At least 37 British citizens currently held by Israel are resisting attempts to deport them until all flotilla prisoners are released at the same time.
Israeli spokespeople have said all foreign activists will be deported by the end of the day.
However four Palestinian citizens of Israel among the activists have been remanded and face criminal charges. Free Gaza Movement activists say they will non-violently resist any attempts to deport them until all prisoners are released together.
Lawyers from Israeli civil rights NGO Adalah said that among the four charged are Ms. Lubna Masarwa of Al Quds University and Sheikh Raed Salah, the Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel (northern branch).
Israeli officials have prevented lawyers from speaking to the prisoners today, and there are fears they will be violently rushed onto planes and out of the country – possibly to Turkey. If they manage to do so, the Palestinian passengers will remain behind in prison.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said in Parliament today that Israel has blocked consular access to some of the British prisoners, with only 28 having been contacted so far
All of the activists were kidnapped in international waters during Israel’s raid on the flotilla of aid vessels from the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish NGO IHH in the early hours of Monday morning.
Israel is still refusing to release the names of the dead people, two days after the massacre. We still do not know the final death toll. Reports have ranged from nine to 19 dead.
It is believed that six were Turkish nationals. The nationalities of the rest are yet unknown.
The bodies of the Turkish dead will be flown home later today.
Two Irish deported, three remain in detention, including one wounded
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The MV Rachel Corrie
(1st June 2010, 3pm) Yesterday’s Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in which up to 19 human rights activists were murdered in international waters has not deterred the Irish cargo ship the MV Rachel Corrie which is currently en route to Gaza and hopes to arrive this Saturday. Meanwhile the fall-out from the attack has pressured Egypt into opening the Rafah Crossing.
In the Dail, an all party motion which calls upon the government to ensure the safe passage of the MV Rachel Corrie and calls for the blockade of Gaza to be lifted is expected to be passed at around 7pm this evening. The IPSC welcomes this motion and hopes the Israeli government will heed it.
The Rachel Corrie was slightly behind the rest of the flotilla due to having to dock in Malta to undergo some engine repairs. The crew and passengers – which include 5 Irish people – made the decision to continue their journey to deliver supplies and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza despite further threats from the Israeli military. The Irish on board are Denis Halliday, Mariead Maguire, Fiona Hamilton, Derek and Jenny Graham (bios below).
Speaking in support of the mission, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) spokesperson Freda Hughes said: “We commend this brave direct action taken by international activists, an action who’s significance has increased exponentially in both humanitarian and political terms since Israel committed yet another act of state terrorism by murdering 19 passengers on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and hijacking their aid flotilla, “
Ms Hughes continued: “The IPSC has been in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs urging them to take all measures necessary to ensure that Israel does not attack this ship and that it lets them bring their independently checked humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The government of Ireland has a clear duty to protect Irish citizens, uphold international law and help bring an end to the siege of Gaza. We welcome the the all-party Dail motion calling for the Rachel Corrie’s safe passge.”
Meanwhile, Shane Dillion, the kidnapped first mate of the Challenger II is on his way home after being deported from Israel. He will arrive in Ireland later today, but his family are asking that the media do not go to the airport. According to family, he will hopefully be available for media interviews sometime tomorrow. Isam Bin Ali, a Libyan-Irish citizen is also due to be deported.
Al Mahdi Al Harati, a wounded Libyan-Irish citizen remains in Israeli detention, as do Dr Fintan Lane of the IPSC and Fiachra O Luain.
Mr Al Harati’s wife Eftaima Al Najar today said: “I lost all contact with my husband four days ago and have been telling my four that he is on holiday. I have just got news that he is in an Israeli detention centre but have no news on if and when he will be released. We are of course, all extremely worried.”
The Irish Ambassador to Israel was due to meet with all the detainees this afternoon.
Speaking yesterday, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Michael Martin, said: “These people did not enter Israel illegally. They were essentially kidnapped from international waters, taken into Israel. And now they are being asked to sign a document almost confirming that they entered illegally. And we think that is unacceptable”.
Last night over 3,000 people attended a demonstration in Dublin against the unprovoked attacks by Israel where they heard from speakers Jack O’Connor (ICTU President), Aengus O Snodaigh TD, Chris Andrews TD, Senator Mark Daly, Lord Mayor of Dublin Emer Costello, Dr David Landy and Freda Hughes of the IPSC.
Addressing the rally at the Spire, Ms Hughes took Israel to task for its portrayal of events: “For the Israel PR machine to now attempt to brand a humanitarian mission to Gaza as an act of provocative violence is abhorrent. The irony is that for the Israeli state to sanction and carry out the murder of 19 international aid activists in international waters itself constitutes an act of state terrorism. This is not a conflict of equals and we must not believe the Israeli propaganda that would have us believe that the unarmed civilians on the Flotilla set out with the aim of attacking the fourth biggest military power in the world, namely Israel.”
Over the past two days there have been protests around the country in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Sligo, Kilkenny and Galway and further protests will occur over the coming days in Dublin, Wexford, New Ross, Kilkenny and Castlebar.
