Posted: 02 Jul 2011 10:27 PM PDT
Is it any surprise that they have undertaken Israeli dirty
work?
by Debbie Menon
Greece
has somehow maneuvered itself (or been maneuvered) into a financial crisis
which threatens the incumbent government, and the economic quality of corporate
life in Greece if IMF and World Bank historical response are pursued. So, to
whom will they turn for relief?
Is it any surprise that they have undertaken Israeli dirty
work?
The Audacity of Hope, the US
Flotilla to Gaza named after Obama’s book Audacity
of Hope was stopped at sea by the Greek
Coast Guard 20 minutes
after leaving the port. The captain refused to turn back despite the pleas of
the Coast guard captain. After about 2 hours, Greek commandos joined the Coast
guard vessel and the decision was made to turn back.
Captain John has been detained!
Johnny Barber, a passenger, on the Audacity of Hope, was
able to do this amazing recording as it happened.
US Flotilla Stopped at Sea 01:07:2011
US “The Audacity to Love”
by Craig Murray
I am proud to call Ray McGovern a friend. He is a retired
senior member of the CIA, and was so valued as an analyst that he used to give
the US
President his daily intelligence briefing. Ray and I both had senior government
service careers, in the course of which you make personal friendships that
last, hopefully as long as you do. So sometimes we both get told things from
the inside of government.
As Ray sets out on the US Gaza peace flotilla ship, he has been warned in the starkest of terms that the Obama
administration will do nothing to protect their US flagged vessel, or the US citizens on board, against
attack by the Israelis.
I also have been cautioned by a source with access to very
senior staffers at the National Security Council that not only does the White
House plan to do absolutely nothing to protect our boat from Israeli attack or
illegal boarding, but that White House officials”would be happy if something
happened to us.” They are, I am reliably told, “perfectly willing to have the
cold corpses of activists shown on American TV.”
While I know Ray to be an extremely honest man, motivated by
a genuine activist Christianity, I thought it was possible that his source was
exaggerating. I therefore set my own diplomatic sources to work in Washington, without
giving them any indication of Ray’s information. They came back with an
independent report from a different source – close to Clinton rather than the
White House – with exactly the same result of which Ray was warned. I was told
that Obama will welcome an Israeli attack on the US ship, as giving him a chance to
confirm his pro-Israeli credentials and improve his standing with AIPAC ahead
of the Presidential election race. Fatalities would be “not a problem”.
There was no information that the Obama regime has quietly
given Netanyahu a green light to attack the ship. But I strongly expect they
will; by deniable means, of course.
The US
Government has never shown much interest in its citizen’s welfare or safety
when it has involved the slightest conflict of interest with some client despot
or petty dictatorial puppet…
At best, Obama will pull a Lyndon Johnson. It worked the
last time, and it can work again. He could even assign a Senatorial hearing to
investigate the matter, headed by Senator John McCain, just like Johnson had
the Admiral McCain conduct the investigation of Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty.
I am sure that SecDef Gates will ensure that no US Naval forces
interfere with whatever the Israelis decide to do.
With the thousands of “valiant loyal soldiers” who have
sacrificed their lives saving the world from a fake “war on terror,” who is
going to miss or cry over a few limp wristed, elderly bleeding hearts?
Even if it did deter Obama, he could not and would not take
any action against Israel.
But, if he lets this go down, and people like Ray McGovern
get killed, then what points he made with AIPAC (American-Israeli Public
Affairs Committee) would be to no avail. He would not stand a chance at being
elected dog catcher in his own home town.
Thinking freely and out of the box…. Letting the dog off the
leash and watching where he hunts…
Ray McGovern turned his back on Clinton while she spoke.
That was a clear and audible message, but ineffectual. An irrelevant incident,
which got him hustled and bashed around. But, if we could somehow get a few
thousand spectators to virtually turn their backs, stand up and walk out on
President Obama whenever and every time he spoke in public, then that might
have some impact on his political advisors and his status as a political
candidate…something which might force his attention.
