Plans are once again underway for another attempt to run the blockade of Gaza. Two ships are set to sail from Lebanon today or tomorrow, despite intimidation from Israel which worked to prevent the departure of a convoy scheduled to leave from Iran. As a result, the Israeli navy is maneuvering to intercept, as it did for the recent Libyan AMALTHEA, and the Irish RACHEL CORRIE before that. Israel is even preparing “Flotilla 13,” the Shayetet commandos who killed nine activists on the Mavi Marmara in May. If it does leave, the Lebanese convoy will consist of a ship named MARYAM, carrying only women and nuns, and the JULIA carrying Journalists Without Borders. It’s hard to imagine what reporters hope to document, Israel can hardly surpass itself with brutality, so will it be news?
Meanwhile another flotilla is in the works for September, which may include Spanish footballers. Canadian activists have announced efforts to contribute a Canadian ship, and US activists are raising funds for an American ship, to be named “The Audacity of Hope,” after President Obama’s autobiographical self-promotion. Personally I think the pay-it-forward Nobel Prize to Obama paid squat. Obama couldn’t even muster outrage over Israel’s murder of the Freedom Flotilla activists, nor would he sanction an international investigation. Why credit him with any part of the rescue of the Palestinians of Gaza?
The naming of “Maryam” after the Virgin Mary is already being resisted by the Israeli press, which is referring to the ship by its previous identity JUNIA. No doubt the all-woman ship will present a challenge to the brutality-prone IDF.
GAZA WE ARE COMING is the title of a documentary made about the earlier attempts to break the siege of Gaza by sea. The project is more complicated than you might think, having to avoid the MOSSAD at every turn. Each successive wave has involved bigger ships, so far, taken as prizes by Israel. Will a sovereign government finally step forward to provide official escort to a convoy?
The United Nations has ruled the siege of Gaza to be illegal. Israel itself pretends that Gaza is autonomous, thus the naval blockade cannot be a pretext to protect Israeli waters. Debates in the media about who’s in the right are merely charades.
Source: Not My Tribe
Provocative” thoughts expressed on the seas are cause for piracy and murder, says Israel -
From the AP:
Israel is urging Lebanon and the international community to prevent two ships from sailing to the Gaza Strip from a Lebanese port, warning that efforts to break the illegal blockade of the Palestinian territory would be stopped.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, accused organizers of the aid ships Junia and Julia of “seeking to incite a confrontation and raise tensions in our region
A deadly Israeli commando raid on a Turkish ship trying to bring aid to Gaza on May 31 killed nine activists and focused international attention on Israel’s blockade of Gaza, imposed after Hamas … [was elected democratically].
In letters to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Shalev said, “Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the … naval blockade.”
She called on Lebanon’s government to “demonstrate responsibility and prevent the two ships, Junia and Julia, from departing.”
“Israel and Lebanon remain in a state of hostility,” Shalev said, “and such action will prevent any escalation.”
“Israel further calls upon the international community to exercise its influence in order to prevent these boats from departing and to discourage their nationals from taking part in such action,” she said.
Shalev said it can’t be ruled out that the Junia and Julia are carrying weapons or individuals with provocative and confrontational intentions.
The killing of the eight Turks and one Turkish-American on May 31 put Israel under growing pressure to open Gaza’s borders.
Human rights worker in the Free Gaza movement vow to sail other ships in the face of Israel’s threats.
The newly voiced commitment comes after the release of a recently-revealed tape showing now Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saying the United States is “easy” to manipulate as Israel derailed the Oslo Accords, a sentiment that has drawn attention and condemnation around the world.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/23/israel-threatens-more-terrorism-and-piracy/
Submitted by andie531 on Fri, 2010-07-23 15:13
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