Israeli navy on alert as Libyan aid ship heads for Gaza

Foreign minister warns that vessel carrying activists and supplies will not be permitted to break Gaza blockade

A Libyan ship carrying aid and activists is heading for Gaza in a mission that Israel has described as an "unnecessary provocation".

The Israeli navy is monitoring the vessel's progress and preparing to intervene if it continues on a course to Gaza.

"I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said in a radio broadcast.

The ship, Amalthea, sailed from Greece at the weekend. It is carrying up to 15 activists and 2,000 tonnes of food and medicine, according to the organisers, a charity chaired by a son of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

The new attempt to break the naval blockade of Gaza comes six weeks after the Israeli navy's lethal interception of a flotilla, in which nine Turkish activists were killed. The assault prompted a wave of international condemnation and resulted in Israel agreeing to ease its blockade of Gaza.

However, it is strictly maintaining its sea blockade, saying it fears that any relaxation could lead to arms being shipped to militants in Gaza.

The Amalthea's captain was quoted as saying: "I haven't received any instructions to change the ship's original course. I am sailing to Gaza." The crew were expecting to reach Gaza on Wednesday.

"We hope the Israelis will not ban the ship from entering the port of Gaza," Youssef Sawani, director of the Libyan charity organising the trip, told Reuters.

"If they decide to do so we have no means to object to that. This is a peaceful mission. Our sole goal and intention is to have the goods delivered to those who need it. It is not to make an event or a show in high seas."

Israel has made intense diplomatic efforts to ensure the Amalthea does not approach Gaza.

Greece, from where the boat sailed, Moldova, under whose flag the boat is operating, and Egypt all agreed the Amalthea should be directed to El-Arish in Egypt, where its cargo would be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza, Israeli officials said.

Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, wrote to the secretary general Ban Ki-moon, saying: "This mission is completely unwarranted ... We are deeply concerned that the true nature of its actions remains dubious."

She urged the international community to exert influence on Libya "to prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip".

A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said: "We are concerned about another political provocation. Libya is not a country that is heading efforts to protect human rights."

Israel claims it has the right under international law to prevent ships violating its naval blockade on Gaza.

The Israeli military is keen to avoid another confrontation at sea. "Everyone hopes this will be dealt with diplomatically," a spokesman said.

An investigation into the 31 May assault on the flotilla, commissioned by the Israeli military, has been completed and non-classified excerpts are expected to be made public this week.

The inquiry, which was restricted to examining the military preparations for dealing with the flotilla, is expected to be critical of intelligence, planning and co-ordination.

A broader investigation, the Turkel commission – instigated by the Israeli government – has begun examining the circumstances surrounding the flotilla's interception, although it is not expected to report for several months.

Postmortems into the nine activists killed on board the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, may be published this week. Initial reports suggested that some of the dead had multiple gunshot wounds.

The assault on the Mavi Marmara led to a serious breach in diplomatic relations between Israel and it regional ally, Turkey. The Ankara government has insisted on an apology and an international investigation, without which it has threatened to sever ties.

Source: Guardian

Πρώτη συνάντηση απολογισμού και προοπτικής της Πρωτοβουλίας «Ένα Καράβι για τη Γάζα»

Συναγωνιστές και συναγωνίστριες,

Αγαπητές φίλες και φίλοι,

Υποστηρικτές της Πρωτοβουλίας «Ένα Καράβι για τη Γάζα»

Το Σάββατο 10 Ιούλη, στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, πραγματοποιείται σύσκεψη των εκπροσώπων των έξι ιδρυτικών πυλώνων του «Στόλου της Ελευθερίας»: της διεθνούς πρωτοβουλίας «Free Gaza Movement», της ελληνικής Πρωτοβουλίας «Ένα Καράβι για τη Γάζα», της τουρκικής μη κυβερνητικής οργάνωσης ΙΗΗ, της «European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza» που εκπροσωπεί την παλαιστινιακή διασπορά της Ευρώπης, της σουηδικής πρωτοβουλίας «Ship to Gaza» και της «International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza» ως εκπροσώπου της παλαιστινιακής διασποράς στον αραβικό κόσμο. Θα συζητηθούν οι περαιτέρω κινήσεις, το πέρασμα από το προηγούμενο εγχείρημα στο επόμενο. Την Ελλάδα θα εκπροσωπήσουν τα δύο μέλη της στο συντονιστικό του εγχειρήματος «Στόλος της Ελευθερίας», οι Βαγγέλης Πισσίας και Τάκης Πολίτης.

