Tag: Global Actions

To view the Free Gaza Website click here

Larnaca: The DIGNITY pulled into Gaza at 9:15 a.m. Gaza time after an uneventful trip from Cyprus. The 23 passengers and crew on board were tired but ecstatic that they’d arrived. The 11 members of various European parliaments, originally denied entrance through the Rafah border, had made the crossing by sea, courtesy of the Free Gaza Movement’s blockade-busting boat, the third trip for this human rights organization.

“I am here to assess the humanitarian situation in Gaza, especially the medical situation. We have medicine and some medical equipment to deliver,” said Baroness Jenny Tonge, one of the parliamentarians. “What Israel does is outrageous when it breaks all international laws. No other country is able to get away with what Israel does.”

In addition to delivering medical equipment and supplies, the DIGNITY carried mail from friends and family around the world addressed to Gaza residents. This is the first time in years that mail has reached Palestine without passing through Israeli hands.

The brilliant Israeli journalist Amira Hass was also on board. Watching passengers disembark, we could see the joy in her face as she came back to Gaza, having been denied entrance for two years.

Just before arriving in the waters of Gaza, an Israeli naval gunboat approached, cutting across the bow of the boat, then falling back and tracking it for about an hour. Finally, the gunboat radioed the DIGNITY and asked who they were and where they were going. After Huwaida Arraf responded, the gunboat asked for the passenger list. “Our passengers are listed on our Free Gaza website for everyone to see,” replied Ms. Arraf, “You’re welcome to visit it any time. And… while you’re there, feel free to make a donation.” After a pause, then a laugh, the voice on the other end said, “Have a nice day” and left the DIGNITY to glide into the port of Gaza to cheering crowds and a packed agenda for the Parliamentarians.

Contact: Mary Hughes, Cyprus +357 96 75 00 59
Greta Berlin, Cyprus: +357 99 08 17 67
Huwaida Arraf, Gaza: +970 599 130 426
Angela Godfrey Goldstein, J”lem: +972 547 366 393

The passenger list (see below) and biographies are posted at www.freegaza.org. Those present at the press conference on Monday at 2.00 p.m. at Ramattan Studios in Gaza will include:

Lord Nazir Ahmed, (Pakistan/UK),
Christopher Andrews, (Ireland),
Huwaida Arraf, (US),
Eva Bartlett, (Canada),
Nikolas Bolos, (Ireland),
Sami Moheildin Mohamed Elhag (Sudan),
Derek Graham (Ireland),
Amira Hass (Israel)
Denis Healey, (UK),
Pauline McNeill (Scotland),
Fernando Morena (Spain),
Mohamed Nacer, (UK),
Hugh O’Donnell, (Scotland, UK),
Aengus ÓSnodaigh, (Ireland),
Fernando Rossi, (Italy),
David Schermerhorn, (USA),
Rob Sharp, (UK) (The Independent),
Clare Short, (UK),
Dr. Arafat Shoukri, (Palestine, UK),
Rhodri Glyn Thomas, (Wales, UK),
(Baroness) Dr. Jenny Tonge, (UK),
Sandra White, (Scotland, UK),
Josef Zisyadis, (Switzerland)

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

Larnaca. When members of the Free Gaza Movement sailed to Gaza in August, several accompanied fishermen aboard their small boats. Israeli gunboats regularly confine these boats inside a 6-mile Israeli-imposed limit. Although international law allows every Mediterranean sea territory fishing rights 12-20 miles offshore, Israel ignores those laws and has killed at least 14 fishermen over the past few years.

“All we ever wanted to do was fish,” said one as he fixed his nets. “We can’t feed our families or make money doing what our ancestors have done for thousands of years.”

Over the next two months, internationals reported and video taped several incidents of machine-gun fire and water-cannon attacks. Around 8:00 am, on October 31, ten internationals joined the fishermen as witnesses. By 8:30, the two lead boats had passed the Israeli limit. “The second boat was about 100 yards away from us when it was attacked for 30 minutes by a high-pressure water cannon from an Israeli warship. The spray was so powerful you couldn’t even see the boat,” said David Schermerhorn.

