Gaza Mom

A press release from the Free Gaza Movement among other solidarity and pro-justice activists in Turkey and elsewhere. As many may recall, the activists sailed two boats to Gaza in August 2008 (my Aunt and Uncle were on one of the boats, met by my parents in Gaza City’s harbor on the other side. It was a euphoric-if fleeting-moment). These were the first international boats to land in the port in 41 years. Since then, seven more voyages boarded Parliamentarians, human rights workers, and other dignitaries to witness the effects of Israel’s draconian policies on the civilians of Gaza. The last three voyages were illegally stopped by the Israeli navy when, in December, 2008, they rammed the DIGNITY in international water, turned back the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY by threatening to shoot all on board, then hijacking the SPIRIT on July 1, 2009, kidnapping the passengers and throwing them into prison for a week.

Friday, January 29, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: IHH, Ahmet Emin +90 530 341 19 34
Free Gaza Movement, Eliza Ernshire +44 754 011 22 94

[Istanbul, Turkey] Yesterday, the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH), announced a joint venture, sending 10 boats in the spring of 2010 to the besieged Gaza strip. Organizations from Greece, Ireland and Sweden have also promised to send boats to join the flotilla with the Free Gaza movement and Turkey.

Mr. Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the IHH said, “We sail in the spring to Gaza, and our last port is freedom; freedom for the 1.5 million Palestinians denied the right to rebuild their society. We will never stop sailing until Israel’s siege is lifted.”

Two cargo ships will be part of the flotilla, one donated by the Malaysia-based Perdana Foundation and one from IHH. Both will be laden with building supplies, generators and educational materials that Israel prohibits from entering Gaza since their brutal attack on the civilian population a year ago.

The many passenger boats accompanying the cargo ships will carry members of Parliament from countries around the world as well as high-profile journalists and human rights workers.

According to the chair of the Free Gaza Movement, Huwaida Arraf, “The illegal blockade on Gaza and Israel’s continued intransigence make a mockery of international law. If our governments will not take a stance to stop Israel’s abuse of the Palestinian people, global civil society is showing that we will.”

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Breaking the Silence released a booklet of testimonies Friday by female soldiers recounting various abuse cases involving Palestinians in the West Bank. Testimonies include systematic humiliation of Palestinians, reckless and cruel violence, theft, killing of innocent people and cover-up.

“I don’t know who or how, but I know that two of our soldiers put him in a jeep, and that two weeks later the kid was walking around with casts on both arms and legs…they talked about it in the unit quite a lot – about how they sat him down and put his hand on the chair and simply broke it right there on the chair” read one.

The complete story here at Ynet.

Back in July ’09, the group made headlines when it published a booklet of testimonies that said they went into Gaza “with guns blazing” and orders to “shoot first, worry later”. “If you’re not sure, kill” one soldier was quoted as saying.

In response, the government of Israel launched a campaign to repress the organization and pressure foreign governments from withdrawing their funding of it.

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