ISRAEL: Her ways of deception, immorality and "the end justifies the mean"

In Israel, they will commission their grandmothers to lay in bed with the devil, if it serves the achievement of their diabolical purposes - Blogger.

Israel used an Imposter and a Belly Dancer to Counteract Flotilla II

 by Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

“Though the gay activist and the bellydancer stunts proved to be a total failure but they brought to light the duplicity of the Jewish state and how presumptuously Israel played the world for a bunch of fools”

Though Israel has managed to abort the planned course of the freedom flotilla II that was aiming to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza, it utterly failed to divert the attention of the international community from the inhumane Israeli siege on Palestinians imprisoned in their own homeland.

The flotilla II may have failed in literally breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza but the brave activists’ collective efforts have unequivocally exposed the ugly side of the Middle-Eastern Zionist enclave and displayed its brutal apartheid face for the whole world to see.

The Israelis may have managed to muscle the Greek government and freak out practically all the European aviation security authorities and keep the activists grounded in Europe’s airports, but they couldn’t incarcerate the love message and the hope the activists and a lot of free spirited people shared with them around the world.

The mission failed but not the vision

Israel has managed to sabotage the naval trip of the flotilla II, demolish the democratic right of expression of the free world and audaciously incriminate those who choose to nonviolently boycott Israel for its crimes against humanity.

But the one obvious thing Israel couldn’t do is to prevent the world conscience from feeling guilty and somehow morally blamed over the Israeli flagrant crimes of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in the west bank and Gaza.

The thwarted mission of the “to Gaza with love” flotilla II might be classified as a military and political triumph for Israel but with more scrutiny it wouldn’t be so hard to discover that Israel came out of this world PR campaign as a sore loser.

Israel came out of this flotilla story more isolated than ever and tremendously losing whatever stock it got left of the western public support.

Anti-Israeli sentiments in the Arab and Muslim world, invoked by Israel’s aggressive and colonization policy in Palestine, is something that Israel managed to not only orchestrate but to skillfully employ as a tool for blackmailing the west and justifying whatever crimes it committed in the name of its right to defend itself amongst an alleged sea of Muslim and Arab unjustified hatred.

Following the drama of sabotaging and terrorizing the flotilla II That sea of resentment for the Israeli expansionist and apartheid policies has grown bigger and wider as it encompassed most of Europe and America’s public opinion as clearly expressed on the web blogging.

And it seemed for Israel that the only way to hold back that anti-Israeli tide is to play the card of a nation seeking friendship and peace with its Arab neighbors who in return refuse its friendship and won’t normalize relations with the peace-loving state of Israel.

Arabic anti-normalization with Israel

The Arab nations have unanimously agreed not to normalize relations with the Israeli people as long as the Israeli aggressiveness and occupation of the Arab land in Palestine, as delineated by UN resolution 242, continues.

And this popular consensus of anti-normalization with Israel is particularly and closely observed and respected by all Arabic artists, writers and intellectuals.

Failing to break through this popular consensus in the Arabic world the Israeli Mossad, every now and then and through its operatives of Arabic origin in Europe, try to pull out a propaganda stunt to distract the world public opinion from the real issues of annexing the Arab land in Palestine, kicking out its indigenous people and lately bullying the pro-Palestinian political and humanitarian activists in land, air and sea and instead sell the world a Murdoch style story about the friendly and tolerant side of Israel.

Flotilla II counter attacked by propaganda stunts

The real issue this time was the Gaza freedom flotilla II laden with thousands of love and solidarity letters meant to be delivered to the people of Gaza, only the Zionists in Tel Aviv are no fools, they knew that those letters are mightier than weapons, they knew that they wouldn’t be able to conquer those activists by some commandos raid this time.

This time was different and as the whole world was closely watching, Israel had to fight back the flotilla II with the same tools the activists used and may be send, in advance, a counter propaganda campaign.

 Israeli stunt No. 1 /the bellydancer stunt

The latest Israeli propaganda stunts came out on Sunday, June 19 where Israeli heavy metal band “Orphaned Land” performed alongside some unknown Lebanese belly dancer by the name of Johanna Fakhri at the Hellfest music festival in the western French town of Clisson.

Kobi Fahri, lead singer of orphaned land, the Israeli heavy metal band and Johanna Fakhri, the Lebanese bellydancer brandishing their countries’ flags side by side on stage in Hellfest festival.

