Gaza campaigners detail breaking of "Israeli" siege ~ Members of our team received personal threats
Source: Daily Star, 10-9-2008
BEIRUT: Members of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) held a press conference in Beirut on Tuesday to describe their recent breaking of the "Israeli" siege on the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
The "Israeli" government tightened a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after Hamas prevailed in democratic elections, regularly preventing the coastal territory from importing fuel, humanitarian aid and medical assistance. The siege was stepped up in mid-2007 after Hamas gunmen won a power struggle with rivals from the Western-backed Fatah faction, causing what many non-governmental organizations have labeled a humanitarian catastrophe.
Gaza's economy has all but collapsed, with UK charity Oxfam reporting "95 percent of industrial operations" suspended and unemployment "set to rise to 50 percent." The strip's 1.5 million inhabitants are also unable to freely enter or leave the territory.
On August 23, two boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip, carrying some 44 people from 17 countries, including "Israel". The action, intended to show solidarity with the "suffering, endurance and resilience" of the Palestinian people, was "the first time in over 40 years [that] internationals docked at Gaza Port," said a press release issued by the FGM.
Passengers on board ranged from ordinary members of the public to more prominent figures such as Yvonne Ridley, a journalist kidnapped by the Taliban in 2001, and Lauren Booth, a journalist and sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Three representatives from the movement were present at Tuesday's conference, which was hosted by Samah Idriss on behalf of Nadi al-Saha and the Civil Resistance Campaign, and held at the Commodore Meridien Hotel in Hamra.
"Any action designed to harm civilians constitutes collective punishment and is illegal under international law and profoundly immoral," Cueeva Butterly told reporters of the embargo. ""Israel's" repression against the civilian population of Gaza represents gross violations of human rights and constitutes a war crime," she added. "Israel's" actions relied on the "silence" of the international community, said Butterly, adding that the FGM hoped to "translate the anger and compassion" of the general public "into direct action."
"I want to show you something of which I'm very possessive and proud," said FGM co-founder Paul Larudee, holding up his US passport with a Gaza Port stamp. "Only 43 other people have this, as there has never been a stamp like it before" the breaking of the siege.
"What this means is: We can do it," Larudee added. "All it took was ordinary people to apply themselves." Holding up another passport, Larudee said, "This is my Palestinian passport. The message of this is that we are all Palestinians."
The FGM was born out of "Israel's" blockade of Lebanon during and after the summer 2006 conflict, said Ramzi Kysia, a Lebanese-American activist. "For two years, we spoke to our friends and families and raised money in people's living rooms." People "said it couldn't be done - that no one could stand up to "Israel" ... but we did it," said Kysia.
A short video showed the boats leaving Cyprus, the passengers' time at sea, and their arrival in Gaza, greeted by hundreds of cheering Palestinians. The video ended with a shot of deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya of Hamas and a sign reading, "The rest is history."
Passengers defied the "Israeli" embargo in spite of threats and the possibility of being arrested. "Members of our team received personal threats. The children of Lauren Booth were threatened," said Larudee, who also showed a written threat delivered to the FGM by the head of the "Israeli" Navy dated August 11.
Building on the successful entry of the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, the FGM is planning another boat trip to Gaza on September 22, he added, urging the public to support their act of defiance.
"One of the terrible things about this blockade is the sense of isolation" felt by Gazans, said Kysia, adding that the FGM would be taking written letters from the international community to Gaza. The boats would also bring in "doctors, members of parliament from around the world and human rights workers who "Israel" has said are not allowed" into Palestine. "It's time for people everywhere ... to take action where their governments will not," added Larudee.
On August 25 the UN special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called on the arrival of the FGM boats "an important symbolic victory ... Above all, what is being tested is whether the imaginative engagement of dedicated private citizens can influence the struggle of a beleaguered people for basic human rights, and whether their courage and commitment can awaken the conscience of humanity to an unfolding tragedy."
"I think the important thing we all need to remember is that it is "Israel" breaking the law," Kysia concluded. "What we did is not illegal." A petition by human rights groups that labeled the embargo "collective punishment" and illegal under international law was rejected by the "Israeli" High Court of Justice in 2007.
