RamallahOnline.com

News from occupied Palestine

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

RamallahOnline.com is looking for contributors, If you would like to contribute pictures, articles or other data directly you can email me at ramallahonline @ gmail dot com.

Israeli attack on the "Spirit of Humanity"

Tuesday, 30 June 2009 15:20 RamallahOnline Content - RoArticle
Print PDF
User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
 
The most outrageous news in this week's digest is the Israeli attack on the "Spirit of Humanity" boat in International waters kidnapping human rights activists and confiscating humanitarian supplies bound for Gaza (just happened).  This is simple piracy and shows that Israeli leaders have sunk to new lows on the morality scale.  Please take action; see below for press release and action alert from the Free Gaza Movement. Unfortunately where I am now in the US (temporarily), the corporate media is largely silent on this event.  But the internet is buzzing and each of us has a responsibility to send this information to all contacts and all media outlets we know.  Reality can't be hidden.

(nice summary of a growing movement, I personally saw it as especially younger generations of all religions leave tribalism behind and move to universal and humanistic values, it is what gives us optimism that humanity has a far brighter future)
Jews Confront Zionism by Daniel Lange/Levitsky
http://www.monthlyreview.org/090622lang.php 
 

Doctors call for head of World Medical Association to quit as "matter of priority"
By Zosia Kmietowicz
More than 700 doctors from around the world have called for the Israeli president of the World Medical Association to step down, calling him "unfit for office" and claiming that he has turned a blind eye to the "institutionalised involvement of doctors" in torture in Israel.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/338/jun23_3/b2556

Action: An excellent and timely op-ed in LA Times from By Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch..  please write letters to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Israel's settlements are on shaky ground: International law mandates that they must be removed and that the Palestinians should be compensated for their losses.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-whitson28-2009jun28,0,2006530.story
 
Israel lobby gets additional largess from US taxpayers for wars and conflicts
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924941819&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

ISRAEL ATTACKS JUSTICE BOAT; KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS; CONFISCATES MEDICINE, TOYS AND OLIVE TREES
For more information contact:
Greta Berlin (English)  tel: +357 99 081 767 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Caoimhe Butterly (Arabic/English/Spanish): tel: +357 99 077 820 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

http://www.FreeGaza.org

[23 miles off the coast of Gaza, 15:30 local time] - Today Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (see below for a complete list of passengers). The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate. “President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that’s exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.”

According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released yesterday, the Palestinians living in Gaza are “trapped in despair.” Thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed earlier during Israel’s December/January massacre are still without shelter despite pledges of almost $4.5 billion in aid, because Israel refuses to allow cement and other building material into the Gaza Strip. The report also notes that hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients due to Israel’s disruption of medical supplies.

“The aid we were carrying is a symbol of hope for the people of Gaza, hope that the sea route would open for them, and they would be able to transport their own materials to begin to reconstruct the schools, hospitals and thousands of homes destroyed during the onslaught of "Cast Lead”. Our mission is a gesture to the people of Gaza that we stand by them and that they are not alone" said fellow passenger Mairead Maguire, winner of a Noble Peace Prize for her work in Northern Ireland.

Just before being kidnapped by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement chairperson and delegation co-coordinator on this voyage, stated that: “No one could possibly believe that our small boat constitutes any sort of threat to Israel. We carry medical and reconstruction supplies, and children’s toys. Our passengers include a Nobel peace prize laureate and a former U.S. congressperson. Our boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot Port Authorities before we departed, and at no time did we ever approach Israeli waters.”

Arraf continued, “Israel’s deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release.”
###

WHAT YOU CAN DO!

CONTACT the Israeli Ministry of Justice
tel: +972 2646 6666 or +972 2646 6340
fax: +972 2646 6357

CONTACT the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
tel: +972 2530 3111
fax: +972 2530 3367

CONTACT Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at:
tel: +972 5 0620 3264 or +972 2670 5354
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

CONTACT the International Committee of the Red Cross to ask for their assistance in establishing the wellbeing of the kidnapped human rights workers and help in securing their immediate release!

Red Cross Israel
tel: +972 3524 5286
fax: +972 3527 0370
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Red Cross Switzerland:
tel: +41 22 730 3443
fax: +41 22 734 8280

Red Cross USA:
tel: +1 212 599 6021
fax: +1 212 599 6009
###

Kidnapped Passengers from the Spirit of Humanity include:

Khalad Abdelkader, Bahrain
Khalad is an engineer representing the Islamic Charitable Association of Bahrain.

Othman Abufalah, Jordan
Othman is a world-renowned journalist with al-Jazeera TV.

Khaled Al-Shenoo, Bahrain
Khaled is a lecturer with the University of Bahrain.

Mansour Al-Abi, Yemen
Mansour is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera TV.

Fatima Al-Attawi, Bahrain
Fatima is a relief worker and community activist from Bahrain.

Juhaina Alqaed, Bahrain
Juhaina is a journalist & human rights activist.

Huwaida Arraf, US
Huwaida is the Chair of the Free Gaza Movement and delegation co-coordinator for this voyage.

Ishmahil Blagrove, UK
Ishmahil is a Jamaican-born journalist, documentary film maker and founder of the Rice & Peas film production company. His documentaries focus on international struggles for social justice.

