[News] Boat carrying Cynthia McKinney to Gaza attacked
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Tue Dec 30 09:00:29 EST 2008
From the Free Gaza Movement:
(This is the sixth boat that the Free Gaza
movement has sent to Gaza ... in a symbolic
effort to end the seige of Gaza. These are small
boats, and they do not cross into Israeli waters
at all. This Israeli attack on the boat, which
occured in international waters, cannot be
described as 'self defence' by any stretch of
delusional imagination. CNN has report on
this--it helps that one CNN reporter is on
board-- :
<http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/29/penhaul.gaza.bpr.boat.cnn>http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/29/penhaul.gaza.bpr.boat.cnn
)
===============================================
URGENT! Israeli Navy Attacking Civilian Mercy Ship! TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!
The Dignity, a Free Gaza boat on a mission of
mercy to besieged Gaza, is being attacked by the
Israeli Navy in international waters. The Dignity
has been surrounded by at least half-a-dozen
Israeli warships. They are firing live ammunition
around the Dignity, and one of the warships has
rammed the civilian craft causing an unknown
amount of damage. Contrary to international
maritime law, the Israelis are actively
preventing the Dignity from approaching Gaza or
finding safe haven in either Egypt or Lebanon.
Instead, the Israeli navy is demanding that the
Dignity return to Cyprus - despite the fact that
the ship does not carry enough fuel to do so.
Fortunately, no one aboard the ship has yet been seriously injured.
There are 15 civilian passengers representing 11
different countries (see below for a complete
list). At approximately 5am (UST), well out in
international waters, Israeli warships began
surrounding the Dignity, threatening the ship. At
6:45am (UST) we were able to establish brief
contact with the crew and were told that the ship
had been rammed by the Israeli Navy in
international waters, and that the Israelis were
preventing the ship from finding safe harbor. We
heard heavy gunfire in the background before all
contact was lost with the Dignity.
It is urgent that you TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION!
CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it
immediately STOP attacking the Dignity and
endangering the lives of its passengers!
CALL Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5062 3264
<mailto:mark.regev at it.pmo.gov.il>mark.regev at it.pmo.gov.il
CALL Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 33697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
<mailto:mediasar at mod.gov.il>mediasar at mod.gov.il
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus
at 7pm (UST) on Monday 29 December, bound for
war-devastated Gaza with a cargo of over 3 tons
of desperately needed medical supplies donated by
the people of Cyprus. At our request, the ship
was searched by Cypriot Port authorities prior to
departure, to certify that there was nothing
"threatening" aboard - only emergency medical supplies.
TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY TO STOP THE ISRAELI NAVY
FROM ENDANGERING THE DIGNITY AND ITS PASSENGERS!
Civilians aboard the Dignity being threatened by the Israeli military:
(UK) Denis Healey, Captain
Captain of the Dignity, Denis has been involved
with boats for 45 years, beginning with small
fishing boats in Portsmouth. He learned to sail
while at school and has been part of the sea ever
since. He's a certified yachtmaster and has also
worked on heavy marine equipment from yachts to
large dredgers. This is his fourth trip to Gaza.
(Greece) Nikolas Bolos, First Mate
Nikolas is a chemical engineer and human rights
activist. He has served as a crewmember on
several Free Gaza voyages, including the first one in August.
(Jordan) Othman Abu Falah
Othman is a senior producer with Al-Jazeera
Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.
(Australia) Renee Bowyer
Renee is a schoolteacher and human rights
activist. She will remain in Gaza to do human rights monitoring and reporting.
(Ireland) Caoimhe Butterly
Caoimhe is a reknowned human rights activist and
Gaza Coordinator for the Free Gaza Movement. She
will be remaining in Gaza to do human rights
monitoring, assist with relief efforts, and work
on project development with Free Gaza.
(Cyprus) Ekaterini Christodulou
Ekaterini is a well-known and respected freelance
journalist in Cyprus. She is traveling to Gaza to report on the conflict.
(Sudan) Sami El-Haj
Sami is a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, and
head of the human rights section at Al-Jazeera
Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.
(UK) Dr. David Halpin
Dr. Halpin is an experienced orthopaedic surgeon,
medical professor, and ship's captain. He has
organized humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza on
several occasions with the Dove and Dolphin. He
is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics.
(Germany) Dr. Mohamed Issa
Dr. Issa is a pediatric surgeon from Germany. He
is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics.
(UK/Tunisia) Fathi Jaouadi
Fathi is a television producer and human rights
activist. He will remain in Gaza to do human rights monitoring and reporting.
(USA) Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia is a former U.S. Congresswoman from
Georgia, and the 2008 Green Party presidential
candidate. She is traveling to Gaza to assess the ongoing conflict.
(Cyprus) Martha Paisi
Martha is a senior research fellow and
experienced human rights activist. She is
traveling to Gaza to do human rights work and to
assist with humanitarian relief efforts.
(UK) Karl Penhaul
Karl Penhaul is a video correspondent for CNN,
based out of Bogotá, Colombia. Appointed to this
position in February 2004, he covers breaking
news around the world utilizing CNN's new
laptop-based 'Digital Newsgathering' system. He
is traveling to Gaza to report on the ongoing conflict.
(Iraq) Thaer Shaker
Thaer is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera television.
He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.
(Cyprus) Dr. Elena Theoharous, MP
Dr. Theoharous is a surgeon and a Member of the
Cypriot Parliament. She is traveling to Gaza to
assess the ongoing conflict, assist with
humanitarian relief efforts, and volunteer in hospitals.
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081230/22b1e95e/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list