This stunt came one day before the launching time for the Gaza Aide flotilla II in a desperate attempt to detract the world attention from the Gaza bound ships and to counteract any negative effect aborting this world humanitarian mission could evoke.

It is strange enough to watch an Arabic belly dancer dancing to the impossible to dance to doom, death and metal music played by an Israeli hard rock band but when the performers choose to brandish their respective countries’ flags side by side on stage; you have all the ingredients, as France 24 put it, for a potentially suspicious and volatile scene.

I personally have nothing against bellydancing of which I enjoy the folklore side but it is a common knowledge in the Arab World that bellydancers are not that politically educated and may be are not the most likely ones to venture into the grounds of the controversial Arab-Israeli politics whereas tabloid news and sex scandals is the arena where they are most active.

And for an Arab bellydancer- based in France- to make such a daring statement, in a live performance on the stage, one must think twice about who were orchestrating this whole propaganda stunt from backstage.




Orphaned Land - Norra el Norra - HELLFEST 2011 by Churchillson

Israeli Stunt No.2 / the gay activist stunt

Realizing that the bellydancer’s stunt created a wave of controversial backfire and at the same time failed to elicit neither the expected response nor the media coverage Israel went ahead with stunt no.2

This time Israel chose to go online and specifically use the worldwide-watched YouTube and once again tried to blackmail the western sensitivity by displaying a pathetic act for an alleged American gay activist by the name of Marc Pax, who is so keen to mobilize an army of western gay activists to join the Gaza flotilla II only he was turned down by the organizers.

But that did not turn out to be a bad thing for him for after all, for as he was doing his online homework concerning the purpose of the flotilla II he miraculously discovered that the flotilla activists were trying to help the people of Gaza who were ruled by Hamas, a terrorist and anti-gay rights organization, as defined by Israel and the Zionist organizations around the world.

The man in the video was later identified as Omer Gershon, a Tel Aviv actor involved in marketing, by the Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian Web site.



Who you get in bed with- human rights, gay rights

Playing the world for a bunch of fools

In both previous propaganda stunts Israel has considerably underestimated the intelligence of the viewer’s perception.

In the Hellfest stunt the Mossad somehow forgot that most Arabs knew for a fact that a belly dancer would do almost anything, in public or in private, for the right price and that a vulnerable migrant Arab dancer could very well be the perfect recruit for the Israeli Mossad.

In the YouTube stunt the Mossad agents somehow forgot that they were supposed to download an amateurish video shot by some webcam and not the professional production this imposter video turned out to be with all the high-tech lighting and editing including the use of B-roll technique used only by professional video production crews.

Karem Mahmoud 1925-1995,
renowned Egyptian musician and singer


Another Israeli blatant theft

As for the bellydancer stunt everything about it was phony and unauthentic and that goes too for the heavy metal band, orphaned land, who while waving the Israeli flag close to the Lebanese one were in the midst of performing their most popular hit track, Norra El Norra, a distorted metal reproduction of, Samra ya samra, one of the most popular pop Egyptian songs by the late singer, Karem Mahmoud.

Samra Ya Samra - Lute

Only the highly acclaimed Israeli band replicated the music of the famous Egyptian song without any reference to the Egyptian original song or the publishing rights of its composer and moreover they adapted to it new Hebrew lyrics that mostly praise the lord of the torah who I don’t think would be pleased by this blatant musical theft carried out for his glory and by few of his chosen people.

But on second thought, I don’t think Yahweh would be that offended or surprised considering the long line of other historical thefts his chosen people had perpetrated over the years.

Though the gay activist and the bellydancer stunts proved to be a total failure but they brought to light the duplicity of the Jewish state and how presumptuously Israel played the world for a bunch of fools.

Conclusion

.. The only thing that made sense to me in this whole affair of the Israeli Mossad stunts is the name of the Israeli heavy metal band, Orphaned Land, which through their highjacked music kept an old Jewish tradition of tampering with history and also proved what the modern Israeli archeologists have asserted, that decades of excavations in the so-called Jews historical homeland revealed mostly ancient Egyptian and Arabic archeological findings but scarcely any Jewish remains… and may be that is why the land, even after the establishment of the Jewish state and the home return of millions of the children of God, still feels alienated and orphaned.

