|
|
Home
|
End of an Odyssey: Thoughts after the Free Gaza Voygage |
|
Written by Jeff Halper, Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
|
|
Thursday, 04 September 2008 |
Now, a few days after my release from jail in the wake of my trip to Gaza, I'm posting a few notes to sum things up. First, the mission of the Free Gaza Movement to break the Israeli siege proved a success beyond all expectations. Our reaching Gaza and leaving has created a free and regular channel between Gaza and the outside world. It has done so because it has forced the Israeli government to make a clear policy declaration: that it is not occupying Gaza and therefore will not prevent the free movement of Palestinians in and out (at least by sea). (Israel's security concerns can easily be accommodated by instituting a technical system of checks similar to those of other ports.) Any attempt on the part of Israel to backtrack on this - by preventing ships in the future from entering or leaving Gaza with goods and passengers, including Palestinians - may be immediately interpreted as an assertion of control, and therefore of Occupation, opening Israel to accountability for war crimes before international law, something Israel tries to avoid at all costs. Gone is the obfuscation that has allowed Israel to maintain its control of the Occupied Territories without assuming any responsibility: from now on, Israel is either an Occupying Power accountable for its actions and policies, or Palestinians have every right to enjoy their human right of travelling freely in and out of their country. Israel can no longer have it both ways. Not only did our two little boats force the Israel military and government to give way, then, they also changed fundamentally the status of Israel's control of Gaza. I now am a Palestinian in every sense of the word: On
Monday I received my Palestinian citizenship, on Tuesday I was already
in an Israeli jail. 
When we finally arrived in Gaza after a day and a half sail, the welcome we received from 40,000 joyous Gazans was overwhelming and moving. People sought me out in particular, eager it seemed to speak Hebrew with an Israeli after years of closure. The message I received by people of all factions during my three days there was the same: How do we ("we" in the sense of all of us living in their country, not just Palestinians or Israelis) get out of this mess? Where are WE going? The discourse was not even political: what is the solution; one-state, two-state, etc etc. It was just common sense and straightforward, based on the assumption that we will all continue living in the same country and this stupid conflict, with its walls and siege and violence, is bad for everybody. Don't Israelis see that? people would ask me. |
|
icahd.org
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Palestinians lose faith in two-state solution |
|
Written by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
|
|
Thursday, 04 September 2008 |
Study group calls for new form of resistance to Israeli occupation with goal of single, bi-national stateA group of prominent Palestinian figures has proposed a radical
change in strategy to demand a single, bi-national state if the current
round of Middle East peace talks fails. The Palestinian Strategy Study Group,
an EU-funded project written by 27 leading Palestinian figures from
across the political spectrum, argued that the current two-state
framework for peace talks is failing to bring the promised independent
state. Instead, it suggested ending the negotiation process that has
gone on now for nearly 20 years, reconstituting the Palestinian
Authority into what might become a "Palestinian Resistance Authority",
and developing a form of "smart" resistance. "The central aim
will be to maximise the cost of continuing occupation for Israel, and
to make the whole prospect of unilateral separation unworkable," it
said. The final, and most striking proposal, is to shift to a "single
state outcome" as the Palestinians' preferred goal. This, it said,
would regain the strategic initiative for the Palestinians. "Although
many Palestinians may still prefer a genuine negotiated two-state
solution, a failure of the present Annapolis initiative will greatly
strengthen those who argue against this," the report said. "Most
Palestinians are then likely to be convinced that a negotiated
agreement is no longer possible." |
|
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/04/israel.palestinians
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Belgian de-miner dies in Lebanon |
|
Written by BBC News
|
|
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 |
|
A UN peacekeeper in Lebanon has been killed in an
explosion while clearing munitions left over from the 2006 conflict
between Israel and Hezbollah.
The sapper belonged to the 370-strong Belgian contingent in the peacekeeping force known as Unifil.
The incident happened at the village of Aitaroun, near the Israel border.
More than 30 people, mostly civilians, have died in explosions
of leftover Israeli cluster bombs and landmines since the end of the
2006 war.
The UN says Israel dropped millions of cluster
bombs on Lebanon in the last days of the fighting, and about 40% of
their bomblets failed to explode on impact.
The UN - supported by anti-mine groups - called Israel's
cluster bombing "shocking and immoral", as most were used when a
resolution was clearly imminent.
But Israel says it used cluster bombs out of military necessity and in accordance with international law.
A spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre said 14
de-mining experts had died in similar explosions since 2006. They
belonged to the Lebanese army, Unifil and private mine action teams.
|
|
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7596618.stm
|
|
|
Free Gaza Bootlift: The journey home |
|
Written by Bill Dienst, MD
|
|
Saturday, 30 August 2008 |
|
We arrived safely last night. The trip home was much less eventful than the trip to Gaza and much less emotional. On board my boat, the FREE GAZA, was a family of Palestinians who had not been let out of the concentration camp called "Gaza" for five years. The mother had given birth to her youngest son four years ago, and the family, living in Cyprus, had not seen him. The joy on the faces of Hana's family was worth waiting the extra half day to leave. We had to make sure that the Cypriot authorities would allow them in.
As usual, the Palestinians will face the wrath of the Israeli military,
because they had egg on their faces and will take it out on the
weakest.

On board the LIBERTY was a 10-year-old boy whose leg had been shot off by the Israeli military. He was from Khan Younis. The story (and I haven't been able to verify it it yet) is that he was standing with his friend as an Israeli tank invaded his town. A sniper shot him through one leg, then when he stood to run, the sniper shot him through the other one, causing huge damage to the leg. It was amputated at the hip. Again, we had to wait for Cypriot authorities to give permission for him to transit to another country.
On the first page of the Cyprus Mail is a photo of the boy with Osama, one of our organizers. Even though we came in at 9 pm, the media was all over the quay waiting for us. Although we didn't get seasick this time, many of us, because we are so exhausted, are feeling the land effects today, swaying as we try to walk down the streets.
It has been a week of over-riding joy, sadness at the condition of so many sick and wounded Palestinians, hope for the future, and disbelief that we not only arrived safely but left safely. As we pulled out of Gaza yesterday, seven Israeli naval vessels surrounded the Palestinian fishermen who joyfully escorted us six miles out. The last view we had of Gaza was of the seven gunboats surrounding the fishermen. We've heard from our Israeli sources that they arrested four of them.
|
|
www.freegaza.org
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Leaving Gaza - Journey Hour One |
|
Written by Ramzi Kysia
|
|
Thursday, 28 August 2008 |
The SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty left port in Gaza at 3:40 PM, and have
begun their long voyage back to Cyprus. Aboard the ship are seven
Palestinian passengers, including several children. We were able to speak
with Paul Larudee on the SS Liberty just a few minutes ago:
"We're a little over an hour into our return trip to Cyprus and, unlike
when we came in, there are several Israeli naval vessels in sight. We seem
to be the focus of their activity, the center of their attention so to
speak. However they're keeping a careful distance, not really approaching
us. We expect to reach the twelve-mile limit around 7 PM this evening, and
then cross over into international waters.
"When we arrived in Gaza last Saturday, it was the first time in forty-one
years that anyone has freely entered Gaza. But our leaving is in a way
even more significant. Last Saturday, two of our Palestinian members came
into Gaza on these boats. Today, seven more Palestinians are leaving with
them. They got exit stamps from the Palestinian government, they boarded
the ships, and soon they'll be in international waters, and then in
Cyprus. This is the first time, ever, that Palestinians have been able to
freely enter and leave their own country. It's an incredible step forward,
and a sign of greater things to come."
--Paul Larudee, aboard the SS Liberty, freely leaving Gaza. |
|
freegaza.org
|
|
|
FREE GAZA BOATS ARRIVE IN GAZA |
|
Written by Free Gaza
|
|
Saturday, 23 August 2008 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date : 08-23-2008
GAZA (23 August 2008) - Two small boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, successfully landed in Gaza early this evening, breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The boats were crewed by a determined group of international human rights workers from the Free Gaza Movement. They had spent two years organizing the effort, raising money by giving small presentations at churches, mosques, synagogues, and in the homes of family, friends, and supporters.
They left Cyprus on Thursday morning, sailing over 350 kilometers through choppy seas. They made the journey despite threats that the Israeli government would use force to stop them. They continued sailing although they lost almost all communications and navigation systems due to outside jamming by some unknown party. They arrived in Gaza to the cheers and joyful tears of hundreds of Palestinians who came out to the beaches to welcome them.
Two small boats, 42 determined human rights workers, one simple message: “The world has not forgotten the people of this land. Today, we are all from Gaza.”
Tonight, the cheering will be heard as far away as Tel Aviv and Washington D.C.
|
|
www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=819957360eef7435c2e9a25fb46e991a&offset=
|
|
Read more...
|
|
| << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
| | Results 1 - 6 of 198 |
|
|