TV networks and stations have a means of counting or
surveying real-time listener/watcher numbers when they present someone like
President Obama or Hillary Clinton on public TV, and if somehow a sufficient
number of people would suddenly turn their TVs off, or shift channels every
time he appeared on TV, this would show up on a chart somewhere and someone in
his political advisory staff might take notice and force his attention.
I am really grasping at straws, am I not, to even suggest
such a hair brained idea? But, it might have some effect, if we could just come
up with some way to pull it off.
UPDATES: Please watch the latest update on all the ships, important
press conference held in Greece, and the situation with the US boat “Audacity
of Hope” reported by Press TV
Watch Press Conference Here http://australiansforpalestine.com/47471
Video Clips & Images:http://australiansforpalestine.com
Related post
Debbie Menon is a freelance writer based in Dubai. Her articles have been featured in several print and online publications. She can be reached at: debbiemenon@gmail.com, http://mycatbirdseat.com/
http://www.facebook.com/mycatbirdseat
http://twitter.com/mycatbirdseat/
Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:47 PM PDT
A sense of excitement emerged as a result of the Flotilla.
(Noor Harazeen)
Joe Catron
An international flotilla of nine ships and hundreds
of crew and passengers is a huge undertaking, in Gaza as much as anywhere. Mahmoud Elmadhoun
knows this better than most. A member of Gaza’s Higher Government Committee, as
well as the Governmental Committee for Breaking the Siege and Receiving
Delegations (GCBS), which is tasked with welcoming solidarity missions to Gaza,
he just finished hosting the Miles of Smiles convoy of 55 European dentists.
Now he could face one of the most daunting challenges in the GCBS’ history:
Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human.
“The main issue is whether the Israelis will let the
Flotilla come,” Elmadhoun told me last Monday in his office in the Foreign
Ministry. Their reception in Gaza,
he assured me, was not a question. “We are ready to receive those people. Don’t
worry; within 24 hours’ notice of their departure from Athens, everything will be in place.”
He quickly rattled off the GCBS’ responsibilities in the
Flotilla effort. “Our main tasks are logistical: hotels, transportation,
security, and of course activities,” he said. “Wherever they want to go in Gaza, they will be
welcomed.”
I thought of my own tiny Tahrir 4 Gaza land convoy, the
first to cross the Rafah border after the fall of Egypt’s Mubarak dictatorship,
and of the small army of diplomatic staff, drivers, security personnel, tour
guides, translators, and others assembled to support us around the clock, the
hotel rooms reserved to house us, and the meetings and activities arranged for
us. Would a large group like Flotilla participants, plus the extra logistics of
their ships, pose a challenge for the GCBS, I asked Elmadhoun?
“Receiving foreign guests in solidarity with us is one of
our government’s top priorities,” he answered, then repeated himself:
“Everything will be ready. Just give us 24 hours.”
Later Monday morning, a hundred Palestinians marched to the Gaza complex of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to
demand international protection for the Flotilla and an end to the siege. They
were led by children from a Beit Hanoun Local Initiative summer camp, clad in
white, who pounded on the locked gates of the fortress-like, heavily-guarded
compound before they were allowed to deliver a letter addressed to UN
Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon. On Saturday, the same children rallied at the port of Gaza to denounce Greek obstruction of
the Flotilla and demand the release of its ships.
Both times, Amjad Shawa stood behind them. Gaza coordinator
of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations’ Network (PNGO), he oversees
the Palestinian/International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, which had
helped to organize both demonstrations – the first couple of many to follow, he
told me later.
“We want the UN and the international community to intervene
to protect the Flotilla,” he said. “Our message from civil society is that we
need efforts like this. We refuse the absurd Israeli claims that this is some
kind of military threat, and assert that these are civil activists who are only
carrying food, medicines, and construction materials.”