********************

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat works as a Medical Doctor. Apart from the medical experience, he’s always been engaged in writing activities. He writes articles about ancient Egyptian history, Ancient Near Eastern history, comparative religion and politics especially the Arab- Israeli conflict. Founder and board member of the bibliotheca Alexandrina friends society. Some of His articles have been published in Egyptian magazines and online publications

For more articles by Dr. Ashraf Ezzat visit his website

ISRAEL: They are like those partying on the deck of the Titanic, who were oblivious to the fact that, thanks to their hubris, their ship would soon rest at the bottom of the ocean.

An activist gestures on board the boat "Juliano", 
part of a Gaza-bound flotilla, as it departs from Perama port 
near Athens, Greece

There is much angst among people of conscience over the fate of Freedom Flotilla II, but by scuttling it, Israel is really just hammering more nails in its own coffin, says Eric Walberg

___________________________________________________

The efforts by Israel to prevent Freedom Flotilla II from leaving Greece have been successful. Of the original 10 ships, only the French ship Al-Karama (Dignity) with 10 activists including French politicians, which sailed from Corsica two weeks ago, and the repaired Juliano were able to elude the Greek coastguard.

Al-Karama was apprehended while refuelling at sea near Crete. The fate of the Juliano (named after Juliano Meir Khamis, the murdered Israeli director of Jenin's Freedom Theatre), is not known. The last hold-out in port was the Canadian Tahrir, but organisers gave up when Greek authorities suddenly demanded new papers, knowing organisers would not be able to produce them on short notice.

Israeli special operatives were allowed to dive freely in Greek waters to sabotage some of the ships, including the Juliano which is jointly owned by the Ship to Gaza organisations in Sweden, Norway and Greece. "Anonymous" (Israeli) complaints of unseaworthiness were used by Greek authorities to delay other ships. The Greeks, clearly acting on Israeli-US orders arrested the captain of the American ship, and then did the same to his crew members who went on a hunger strike outside the US embassy in Athens on 4 July, the anniversary of American independence.

The Canadian ship Tahrir departed before officials were able to arrest its captain, but was stopped 5km out to sea. Its captain decided he was endangering the crew by remaining in the port, with Israeli frogmen liable to conduct further acts of sabotage. Spokesman Dylan Kenner explained that the Greek coast guard illegally boarded the ship and towed it back to port. When the passengers refused to identify the captain of the ship, all 50 of them were taken into custody.

Greek authorities played their bureaucratic cards to the hilt, at times insisting electric generators be switched off "for safety reasons" (read: to prevent media from contacting the outside world). The Israeli government pressured the government of Athens, effectively extending its illegal blockade of Gaza to Greek ports, Canadian Dylan Kenner argued. Greece offered to ferry the aid to Gaza in cooperation with the UN, an offer the activists turned down as "insufficient", since their mission was also about the rights of the Palestinian people and not just about aid.

The response from Israel was delight at the Greek actions. In Jerusalem, Israeli President Shimon Peres told Greek President Karolos Papoulias, "I want to thank you for following the instructions of the United Nations secretary-general and stopping the Gaza flotillaÒê¦ Israel always has its hand stretched out in peace."

The response of the US Congress was to vote 407-6 to suspend funds to the Palestinian Authority should it pursue a unilateral declaration of statehood at the UN in September. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said, "We stand by Israel as our most valued ally."

In related news, another ship, the Spirit of Rachel Corrie from Malaysia, after seven weeks trying to break the siege, was finally allowed to unload its 32 tonnes of PVC pipes at the Arish port in Egypt, thanks to the direct intervention of Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who assured activists that the pipes would reach Gaza. Their success coincided with the visit to Egypt of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, who is a staunch friend of Palestine. Malaysia does not recognise Israel and is one of the few countries with a principled stand against Israeli atrocities.

As the Flotillers licked their wounds, hundreds of Western activists attempted to enter Israel en masse 8 July in a "Flytilla" to show solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank. Israeli "intelligence" was prepared however, providing European airports with no-fly-lists of known peaceniks, preventing over 200 from boarding their flights, in violation (what else is new?) of international law. More than 500 still made it to Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. Of them, 250 were arrested, 40 are now on a hunger strike after being denied access to lawyers and medical treatment, and 69 have already been deported.

As always, Israel achieves its narrow, tactical victories at the expense of its long term strategy of achieving respect as a legitimate nation, instead isolating itself further as a rogue nation with no concern for human rights or the welfare of others, despised by most of the world. In a 2010 European opinion poll 60 per cent saw Israel as the greatest threat to world peace (74 per cent in the Netherlands).