Bios for Irish on Board Rachel Corrie
Mairead Maguire (66) [Belfast, Ireland]
A Nobel Peace Laureate (l976) and Co-founder of Peace People, Northern Ireland, She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work for peace and a nonviolent solution to the Ethnic/political conflict in Northern Ireland. Mairead has travelled many times to the occupied territories of Palestine to support the nonviolent peoples’ movement for Human Rights, International Law, and Self Determination of the Palestinian people. Maguire was shot with a plastic bullet whilst participating with Palestinians/Israelis/Internationals in a peaceful protest March to the Wall in Bilin, in April, 2007. Mairead went on the maiden Voyage of Dignity in October, 2008, the second successful voyage for the Free Gaza Movement. She was also on Board ‘Spirit’ when Israel hijacked the Boat in International Waters, taking all 2l humanitarian passengers to Israel, where they were arrested, detained for a week in an Israeli prison and then deported.
Denis Halliday [Manhattan, NYC and Connemara, Ireland]
UN Assistant Secretary-General from 1994-98. Appointed by SG Boutros Ghali, he served as ASG UN Human Resources Management in New York and in mid 1997 to end 1998 as Head, Humanitarian Programme in Iraq to support the Iraqi people struggling under the genocidal impact of UN Sanctions. Prior to that, as a development manager, Halliday served UNDP from 1964-94 in Iran, New York Hqts, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Samoa, New York again and finally as head of the UNDP Regional Office in Thailand. Since resigning from the UN in 1998, Halliday has delivered numerous parliamentary briefings, provided extensive media inputs and has given public/university lectures on Iraq, human rights, and the UN, in particular its reform. He was a visiting professor at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and teaches/speaks at universities in Ireland, Canada, UK and USA. Halliday is a graduate of TCD, has an honorary PhD, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was awarded the UK Gandhi Peace Prize.
Derek Graham [Ballina, County Mayo]
Derek has been a qualified electrician for 20 years. He was a member of the reserve defence forces in Ireland for 21 years and was the first member of the reserves to make the Army sailing team. He has been sailing all of his life and is a crew member on the MV Rachel Corrie. He has participated in many previous Free Gaza boat trips to Gaza and has been on four of the five voyages that landed in Gaza. He is married to Jenny, who is also on the MV Rachel Corrie.
Jenny Graham [County Mayo]
A member of the Free Gaza Movement, Jenny has participated in previous boat trips to Gaza and is a member of the crew of the MV Rachel Corrie. She is married to Derek Graham.
Fiona Thompson [Dundalk]
Film maker
Contacts:
Family Members and MV Rachel Corrie passengers
Eftaima Al Najar (wife of Al Mahdi Al Harati): 087 9703605
Jim Lane (father of Fintan Lane): 087 2872374 / 021 4962993
Elanor Lamb (mother of Fiachra O Luain): 089 4185445
Denis Halliday (on board teh MV Rachel Corrie): 085 215 9477
Mairead Maguire (on board the MV Rachel Corrie): 0044 7736147713
International Solidarity Movement volunteers today expressed grave concern over the fate of wounded, imprisoned and missing flotilla activists.
The group said, with an information blackout from Israel preventing news of their plight reaching the media, speculation is mounting about the Internationals’ safety.
Theresa MacDermott (Scotland) Ewa Jasiewicz (Britain/Poland) and Caoimhe Butterly (Ireland) along with hundreds of other civilian passengers have not been heard from since before the Israeli attack on Monday morning.[1]
Israel has today refused Free Gaza lawyers permission to make contact with the human Rights defenders.
Sharyn Lock (England), founding member of The FreeGaza Movement and author of Gaza: Beneath the Bombs, said today:
“Through my experience volunteering with ambulances in Palestine, I know Israel regularly lets civilians die without allowing medical aid reach them.”[2]
She went on to say:
“It is deplorable that family and friends are being refused contact or information and we can only speculate as to their whereabouts and injuries.”
“We call on the EU member States to fulfil their obligation to protect the safety of human rights defenders.[3] We demand that Israel allows access to the injured and imprisoned immediately.” added Vittorio Arrigoni (Italy) who was himself injured by Israeli gunboats in 2008.
ISMers and former flotilla passengers Eva Bartlett (Canada) and Alberto Arce (Spain) are also waiting to hear from their missing colleagues.
“All of us are nonviolent activists who have personally come under fire from Israeli forces, and several of us have been wounded or detained. It is common for Israeli forces to open fire with live rounds on unarmed civilians, both Palestinian and Internationals.” said Eva, from Gaza.[4]
Human rights defenders in Gaza are attacked on a daily basis. Amongst them are Bianca Zammit (Malta), who was shot while accompanying farming families in Gaza on April 25th, 2010[5] and Adie Mormech (England),who was kidnapped and imprisoned after the FreeGaza boat The Spirit of Humanity was forcibly boarded by Israel on June 30, 2009.
All the ISMers mentioned in this release are available now for comment.
