Author: ISM Media Group

Free Gaza Movement is at sea again on the 8 mile limit off Gaza Harbour

For Immediate Release

SS Free Gaza, with six Palestinian fishermen’s boats, is 8-miles off the coast of Gaza, being circled by three Israeli Dabur naval vessels. No shots have been fired. The fishing boats are continuing to exercise their right to fish and have not turned round, but the Free Gaza has just now turned round (10.15 a.m.). The Oslo Accords allow Palestinian Gazans a 20-mile limit off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Currently the Navy is enforcing a 6 mile limit, so the Free Gaza Movement has broken that naval blockade, too.

Updates from Prof. Jeff Halper on a fishing boat (not on the Free Gaza): 0542 002 642 or Huwaida Arraf also on a fishing boat: 0599 130 426

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein – Media Team Free Gaza Movement – 0547-366 393 (www.freegaza.org)

Free Gaza Movement: On Monday morning, Human Rights Workers go to sea to fish

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

For Immediate Release

Gaza City, Gaza (24 August 2008) –

Two days after the SS FREE GAZA and the SS LIBERTY arrived to a jubilant welcome in Gaza, 20 to 25 of the human rights workers will go to sea with the fishermen in a show of support for their struggle to keep their industry productive.

According to a recent article in The Guardian, “in the 1990s, the Gazan fishing industry produced an annual income of around £5m. That had halved by 2007 and is still shrinking fast. Under the Oslo accords, which in 1993 were supposed to herald the coming of an independent Palestinian state, Gazan fishermen were to be allowed 20 nautical miles out to sea, where they could catch sardine as they migrated from the Nile delta up towards Turkey during the spring. But Israeli naval ships in recent years have imposed their own, much-reduced limits, sometimes less than 6 miles out.”

The group will leave in the very early morning and go to sea at least 7 to 8 miles off the Gaza coast. They will be on board two to three of the small fishing boats lining the shores of the Gaza port, making sure they and their international flags are prominent. They intend to stay at sea for several hours, providing protection for the men as they search for and catch the fish.

“What gives Israel the right to take away the livelihood of these fishermen, and why does the world allow them to destroy an industry that used to provide for thousands of Palestinians?” Said Greta Berlin, one of the five organizers of The Free Gaza Movement: “We intend to challenge that right, backed up by warships and machine guns, just as we challenged Israel’s right to prevent us from coming here on Saturday.”

The organizers feel that, since they sailed to Gaza with no interference from the Israeli military, they have established a precedent to press for the human rights of Palestinians, who want nothing more than to be free to make a living, go to school, and receive medical treatment.

For More Information, please contact:

(Gaza) Huwaida Arraf, tel. +972 599 130 426

(Gaza) Jeff Halper, tel. +972 542 002 642

(Cyprus) Osama Qashoo, tel. +357 99 793 595 / osamaqashoo@gmail.com

(Jerusalem) Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, tel. +972 547 366 393 / angela@icahd.org

Ynet: We hit a nerve, says leader of Gaza sail

Prof. Jeff Halper, only Israeli who took part in peace sail to Gaza, says idea came from realization that Israel, world governments sluggish about lifting blockade on Strip; adds restrictions on Gaza symptomatic of more than security needs

By Anat Shalev

To view original article, published on the 24th August, click here

Prof. Jeff Halper, a former anthropology lecturer at the Ben Gurion University and the head of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, was the only Israeli aboard the human rights boat which made its ways to the Gaza Strip shores on Saturday.

In a phone interview with Ynet, Halper spoke about the reasons which motivated him and other left-wing activists to try and break the siege on the Strip: “There are people here yearning to live in peace with us, yearning for freedom.

Gaza disappointment: Palestinian source tells Ynet local residents disappointed by small quantities of food brought in aboard leftist ‘peace boats’; some people left beach in disillusioned after realizing boats were mostly carrying activists
Full story

“All these restrictions, they’re not just for security reasons, they’re symptomatic to something much, much deeper.”

After years in the hub of anti-occupation and pro-peace activities, Halper decided to enlist the aid of some of his international peace activists’ associates and try and put the sail together.

The idea, he explained, was motivated by the notion that world governments in general and the Israeli government in particular, are not doing enough to lift the siege. His boat – an old Greek liner which was renovated and sailed to Cyprus – ended up hosting 43 peace activists from around the world.

‘Acting against injustice’

“I see this port, which was once so beautiful and is now is in shambles… I want to relay to people the life in Gaza, what it’s like for the people who live here,” he said.

The sail itself took about 36 hours. “We were pretty cut off (from the world) while we were on the boat. We were under the impression that it’s going to make headlines around the world.

“I felt a great since of responsibility and empowerment. A lot of people feel bitter in their everyday lives and here we felt we were doing something beautiful, acting against injustice. We felt we were on a mission… and by the response – we hit a nerve.”