It extends its criminal siege of Gaza and occupation of the West Bank to Greek ports and European airports. It acts to encourage anti-Jewish sentiment where there is none, as it insists it speaks on behalf of the world's Jews, its very raison d'³¤tre being to act as a "safe haven" for them. The over-reaction by Israel to these peaceful protests, according to Gilad Atzmon, proves once again what Israel is all about: "the Jewish state is a closed society driven by Òê˜Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder' fuelled by vivid imaginary fantasies of destruction."

The flotilla, composed of well-meaning, perhaps naive peaceniks, was never intended to best the world's most dangerous and highly militarised society. With virtually all the world's governments in thrall to Israel, its sole purpose was first, to show Palestinians that they have the world's people behind them and to encourage them to keep up their heroic resistance, and second, to highlight just how reprehensible Israel is as a state, how unprincipled and untrustworthy as a partner.

By its actions, the Israeli government and its cheerleaders have unwittingly done their part in this pro-Palestinian public relations campaign. Whatever the fate of the flotilla, it has acted as further fuel to the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) campaign and the struggle to delegitimise Israel, or rather to assist Israel in its self-inflicted process of delegitimisation as an apartheid state.

Appropriately, this week, the seventh anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling against the separation wall, the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) and the Palestinian Boycott National Committee called for an immediate and comprehensive military embargo on Israel. Israel has a long track record of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and "the international community has a legal and moral responsibility to end their complicity with Israel's unlawful actions," declared the FGM. This is the only way to pressure Israel to abide by international law, to stop attacking civilian ships in international waters and bombing civilians with white phosphorous.

Israeli politicians are smirking at their ability to stymie the Freedom Flotilla II. But, writes blogger Saker, this is a Pyrrhic victory for the Israeli ship of state. They are like those partying on the deck of the Titanic, who were oblivious to the fact that, thanks to their hubris, their ship would soon rest at the bottom of the ocean. 

USA: A moment before boarding the next flotilla

I’d rather use my influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies I consider abominable.

By Gabriel Matthew Schivone

You might wonder what would motivate a Jewish American college student to participate in what may be the most celebrated - and controversial - sea voyage of the 21st century, one that aims to nonviolently challenge U.S.-supported Israeli military power in the occupied territories. I simply cannot sit idle while my country aids and abets Israel's siege, occupation and repression of the Palestinians. I would rather use my personal influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies that I consider abominable. So, next week, I and more than 30 other American civilians will be sailing on the U.S. ship the Audacity of Hope, to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

I am one of a growing number of young American Jews who are determined to shake off an assumed - and largely imposed - association with Israel. Prominent advocacy organizations, such as the American Jewish Committee, which proudly proclaim their unconditional support of Israel, for several years have been declaring their "serious concern" over the increasing "distancing" of young American Jews from the state.

But what Israel apologists like the AJC view as a crisis, I see as a positive development for American Jews, who, like other parts of U.S. society, are shifting from blind support for Israel to a more critical position that reflects opposition to our country's backing for Israel's policies.

If Israel's apologists in the U.S. are alarmed by a falling off in unconditional support for Israel, they should be even more concerned that such a diverse range of youth - especially young Jews - are joining up with constituencies that actively organize against America's role in the occupation. Today, the so-called crisis has expanded from the coasts to such places as Arizona. It probably was just a matter of time before a Jewish anti-occupation group emerged in my home state, given that a fairly substantial portion of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on the University of Arizona campus (in Tucson ) were Jewish. For our part, we Jews launched an initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus in spring 2010 - one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country, which has a mailing list of 100,000 - and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix.

Through JVP, I discovered there were a great many others like me, who were experiencing profound internal conflicts regarding Israel. They included people who had been intimidated from expressing public criticism of Israel, and others who were afraid to speak out in defense of Palestinian rights for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic.

It was clear that a campus JVP opened up a powerful, organic outlet through which Jewish students could safely exchange and process - without fear, intimidation or a need for self-censorship - their critiques, concerns, ideas, knowledge, questions, discoveries and plans to promote achievement of a genuinely mutual peace in Palestine/Israel. Before JVP came along, it wasn't possible to have an open discussion, or feel that we as Jews had an alternative to either unquestioning support of Israel (the status quo ) or staying silent and thus supporting it by default. I myself was silent and timid for much too long.

