Tag: Vittorio Arrigoni

Palestinian fishermen still being held by Israeli authorities, three internationals fighting deportation with at least one engaging in a hunger-strike

18th November – British politicians, MP Clare Short and Baronness Jenny Tonge, both issue statements regarding the arrests made by Israeli forces today

The fifteen Palestinian fishermen abducted from Palestinian waters this morning (10am 18th November) are still being held by Israeli authorities in Ashdod, while their boats have been confiscated. Legal proceedings were initiated today that petition for their immediate release.

The three international Human Rights Observers who were arrested while accompanying the fishermen have been taken to Ben Gurion detention facility as Israeli authorities starting deportation proceedings. Andrew Muncie, a British citizen who was one of the three internationals arrested has made it clear that he will non-violently resist any attempt to deport him and that he is engaging a hunger-strike until all fifteen of the Palestinian fishermen are released.

The status and plans of the other two international Human Rights Observers arrested, American citizen Darlene Wallach and Italian citizen Vittorio Arrigoni, are not yet known.

This action comes after international journalists have been denied access into Gaza due to the current siege.

British MP Clare Short has made this statement in regards to today:

” If there is to be any hope of peace in the Middle East, international law must be upheld. This means that the siege of Gaza must be lifted and the constant attacks by the Israeli navy on Gazan fishermen halted. Those who have been arrested must be released and the UK must insist that these illegal attacks on Gazans, fishing peacefully within their own water must cease”

Baroness Jenny Tonge said:

“The time has come for the international community, and especially the European Union to take action against Israel’s consistent breaking of international law. The EU-Israel Association Agreement should be suspended until Israel complies with this law.

It was only last week that I personally met with the fishermen whose boats are illegally water-cannoned and fired upon by Israeli gunboats as they peacefully fish in Gaza waters. The fishermen and human rights observers who were today taken unlawfully by Israel should be released immediately.”

To view original press release from the abductions today by the Israeli navy click here

Fifteen Palestinian fishermen and three internationals abducted from Palestinian waters off the coast of Gaza

Gaza City, 10 a.m.- Fifteen Palestinian fishermen and 3 international Human Rights Observers (HRO’s) were surrounded by the Israeli Navy and taken from their boats 7 miles off the coast of Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip.

The fishermen and the HRO’s were transferred from 3 separate boats to the Israeli warships. Other Palestinian fishermen reported that the 3 boats were seen being taken north by the Israeli Navy.

The Human Rights Observers are Andrew Muncie, a Scottish British citizen, Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian citizen, and Darlene Wallach, an American citizen. They have been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) since they entered Gaza on ships with the first Free Gaza Movement voyage on the 23rd August 2008. All internationals have previous experience working with the ISM in the West Bank.

Fellow activists have been unable to establish contact with the HRO’s or with the fishermen since they were abducted.

Since their arrival, the ISM volunteers have been regularly accompanying Palestinian fishermen who are regularly attacked by Israeli navy vessels from as little as 3km from shore. They have regularly filmed Israeli forces using live ammunition, shells and water cannons against unarmed fishermen.

When confronted by the Israeli Navy, the boats were 7 nautical miles from the shore of Deir al Balah, well within the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994.

With regular claims that from the Israeli government that it has ‘disengaged’ from Gaza, these patrols and attacks from the Israeli navy, regularly occuring from as little as 3 miles from shore, represent a clear signal of the continuation of occupation of Gazan territory as well as regular breaches of the current cease-fire.

Over 40,000 people in Gaza make a living from the fishing industry, yet this community has been decimated by Israeli restrictions on fishing rights and the prevention of fuel from reaching the Gaza Strip.

According to the Fishing Syndicate in Gaza, fishermen need 40,000 litres of fuel and 40,000 litres of natural gas each day to operate throughout the high fishing season.

Starting in April each year, there is a migration of fish from the Nile Delta to Turkish waters which Palestinian fishermen have traditionally relied upon. Yet Israel limits fishing 6 miles from the Gaza shore and regularly attacks those who venture further than 3 miles – over 70 fishermen were arrested last year by the Israeli forces. The large schools that form the migration are usually found 10 miles from shore. The average catch of fish was over 3000 tons a year in the 1990’s, now it is around 500 tons directly due to the Israeli siege of Gaza.

Also, the water in which the fishermen of Gaza sail in is now receiving 50 million litres of sewage per day because the people of Gaza have no alternative due to the lack of power supplies to sewage treatment facilities.

ISM Rafah: Italian activist injured by Israeli navy off Gaza coast

Two Gazan fishing boats with international human rights workers on board were repeatedly attacked by 2 Israeli gunboats while they were trying to exercise Palestinian people’s right to fish in the Palestinian waters.

