Month: September 2011

Trial over murder of pro-Palestinian activist begins in Gaza

9 September 2011 | Haaretz

Four surviving defendants charged with kidnapping and murder of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni; court proceedings postponed until September 22.

The trial of the four surviving defendants allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of Italian journalist and International Solidarity Movement activist Vittorio Arrigoni began on Thursday in a Gaza military court, the ISM website reported.

Arrigoni was abducted earlier this year by members of the Monotheism and Holy War group in Gaza. The group initially claimed in a video that they would free the activist if Hamas would release one of their leaders whom they had arrested.

However, Arrigoni’s body was found hanging in the home of a Palestinian militant in the Gaza strip, mere hours after he was reportedly kidnapped.

The hearing began on Thursday morning and was open to the public. The four defendants, Abu Ghoul, age 25, Khader Jram, age 26, Mohammed Salfi, age 23, and Hasanah Tarek, age 25, appeared to be in good health at the hearing, the report said.

Attorneys from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which holds power of attorney for Vittorio’s family in Bulciago, Italy, requested that they be allowed to take part in the trial, the report said.

The presiding military judge Abu Omar Atallah denied the request, saying that Palestinian military law does not allow third-party-participation in criminal trials. However, he said that the case and its files would remain open to PCHR and the public, the website said.

The prosecution reportedly then introduced evidence that the defense counsel claimed had not been previously available to them, and requested that they be given time to revise their legal strategy, the report said.

Prosecutors asked Atallah to postpone the testimony from their witnesses, the report said, requesting further time to prepare, The defense objected to this request, saying that the testimony had been scheduled to begin on Thursday.

The judge took both the prosecution and the defense’s requests into account, scheduling the next hearing for September 22, the report said.

Vittorio Arrigoni trial, day one

8 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

The trial of four surviving defendants in the April 14 kidnapping and murder of Italian journalist and International Solidarity Movement activist Vittorio Arrigoni began today in a Gaza military court.

The hearing, which began at 10:30 am, was open to the public. Two International Solidarity Movement members, along with a number of Vittorio’s Palestinian and international friends, observed it.

It was held in a light, airy hall in Gaza’s military court compound. The four defendants, Abu Ghoul, age 25, Khader Jram, age 26, Mohammed Salfi, age 23, and Hasanah Tarek, age 25, appeared to be in good health, occasionally smiling or waving to family in the courtroom.

Proceedings began with a request by attorneys from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), which holds power of attorney for Vittorio’s family in Bulciago, Italy, that they be allowed to participate in the trial.

Military judge Abu Omar Atallah responded that while Palestinian military law does not allow for participation in criminal trials by third parties, the case and its files would be open to PCHR as well as the public.

After the PCHR attorneys moved their chairs from the front of the courtroom back into the public seating, prosecutors attempted to introduce the video contents of a compact disk, as well as a forensic report on the crime scene, as evidence.

The defense counsel responded that the prosecution had not yet made these materials available to them, and that they would need time to review them before deciding on their legal strategy.

Prosecutors also asked that testimony from their witnesses be postponed to allow them further time to prepare. The defense counsel objected, noting that testimony had been scheduled to begin today.

Taking these positions into account, Atallah opted to allow time for the preparation of witnesses by the prosecution, and the review of evidence by the defense. Before adjourning the court at 11:30 am, he scheduled its next hearing for Thursday, September 22.

Retired professor on epic voyage to honor USS Liberty dead

7 September 2011 | Arab News

GAZA: A retired college professor from the US state of Texas who has sailed approximately 8,000 miles to the eastern Mediterranean in an epic voyage, is heading toward his destination — the exact location where Israeli forces tried to sink a US Navy ship in 1967, killing or injuring over 200 American servicemen.

Larry Toenjes, 74 years old, will remain 12 miles off the coast of Gaza in international waters, where the attack took place.

He is planning to hold a memorial service for those killed on board the ship, the USS Liberty, on Thursday.

Toenjes, who departed from Galveston, Texas, almost four months ago, in a 39-foot sailboat, is accompanied by Marine veteran Rusty Glenn, a veteran who joined him in Malta.

While there has been concern that Israel might interfere with their voyage as it has other boats in the Mediterranean, ramming and hijacking some, so far Israel seems to be ignoring the voyage.

Israel shelled and torpedoed the ship, an electronics surveillance ship, in an attack that lasted as long as the attack on Pearl Harbor.

While Israel and its partisans have tried to claim that the attack was “a mistake,” a 2003 inquiry by an independent commission led by a retired four-star Navy admiral, announced on Capitol Hill that all the evidence indicated that the attack had been intentional and  consisted of an act of war against the United States by Israel.

The panel also said that it found that a cover-up had been ordered by the White House.

In addition, the commission found that rescue flights had been recalled by President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. While almost no media covered the Capitol Hill briefing, a full record of its findings are in the Congressional Record and Stars and Stripes military newspaper.

In a column published by the Galveston News, Toenjes explained that he was undertaking the voyage for two primary purposes: To honor the men who died in service to their country and to try to draw attention to attempts by their surviving families and crewmates to obtain the full government investigation that is legally required but that has been blocked by the powerful Israel Lobby.

Toenjes’ trip is being tracked on the website of the Council for the National Interest (CNI).

When he arrives at his destination, the CNI website will stream live his memorial service, which will be carried by satellite phone to a radio program hosted by a Liberty survivor, Phil Tourney.

While the national media have ignored this voyage, Toenjes and Liberty survivors hope that the American public will learn about his undertaking by word of mouth, blogs, and social media.

National Building Museum cancels Caterpillar Inc. award ceremony!

7 September 2011 | Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

ACT NOW: Stop Rewarding Complicity in Human Rights Abuses Altogether!

Due to help and pressure from individuals and social justice groups across the country, the National Building Museum has informed us that it has canceled the public award ceremony to present Caterpillar Inc. with the 2011 Henry C. Turner Prize!

Thank you to all of you who contributed to this victory!  We are not stopping here!  We will continue this campaign to tell the museum to rescind the award.  Next week Craig and Cindy Corrie will hand deliver our petition to the National Building Museum urging them to rescind designation of the Henry C. Turner Prize until Caterpillar Inc. ends their complicity in human rights violations. We have already gathered over 5,300 signatures and 55 organizational endorsements, and we have one week left to build momentum!   

Help us turn this partial victory into a complete success by signing the petition, forwarding the call to action below to your contacts, encouraging your organization to endorse, and writing your personal letter to the Museum.   Thank you!

Statement for USS Liberty memorial service

7 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

This statement was submitted for tonight’s memorial service off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

We join Larry Toenjes, Joe and Sherrie Wagner, Rusty Glenn, and all supporters of the s/v Liberty in remembering the deaths of 34 USS Liberty servicemen killed by the State of Israel on June 8, 1967, and the wounding of 174 more.

As crew members of the Oliva, a civilian craft monitoring Israeli naval crimes against fishermen off the coast of Gaza, and as observers on board Palestinian fishing trawlers, we have observed, and at times endured, Israel’s unprovoked use of live gunfire, water cannons, and other military aggression against peaceful vessels. These violent attacks often produce lethal results.

We also remember the nine Turkish citizens, including one Turkish-American, killed on the MV Mavi Marmara by Israeli naval commandos during their May 30, 2010 aerial assault on the first Freedom Flotilla, and the brutality endured by survivors of this attack on a humanitarian mission.

As we mourn the casualties of this aggression, we call on the governments of the world to join the Republic of Turkey and the State of Qatar in imposing meaningful sanctions for Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity, and for global civil society to organize boycotts and divestments demanding Israel’s compliance with international law and respect for human rights.