Vittorio Arrigoni (Italy, based in Gaza) +972 5977 50820
Eva Bartlett (Canada, based in Gaza) +972 5987 10648
Adie Mormech (England, based in Gaza) +972 5977 17696
Bianca Zammit (Malta, based in Gaza) +972 5975 89688
Alberto Arce (Spain) +0034 6556 50048
Notes
Ewa Jaciezicz is a freelance journalist. She and Caoimhe Butterly have trained as First Responder Medics. Theresa MacDermott is a postal worker.
Alongside flotilla passengers Caoimhe and Ewa, Eva Bartlett, Sharyn Lock, Alberto Arce, and Vittorio Arrigoni worked daily with Palestinian medics during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, with Eva and Alberto filming the shooting by an Israeli sniper of medic Hassan as he tried to retrieve a body. The footage taken by Alberto and Mohammed Rujailah became their award-winning film “To Shoot an Elephant” Alongside flotilla passenger Theresa MacDermott in 2008, Vittorio Arrigoni, Eva Bartlett, and Sharyn Lock came under regular fire as they accompanied unarmed Gaza fishermen, who are often shot at not only within three miles of the Gaza shore, but actually on the beach.
EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/GuidelinesDefenders.pdf
With related resources here:
http://www.ishr.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=189&Itemid=267
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/defenders/docs/Frontlinehandbook.pdf
Bianca Zammit received a gunshot to the thigh when Israeli soldiers fired on farming families, Gaza, 2010. Vittorio Arrigoni required ten stitches after Israeli gunboats attacked the fishing boats he was accompanying, Gaza sea 2008. Caoimhe Butterly recieved a gunshot to the thigh while rescuing Palestinian children, West Bank 2002. Sharyn Lock was shot in the stomach from an Israeli armoured personel carrier while walking backwards with her hands in the air, one of ten internationals injured, West Bank 2002.
Bianca says:
Israeli soldiers fire live ammunition at unarmed civilians, farmers and activists without any inhibition. On the day they shot me soldiers were shooting aggressively at the demonstrators. It was clear they had a policy of at least “shooting to injure”. I was filming and documenting when the bullet struck my leg. For me this was a clear message that Israeli soldiers do not hesitate to shoot at internationals but also that they feel threatened by our work.
[Cyprus – 1 June, 2010] The UN Security Council Calls for Impartial, Credible Investigation of Israeli Boat Raid. The raid in international waters, on the aid convoy headed to Gaza left at least 16 civilians dead. After an emergency session wrapped up in the early hours this morning, the council agreed to language condemning the acts that resulted in the deaths and injuries aboard the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara and the European Campaign’s vessel Spendoni.
The council called for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards. The council statement also reemphasized the importance of implementing U.N. resolution 1860, which calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance to Gaza’s 1.5 million residents. The flow of aid has been severely hampered by Israel’s three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, Israeli-licensed attorneys filed two habeas briefs: one is asking for to release the passengers and the boats, so we can continue on our way to Gaza, since it was illegal to stop us in international waters. The other one is asking for information on all of the passengers, because there has been a total blackout on where the passengers are, who was wounded and who was murdered.
Lawyers are only being allowed access for three hours every day from 13:00-16:30. They have the names of three Palestinians still in detention: Sheik Salah, Mohammad Zeidan and Lubna Marsawa.
Haneen Zuabi, a member of the Israeli Knesset, has been released, because she has immunity as a member of the Knesset. She held a press conference this morning in Nazareth to talk about the attack. She was on board the Mavi Marmara.
For more information:
Free Gaza Movement – Greta Berlin +357 99187275
Free Gaza Movement – Mary Hughes + 357 96 38 38 09
ECESG – Mazen Kahel +33 1 46 81 12 92
IHH – Ahmet Emin Dag +90 530 341 1934
[Cyprus – 1 June, 2010] The UN Security Council Calls for Impartial, Credible Investigation of Israeli Boat Raid. The raid in international waters, on the aid convoy headed to Gaza left at least 16 civilians dead. After an emergency session wrapped up in the early hours this morning, the council agreed to language condemning the acts that resulted in the deaths and injuries aboard the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara and the European Campaign’s vessel Spendoni.
The council called for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards. The council statement also reemphasized the importance of implementing U.N. resolution 1860, which calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance to Gaza’s 1.5 million residents. The flow of aid has been severely hampered by Israel’s three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, Israeli-licensed attorneys filed two habeas briefs: one is asking for to release the passengers and the boats, so we can continue on our way to Gaza, since it was illegal to stop us in international waters. The other one is asking for information on all of the passengers, because there has been a total blackout on where the passengers are, who was wounded and who was murdered.
Lawyers are only being allowed access for three hours every day from 13:00-16:30. They have the names of three Palestinians still in detention: Sheik Salah, Mohammad Zeidan and Lubna Marsawa.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is comprised of: Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, The Perdana Global Peace Organization, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza, with hundreds of groups and organizations around the world supporting the effort.