The GCBS’ work and that of PNGO, along with its 61 member
organizations in Gaza,
would overlap in some areas, Shawa said. “We’ll organize site visits for them,
meetings, talks, sometimes demonstrations if that’s what they want.” But their
core responsibilities would differ. “Building popular support is the key
mission of civil society. Our work in the coming days will include advocacy,
rallies, protests, and media work to update people, which is very important. We
are working to show the real suffering here. We want everyone to see the siege
as it is, and not accept any cosmetic improvements, which can only help Israel. Our
goal is to end the siege totally.”
PNGO and some of its members had long histories of
collaboration with the groups behind the Flotilla, he told me. “We are a
contact point between Palestinian civil society and this international
coalition,” he said. “Many of these organizations are our partners.”
PNGO’s approach to the siege was “rights-based, not
humanitarian,” Shawa stressed. “You hear claims that Gaza isn’t in a humanitarian crisis. Well,
this is worse than a humanitarian crisis! We are in a complete state of
dependency, without reserves of food, for example. If our supplies were cut off
for three or four days, Gaza
would starve. Shipments of aid aren’t enough. Palestinians want freedom.”
His perspective on the Flotilla was similar. “Of course it’s
political,” he said. “If the Flotilla were only bringing food, there would be
no difference between the World Food Program and the Flotilla. If there were no
political message, they could send it all to Ashdod
for land transportation to Gaza.
But I understand that each activist coming here believes in the rights of the
people of Palestine.
And they’re challenging the risks and provocations from the Israeli side
because of those beliefs.”
What did PNGO and its members hope to gain from their
substantial commitment of time and resources to the Flotilla effort, I asked
Shawa? “We know that the Flotilla will not end the naval blockade,” he
answered. “But it has already sent a very important message to Israelis,
Palestinians, and people in the surrounding countries. This criminal siege
cannot be allowed to continue.”
At dusk, I walked past the Freedom Flotilla Martyrs Memorial
and Square and onto the port
of Gaza. In spite of the
late hour and fading light, the rocky pier, which lies across the street from
my apartment, hummed with an unusual kind of activity: international
journalists recording video segments, snapping pictures, and taking interviews.
I had come to meet Mahfouz Kabariti, coordinator of the
Fishing and Marine Sports Association (FMSA). Despite its recreational-sounding
name, the FMSA represents Palestinians working in a deadly-serious business:
fishing offshore in Gaza’s
territorial waters, braving frequent attacks by the Israeli navy. The
three-nautical mile fishing limit imposed unilaterally and enforced, sometimes
lethally, by Israel
is part of the same maritime blockade the Flotilla aims to defy within days.
Kabariti spends as much time at the port as anyone, and was
eager to talk about the preparations taking place there. “All the equipment in
the harbor is ready for them,” he told me. “The pier and road have been
prepared,” he said, gesturing at a freshly-sanded lane. “The gasoline for the
boats, the electrical connections, food, drinks, and all the needs the sailors
might have are here.”
Like many of Gaza’s
civil society organizations, the FMSA plans to host groups of Flotilla
participants at several events on land. But it will also join an impressive
reception for them at sea, Kabariti told me. “We have planned, with our
friends, to launch our boats to receive the Flotilla. As soon as we receive the
first news that they will reach our port safely, we will go to welcome them to Gaza.”
How many boats would participate in the effort, I asked?
“Most of them,” he replied. “Everyone in Gaza
who has the opportunity, plus our families, will want to participate.”
And what of those who can’t fit in the boats? “Well, they’ll
have to stay on the port,” Kabariti said. “As the Flotilla approaches Gaza, everyone will sit
watching their televisions. And when we see that they will arrive safely,
thousands of us – maybe ten thousand, maybe a hundred thousand – will come
rushing down to the port to welcome them. Of course we won’t all fit in the
boats! But everyone in Gaza
will want to be part of this historic moment.”
