowering under pressure to not turn to the UN for statehood recognition. It is becoming clear that the internal Palestinian rapprochement agreement has been signed despite U.S. opposition, and that Hamas will be a cornerstone in any diplomatic process. What will Washington do when Palestinian elections are held? Should it boycott the Palestinian parliament or the new Palestinian government? Should it ostracize the new Palestinian president if that president belongs to Hamas? Hamas, after all, is “part of the democracy.” Perhaps America will try to preempt a diplomatic debacle, and will reach out to talk with Hamas before the elections so that it can conduct a dialogue with the organization after the polling? The Gaza flotilla is soon likely to appear a pleasure cruise compared to the American diplomatic flotilla, which has disembarked in Egypt. But why fret about this right now, when we can ponder the Gaza flotilla carnival?

Greece arrests captain of US Gaza-bound boat: Al Jazeera Engliash

Officers detain captain of US ship bound for Gaza over ship’s “seaworthiness” and for jeopardising passengers’ safety.

The captain of a US ship bound for Gaza has been arrested by Greek authorities for a felony after being brought before a prosecutor, activists have told Al Jazeera.

The boat, which is part of a Freedom Flotilla aiming to break Israel’s blockage of the Palestinian territory, set sail on Friday from the Greek port of Perama was towed back to shore by the Greek coast guard.

Jane Hirschmann, a member of “Jews Say No!” and national organiser for the boat, dubbed The Audacity of Hope, said the captain was being held in police custody and is due to appear in court on Tuesday.

Greece’s coast guard said on Saturday that the captain of the Audacity of Hope faces charges of trying to leave port without permission and of endangering the lives of the boat’s passengers.

Adam Shapiro, an International Flotilla committee organiser, speaking from Athens, told Al Jazeera: “The captain has been charged with a felony. Initially it [the charge] was a misdemeanour, but it has been upgraded to a felony.”

The US boat is one of nine vessels carrying several hundred activists attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

“The ship itself is currently in a naval compound, where it is being detained,” Shapiro said.

“This is totally a political manoeuvre, nothing illegal about his mission. This has been orchestrated by the Israeli government and probably the US government,” Hirschmann said.

“We are being tied up in all types of administrative deals.”

Some of the passengers on the US ship have remained on board in solidarity with the jailed captain, Shapiro said.

On June 24, an anonymous complaint was filed against the ship’s “seaworthiness”. The Israel Law Centre (Shurat HaDin), took responsibility for the complaint in the Israeli media.

‘Conspiracy theories’
The Greek government put out a statement on Friday confirming that the Greek coast guard had enforced a decision by civil defence authorities to prevent all flotilla vessels from leaving Greek ports.

Greece’s civil protection ministry said coast guard authorities had been ordered to take “all appropriate measures” to implement the ban.

“By orders of the Hellenic Coast Guard Head Quarters to all local Hellenic Coast Guard Authorities, all appropriate measures are taken for the implementation of the said decision,” the statement on the website of the Greek embassy in Washington said.

Shapiro said: “We [the International Flotilla committee], however, will continue to challenge this [the Greek ban] and we are challenging it this weekend politically.

“We have people working in the political scene here in Greece to put pressure. We are working on the legal options and we intend to sail still to Gaza.”

Activists accuse Israel of damaging two other ships docked in Turkey and Greece that are part of a flotilla attempting to reach the Palestinian territory with humanitarian aid.

Yigal Palmor, Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson dismissed the sabotage charges on Saturday as “ridiculous,” calling them “sad conspiracy theories”.

Some journalists and activists on board an Italian-Dutch ship,the Stefano Chiarini , which also plans to take part in the flotilla, decided to leave on Saturday, while others were considering plans to protest against the Greek decision.

“Morale is low, really low. It is hard when plans keep changing all the time,” Ewa Jasiewicz, a co-ordinator with the Free Gaza movement on board the boat, told Al Jazeera.

Some of the activists have been on the ship, which is docked at a port on the Greek island of Corfu, for over a week and are now planning to abandon the group to “attend to their daily lives”, according to Khaled Turaani, a leading activist on the boat.

‘Pressing issues’
Turaani said he understood why some of the activists had taken the decision to abandon the group.

“It is not out of lack of commitment. They need to return to pressing issues related to their work,” he said.

“This is not defeat. If every single activist would leave this morning, I believe the Freedom Flotilla has already served its purpose; namely, to expose the reality of the blockade on Gaza.”

On Saturday, Turaani briefed the thinning group of activists about their options following the Greek blockade.

