At least 10 activists killed as Israel Navy opens fire on Ga

Video of the attack on the aid ships: http://www.israel-palestinenews.org/201 ... a-aid.html

Hitch-Hiker wrote:

Even if anything he says there is true, They still broke international law ans should face consequences. They won't unfortunately, The UN never really does anything in these situations.

Nothing he said was true. By all accounts the IDF stormed the ship shooting at those on board. And his claims that the goods on board were not meant for humanitarian use is a joke. Is suppose he wants to try and pretend that the wheelchairs on board were going to be used to attack Israel and push them into the sea.
And this attack occurred in international waters, and so technically speaking it was an attack on Turkish territory.

International Solidarity Movement

ISM London are horrified to learn that Israeli forces killed at least 10, and possibly as many as 19, unarmed peace activists this morning on board the lead ship of the Freedom Flotilla of aid to Gaza last night. The attack took place in international waters.

Many former ISM volunteers are part of the Free Gaza movement; some of them were our friends. Around 28 Britons are thought to be on board the ships and their fate is currently unknown. Almost everyone in ISM London knows someone on the ships. We are currently trying to get a definitive list of names. The names we have so far of UK people on board the flotilla, and presumably in Israeli custody right now:

Alexander Evangelou
Alex Harrison
Denis Healey
Ewa Jasiewicz
Theresa McDermott
Hassan Nowarah
Gehad Sukker

Free Gaza ships were filled with unarmed peace activists, politicians and ordinary people, and the Israeli propaganda that their commandos were attacked are patently absurd.

We?re not surprised that the attacks took place in International waters, or that they were a reckless, murderous over-reaction to unarmed ships carrying medical supplies and building materials.

Israel routinely meets non violent Palestinian protest with lethal violence.

There is a protest later today in London: at Downing Street from 2pm. Please come. UPDATE: PSC have called an earlier protest for 11am at the Foreign Office, King Charles Street, Whitehall. These demos are close together, so please come to both. More details on demos here: http://www.ism-london.org.uk/1705

The contacts for our colleagues on the Free Gaza ships:

http://www.witnessgaza.com/

ISM London: 07913 067 189

It?s currently very hard to reach people on the boats, but please try:

Contact: Huwaida Arraf on board the Challenger 0088 216 5207 2093
Ewa Jasciewica on board the Challenger 0088 163 184 7926
Fatima Mohammed on board the IHH ship 8821636619168
Greta Berlin 00 357 99 18 72 75
Mary Hughes 00 357 96 38 38 09

I wonder if Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will now put his money where his mouth is?:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... nick-clegg


Lift the Gaza blockade

Nick Clegg
The Guardian, Tuesday 22 December 2009

The suffering is shocking. And nobody will benefit from the radicalism that confinement engenders


On 27 December last year, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, an overwhelming exercise of military force aimed at silencing the Hamas rockets which had terrorised Israeli towns and villages. The immediate effects of the invasion are well known: 1,400 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, with many more wounded or displaced; 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians killed, dozens more injured; and thousands of families in southern Israel forced to flee to other parts of the country. The rocketfire from Gaza into Israel has slowed but has not entirely ceased. Hamas is still in power.

What is less well-known is the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The legacy of Operation Cast Lead is a living nightmare for one and a half million Palestinians squeezed into one of the most overcrowded and wretched stretches of land on the planet. And as Israel and Egypt maintain a near total blockade against Gaza, the misery deepens by the day.

This is not only shocking in humanitarian terms. It is not in Israel's or Egypt's interest, either. Confining people in abject poverty in a tiny slice of territory is a recipe for continued bitterness, fury and radicalism.

And what has the British government and the international community done to lift the blockade? Next to nothing. Tough-sounding declarations are issued at regular intervals but little real pressure is applied. It is a scandal that the international community has sat on its hands in the face of this unfolding crisis.

No doubt the febrile sensitivities of the Middle East have deterred governments, caught between recriminations from both sides. No doubt diplomats have warned that exerting pressure on Israel and Egypt may complicate the peace process.

But surely the consequences of not lifting the blockade are far more grave? How is the peace process served by sickness, mortality rates, mental trauma and malnutrition increasing in Gaza? Is it not in Israel's enlightened self-interest to relieve the humanitarian suffering?

The peace process is in serious trouble right now. Internal Israeli politics limits any meaningful room for manoeuvre, illegal settlement activity in the West Bank continues, and leadership of the Palestinians is divided and incoherent. A two-state solution, long the accepted bedrock of any agreement, is being openly questioned.

But paralysis in the peace process cannot be an excuse for the inhumane treatment of one and a half million people, the majority of them under 18 years old. No peaceful coexistence of any kind is possible as long as this act of collective confinement continues.

According to a recently leaked report by the UN office of the humanitarian co-ordinator, Gaza is undergoing "a process of de-development, which potentially could lead to the complete breakdown of public infrastructure". A report released today by a group of 16 humanitarian and human rights groups further spells out the effects.

Family homes destroyed in the invasion lie as shattered as ever. The embargo on construction materials means they will stay that way. Local hospitals and clinics were left devastated by the invasion, and those suffering health problems wait longer than ever to get out of Gaza for treatment. Many have died waiting. Bed-wetting and nightmares are endemic among children.

Half of those under 30 are unemployed. These young people are trapped in a broken land with little hope of economic opportunity. The blockade's restrictions on Gaza's fishermen mean they can sail only three nautical miles from the coast, impoverishing their families. Meanwhile, 80m litres of raw and partially treated sewage is pumped out into the sea every day.

Most disturbingly of all, the lack of access to materials means that basic water infrastructure simply cannot be repaired or improved; 90 to 95% of Gaza's water fails to meet WHO standards. The extremely high nitrate level in the water supply is leaving thousands of newborn babies at risk of poisoning.

The insistence by some that aid should come into no contact whatsoever, even indirectly, with Hamas means NGOs are prevented from repairing basic water and sanitation facilities in schools.

There is a clear moral imperative for Israel and Egypt to end the blockade, as well as it being in their enlightened self-interest to change course. But if they do not do so of their own volition, it is up to the international community to persuade them otherwise.

The EU has huge economic influence over Israel, and it believes the blockade must be lifted. At the same time as exercising leverage over Hamas, it should make clear that the web of preferential agreements which now exists between the EU and Israel – from Israeli access to EU research and development funds to recently improved access for Israeli agricultural products – will be brought into question if there is no rapid progress.

Equally, the US, as by far the largest bilateral donor to Egypt, should press President Mubarak to allow in the humanitarian and reconstruction materials that are so desperately needed.

What will be the state of Gaza's drinking water by next December? Of the health of its children? Of the economy? The attitude of its people towards Egypt and Israel? The risk of waiting another year is too great. Gordon Brown and the international community must urgently declare that enough is enough. The blockade must end.

None of the tea party or conservatives on the board have an opinion on this?