The Israeli enemy asked the United Nations on Friday to help prevent activists sailing to Gaza on the first anniversary of the bloody Israeli seizure of a Turkish ship that tried to reach the blockaded Palestinian enclave.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office quoted him telling UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that a mission of around 15 ships expected in late May "was being organized by Islamic extremist elements, among others, with the goal of creating a provocation and bringing about a flare-up."
The Free Gaza Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist umbrella group, said the May flotilla would comprise 15 ships with international passengers including Europeans and Americans. "We sail not just for Gaza," the group said in a March 31 posting on its Website. "We sail to confront an entire apartheid regime that must be dismantled through citizen action."
Netanyahu claimed Israel was "committed to acting firmly against the flotilla," according to the statement.
European campaign slams Israeli efforts to thwart Gaza-bound flotilla[ 02/04/2011 - 07:41 AM ]
BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign to end the siege on Gaza has condemned recent action by Israel to thwart Freedom Flotilla 2, saying that the attempt will only make organizers more determined to carry out the voyage.
The European campaign based in Brussels expressed absolute confidence that the second freedom flotilla mission would be conducted in line with international law at its due date of May 15 despite Israeli threats.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had contacted the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to intervene to stop the freedom flotilla alleging that it is aimed at provoking Israel and is organized by ”Islamic fanatics”.
”[The move] only means bankruptcy in facing the fleet,” said European campaign member Rami Abdo in statements on Friday.
”If they continue in their campaign against us, we will become more determined to continue in our path,” Abdo said. ”They should read history and learn from the experiences of nations that fought peacefully until they achieved independence.”
”The task of the freedom flotilla is a peaceful, humanitarian task aimed at breaking world silence and ending the unjust siege enforced on 1.8 million Palestinians.”
”Any attempt to intercept the flotilla, whether politically or militarily, would be considered a violation of the international law, and it should be dealt with by world governments on this basis.”
”The Israeli occupation will realize at the moment the fleet sets sail to Gaza that its plans and media machines were a failure and weaker than it imagined.”
The Israeli foreign ministry went to several governments in Europe in recent months asking them to warn their citizens against going to Gaza. Some of those countries include England and Ireland.
The second freedom flotilla is scheduled to include more than 15 ships supplied with commodities and hundreds of participants from more than 12 countries in Europe, countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and from Canada and the US.
UN reports have condemned Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip as illegal.
The Israeli navy attacked the first freedom flotilla while en route to deliver humanitarian aid to the Strip and killed nine activists and injured dozens on board.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
No comments:
Post a Comment