We are committed to acting out of Jewish ethical traditions, while holding Israel to the same standard as any other state in the international system - no more, no less. Before JVP, there was nothing on my campus that was critical of Israel from an American Jewish perspective. Zero. The group's success demonstrated that young Jews - moved by their cultural or religious values, which include a belief in universal human rights - have been on campus all the while, ready and willing to join a human rights-based cause for justice in Palestine/Israel. All it took to gain support on campus and elsewhere in the state was a potent sprinkling of opportunity, initiative and political will.

In Athens, as I write, waiting to board the Audacity of Hope, I am wearing a Star of David amulet around my neck, which was given to me the night before I left Arizona by a dear friend and fellow JVP organizer. She got it from a silversmith in Haifa while on a "Birthright" trip as an adolescent. For her, it had always been the reminder of the crude brainwashing she felt she had encountered on that trip. But when she came across the star recently, she decided it might be put to good use if I were to wear it on my journey. And so that's what I'm doing.

I wear it as a symbol of the basic values of Judaism that I feel are not emphasized sufficiently today: the imperative to welcome the stranger as you would want to be welcomed; and of helping to free the slave from a bondage that you would not wish to suffer.

As a consequence of various nonviolent actions undertaken all over the world, led crucially by Palestinians on the ground, the Israeli occupation will one day end. Those of us who face up to the unavoidable choice of either tolerating or resisting these crimes will determine how long the death and suffering of mainly Palestinian noncombatants continues, and how long a lasting peace in Palestine/Israel remains out of reach.

Gabriel Matthew Schivone is a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson, and coordinator of Jewish Voice for Peace at the University of Arizona

GAZA/ISRAEL: Israel’s Contempt for Law of the Seas

Israel’s Contempt for Law of the Seas

…and the EU’s contempt for the safety of its citizens who bring humanitarian relief to Gaza’s women and children

by Stuart Littlewood

In 2008 two humanitarian vessels got through to Gaza. In an article entitled ‘Keeping the Sea-Lane to Gaza Open’, I wrote…

The success of the ‘Free Gaza’ boats in breaking the siege, and their safe arrival and departure, was due to the intervention and good offices of the British Foreign Office…

Before the peace activists set sail, the British government was asked about “action to ensure the freedom boats’ safe and uninterrupted passage to Gaza considering these are international waters and Palestinian territorial waters”. Any attempt to stop the boats would surely infringe the right to freedom of movement to and from Gaza, and seriously breach the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Israel is a party.

The minister in charge of Middle East affairs Kim Howells… has now revealed that “FCO officials spoke to Israeli officials in advance of the trip and Israel allowed the boats peacefully into Gaza.”

Bravo. Our chaps in London lift the phone to their chaps in Tel Aviv and – hey presto! – it’s all fixed. That’s diplomacy…

Yet here we are nearly three years later going through the same sorry process while ruthless foreign interests still relentlessly expand their influence by stealth, by subversion and by intimidation to persuade the rest of the world to let them do as they please in the Middle East and beyond.

In the UK and the EU we are losing control fast and will soon become abject Zionist stooges like America. It will soon be impossible to take back our country without organizing serious insurrection.

And on the high seas Israeli warships and helicopters assault and hijack vessels of other nations with impunity in order to maintain their illegal blockade of Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post reports http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=226170 that the German Left Party has issued a resolution prohibiting its parliamentary representatives from taking part in the upcoming Gaza Flotilla in an attempt to buy off criticism that the party is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. They will not participate “in Middle East conflict initiatives that call for a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel and boycotts of Israeli products, as well this year’s Gaza Flotilla.”

An expert on left-wing anti-Semitism called Alex Feuerherdt told the newspaper that “it goes without saying” that participation in the Gaza Flotilla action is a “military attack on Israel”.

Such are the lengths to which the Zionist conspiracy will go to control the thoughts and actions of ordinary, decent people.

And this is the background against which the Gaza Freedom Flotilla II sets sail. The conspirators don’t want the boats to reach Gaza because their safe arrival would drive a coach and horses through the Zionists’ control-freakery. So they shriek and squawk and threaten dire consequences like last year when they assaulted the Mavi Marmara with lethal force in international waters, not caring how many they killed.

