Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Byrnzie

Shame on Greece!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju ... m-flotilla

Greek coastguard forces Gaza 'freedom flotilla' vessel back to port

Canadian ship Tahrir part of international attempt to break Israeli blockade of Palestinian territory


Jack Shenker in Corfu
guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011


An attempt by one of the Gaza-bound "freedom flotilla" ships to defy the Greek government and escape from port was thwarted on Monday when armed coastguard officials caught up with the vessel and forced it back to shore.

On a day that activists had dubbed "make or break" for the international coalition of boats seeking to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, the Canadian ship Tahrir burst out of Agios Nikolaos port in Crete at 6pm local time after supporters blocked the coastguard with manned kayaks.

"We have left port [and] are full steam ahead – coastguard boat about 5-10 [minutes] behind us," announced passengers on the ship's official Twitter feed as they raced towards international waters. But the faster coastguard boat caught up with the Tahrir and prevented it from going any further.

"Our boat has just been illegally boarded by armed members of the Greek coastguard and commandeered against our will," Dylan Penner, a member of Tahrir steering committee, told the Guardian by phone from the ship's deck. "This is conclusive evidence that Israel's unlawful siege on Gaza has now been extended to Greece."

The captain of a US ship, The Audacity of Hope, was arrested after a similar failed attempt to flee the port in Athens last week.

The Greek government caused controversy on Friday when it banned all flotilla ships from leaving its ports, without explaining its reasons. Critics accused the beleaguered government of bowing to Israeli and US pressure and surrendering Greek sovereignty over its sea borders. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, thanked his Greek counterpart for helping to stamp out "anti-Israeli provocation".

The flotilla's last hope now appears to lie with the Stefano Chiarini, a Dutch-Italian vessel currently docked on the island of Corfu. Campaigners on the boat say they are expecting to get legal clearance to sail on Tuesday and believe they have local political support for their mission, a claim seemingly confirmed on Monday by the local governor.

Spiros Spirou, the provincial official in charge of the Ionian islands, told the Guardian that he "admires and supports the activists' struggle" and said he would make no attempt to stop the ship if it left harbour. "Greece loves peace, but at this moment it can't confront more powerful economic forces," claimed Spirou, adding that official attempts to tie the flotilla up in bureaucracy and paperwork were merely a pretext to preventing it from sailing at all.

"The ban has come from the ministries in Athens and I have no responsibility for it at all – I've tried to get in contact with them and get an explanation but I have not been able to get through," he said. "Right now Greece is in crisis and decisions have been taken at an international level."

Elsewhere, flotilla activists vowed not abandon their mission, despite the growing number of seemingly irreversible setbacks. "Everyone involved with this flotilla came with the determined intention to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza," said Penner. "This is not over yet."

vedder_soup

The Greek police are holding a family friend of mine without charge for attempting to block the coast guard from stopping the Tahrir from leaving port .

http://australiansforpalestine.com/47697
http://rabble.ca/news/2011/07/tahrir-ca ... oid-arrest

edit: Apparently he is facing a charge but not clear what it is

dimitrispearljam

i have no words :(

polaris_x

i am speculating that the economic hardships greece is encountering is related to this ... :(

Byrnzie

polaris_x wrote:

i am speculating that the economic hardships greece is encountering is related to this ... :(

Blackmail is alive and well in the 21st century.

dimitrispearljam

in the past there was no way to involve in this..now as it seems we will become worst than a whore..
i hope atleast they pay us well for our service..i doubt,but i hope

fife

dimitrispearljam wrote:

in the past there was no way to involve in this..now as it seems we will become worst than a whore..
i hope atleast they pay us well for our service..i doubt,but i hope

sad to say but no they won't be paying you well. they will give you a loan and make you pay it back.

usamamasan1

Free Gaza is but one tactic of a larger strategy, to transform this conflict from one between Israel and the Palestinians, or Israel and the Arab world...to one between the rest of the world and Israel...
Adam Shapiro, quoted by Melanie Phillips, The Flotilla and The Third Intifada

The above quote, of Adam Shapiro--a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement as well as a board member of the Free Gaza Movement which is behind the "freedom" flotilla, comes from a meeting last November at Rutgers university in New Jersey to raise money to fund an American flotilla boat. It is from a speech Shapiro gave, a video of which Melanie Phillips obtained.


I suppose we should thank Shapiro for his bluntness and honesty, seeing as other members of the flotilla continue to pretend to see themselves as a humanitarian group who want nothing more than to bring aid and relief to Gazan--who regularly receive literally tons of.aid from Israel on a regular basis that dwarfs what the flotilla claims to be doing.This is in addition to the fact that access to Gaza is readily available by land from Egypt.

Instead, Shapiro does not see the flotilla as a project to help Gazans. Instead its goal is to create a global conflict against Israel.

As if the conflict that Jews have faced around the world for centuries is not enough.

This is the context of the flotilla.
This is its agenda.
This is the point.
And this is what the supporters of the flotilla must be made to answer for

There can be no excuse for permitting Americans to involve the US flag in this. There is no “order” in the maritime environment without the exercise of authority by someone functioning, in essence, as a territorial sheriff. But the good news is that the enforcement of such order properly extends to preventing disorderly and escalatory acts by those operating under national flags. Individual governments are the highest authority, and in maritime terms, the US is chief among them. The Obama administration’s public passivity regarding the Americans in the flotilla and their US-flagged ship sends a significant and destructive signal about our posture on maritime order. It says we don’t care about it.