BEIRUT: Members of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) held a press conference in Beirut on Tuesday to describe their recent breaking of the "Israeli" siege on the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
The "Israeli" government tightened a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after Hamas prevailed in democratic elections, regularly preventing the coastal territory from importing fuel, humanitarian aid and medical assistance. The siege was stepped up in mid-2007 after Hamas gunmen won a power struggle with rivals from the Western-backed Fatah faction, causing what many non-governmental organizations have labeled a humanitarian catastrophe.
Gaza's economy has all but collapsed, with UK charity Oxfam reporting "95 percent of industrial operations" suspended and unemployment "set to rise to 50 percent." The strip's 1.5 million inhabitants are also unable to freely enter or leave the territory.
On August 23, two boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip, carrying some 44 people from 17 countries, including "Israel". The action, intended to show solidarity with the "suffering, endurance and resilience" of the Palestinian people, was "the first time in over 40 years [that] internationals docked at Gaza Port," said a press release issued by the FGM.
Passengers on board ranged from ordinary members of the public to more prominent figures such as Yvonne Ridley, a journalist kidnapped by the Taliban in 2001, and Lauren Booth, a journalist and sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Three representatives from the movement were present at Tuesday's conference, which was hosted by Samah Idriss on behalf of Nadi al-Saha and the Civil Resistance Campaign, and held at the Commodore Meridien Hotel in Hamra.
"Any action designed to harm civilians constitutes collective punishment and is illegal under international law and profoundly immoral," Cueeva Butterly told reporters of the embargo. ""Israel's" repression against the civilian population of Gaza represents gross violations of human rights and constitutes a war crime," she added. "Israel's" actions relied on the "silence" of the international community, said Butterly, adding that the FGM hoped to "translate the anger and compassion" of the general public "into direct action."
"I want to show you something of which I'm very possessive and proud," said FGM co-founder Paul Larudee, holding up his US passport with a Gaza Port stamp. "Only 43 other people have this, as there has never been a stamp like it before" the breaking of the siege.
"What this means is: We can do it," Larudee added. "All it took was ordinary people to apply themselves." Holding up another passport, Larudee said, "This is my Palestinian passport. The message of this is that we are all Palestinians."
The FGM was born out of "Israel's" blockade of Lebanon during and after the summer 2006 conflict, said Ramzi Kysia, a Lebanese-American activist. "For two years, we spoke to our friends and families and raised money in people's living rooms." People "said it couldn't be done - that no one could stand up to "Israel" ... but we did it," said Kysia.
A short video showed the boats leaving Cyprus, the passengers' time at sea, and their arrival in Gaza, greeted by hundreds of cheering Palestinians. The video ended with a shot of deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya of Hamas and a sign reading, "The rest is history."
Passengers defied the "Israeli" embargo in spite of threats and the possibility of being arrested. "Members of our team received personal threats. The children of Lauren Booth were threatened," said Larudee, who also showed a written threat delivered to the FGM by the head of the "Israeli" Navy dated August 11.
Building on the successful entry of the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, the FGM is planning another boat trip to Gaza on September 22, he added, urging the public to support their act of defiance.
"One of the terrible things about this blockade is the sense of isolation" felt by Gazans, said Kysia, adding that the FGM would be taking written letters from the international community to Gaza. The boats would also bring in "doctors, members of parliament from around the world and human rights workers who "Israel" has said are not allowed" into Palestine. "It's time for people everywhere ... to take action where their governments will not," added Larudee.
On August 25 the UN special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called on the arrival of the FGM boats "an important symbolic victory ... Above all, what is being tested is whether the imaginative engagement of dedicated private citizens can influence the struggle of a beleaguered people for basic human rights, and whether their courage and commitment can awaken the conscience of humanity to an unfolding tragedy."
"I think the important thing we all need to remember is that it is "Israel" breaking the law," Kysia concluded. "What we did is not illegal." A petition by human rights groups that labeled the embargo "collective punishment" and illegal under international law was rejected by the "Israeli" High Court of Justice in 2007.