Free Gaza Movement: Free Gaza boats arrive in Gaza

GAZA (23 August 2008) – Two small boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, successfully landed in Gaza early this evening, breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The boats were crewed by a determined group of international human rights workers from the Free Gaza Movement. They had spent two years organizing the effort, raising money by giving small presentations at churches, mosques, synagogues, and in the homes of family, friends, and supporters.

They left Cyprus on Thursday morning, sailing over 350 kilometers through choppy seas. They made the journey despite threats that the Israeli government would use force to stop them. They continued sailing although they lost almost all communications and navigation systems due to outside jamming by some unknown party. They arrived in Gaza to the cheers and joyful tears of hundreds of Palestinians who came out to the beaches to welcome them.

Two small boats, 42 determined human rights workers, one simple message: “The world has not forgotten the people of this land. Today, we are all from Gaza.”

Tonight, the cheering will be heard as far away as Tel Aviv and Washington D.C.

###

QUOTES FOR PUBLICATION

“We recognize that we’re two, humble boats, but what we’ve accomplished is to show that average people from around the world can mobilize to create change. We do not have to stay silent in the face of injustice. Reaching Gaza today, there is such a sense of hope, and hope is what mobilizes people everywhere.”

–Huwaida Arraf.

Huwaida is Palestinian-American, and also a citizen of Israel. She’s a human rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. In 2007 she received her Juris Doctor from American University in Washington D.C. Currently she teaches Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Al Quds University in Jerusalem. Huwaida sailed to Gaza aboard the SS Liberty.

“We’re the first ones in 41 years to enter Gaza freely – but we won’t be the last. We welcome the world to join us and see what we’re seeing.”

–Paul Larudee, Ph.D.

Paul is a cofounder of the Free Gaza Movement and a San Francisco Bay Area activist on the issue of justice in Palestine. He sailed to Gaza aboard the SS Liberty.

“What we’ve done shows that people can do what governments should have done. If people stand up against injustice, we can truly be the conscience of the world.”

–Jeff Halper, Ph.D.

Jeff is an Israeli professor of anthropology and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a non-violent Israeli peace and human rights organization that resists the Israeli occupation on the ground. In 2006, the American Friends Service Committee nominated Jeff to receive the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian intellectual and activist Ghassan Andoni. Jeff sailed to Gaza aboard the SS Free Gaza.

For More Information, please contact:

(Gaza) Huwaida Arraf, tel. +972 599 130 426

(Gaza) Jeff Halper, tel. +972 542 002 642

(Cyprus) Osama Qashoo, tel. +357 99 793 595 / osamaqashoo@gmail.com

(Jerusalem) Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, tel. +972 547 366 393 / angela@icahd.org

BBC: Activist boats reach Gaza Strip

To view original article, published by the BBC on the 23rd August, click here

Two boats carrying members of a US-based pro-Palestinian group have arrived in the Gaza Strip, despite an Israeli blockade of the territory.

Israel earlier said they would be let in, saying they would not be given the chance to have a “provocation at sea”.

The boats left the port of Larnaca in Cyprus on Friday morning.

The Free Gaza protest group said about 40 activists from 14 countries were on board the boats to highlight the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in June 2007 when the militant group Hamas took control of the territory by force.

Since then, Israel has allowed in little more than basic humanitarian aid as a means of isolating Hamas and persuading militant groups to stop firing rockets into Israel.

The closure of Gaza’s borders by the Israeli and Egyptian authorities has also meant that very few Gazans have been able to leave.

‘No provocation’

Before Free Gaza’s boats set sail on Friday, the Israeli foreign ministry had said they wanted the activists to steer clear of the Gazan coastline, which it said was “the subject of an [Israeli Navy] advisory notice” that warns off foreign vessels from the “designated maritime zone”.

But on Saturday, an Israeli spokesman said they would be allowed in.

“They wanted provocation at sea, but they won’t get it,” foreign ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron told the AFP news agency.

“We know who the passengers are and what they are bringing with them and so we have no problem letting them through.”

The two vessels – named Liberty and Free Gaza – are carrying 200 hearing aids for children and 5,000 balloons.

“No matter what happens we have already achieved our goal by proving that ordinary citizens with ordinary means can mobilise a defence of human rights for Palestinians,” organiser Paul Larudee told the AFP news agency.

“We want people to see the Palestinian problem as one of human rights, not feeding them rice,” he added.

The activists on board the boats include Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of UK former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now an international Middle East peace envoy. Also on board is left-wing Greek MP Tasos Kourakis.

Israel withdrew its settlers from Gaza in 2005, but it still controls its coast, airspace and borders, and, until a ceasefire with Hamas was agreed in June, carried out regular military operations in the territory.

However, correspondents say the truce has not improved the situation for Gaza’s population, except to reduce the number of Israeli incursions and the number of rockets fired by Palestinian militants.