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What about the Turkish charity’s alleged links to terrorists? PDF Print E-mail
Jun 04, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Mondoweiss
June 4, 2010

by Koray Caliskan

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly argued that the Turkish Islamic Charity IHH that owned the ship Blue Marmara has been linked to various networks of terror. Many journalists reiterated the claim; at times referring to former French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere’s statements about the links between IHH and Al Qaeda.

Previously, Judge Brugiere had reached erroneous judgements that attracted critique from both the left and right establishment of France, a position difficult to reach. In his controversial report that came out in 2006, he accused politicians in Burundi for acts of terror by consulting only two sources, who were established political enemies of the man the judge accused. Both Liberation and Le Figaro, the ideological poles that are hard to bring together, had joined forces to discredit the judge’s previous accusations of terror. 

This time by consulting no source at all, Mr. Brugiere points a finger at another alleged source of terror, IHH. According to the former judge, now a professional politician who has ran for office with Sarkozy’s conservative coalition, the Islamic charity is linked to networks of terror. He is wrong, again. This time for three solid reasons:

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B'Tselem: 773 of Palestinians killed in Cast Lead were civilians PDF Print E-mail
Sep 09, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Ynet News                                                                                                                            

09.09.09

"The extremely heavy civilian casualties and the massive damage to civilian property require serious introspection on the part of Israeli society.”

  − B'Tselem report

How many Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead? Eight months after the operation, it seems as though the differences between the two sides' figures are only getting bigger.

A new report published Wednesday by rights group B'Tselem reveals that the IDF killed 1,387 Palestinians, 773 of whom were non-combatants. On the other hand, a report published by the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center shows that at least 1,000 of the Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip were Hamas combatants or were suspected of being combatants, and were therefore marked as targets by the IDF.

According to the B'Tselem data, 773 of those killed did not take part in the hostilities, 320 of whom were minors under the age of 18 and 109 were women (above the age of 18). The rest of those killed were 330 armed combatants, 245 Palestinian policemen – most of whom were killed in aerial bombings of the police station – and 38 others whose participation in the hostilities could not be determined

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Libby Davies speaks out on attack on humanitarian aid ships PDF Print E-mail
May 31, 2010 at 12:00 AM
May 31, 2010

I wish to express my sympathy and outrage for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and those who were injured in the horrendous attack today by Israeli Defence Forces against the Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

This deadly assault on peace activists, who only wanted the people of Gaza to receive the basic necessities of life, is shocking and unconscionable and demands an immediate investigation and response by the International Community. The illegal siege on Gaza, now in its 3rd year, must be ended.

The Government of Canada must speak out and make it clear that Canada condemns all such actions against innocent people who are peace activists.

The hundreds of participants in the Freedom Flotilla who have now been detained by Israel must be released.

As someone who has visited Gaza twice, mostly recently in August 2009, I have witnessed first-hand the devastation of the siege on Gaza and its 1.6 million inhabitants.

Like Rachel Corrie and other internationals who have given their life for justice for Palestinians, we honour their life’s work and will continue to work for peace and justice in the Middle East.

Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East

Only a government that crossed all red lines PDF Print E-mail
May 31, 2010 at 12:58 PM

Press Release 05/31/2010

Uri Avnery: this night a crime was perpetrated in the middle of the sea, by order of the government of Israel and the IDF Command

A warlike attack against aid ships and deadly shooting at peace and humanitarian aid activists. It is a crazy thing that only a government that crossed all red lines can do.

"Only a crazy government that has lost all restraint and all connection to reality could something like that - consider ships carrying humanitarian aid and peace activists from around the world as an enemy and send massive military force to international waters to attack them, shoot and kill.

"Noone in the world will believe the lies and excuses which the government and army spokesmen come up with," said former Knesset member Uri Avnery of the Gush Shalom movement. Gush Shalom activists together with activists of other organizations are to depart at 11:00 from Tel Aviv to protest in front of the prepared detention facility where the international peace activists will be brought.