I figured in the spirit of the Moving Train, I would just cut and paste a long article that I found on google that defends my views.... :?

“The state of Israel is a friend and critical ally of the United States, and the only stable democracy in an increasingly unstable and hostile region,” wrote Perry, a vocal supporter of Israel who is considering a run for president in 2012. “These initiatives to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip is an unacceptable provocation.”

Under federal law, anyone who “prepares a means for, or furnishes the money for, or takes part in, any military or naval expedition” against a friendly country can be fined or jailed for three years. Perry also suggested that Holder prosecute the protesters for providing materials or assistance to a terrorist organization.

In his letter, Perry identified two of the ships as “The Audacity of Hope” and the “The Challenger II,” both of which he said were registered in Delaware. Perry also wrote that the ships will depend on U.S.-based Inmarsat for communications and navigation, suggesting that the organization could be held responsible for the protesters’ actions.

“I write to encourage you to aggressively pursue all available legal remedies to enjoin and prevent these illegal actions, and to prosecute any who may elect to engage in them in spite of your pre-emptive efforts,” Perry wrote.







The Perry

Idris

polaris_x wrote:

i am speculating that the economic hardships greece is encountering is related to this ... :(

indeed, it's directly related.

vedder_soup

My friend who was arrested is now free. was charged with obstructing the coast guard and recieved a suspended sentence.

Byrnzie

usamamasan1 wrote:

Free Gaza is but one tactic of a larger strategy, to transform this conflict from one between Israel and the Palestinians, or Israel and the Arab world...to one between the rest of the world and Israel...
Adam Shapiro, quoted by Melanie Phillips, The Flotilla and The Third Intifada

Shame you chose not to provide a link to this.

I'd really love to see this quote in it's proper, fuill context, without the use of ellipses that clearly serve to cut it up in a way which makes his comment look odious.

And by the way, you still haven't answered my question. Do you support the occupation and the continued building of Jewish-only settlements?

usamamasan1

Only way Israel can protect itself is by placing certain restrictions on Gaza. Hammas is a bunch of terrrorist bitches.


A "Kill-The-Jews-Flotilla" according to Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse.



“This is not a war between two entities over a piece of land, as it's sometimes cast, and it's not a normal war in terms of two parties who are actually clashing against one another with competing interests. This is a completely unilateral assault – and a very lop-sided assault. I don't think there has ever been as lop-sided a war in human history as the war currently being waged currently – meaning the last 60-odd years by the Arab world against Israel.”

gimmesometruth27

usamamasan1 wrote:

Only way Israel can protect itself is by placing certain restrictions on Gaza. Hammas is a bunch of terrrorist bitches.


A "Kill-The-Jews-Flotilla" according to Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse.



“This is not a war between two entities over a piece of land, as it's sometimes cast, and it's not a normal war in terms of two parties who are actually clashing against one another with competing interests. This is a completely unilateral assault – and a very lop-sided assault. I don't think there has ever been as lop-sided a war in human history as the war currently being waged currently – meaning the last 60-odd years by the Arab world against Israel.”

BWAHAHAHAHA

that was so funny i just spit my water out of my nose. thanks for posting that

whoever said that reminds me of some of the people who try to discuss the topic without knowing anything about the conflict. any rational person who does their research would take issue with most of or all of the underlined statements.

Byrnzie

usamamasan1 wrote:

Only way Israel can protect itself is by placing certain restrictions on Gaza. Hammas is a bunch of terrrorist bitches.

It's 'Hamas', not 'Hammas'.

Byrnzie

usamamasan1 wrote:

Only way Israel can protect itself is by placing certain restrictions on Gaza. Hammas is a bunch of terrrorist bitches.

Speaking of terrorism, do you support Israel's 40 year old military occupation, ethnic cleansing, and land-grab? Or are you simply just not able to answer this question owing to the fact that you know nothing about the subject?

gimmesometruth27

Byrnzie wrote:

usamamasan1 wrote:

Only way Israel can protect itself is by placing certain restrictions on Gaza. Hammas is a bunch of terrrorist bitches.

It's 'Hamas', not 'Hammas'.

i am guessing he supports the settlement expansion.

usamamasan1

get a room

or a flotilla.

Byrnzie

usamamasan1 wrote:

get a room

or a flotilla.

Byrnzie

usamamasan1 wrote:

Only way Israel can protect itself is by placing certain restrictions on Gaza. Hammas is a bunch of terrrorist bitches.


A "Kill-The-Jews-Flotilla" according to Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse.



“This is not a war between two entities over a piece of land, as it's sometimes cast, and it's not a normal war in terms of two parties who are actually clashing against one another with competing interests. This is a completely unilateral assault – and a very lop-sided assault. I don't think there has ever been as lop-sided a war in human history as the war currently being waged currently – meaning the last 60-odd years by the Arab world against Israel.”

Hey troll, If you like the above quotation then you should also check out the book 'Alice in Wonderland', as it also does a great job of turning reality on it's head.

usamamasan1

Funny how you and your buddy "truth" man are both calling me a troll...

Truth gotcha and it stings so you both resort to name calling. This is a serious discussion, not kindergarten.

Back on point

Israel’s dilemma is a bit like a homeowner who is confronted by a home invader in a country like Canada. If the homeowner does nothing, the intruder gets his silver; if he pulls a gun, the police get him for improper storage of a firearm — or worse. “You chambered a round, sir? You keep your ammunition in the same room as your weapon?”