© www.palestinechronicle.comOne ship in "Gaza's Ark."
At a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey this week, the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and numerous other groups came to the conclusion that "it is the responsibility of civil society worldwide to sail to Gaza," according to a press statement. They committed to making the voyage during 2014, which has been coined by the United Nations as the "International Year of Solidarity With the Palestinian People."
Comment: The U.N. has done this every year since 2004 - one day per year. They have now increased it from International DAY of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to the International YEAR...perhaps they needed more time to ponder genocide than a few messages before and after lunch?
While the group did not publicly disclose a launch location or date, they announced that they expect participation from civil society organizations across the globe - from Greece to South Africa to Jordan to Malaysia - as a counter to "the complicity of world governments" in the blockade on Gaza.
"Calls to end the blockade of Gaza need to move from words to actions," said Ann Ighe, chairperson of Ship to Gaza and member of the FFC. "We invite all interested citizens worldwide to participate in this initiative in any way you can."
Israel's month-long military assault on Gaza, currently stalled by a tenuous ceasefire, has left at least 1,939 Palestinians dead, 9,886 wounded, over 200,000 displaced, and more than 10,000 Palestinian housing units destroyed or severely damaged. United Nations officials estimate that at least three-fourths of Palestinians killed in Gaza are civilians and one third are children.
© www.gazaark.orgGaza's Ark ship after the April Israeli attack. It was subsequently destroyed in July.
The 1.7 million residents of Gaza - one of the most densely populated areas on earth - were already living under a U.S.-backed military and economic siege, which has escalated since 2007, cutting off residents from public goods including clean water and medical supplies.
"We are sailing against the sea blockade because there is no possibility of a peaceful future without freedom of movement for Palestinians," said Heap.
Previous attempts to sail against the siege have been met with violent attacks, including a 2010 Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara ship sailing from Turkey that killed nine people and injured dozens, sparking global condemnation.
"We urge all governments to defend Human Rights and the right of the Palestinian people to freedom of movement, to facilitate the sailing of our ships to Gaza," said Ehab Lotayef of the FFC. "It is their responsibility."
Comment: The peaceful challenges of the Israeli blockade of Gaza started in 2008 in the form of boats, financed by civilians and NGOs worldwide, that sailed from Cyprus, Greece and Turkey to Gaza. After the first few missions reached Gaza, Israel fiercely attacked the boats and the activists on board. The violence Israel was showing reached new criminal heights on May 31, 2010, when it killed nine (10, 1 was an American) activists on the Mavi Marmara in cold blood. It was a completely illegal act; Israel had no right to board the ship. The rest of the over 600 people on the flotilla boats were taken to Israel and deported home.
Israel stopped Freedom Flotilla 2, the Freedom Waves initiative and the Estelle which sailed at the end of 2012, continuing its long history of targeting peaceful, non-violent direct action with violence and sabotage. Gaza's Ark was/is again the evolution of the flotilla movement.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights notes that "it is common for the (Israeli) navy to open fire on fishermen, pursue them in Gazan waters, and destroy and confiscate their equipment, including their nets and boats. Such acts constitute flagrant violations of Israel's legal obligations as an occupying power under international law, and violate the fishermen's rights to life and work."
With the siege, Israel has also enforced no-go zones in Gaza's sea, to which Palestinians, under the Oslo accords, have the right to fish as far as 20 nautical miles from the coast. Fishermen and human rights groups report that the Israeli navy shoots on, harasses and abducts Palestinians as close at times as less than a mile from Gaza's coast, killing or injuring numerous fishermen while shooting at their boats. The act of the blockade is an act of collective punishment, which is outlawed under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
What is annoyingly dangerous to Israel is a peaceful project, supported by thousands of normal individuals, that will expose its lies and sidetrack its agenda. A flood of independent thinking and action won't float Israel's boat, thus it had to destroy Gaza's Ark.