[E-rundbrief] Info 784 - Peace Boat to Gaza stopped

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 784 - Free Gaza: Israeli Gunboats Came out of the 
Darkness and Rammed us Three Times. Peace Boat Dignity stopped and 
forced to go to Lebanon.	

Bad Ischl, 31.12.2008

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Israeli Gunboats Came out of the Darkness and Rammed us Three Times	

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Date : 12-30-2008

For more information, please contact:
(Gaza) Ewa Jasiewicz, +972 598 700 497 / freelance at mailworks.org
(Cyprus) Lubna Masarwa +357 99 081 767 / lubnna at gmail.com
(Lebanon) Caoimhe Butterley +961 70 875 727 / sahara78 at hotmail.co.uk
http://www.FreeGaza.org

(Lebanon, Tuesday 30 December) - Today the Free Gaza ship "Dignity" 
carefully made its way to safe harbor in Tyre, Lebanon's southern-most 
port city, after receiving serious structural damage when Israeli 
warships rammed its bow and the port side. Waiting to greet the 
passengers and crew were thousands of Lebanese who came out to show 
their solidarity with this attempt to deliver volunteer doctors and 
desperately needed medical supplies to war-ravaged Gaza. The Lebanese 
government has pledged to provide a forensic analysis of what happened 
in the dark morning, when Israel rammed the civilian ship in 
international waters, and put the people on board in danger of losing 
their lives.

The Dignity, on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, was attacked by the 
Israeli Navy at approximately 6am (UST) in international waters, roughly 
90 miles off the coast of Gaza. Several Israeli warships surrounded the 
small, human rights boat, firing live ammunition around it, then 
intentionally ramming it three times. According to ship's captain Denis 
Healy, the Israeli attack came, ""without any warning, or any provocation."

Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that, 
"The gunboats gave us no warning. They came up out of the darkness 
firing flares and flashing huge flood lights into our faces. We were so 
shocked that at first we didn't react. We knew we were well within 
international waters and supposedly safe from attack. They rammed us 
three times, hitting the side of the boat hard. We began taking on water 
and, for a few minutes, we all feared for our lives. After they rammed 
us, they started screaming at us as we were frantically getting the life 
boats ready and putting on our life jackets. They kept yelling that if 
we didn't turn back they would shoot us."

Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. congresswoman and Green Party presidential 
candidate, was traveling to Gaza aboard the Dignity in order to assess 
the impact of Israel's military onslaught against the civilian 
population of the Gaza Strip. According to McKinney, "Israeli patrol 
boats...tracked us for about 30 minutes...and then all of a sudden they 
rammed us approximately three times, twice in the front and once in the 
side...the Israelis indicated that [they felt] we were involved in 
terrorist activities."

The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus at 7pm (UST) on Monday 
29 December with a cargo of over 3 tons of desperately needed medical 
supplies donated to Gaza by the people of Cyprus. Three surgeons were 
also aboard, traveling to Gaza to volunteer in overwhelmed hospitals and 
clinics. The ship was searched by Cypriot Port authorities prior to 
departure, and its passenger list was made public.

Israel's deplorable attack on the unarmed Dignity is a violation of both 
international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 
which states that "the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes."

Delivering doctors and urgently needed medical supplies to civilians is 
a just such a "peaceful purpose." Deliberately ramming a mercy ship and 
endangering its passengers is an act of terrorism.

CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP 
attacking the civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence to 
prevent human rights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.

Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264
mark.regev at it.pmo.gov.il

Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
mediasar at mod.gov.il

Major Liebovitz from the Israeli Navy at:
+ 972 5 781 86248

###
The Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to Gaza in 
August 2008. These were the first international boats to land in the 
port in 41 years. Since August, four more voyages were successful, 
taking Parliamentarians, human rights workers, and other dignitaries to 
witness the effects of Israel's draconian policies on the civilians of Gaza.

http://www.FreeGaza.org

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=06ec9655d88714c7ffaf8b1534783da3&offset=

-- 

Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
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