But what if the Flotilla doesn’t make it to the port, I
asked? “We’ll still be here,” he answered. “We know that Israel is
determined to stop them. But the solidarity they are showing for us by
challenging the siege is what matters. Whether they are allowed to reach Gaza or not, we’ll show
our appreciation for their bravery and risks.”
The siege hangs over Gaza
like a shroud. It colors everything, from the prices of food in supermarkets to
the dreams of youth, whose ambitions to study or work abroad, or even visit
family and friends in neighboring countries, it often crushes.
But as the Flotilla has mobilized, a palpable sense of
excitement has emerged. Everyone – from friends in cafes, to contacts in social
movements, to strangers in refugee camps – is eager to share the latest news
from Athens,
and even more eager to hear of the Flotilla’s departure.
As Gaza rises, whether to offer the Flotilla a welcome like
no other, or to denounce interception by Israel or obstruction by its proxies,
one more round of the ongoing struggle for the liberation of Palestine will
conclude with a decisive victory in the arena of global opinion. Ties between
Palestinian organizers and the global network of activists supporting them will
emerge stronger than ever before. And the siege – along with the colonial
project imposing it – will be pushed one big step closer to their final end.
Regardless of what happens in the coming days, in Athens or deep in the Mediterranean,
the global surge of popular organizing, grassroots collaboration, and public
attention around the Flotilla show that it has already accomplished the highest
goals its organizers could possibly have set for it.
*******************
Joe Catron is a resident of Brooklyn, New
York and a current member of the International Solidarity Movement
– Gaza Strip.
He writes in a personal capacity.
Posted: 02 Jul 2011 06:14 AM PDT
Written by Maidhc Ó Cathail
Hillary Clinton could hardly have given her lastest
hypocritical pro-Arab Spring speech at a more appropriate venue.
Attending the inauguration of a human rights institute in Budapest
honouring the late Congressman Tom Lantos of California,
the U.S. Secretary of State urged “emerging democracies” to “show solidarity
with those in the streets of Belarus,
in Libya
and around the world.”
Until his death in 2008, Congressman
Lantos was, as one former U.S.
diplomat put it, “the Hungarian-American guardian of Israel’s
interests in Congress.” As co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights
Caucus, Lantos knowingly deceived his co-chairman and the public about the
identity of “Nayirah,” whose incubator atrocity story helped justify American intervention
in the 1991 Gulf War. Lantos is said to have
“shared a common drive for promoting democracy and human rights” with his close
friend and fellow Hungarian Holocaust survivor George Soros.
Update I: In her speech, Hillary Clinton noted that Tom
Lantos’ grandson, Tomica Tillemann, is her Senior Advisor for Civil Society
and Emerging Democracies. Speaking in Budapest
in April, Tilleman gave some very revealing insights into how the State
Department is “creating change in a changing world.”
Update II: Chairing the Lantos Foundation’s
illustrious Advisory Board is another staunch supporter of the so-called “Arab awakening” —
Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Posted: 02 Jul 2011 05:54 AM PDT
by Stuart Littlwood
It doesn’t look good.
Our oh-so-moral international community, always poking its
democracy-loving nose into any trouble spot that might threaten western security
(whatever that means) and always eager to mobilize its mighty weapons of war,
is still reluctant to operate on the cancer it foolishly implanted into the
Holy Land 63 years ago and which now menaces the world.
Instead, our heroes encourage it to grow and won’t even
protect the ‘caring services’ wishing to sooth the excruciating pain suffered
by the Palestinian victims.
And right now it’s disappointing to find that the Free Gaza Flotilla’s new international media office in London is not up to the
job. It issued its first press release this week. An accompanying note told us
that “the steering committee decided it didn’t want a unified media strategy” –
a fatal mistake, surely, when faced with an aggressive campaign of distortion,
disinformation and sabotage mounted by Israel and its massive stooge
network to scupper the sailings. It also mentioned a letter to British prime
minister David Cameron but didn’t make the text available. And it revealed they
still hadn’t written to the Foreign Office – unbelievable,
The press release announced that a boat packed with Freedom
Flotilla activists had sailed along the Thames to Westminster. MP Caroline Lucas went ashore at
the Houses of Parliament “to deliver a message of freedom for Palestine”
and afterwards “asked William Hague what the government is doing to support the
flotilla to Gaza”.
