[E-rundbrief] Info 794 - Libanese Peace-Boat stopped by Israel

Matthias Reichl info at begegnungszentrum.at
Do Feb 5 20:52:45 CET 2009


E-Rundbrief - Info 794 - Free Gaza (Gaza/ Palestina): Israel attacks
Lebanese boat and beats passengers; Al Jazeera: Israeli forces seize
Gaza aid ship.

Bad Ischl, 5.2..2009

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

================================================

Israel attacks Lebanese boat and beats passengers

Donnerstag, 05. Februar 2009 um 17:08 Uhr

Geschrieben von: Greta Berlin, Free Gaza

One of the Free Gaza volunteers was on this boat, the TALI, and Free
Gaza organizers helped in Cyprus to get the boat inspected, then sent on
to Gaza. Please make your outrage heard as, once again, Israel, the
bully of the Eastern Mediterranean, gets away with piracy. On board was
an elderly patriarch from Jerusalem as well as several Lebanese human
rights watchers. According to eye witnesses, the passengers were beaten
and much of the boat destroyed. We are checking the status of the units
of plasma loaded on board, because, if the stories are accurate that the
Israeli Navy thugs turned off the generators, this badly-needed plasma
will be destroyed very quickly. You can follow the story in Al Jazeera
English and Al Jazeera Arabic.

Von: http://www.freegaza.org/

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Israeli forces seize Gaza aid ship

5.2.2009

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/02/20092592757311355.html

The Israeli navy has captured and diverted a ship from Lebanon carrying
more than 60 tonnes of aid to the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera's correspondent aboard the Al-Ikhwa (The Brotherhood) ship
said the navy first opened fire, then five Israeli soldiers boarded the
ship, beating and threatening the passengers.

"They are pointing guns against us - they are kicking us and beating us.
They are threatening our lives," Al Jazeera's Salam Khoder said.

Communications with the ship broke off shortly thereafter.

According to the owner of the vessel, the Israelis destroyed its
communication equipment and confiscated the phones of those on board.

The Israeli military told Al Jazeera it had captured the Lebanese vessel
and taken it to Ashdod, where authorities were examining its cargo. The
passengers and crew, meanwhile, were being questioned by police.

Warnings 'disregarded'

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had warned the ship on
Wednesday night against entering Gaza's coastal waters.

"During today's morning hours, the cargo ship changed its bearing, and
began heading towards the Gaza Strip .... disregarding all warnings
made," it said.

The Lebanese president has condemned Israel's seizure of the aid ship [AFP]
Al-Ikhwa, which originally set sail from Cyprus, left the Lebanese port
city of Tripoli on Tuesday.

Maan Bashour, an aid co-ordinator for the group End the Blockade of
Gaza, said the ship was carrying medical equipment, food supplies and
books, toys and milk for small children.

"This ship was searched in Cyprus and in Lebanon," Bashour told Al
Jazeera in Beirut, Lebanon. "And we were very eager to let it be
searched by Lebanese and Cypriot authorities in order that there be no
reason for the Israelis to prevent it from going to Gaza."

Foud Siniora, Lebanon's president, condemned the attack on Al-Ikhwa,
emphasising that it was on a humanitarian mission to Gaza.

"It is no surprise for Israel to perpetrate such an action as it has
been accustomed to ignoring all international resolutions and values,"
he said during a speech in Beirut.

"I made a number of necessary phone calls with international parties in
order to exert pressures on Israel which is violating laws. I hold
Israel responsible for the safety of the ship and passengers. "

  Source: 	Al Jazeera


-- 

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,
Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
Spenden-Konto Nr. 0600-970305 (Blz. 20314) Sparkasse Bad Ischl,
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