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- As a group of non-violent activists and journalists
from Israel, the U.S., Europe and around the world set sail from Cyprus
to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by boat, Israeli officials have told
Israeli media sources that they will not hesitate to use force against
the boats.
Tom Nelson, a lawyers from Portland, Oregon, USA, and one
of the participants in the ‘Free Gaza‘ movement, told the IMEMC that the
group is simply trying to bring much-needed medical and food supplies
into the besieged Gaza Strip. Nelson added that the participants in the
boat action are all veterans of the non-violent movement in
Palestine, and most have had the experience of
being shot at by Israeli forces while engaging in non-violent action in
the past.
According to the Israeli media, Israeli military officials stated that
the Israeli Navy would be ‘within its rights‘ to use force against the
boats. The Foreign Ministry has issued a position paper stating that
under the Oslo Accords, Israel has the right to use force against the
demonstrators, as the Oslo Accords (of 1993) name Israel as responsible
for the territorial waters of Gaza. But Palestinians contend that
subsequent signed agreements, such as the Camp David Accord (2000) and
the Gaza disengagement plan (2005) give the Palestinians the right to
the use of their shoreline. Palestinian fishermen who fish off the coast
of Gaza face constant harassment from Israeli warships stationed just
off the coast, and are often fired upon with shells and missiles.
Israel
has held the entire population of 1.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip under complete siege for over a year, preventing food, fuel,
medical supplies and other necessities from entering the Strip. UN
Agencies have warned of a fast-increasing humanitarian crisis due to the
lack of needed goods, malnutrition rates among children are soaring, and
over 150 patients have died from lack of medical care, and from being
denied exit from Gaza to receive the medical care they are unable to get
in the Strip.
Israeli officials claim that the siege is for ‘security reasons‘, but
human rights groups in Palestine, Israel and around the world call this
type of siege warfare a form of ‘collective punishment‘ – punishing an
entire population for the actions of a few – which is a violation of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, the International Declaration of Human Rights,
and other international human rights conventions.
The
‘Free Gaza‘ movement is attempting to break the siege with a shipment of
several tons of food and medicine. There are 60 participants travelling
on several boats through the Mediterranean to try to reach the shore of
the Gaza Strip, where they plan to give the humanitarian aid to the
Palestinian civilian population.
Israeli officials have said that they fear the shipment would be used by
the democratically-elected Hamas government in Gaza to garner support
for its party. But ‘Free Gaza‘ participants have stated on multiple
occasions, openly and publicly, that tey are completely unaffiliated
with any political party, and their only aim is to bring aid to a
suffering civilian population.
IMEMC News
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