No further details were given. So what exactly was the
“message of freedom” delivered to Parliament, and how was it received? And,
most important, what did foreign secretary Hague say?
Back came the reply: “Freedom for Palestine was the message. Ms Lucas posed a
question in Parliament. Our press release was about our action and her
involvement in it. You can look up Hague’s response in Hansard if you’re
interested but he didn’t say anything we wanted to repeat in that press
release.”
That’s the sort of attitude that’s guaranteed to bury a
release in a news editor’s wastepaper basket. You don’t ask a high-credibility
MP like Caroline Lucas to publicly pin down a foreign secretary like Hague
who’s a prominent cheer-leader for Israel, and hide the result.
As for the flotilla’s abrupt “Freedom for Palestine” message
to Parliament, at the very least the press office could have beefed it up with
a list of freedoms taken for granted in Westminster but denied to Palestinians…
like freedom of self-determination, freedom to choose their own government,
freedom to trade with the outside world, freedom to come and go, freedom to
work, freedom to attend university even within their own country let alone
abroad, freedom to worship in their holy places, freedom to reunite with their
families, freedom to travel for medical care, freedom to fish their own
territorial waters, freedom even to have a good night’s sleep. The ‘packaging’
possibilities are endless.
Here’s how Hansard (29 Jun 2011: Column 969) recorded the
Lucas – Hague encounter…
Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green): Earlier today,
Palestine solidarity groups, politicians, teachers and others marked the
anniversary of the attacks on the Free Gaza flotilla last year by sailing down
the river outside Parliament and marking the launch of a new Free Gaza
flotilla. As the Foreign Secretary has previously said that the situation in
Gaza is unacceptable and unsustainable, will he tell us what further action he
is taking to help get the siege lifted, and will he do everything that he can
to get guarantees that this new flotilla will be safe from attack?
Mr Hague: We have continued to take the action that I set
out in the House last year. We have urged Israel
greatly to improve access to Gaza.
It has taken some steps, but those steps have not been as fruitful as we had
hoped when they were set out. Egypt has now opened an important crossing into
Gaza, which may also provide some relief. The answer relies on the general
lifting of a blockade of Gaza
and on a negotiated two-state solution in the middle east. However, embarking
on new flotillas is not the way in which to bring that about. We advise against
all travel to Gaza
by British nationals, which includes people who may be thinking of boarding a
flotilla to go there. We hope that Israel will make only a proportionate
response to any such flotilla, but it is, none the less, not the way in which
to sort out the problems of the middle east. Such problems require negotiations
in good faith by the parties concerned.
Actually Hague’s answer is very useful because it reads like
the work of Israeli speechwriters and rhymes perfectly with the nonsense he has
spouted before. He insists that flotillas are “not the way”. Well, what is? The
proper way to break a siege, which the UN itself calls “illegal and contrary to
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention”, is surely for the UN to apply
sanctions. Failing that, the right thing would be for UN warships to break the
siege… or for international civil society to do it escorted by UN warships or
by warships belonging to the nation(s) of the flagged humanitarian vessels
threatened with attack.
The proper way for Israel
to avoid trouble would be to end its illegal blockade and end its illegal
occupation of the rest of Palestine,
and not interfere with humanitarians going about their lawful business.
As for “negotiations in good faith”, does William Hague
think he’s talking to idiots? What make-believe world is he living in?
A year ago, on 2 June 2010 after Israel’s assault on the Mavi
Marmara killing nine unarmed humanitarians, including an American, Hague made
similarly daft remarks in the House of Commons:
• “Our clear advice to British nationals is not to travel to
Gaza.” Music to
Israel’s
ears, of course, as Hague helped to legitimize the illegal sea blockade and
armed assault against unarmed citizens in international waters.