Kaltham Ghloom, Bahrain
Kaltham is a community activist.

Derek Graham, Ireland
Derek Graham is an electrician, Free Gaza organizer, and first mate aboard the Spirit of Humanity.

Alex Harrison, UK
Alex is a solidarity worker from Britain. She is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Denis Healey, UK
Denis is Captain of the Spirit of Humanity. This will be his fifth voyage to Gaza.

Fathi Jaouadi, UK
Fathi is a British journalist, Free Gaza organizer, and delegation co-coordinator for this voyage.

Mairead Maguire, Ireland
Mairead is a Nobel laureate and renowned peace activist. 

Lubna Masarwa, Palestine/Israel
Lubna is a Palestinian human rights activist and Free Gaza organizer.

Theresa McDermott, Scotland
Theresa is a solidarity worker from Scotland. She is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Cynthia McKinney, US
Cynthia McKinney is an outspoken advocate for human rights and social justice issues, as well as a former U.S. congressperson and presidential candidate.

Adnan Mormesh, UK
Adnan is a solidarity worker from Britain. He is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Adam Qvist, Denmark
Adam is a solidarity worker from Denmark. He is traveling to Gaza to do human rights monitoring.

Adam Shapiro, US
Adam is an American documentary film maker and human rights activist.

Kathy Sheetz, US
Kathy is a nurse and film maker, traveling to Gaza to do human rights monitoring.
###

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
http://qumsiyeh.org
Trackback(0)
Comments (0)Add Comment
Write comment
 
 
smaller | bigger
 

security image
Write the displayed characters

busy
Last Updated on Saturday, 11 July 2009 09:19  
Banner

Poll

Are you optimistic that Israel & Palestine can reach a peace deal this year?
 

Latest Content (none front page)

Volunteer with
RamallahOnline.com

Facebook logo

Well Said!

“Remember the solidarity shown to Palestine here and everywhere... and remember also that there is a cause to which many people have committed themselves, difficulties and terrible obstacles notwithstanding. Why? Because it is a just cause, a noble ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights.”

- Edward Said

 

This brief review of Israel’s record over the past four decades makes it difficult to resist the conclusion that it has become a rogue state with "an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders". A rogue state habitually violates international law, possesses weapons of mass destruction and practises terrorism - the use of violence against civilians for political purposes. Israel fulfils all of these three criteria; the cap fits and it must wear it. Israel’s real aim is not peaceful coexistence with its Palestinian neighbours but military domination. It keeps compounding the mistakes of the past with new and more disastrous ones. Politicians, like everyone else, are of course free to repeat the lies and mistakes of the past. But it is not mandatory to do so.

-Avi Shlaim

Consumer Boycott

Break your silence and take action!

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)

http://ramallahonline.com/images/RO2009/n5619048975_5287.jpg

 


Must Read Articles & Books

Palestine Monitor Factsheet

The 2009 Factbook is a Reference Guide for Negotiators, Researchers and Civil Society Leaders Concerned with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

 

FactBook picture

The Factbook is being released in hardcopy, in sections and full version online, to coincide with the one year anniversary of the Annapolis Peace Process launched in November of 2007. The topics discussed within are the economy, the plight of Palestinian children, refugees, prisoners and torture, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, Settlements, Checkpoints and Movement Restrictions, the Wall, Water and Non Violence.

Each section has been thoroughly researched and referenced to provide readers with the most up-to-date information available from only the most credible sources.

The aim of our hard work is to make your research and advocacy on behalf of the Palestinian cause easier and more accurate. We encourage you to go to our site www.palestinemonitor.org to download our factsheets and disperse them as widely as possible.

In this most controversial of topics in international relations, Palestine Monitor hopes to arm you with the facts.

 

PDF Image

Factbook - Online version
Download the designed factbook version -including references and endnotes- factsheet for screen reading and printing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25 Most Viewed Articles

Would you like to Donate and help a Palestinian Family? Please check out the following organizations.

 

Link PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND
The Palestine Children's Relief Fund was established in 1991 by concerned people in the U.S. to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths in the Middle East. It has since expanded to help suffering children from other Middle Eastern nations, based only on their medical needs. The P.C.R.F. helps to locate free medical care for children from the Middle East who are unable to get the necessary and specialized treatment in their homeland.

Link Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief strives to alleviate poverty and suffering wherever it is found, paying no heed to gender, race or creed.

Link Dalia Association
At Dalia Association, we believe that many of the resources we need for social change and sustainable development already exist within the community.

Link United Palestinian Appeal, Inc.
UPA is a member of the Independent Charities of America, a participating agency of the Combined Federal Campaign, and is registered with USAID as a private voluntary organization engaged in foreign aid

LinkJewish Voice for Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace is a diverse and democratic community of activists inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, social justice, and human rights. We support the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination.

Link Free Gaza
We are these human rights observers, aid workers, and journalists. We have years of experience volunteering in Gaza and the West Bank at the invitation of Palestinians. But now, because of the increasing stranglehold of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine, many of us find it almost impossible to enter Gaza, and an increasing number have been refused entry to Israel and the West Bank as well. Despite the great need for our work, the Israeli Government will not allow us in to do it.

(This list by no means is complete, please help by submitting a link here.)