Turaani said there might still be a possibility to set sail with permission from the Greek authorities if the group changes the destination of the flotilla to the Egyptian port town of Al-Arish, near the Gaza border.

“Diverting the flotilla to Gaza in international waters is then a possibility,” Turaani said.

“The Greeks are doing the bidding of the Israelis, but they should not also start diving into our conscience, and preemptively decide on what we might do.”

The activists on Corfu have now decided to wait until Tuesday in hopes of a Greek reversal of their decision to block to the flotilla.

The remaining activists are discussing holding a protest on the ship without actually leaving the port.

“If they try to stop us we will show some civil disobedience,” Turaani said.

Hamas reaction
Hamas, the Palestinian movement which controls Gaza, denounced Greece on Friday for intercepting The Audacity of Hope.

In a statement issued by its political leadership in Damascus, Hamas described the action as “inhumane” and said Greece had played into Israeli hands.

“This is inhumane action, is contrary to international regulations and norms,” it said in a statement.

“Barring this aid from reaching the Gaza Strip is done as a result of pressure imposed by the Zionist occupiers [Israel].”

Hamas also called on the EU parliament and human rights organisations “to put pressure on the Greek government” to allow the flotilla to set sail to Gaza.

With multiple ships disabled, Gaza flotilla organizers regroup in Greece: Haaretz

Irish group pulls out of flotilla due to alleged sabotage, for which they are blaming Israel; others are getting ready to receive the call instructing them to start sailing.
GREECE – With two ships sabotaged – the Irish ship is in no condition to sail and the Swedish-Greek-Norwegian Giuliano is still being repaired – the impulse is to depart from port and wait for the rest at sea, along with the French ship that sailed Saturday. This is also the wish of all those on the Tahrir, the Canadian ship with its 50 passengers.

The backpacks allowed on deck are half-packed, in a state of near readiness. The lists of telephone numbers are ready, in case there’s a need to rush for a quick departure.

Psychologically people are getting ready to receive the call at three in the afternoon or two in the morning, and they know who they have to call in turn.

The strict instructions are not to be more than a 20-minute walk from the hotel. And certainly not to dream about taking a tour bus to ancient Greek sites, to climb a mountain or to risk inhaling tear gas during a demonstrations in Athens. But these instructions have been in place for days, so the fact that they appear in print is not enough to hint at a time of departure.

At the Athens press conference the flotilla organizers held on Monday, some journalists insisted on being told where the ships are. But the sabotage proved how logical it was to refuse to answer the question.

In both case of sabotage what was targeted were the rods connecting the propeller shaft to the engine. Two more points for those who present the flotilla as a declaration of war.

For the Giuliano, a routine inspection while it was in port revealed the sabotage, but the sabotage of the Irish ship Saoirse (freedom ) was discovered while it was being tested at sea, not far from the Turkish port where it was anchored. The crew found that something was wrong. The crew’s assessment is that the sabotage was not meant to prevent their departure but to worsen at sea. That way, the lives of the passengers and the crew would be endangered.

Due to the seriousness of the damage, the Irish group is finding it difficult to pay for the repairs.

“Israel is trying to outsource the siege on Gaza to Greece and the U.S.,” said Dror Feiler at the press conference. In other words, it turns other countries into collaborators in the imposition of the siege by blocking the flotilla – with warnings, threats, bureaucratic delays and adopting a “provocation” narrative. It seems like the participants in the flotilla are undergoing a process of “Gaza-tization.” They are willingly experiencing, for a few days, some of the characteristics of life under siege in the Gaza Strip. They are tied up against their will within a limited radius of several kilometers. Their plans are repeatedly foiled by superior forces. Their clearance to depart has been canceled, and they are waiting for it to be renewed.

One of the participants in the flotilla is Mohammed Hamou, 29, a teacher of history, math and English as a second language at a high school in Canada and an instructor on religion at a university in Ontario.

“Are you not concerned about how the Israeli authorities will treat you because of your name?” I asked him.

“I would hope not. I hope to be treated as a Canadian citizen, a citizen of the world, and even asking this question should make us reflective about the treatment of non-Westerners in Israel,” he said.

About 1,000 Muslims study at the University of Western Ontario, where he serves as their chaplain. His mother was born in Lebanon, and her family emigrated there in the 1950s. His father was born in Syria. He was born in Canada.

“Why are you on the ship?”

“As a conscious citizen of the world, who wants to assist the people who are in need and also to help guide governments of this world, I feel they are not doing enough. And therefore the citizens should stand up.”

Israel is not the only class bully in the world, he says, so it’s important for citizens of the world to act together. “The Palestinians need help from the outside,” says Hamou.