This has prompted the following statement by flotilla organizers to the UN Human Rights Council a few days ago:  “We are determined to sail to Gaza. Our cause is just and our means are transparent. To underline the fact that we do not present an imminent threat to Israel nor do we aim to contribute to a war effort against Israel, thus eliminating any claim by Israel to self-defense, we invite the HRC or any other UN or international agency to come on board and inspect our vessels at their point of departure, on the high seas, or on their arrival in the Gaza port. We will – and must – continue to sail until the illegal siege of Gaza is ended and Palestinians have the same human and national rights those of us sailing enjoy.”

Steering Committee of the International Coalition for Gaza Freedom Flotilla II

One of the organizers in London tells me that when the British boat’s final passenger list is confirmed, the Foreign Office in London will be contacted with the details and asked to “act to ensure the safe passage of their citizens”.

Did the UK have a right to mount a general naval blockade of the Republic of Ireland in response to IRA terror?

Israel is clearly acting illegally by interfering with the flotilla’s peaceful mission, so what are the chances that Britain and other countries will provide necessary protection?

A UN fact-finding mission, dealing with the assault on the Mavi Marmara, has already declared that “no case can be made for the legality of the interception and the Mission therefore finds that the interception was illegal.”

As for Israel’s naval blockade, it is “considered by the Mission to constitute collective punishment of the people living in the Gaza Strip and thus to be illegal and contrary to Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention”. The action by Israel’s military in intercepting the Mavi Marmara on the high seas was “clearly unlawful” and could not be justified even under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations [the right of self-defense].

And let’s remember that Security Council resolution 1860 (2009) emphasizes “the need to ensure sustained and regular flow of goods and people through the Gaza crossings” and calls for “the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment”.

The Centre for Constitutional Rights has also concluded

that the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is illegal under international law. “Due both to the legal nature of Israel’s relationship to Gaza – that of occupier – and the impact of the blockade on the civilian population, amounting to ‘collective punishment’, the blockade cannot be reconciled with the principles of international law, including international humanitarian law. It is recalled that the international community, speaking through both the United Nations and individual States, has repeatedly and emphatically called for an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

“The flotilla did not seek to travel to Israel, let alone ‘attack’ Israel. Furthermore, the flotilla did not constitute an act which required an ‘urgent’ response, such that Israel had to launch a middle-of-the-night armed boarding… Israel could also have diplomatically engaged Turkey, arranged for a third party to verify there were no weapons onboard and then peacefully guided the vessel to Gaza.”

Craig Murray was deputy head of the teams which negotiated the UK’s maritime boundaries with France, Germany, Denmark (Faeroe Islands) and Ireland. As Head of the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he was responsible for giving political and legal clearance to Royal Navy boarding operations in the Persian Gulf following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, in enforcement of the UN authorised blockade against Iraqi weapons shipments. He is therefore an internationally recognized authority on these matters.

Referring to the participation of an American boat in Flotilla II http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/06/illegal-blockades/ , he says: “Right of free passage is guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, to which the United States is a full party. Any incident which takes place upon a US flagged ship on the High Seas is subject to United States legal jurisdiction. A ship is entitled to look to its flag state for protection from attack on the High Seas…

“Israel has declared a blockade on Gaza and justified previous fatal attacks on neutral civilian vessels on the High Seas in terms of enforcing that embargo, under the legal cover given by the San Remo Manual of International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea.”

“There are however fundamental flaws in this line of argument. It falls completely on one fact alone. San Remo only applies to blockade in times of armed conflict. Israel is not currently engaged in an armed conflict, and presumably does not wish to be. San Remo does not confer any right to impose a permanent blockade outwith times of armed conflict, and in fact specifically excludes as illegal a general blockade on an entire population.”

He acknowledges that Israel suffers from sporadic terrorist attacks from Gaza but this does not come close to reaching the bar of armed conflict that would trigger the right to impose a naval blockade. When the UK suffered continued terrorist attack from the Irish Republican Army, sustaining many more deaths than anything Israel has suffered in recent years from Gaza, it would have been ridiculous to argue that the UK had a right to mount a general naval blockade of the Republic of Ireland.

So Israel doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Therefore “all good men and true” should rally to support these brave voyagers and ensure their governments back their play.

But here’s a question put by MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides and the answer from the EU Commission

Question: One year after the military action by Israel against a convoy carrying humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza, during which at least ten civilians were killed, another humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza is now being organised, the principal cargo being supplies of stationery for school pupils. Is the EU and in particular the Commission aware of the new mission that is being organised and what is its position on this matter?