Την Τρίτη 13 Ιούλη, στις 6:00μμ, στο αμφιθέατρο της ΓΕΝΟΠ–ΔΕΗ, Στουρνάρη 73–75, (100 μέτρα μετά το ΕΜΠ),με βάση το γενικό πλαίσιο εκτιμήσεων, αρχών και θέσεων που διατυπώνονται στο συνημμένο κείμενο που υπογράφουν 26 από τους επιβαίνοντες στα πλοία του «Στόλου της Ελευθερίας», διοργανώνεται η πρώτη συνάντηση:

• Για ουσιαστική και σε βάθος συζήτηση του πολιτικού, επιχειρησιακού και οικονομικού απολογισμού του προηγούμενου εγχειρήματος «Ένα Καράβι για τη Γάζα».
• Για το νέο εγχείρημα άρσης του αποκλεισμού της Γάζας. Θα συζητηθούν και θα αξιολογηθούν οι κινήσεις που βρίσκονται σε εξέλιξη. Θα οριστούν τα πολιτικά και οργανωτικά πλαίσια της δικής μας συμμετοχής. Θα συζητηθούν προτάσεις για το πολιτικό και οργανωτικό πλαίσιο του νέου εγχειρήματος, θα αποφασιστεί προσωρινό οργανωτικό σχήμα.

Είναι γνωστό ότι στο προηγούμενο εγχείρημα προκλήθηκαν οριακές τριβές και εντάσεις. Την πρόκληση επιχειρούν σήμερα να την εμφανίσουν ως ρήγμα 4 από τους επιβαίνοντες υποκινούμενοι –συνειδητά ή ασυνείδητα- από την περιθωριακή ομάδα του συντάκτη του εντύπου «Κ». Η πρόκληση μεθοδεύεται με ενέργειες συστηματικής υπονόμευσης και φθοράς του όλου εγχειρήματος, κινείται σε μια απολίτικη και καιροσκοπική λογική προσωπικής ιδιοτέλειας, προωθώντας διαδικασίες «παρασυναγωγής».

Εμείς που συναντιόμαστε για το νέο εγχείρημα δεν έχουμε πρόθεση να ανατροφοδοτήσουμε αυτήν την λογική. Απευθυνόμαστε πρωταρχικά στον ελληνικό λαό μέσα από δράσεις-εγχειρήματα ακριβούς σχεδιασμού και στόχευσης που στηρίζονται σε ένα αποτελεσματικό δίκτυο κοινωνικοπολιτικών δυνάμεων και σε ένα ευρύ κίνημα αλληλεγγύης στον σκληρά δοκιμαζόμενο παλαιστινιακό λαό. Το κίνημα αυτό οφείλει να βρίσκεται σε αντιστοιχία με τους λαϊκοαπελευθερωτικούς του στόχους που χάραξαν και υλοποιούν οι γνήσιοι εκπρόσωποί του και οι αντιστασιακές του οργανώσεις.

Εμείς που θα συναντηθούμε θέλουμε να συνεργαστούμε για την επιτυχία του νέου εγχειρήματος με συντροφικότητα και αλληλεγγύη, πρωταρχικές προϋποθέσεις για τέτοιου είδους προσπάθειες, μακριά από πρακτικές reality show και «φυλετικών» αντιπαραθέσεων.

Από την 5μελή Γραμματεία της Πρωτοβουλίας «Ένα Καράβι για τη Γάζα»

Πισσίας Βαγγέλης

Πολίτης Τάκης

Σάμπρι Ισμάτ

Τικτόπουλος Μιχάλης

Τιμή στους 9 νεκρούς Τούρκους αδελφούς του πλοίου MAVI MARMARA

Letter from Vittorio Arrigoni, Gaza City, Gaza

Vittorio Arrigoni, Gaza City, Gaza

July 4, 2010

Ketchup, mayonnaise, thread and needles are the items that were included last week by Israel on the list of those few goods now allowed into Gaza. Farming tools, spare parts for cars, toys and make-up were added to the list on Tuesday, items we watched being carried into the Strip loaded onto 130 trucks.