Throughout the day, as the men continued to fish, boats were hit so severely by high-pressure water cannon that only makeshift shutters and mattresses prevented the wheelhouses from flooding and windows from exploding onto the men. Within minutes, the Israeli water-cannon boat was joined by another gunboat, machine gun mounted in back. The gunner blasted multiple rounds within a meter of the fishing boat. Despite continued machine-gun fire, water cannons and three Israeli gunboats circling like sharks, the fishermen stayed out 10-11 miles for a catch.

When Angela Godfrey-Goldstein called Shlomo Dror, Israeli Ministry of Defense spokesman, to tell the Navy to stop machine gunning barely a meter over the heads of fishermen and internationals, he accused the rights advocates of being provocateurs, terrorists, supporters of Hamas. “The people of Gaza have plenty of food. They don’t need to go fishing,” he snarled.

“When the Ministry of Defense learns that this voyage brings a delegation of European parliamentarians, maybe he will begin to “get it.” Average citizens of the world, even decision makers, are up in arms, non-violently, against the collective punishment, the state terrorism of the Israeli government. And we are restoring dignity to those abandoned human beings, just as we would have wanted to do in the past to others in other ghettoes” said Godfrey-Goldstein.

“I had only heard about these episodes before I came to Gaza. I can’t begin to tell you the horror these men face every day by bullies in the Israeli Navy,” added an outraged Schermerhorn. “What risks they take we don’t even know about. The good news was the fishermen were ecstatic when they pulled up the nets. It was one of the largest catches they had had in years.”

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

Larnaca: Tomorrow at 5:00 pm, the DIGNITY leaves for the third time for the shores of Gaza. This time, eleven past and current members of parliaments of Europe are on board, with Al Jazeera International and The Independent journalists.

These dignitaries were among the 53 Parliamentarians denied entrance by Egypt at the Rafah checkpoint. “Egypt did not allow us to enter Gaza via the Rafah terminal, but this will not stop us from visiting the area,” Lord Nazir Ahmad, head of the European delegates stated, “We will sail to Gaza, we are determined to break the siege”.

Ms Clare Short MP emphasized, “The Egyptian refusal to grant us access through Rafah Crossing is insulting to all of us, and Egypt should open the crossing now.”

They will be on a three-day fact finding tour organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the European Campaign to End the Siege as well as several of the organizations in Gaza who have worked with the Free Gaza Movement on the past two voyages.

On the past trips, Israel has threatened to stop the DIGNITY, arrest its passengers and tow the boat to Israel. The government has been silent on its plans this time, perhaps out of respect for the dignitaries on the voyage. Members of the two organizations stress that the DIGNITY has no intention of going anywhere near Israeli waters but will enter Gaza through its own coastal waters.

The port authorities have asked media to come between 3:30 pm and 5:00 pm Friday at Larnaca Port to see the boat leave and to conduct interviews.

The passenger list (see below) and biographies are posted at Free Gaza’s website, www.freegaza.org. Photos are freely downloadable here

Ahmed, Nazir (Lord) (Pakistan/UK), Andrews, Christopher (Ireland), Bartlett, Eva (Canada), Bolos, Nikolas (Ireland), Healey, Denis (UK), Elhag, Sami Moheildin Mohamed (Sudan), Graham, Derek (Ireland), McNeill, Pauline (Scotland), Morena, Fernando (Spain), Nacer, Mohamed (UK), O’Donnell, Hugh (Scotland, UK), ÓSnodaigh, Aengus (Ireland), Rossi, Fernando (Italy), Arraf, Huwaida (US), Sharp, Rob (UK), Schermerhorn, David (USA), Shoukri, Dr. Arafat (Palestine, UK), Short, Clare (UK), Thomas, Rhodri Glyn (Wales, UK), Tonge, Dr. Jenny (Baroness) (UK), White, Sandra (Scotland, UK), Zisyadis, Josef (Switzerland)