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<h1><b>FREE GAZA TO ISRAEL: WE ARE COMING IN ON
TUESDAY</b></h1>
<img src="http://www.imemc.org/graphics/date.gif" width=12 height=10 alt="author">
</b></h1><font size=3> Monday January 12, 2009
08:05<img src="http://www.imemc.org/graphics/person.gif" width=14 height=12 alt="author">
by Free Gaza Movement
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<a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/58427" eudora="autourl">
http://www.imemc.org/article/58427<br><br>
</a>Press release Free Gaza Movement<br>
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<dd>(Cyprus, 11 January 2009) - Free Gaza’s ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY,
will leave Larnaca Port at 12:00 noon, Monday, 12 January, on an
emergency mission to besieged Gaza. It will carry desperately needed
doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and members of several
European parliaments plus medical supplies. This voyage marks Free Gaza’s
second attempt to break the blockade since Israel began attacking the
Gaza Strip. Between August-December 2008, Free Gaza successfully
challenged the Israeli blockade five times, landing the first
international ships in Gaza port since 1967.<br><br>
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<img src="http://www.imemc.org/attachments/jan2009/fgm.jpg" width=181 height=263 alt="fgm.jpg">
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Israeli military violently attacked an earlier attempt by Free Gaza to
send an emergency boat with doctors and medical supplies to Gaza. On 30
December, Israel’s navy deliberately, repeatedly and without warning
rammed the unarmed DIGNITY, causing significant structural damage,
endangering the lives of passengers and crew. The ship found safe haven
in Lebanon, and awaited repairs. <br><br>
Fouad Ahidar, a Belgian parliamentarian sailing to Gaza aboard SPIRIT OF
HUMANITY, responded to concerns that Israel may attack the unarmed mercy
ship: "I have five children very worried about me, but I told them,
you can sit on your sofa and watch these atrocities on TV, or you can
choose to take action to make them stop."<br><br>
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have injured thousands of civilians and
killed over 800 people, including hundreds of women and children. This
ongoing massacre is a massive violatation of international humanitarian
law, defined by the Geneva Conventions, especially obligations of an
Occupying Power and requirements of laws in war. The United Nations has
failed to protect the Palestinian civilian population from Israel's
violations of IHL. Israel has closed off Gaza from the international
community (today refusing to allow a European parliamentary delegation to
enter via Rafah) and demanded that all foreigners leave. <br><br>
Huwaida Arraf, a Free Gaza organizer, states, “We cannot just sit by and
wait for Israel to decide to stop the killing and open the borders for
relief workers to pick up the pieces. We are coming in. There is an
urgent need for this mission as Palestinian civilians in Gaza are being
terrorized and slaughtered by Israel, and access to humanitarian relief
denied to them. When states and the international bodies responsible for
taking action to stop such atrocities choose to be impotent, then we--the
citizens of the world--must act. Our common humanity demands nothing
less.”<br><br>
Israel has been notified by fax that we are coming. A copy of our
notification to Israeli Authorities is attached. The media is invited to
Larnaca Port at 10:00am for final preparations and a press conference
before departure. ###<br><br>
Official Notification of Intent to Enter<br><br>
</b>January 11, 2009<br><br>
To: The Israeli Ministry of Defense, Fax: 972-3-697-6717<br><br>
To: The Israeli Navy, Fax: 03-737-6123 / 03-737-7175 <br><br>
To: The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fax 972-2-5303367<br><br>
From: The Free Gaza Movement<br><br>
This letter serves as a formal notification to you as the Occupying Power
and belligerent force in the Gaza Strip that on Monday, January 12 we are
navigating the motor vessel, Spirit of Humanity, from the Port of Larnaca
to the port of Gaza City. Our vessel will be flying the Greek flag, and,
as such, falls under the jurisdiction of Greece.<br><br>
We will be sailing from Cypriot waters into international waters, then
directly into the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip without entering
or nearing Israeli territorial waters. We expect to arrive at Gaza Port
on Tuesday, January 13, 2009.<br><br>
We will be carrying urgently needed medical supplies in sealed boxes,
cleared by customs at the Larnaca International Airport and the Port of
Larnaca. There will be a total of 30 passengers and crew on board, among
them members of various European Parliaments and several physicians. Our
boat and cargo will also have received security clearance from the Port
Authorities in Cyprus before we depart. <br><br>
As it will be confirmed that neither we, the cargo, any of the boat's
contents, nor the boat itself constitute any threat to the security of
Israel or its armed forces, we do not expect any interference with our
voyage by Israel's authorities.<br><br>
On Tuesday, December 30, an Israeli Navy vessel violently, and without
warning, attacked our motor vessel Dignity, disabling the vessel and
endangering the lives of the 16 civilians on board. This notice serves as
clear notification to you of our approach. Any attack on the motor
vessel, Spirit of Humanity, will be premeditated, and any harm inflicted
on the 30 civilians on board will be considered the result of a
deliberate attack on unarmed civilians.<br><br>
The Steering Committee of the Free Gaza Movement<br>
<a href="http://www.freegaza.org">http://www.freegaza.org</a><br><br>
<br><br>
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