Given the participation of EU Member State nationals and the presence of MEPs, will the EU take any measures to ensure that the personal safety of its nationals is not endangered?

Answer: After the organisation of a flotilla heading to Gaza in May 2010, the Quartet, of which the EU is a member, stated that all those wishing to deliver goods to Gaza should do so through established channels, so that their cargo can be inspected and transferred via land crossings into Gaza. It also stated that there was no need for unnecessary confrontations and that all parties should act responsibly in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza.

In the same spirit, the Chair’s Conclusions of the 13 April 2011 meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) on donor coordination for Palestine reiterated a call on all international supporters to make use of the existing land crossings to channel their support to Gaza, and abstain from provocations.

The Commission stands by this line. A flotilla is not the appropriate response to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. At the same time, Israel must abide by international law when dealing with a possible flotilla. The EU continues to request the lifting of the blockade on Gaza, including the naval blockade.

EU Member States have the responsibility to protect their citizens abroad via their consular services. This responsibility covers assistance for their citizens who might participate in a possible flotilla. As in May-June 2010, the EU Delegation in Tel Aviv stands ready to function as a hub for information and to coordinate the efforts of the consular services of EU Member States.

So there your have it… the treacherous contradictions we have come to expect from this unelected body, including advice that Member States have a responsibility to protect their citizens AFTER they’ve been murdered.

The “established channel” for delivering goods to Gaza is of course the time-honoured route by sea, which is protected by maritime and international law and therefore entirely appropriate. There’s nothing “provocative” about it. The organizers have offered their cargoes for inspection and verification by a trusted third party to allay Israel’s fears about weapon supplies. They should not have to dirty their hands dealing with the belligerent regime that’s cruelly turning the screws on civilians with an illegal blockade. Anyone suggesting they must do so seeks to legitimize the blockade, which we all know to be illegal and a crime against humanity.

Members of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee include the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel, so no wonder it bends over backwards to accommodate Israel’s criminal action.

 _________________________

Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.

PALESTINE: Freedom Flotilla II sets sail for Gaza

Freedom Flotilla II sets sail for Gaza

by Debbie Menon / Intifada Palestine

The aid flotilla is being organized by a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups, most of them based in Europe, the Associated Press reported. 

The mission is named after the first Freedom Flotilla, which Israeli naval commandoes  attacked on May 31, 2010, in international waters,  killing nine Turkish activists and injuring around 50 others.

Huwaida Arraf,  was on board The Challenger, a U.S.-flagged ship that was part of this international effort to break Israel’s cruel illegal blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Huwaida Arraf ISM Co-Founder

Huwaida recounts : “Israeli commandoes grabbed me by my hair and rammed my head into the deck. They then stepped on my head in order to cuff my hands behind my back and then put a sack over my head. Worse yet, the commandoes killed nine of my fellow passengers, including 19-year old U.S. citizen Furkan Dogan, on the Mavi Marmara.”

An international fact-finding mission of the UN Human Rights Council concluded that Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip is “collective punishment”–a war crime–and that its May 31, 2010, attack on the flotilla in order to enforce its blockade was “illegal.” The mission found that six passengers, including Furkan, were killed “in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution,” and that survivors were subjected to “torture.”

Rather than put pressure on Israel to end its illegal blockade of Gaza, investigate Israel’s killing of a U.S. citizen and attack against a U.S. ship, and sanction Israel for misusing U.S. weapons to attack the flotilla, the Obama Administration shamefully has tried to shield Israel from accountability for its actions.

On Saturday, Egypt permanently reopened its border crossing with Rafah. This is an important step toward ending Gaza’s isolation. But because Israel is still illegally blockading Gaza by land, sea and air, and because my country–the United States–is still enabling Israel to get away with it (in April, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice even publicly pressured governments to block future flotillas), in June I plan to sail for Gaza again with “Freedom Flotilla II–Stay Human.”

Four women Nobel Peace Laureates have sent an open letter calling on United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to support the safe passage of the Freedom Flotilla II. The flotilla will be bringing much-needed humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza in late June.

Mairead Maguire, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, and Rigoberta Menchú Tum have asked the Secretary General to “support the people of Gaza with two key actions.

First, by appointing a representative to inspect and seal the cargo of the boats of the Freedom Flotilla II—thus assuring the Israeli government that the boats are carrying humanitarian supplies…and to “call on all governments to support the safe passage of the Freedom Flotilla II.”

Download the open letter here