One of the Israeli gunboats was using a water cannon to throw water with high pressure while the other one was randomly firing shots of live ammunition close to the fishing boats. The attack with the water cannon was extremely dangerous. The Israeli navy was trying to throw the Palestinian fishermen and the international human rights workers in the sea. The high pressure water was damaging the old boats and people on board had to avoid not only the water but also wooden pieces, shattered glass and others objects that were flying off the deck. The Israeli navy was deliberately targeting the wheelhouses of the fishing boats, smashing the windows, making holes and nearly demolishing the walls and destroying equipment. In the same time it was preventing the captains from steering the vessels and the fishing to take place.

An Italian activist was injured. Vittorio Arrigoni was hit by flying glass when the water canon smashed the glass surrounding the wheelhouse of the boat, with shards lacerating Vittorio’s back. He was been taken to hospital immediately upon reaching shore, requiring ten stitches.

During the water cannon attacks, Palestinian fishermen were trapped behind the machines or even inside the engine room without being able to move for a long time.

During the most severe water cannon attack, a Palestinian fishing boat was trapped between the 2 Israeli gunboats without any possibility to change course. Fact that indicates that the intention of the Israeli navy wasn’t just to push the fishing boats back to the coast but to damage them and harm the people on board.

The Israeli navy persecuted the Gazan fishing boats even inside the 6 miles zone that Israel illegally and seemingly arbitrarily has imposed as the area where Palestinian fishermen are supposed to be free to fish. This zone is far to small to supply the Gaza-strip and give work to the 40.000 Gazan people once involved in the fishing industry.

The two fishing boats suffered damages, part of their equipment was thrown in the sea along with part of their fishing catch.

Free Gaza Movement: Israeli naval vessels firing on unarmed fishing boats and Human Rights Workers

For Immediate Release

(OFF THE COAST OF GAZA) 1 September 2008 – Israeli Naval vessels are currently firing on unamrmed Palestinian fishing boats and international
human rights workers off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The fishing boats are several miles off the coast of Gaza City, in Palestinian territorial
waters. As of 11am (4am EST) no one had been injured, but live ammunition is still being fired in the direction of the civilian boats.

The unarmed boats went to sea at dawn this morning, in an attempt to fish in their own water. Six international human rights workers from five different countries accompanied the fishermen in the hopes that their presence would deter the Israeli military from firing on the fishermen. In the past the Israeli military has shot and killed unarmed Palestinian fishermen for trying to fish in their own waters.

Accompanying the fishermen are:
Vittorio Arrigoni, Italy
Georgios Karatzas, Greece
Adam Qvist, Denmark
Andrew Muncie, Scotland
Donna Wallach, USA
Darlene Wallach, USA

PLEASE INFORM THE MEDIA IMMEDIATELY, CALL YOUR EMBASSIES IN TEL AVIV, AND CALL THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT. TELL THEM TO STOP FIRING UPON UNARMED FISHERMEN AND UNARMED HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS.

CALL:
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Tel. +972 2 530 3111
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv – +972 3 725 1222
The US Embassy in Tel Aviv – +972 2 625 5755

Free Gaza Movement: Human Rights Workers to accompany Gaza fishermen on Monday

GAZA CITY (1 September 2008) – Human Rights Observers from the Free Gaza Movement and the International Solidarity Movement launch campaign to monitor Israeli naval aggression against Gazan fishermen.

According to a recent article in The Guardian, “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 fewer than 6 miles out.” Israel enforces these arbitrary limits with lethal violence. Many fishermen have either been killed or injured as a result. Just 3 days ago 4 such fishermen were attacked and “arrested” by Israeli gunboats.

This Monday morning, human rights workers from the Free Gaza Movement will accompany fishermen from Gaza City as they venture out to assert their right to fish their own coastal waters. The aim of these internationals will be to record and document the continued harassment of the Palestinian fishermen, and the arbitrary attacks and threats to which they are subjected. It is hoped that their presence will also act as some form of deterrent to these abuses.

The scope of the campaign extends beyond Gaza City all the way along Gaza’s coast. Human Rights Workers may be present on any Gazan fishing boat, at any time from this point onward. The boats on which they are present will not be specially marked.

For more information, please contact:
Gaza: Vittorio Arrigoni, +972 598 826 516
Gaza: Donna Wallach, +972 598 896 420 / FriendsOfGaza@gmail.com
Cyprus: Osama Qashoo, +357 97 793 595 / OsamaQashoo@gmail.com