• “We deeply deplore the loss of life…”
• “Their welfare [meaning the British nationals on board] is
our top priority.” Mr Hague knew of Israel’s intention to go to any
lengths, including the use of lethal force, to stop the mercy ships but he took
no precautionary action.
• He referred to “individuals who are allegedly involved in
violence against Israeli servicemen during the boarding”, failing to grasp that
the violence was committed by Israeli storm-troopers dropping from helicopters
with guns blazing under cover of darkness in international waters.
• “Restrictions on Gaza
should be lifted – a view confirmed in United Nations security council
resolution 1860.” Bravo, he gets that right. But Resolution 1860 goes much
further and calls for the sustained reopening of crossing points on the basis of
the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, which provides for
- the reduction of obstacles to movement within the West Bank
- bus and truck convoys between the West Bank and Gaza
- the building of a new seaport in Gaza
- re-opening of the airport in Gaza
Eight months earlier the European Council had repeated the
EU’s call for “an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings
for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from
Gaza” and for “full implementation of The Agreement on Movement and Access”. So
where is all that?
• “We will… continue to press the Israeli government to lift
the closure of Gaza, and plan early discussions… about what more can be done to
ensure an unfettered flow of aid.” Has unfettered flow happened? Of course not.
And it won’t happen without naval escorts and/or sanctions. If Mr Hague doesn’t
understand this he hasn’t been paying attention.
Hague was challenged by Sir Gerald Kaufman, the
straight-talking Jewish MP, who pointed out that any one of the 37 UK citizens
might have been killed when the Israelis “committed a war crime of piracy in
international waters, kidnapping and murder—and all in pursuit of upholding an
illegal blockade on Gaza that amounts to collective punishment…” He asked Mr Hague
for his assurance that further steps would be taken if the Israelis failed to
comply with the modest request that had been made.
But Hague sidestepped, saying: “It is our strong advice to
British nationals, as it has been in the past and will be in the future, not to
travel to Gaza—let
me make that absolutely clear—as they would be going into a dangerous
situation, but it is absolutely wrong to maintain the blockade.”
Jeremy Corbyn asked if it wasn’t time for sanctions such as
revoking the EU-Israel trade agreement. Hague replied that he did not think
imposing sanctions was the right policy – but gave no reason. So no
consequences.
Frank Dobson suggested that Britain and the other European
members of NATO should give naval protection if another flotilla were to set
off for Gaza, with the Royal Navy reverting to its traditional role of
protecting the freedom of the seas. Hague dismissed this too.
The government chicken coop happily clucked its approval as
Hague handed the Israelis total victory. As expected, year later and there has
been no improvement. Israel
is making the same murderous threats against the latest flotilla. And Hague is
making the same stupid remarks.
“Reckless to travel to Gaza”
A year before that, in July 2009, I received a letter from the
office of Britain’s then foreign secretary David Miliband in reply to questions
about Israel’s hijacking of the mercy ship Spirit of Humanity on the high seas
and the outrageous treatment of six peace-loving British citizens including the
skipper. They were en route to Gaza, not Israel, had
their gear stolen or damaged and were thrown into Israeli jails. The letter
said: “All those on board, including six British nationals, were handed over to
Israeli immigration officials. British consular officials had good access to
the British detainees and established that they were treated well.”
That’s not what the peaceful seafarers were saying. They
were assaulted, put in fear of their lives and deprived of their liberty for
fully a week – a long time in a stinking Israeli jail – for committing no
offence.