Taking into account the decision of the Israeli government to "loosen" the siege of Gaza by allowing the entry of more goods, B'Tselem, the Israeli organisation for human rights commented: "This is a first, tiny step towards the right direction, the direction which'll bring Israeli policy in line with its obligations."

A veritable microscopic step, considering that before the start of the siege, more than ten thousand trucks a month would drive through the Karni pass alone, and even then, these deliveries were miles away from the 500 truckfuls of goods a day (15,000 trucks a month), the minimum decreed by the United Nations to cover the basic needs of one and a half million people.

According to some Palestinian political analysts, this step might even be counterproductive, because it proposes to attempt to legitimise the siege. This is a siege that is a form of collective punishment against a civilian population. As such, it violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and is considered illegal by all major human rights organisations, whether governmental or otherwise, as Amnesty International and the International Red Cross have recently decreed.

Cement, iron and any other building material continues to be banned from the Strip, so much so that according to the UN, one year after the Cast Lead bombings, 75% of the damaged buildings still gape open among the rubble.

According to Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UNRWA (UN Agency for Palestinian refugees), Israel's new policy is an attempt to throw smoke into the eyes of the international community and hide its blatant violation of international law: "The Israeli strategy is that of getting the world to talk about a random bag of cement being let in on one side, and a sponsored project on another. What we really need is complete and free access through all the passes."

All eyes are now turned towards the mirage of the opened Israeli passes. Yet, forgetting to take note of the Egyptian border is a mistake. Rafah continues to remain semi-open, or better still…semi-closed. The Egyptian border authorities refuse to let any type of goods through, including tons of food supplies and medicine collected during the last weeks by the union of Cairo chemists. The bullies of the infamous Egyptian Mubarak, renowned for their rough treatment of Palestinian civilians, including women, children and sick people, have sent back hundreds of travellers with regular passports and visas over the past few weeks.

For internationals in Egypt who plan to come and report on what they see, or support the population of Gaza in any way, entering "the Rafah Pass" remains forbidding. John, a freelance journalist who accompanied us from the International Solidarity Movement to report on the daily harrassment that the farmers face from Israeli snipers at the border, eventually came in through the tunnels when he had grown tired of waiting for a pass that never came at Al Arish.

Italian state television is trying to put through the message that the siege has been loosened as an act of generosity on the part of the Israeli government, but the reality is indeed very different. The siege itself needs to be totally lifted, because the people here certainly don't need potato chips or toothpicks. They need cement, iron, medicine, medical supplies and all the essentials coming in the way they would normally come in…through import and export. Only that means will help boost the economy and make Gaza self-sufficient, besides opening the borders to make it possible for anyone to come into or leave this prison.

All that we have before our eyes these days is the artificial image of a tragic situation, made up to seem like an improvement after the cosmetic surgery of Israeli and Egyptian propaganda. Amid these far-reaching echoes of propaganda, Tony Blair's congratulations to Israel for the alleged "loosening" of its blockade comes across as a strident contradition. Behind the smile of Blair, one the of puppet masters of the Quartet (USA, EU, Russia and UN) who for years has produced nothing but useless press releases, is all the rot of the stone caryatids jointly holding up the current Iraqi genocide, as well as the political laxity of European governments in the face of the Palestinian tragedy.

I'm keen to remind Tony Blair that if two extra bags of flour enter the besieged Strip, it certainly isn't thanks to his work within the castrated quartet, or any other institution in charge of resolving the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It's actually thanks to the sacrifices over many years of thousands of ordinary civilians throughout the world committed to the rights of Palestinians. It's an effort that has culminated in the murder of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara, much the same way as before them, Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie gave their lives for the good of Gaza.

On the eve of the second Gulf war, the New York Times coined the phrase "second world power", to define the global pacifist movement that filled thousands of squares around the world. These civilians were protesting against a war "that never before in history had been met with as much blatant hostility." Well, that second world power has now joined us on the field and is siding with the Palestinians: it is now Israel that's under siege.

Stay human.

Vittorio Arrigoni from Gaza city

(translated by Daniela Filippin)