The letter continued: “The Foreign Secretary said in the
House of Commons on 30 June that it was ‘vital that all states respect
international law, including the law of the sea… We regularly remind the
Israeli government of its obligations under international law on a variety of
issues, including with respect to humanitarian access to Gaza
as well as Israel’s
control of Gazan waters…
“Our Travel Advice makes clear that we advise against all
travel to Gaza, including its offshore waters;
that it is reckless to travel to Gaza
at this time…”
So, instead of keeping the seaways open, it seems the
British Government has colluded with Israel
to put part of the Holy Land off-limits to British pilgrims, humanitarians and
businesspeople and implicated itself in the collective punishment Israel continues to inflict on the Palestinian
citizens of Gaza.
Fast-forward to this week and Middle East minister Alistair
Burt echoing his boss William Hague after visiting the Gaza Strip. He told the Jerusalem
Post http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/50937/uk-minister-better-ways-gaza-flotilla
that he was opposed to the latest flotilla and that the action by
pro-Palestinian campaigners was a political gesture and a challenge to Israel’s
authority. “There are better ways to do this in humanitarian terms, and better
ways politically.”
What are these “better ways”? Everyone would love to know.
And what exactly is Israel’s “authority” over who comes
and goes in international waters, or who enters or leaves Palestinian
territory?
Burt also said: “I am here to encourage the Israeli
government and the Palestinians to get back around the table.” Hasn’t he heard?
Everyone’s done with time-wasting “negotiations”. The path to justice and peace
is already set down in law and UN resolutions. It’s time to pursue that path
and enforce those laws.
Is anyone safe in the international community’s hands?
In case you’re wondering, Mr Burt used to be an officer of
the Conservative Friends of Israel,
Mr Hague has been a signed-up Friend of Israel
since he was a teenager, and Prime Minister David Cameron also counts himself a
Friend of Israel
and says he’s a Zionist.
This unpleasant trio of supporters of Israel’s psychopathic regime are just the UK tip of a
sinister and menacing Western-world iceberg. Nothing should surprise us about
the behaviour of the rest of the so-called international community.
The international community was happy to slap cruel
sanctions on Iraq’s
women and children for 12 years before bombing the hell out of them. The
international community has been happy to bomb the hell out of women and
children in Afghanistan
for nearly 10 years. The international community is current bombing the hell
out of women and children in Libya
and, I hear, using DU (depleted uranium) ordnance for good measure. The
international community stood happily by and watched Israel
unleash its Cast Lead blitzkrieg against Gaza’s
trapped civilians, killing 1400, maiming countless more and wrecking their
infrastructure. Not a single aircraft carrier, destroyer, Tornado jet or Apache
helicopter was deployed in their defence, nor has there been any move in the UN
to sanction against Israel
for its continuing blockade of Gaza.
Nor have there been any consequences for Israel’s interception of the Mavi
Marmara on the high seas, which the UN says was “clearly unlawful”. Even the
International Criminal Court drags its feet. Meanwhile the international
community has taken sanctions against Iran and can’t wait to bomb the
hell out of the Islamic Republic’s women and children.
“There is no greater priority, no more important
responsibility than the safety of all our citizens…” So said one of our
previous prime and no doubt many other heads of state. Somebody please correct
me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe a single member of our international
community has promised to protect the brave men and women of the Flotilla while
in international waters from the vile threats of the regime that committed
wholesale murder against the last flotilla. Indeed, the international community
seems prepared to let Israel
carry on with its dirty work, its defiance of all laws and codes and its crimes
against humanity.
In the UK
Cameron, Hague and Burt would do well to remind themselves what it is they are
paid and sworn to do… whether it is to protect British citizens going about
their peaceful and lawful business on the high seas, or to further the lawless
ambitions of a criminal foreign regime that’s contemptuous of human values.
The British public know the answer. If Israel harms a
hair on the head of any Britisher aboard this flotilla, or shows disrespect,
Messrs Burt, Hague and Cameron may get the roasting they so richly deserve.
I wouldn’t mind betting that the same fate awaits Obama and
Clinton if any American citizen is harmed this time.
Stuart Littlewood
2 July 2011
********************
Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free
Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.
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