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CALL FROM GAZA FOR GLOBAL RESPONSE TO KILLINGS ON THE FREEDOM FLOTILLA PDF Print E-mail
May 31, 2010 at 12:50 PM
PRESS RELEASE
GAZA, PALESTINE
31.MAY.2010
 
We Gaza based Palestinian Civil Society Organizations and International
activists call on the international community and civil society to pressure
their governments and Israel to cease the abductions and killings in Israel’s
attacks against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailing for Gaza, and begin a global
response to hold Israel accountable for the murder of foreign civilians at sea
and illegal piracy of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza.  
 
We salute the courage of all those who have organized this aid intervention and
demand a safe passage through to Gaza for the 750 people of conscience from 40
different countries including 35 international politicians intent on breaking
the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. We offer our sincerest condolences to family and
friends who  have lost loved ones in the attack.
 
By sailing directly to Gaza , outside of Israeli waters, with cargo banned
illegally by Israel , such as the 10,000 tonnes of badly needed concrete, toys,
workbooks, chocolate, pasta and substantial medical supplies, the flotilla is
exercising international law and upholding article 33 of the Geneva Convention
which clearly  states that collective punishment is a crime against humanity.
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Why bombing Ashkelon is the most tragic irony PDF Print E-mail
Dec 30, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

How easy it is to snap off the history of the Palestinians, to delete the narrative of their tragedy, to avoid a grotesque irony about Gaza which – in any other conflict – journalists would be writing about in their first reports: that the original, legal owners of the Israeli land on which Hamas rockets are detonating live in Gaza.

That is why Gaza exists: because the Palestinians who lived in Ashkelon and the fields around it – Askalaan in Arabic – were dispossessed from their lands in 1948 when Israel was created and ended up on the beaches of Gaza. They – or their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren – are among the one and a half million Palestinian refugees crammed into the cesspool of Gaza, 80 per cent of whose families once lived in what is now Israel. This, historically, is the real story: most of the people of Gaza don't come from Gaza.

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Canadian Union of Postal Workers letter regarding Israeli attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla PDF Print E-mail
May 31, 2010 at 12:42 PM

By email and mail

May 31, 2010 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Office of the Prime Minister 
80 Wellington Street 
Ottawa  ON      K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I am writing to you on behalf of the 54,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.  You will be aware that the Israeli navy, in an act of piracy in international waters, has hijacked the international flotilla of ships which was attempting to deliver essential humanitarian aid to Gaza.  The aid includes construction materials which would enable the people of Gaza to rebuild the homes destroyed by Israel in Operation Cast Lead in 2009.  
  
There are nearly 700 people on board the boats, all of whom are civilians from around the world, including Members of Parliament from a number of nations, eminent writers and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. They have undertaken this mission out of concern for the people of Gaza, who are now entering their fourth year under siege, without access to basic necessities. They pose no threat to Israel, and are completely unarmed.  
   
Despite this, the Israeli navy has attacked the flotilla outside of international waters this morning resulting in fatalities estimated by the Israeli military itself as 10 and by news sources at possibly in excess of 20 with another large number injured. Israeli news sources say that hospitals around Ashdod have been told to prepare for many injured people arriving. 

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Driver who sparked Acre riots: I'd sacrifice myself to bring back coexistence

Haaretz Sunday, October 12, 2008

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1028249.html

By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters

The Arab man who drove into a Jewish neighborhood in Acre on the eve of Yom Kippur, sparking a series of riots and violent clashes, told the Knesset Committee of the Interior on Sunday that he would "sacrifice his neck" to bring coexistence back to the bi-national nothern city.

"If what I did caused this, I am ready to sacrifice my neck right here on this table, on lowered gallows, just to return peace and quiet back to the city of Acre, to bring co-existence back to its place.

Jamal said that contrary to the accusations brought against him, he had not been drunk nor playing loud music when he entered the Jewish neighborhood last Wednesday. "I just wanted to go home, I made and mistake and tried to ask for forgiveness. This has been a harrowing experience."

He also said that he had been one of the founders of a community co-existence committee in Acre: "We invented co-existence," he said. "They have made me out to be a murderer, they've turned me into a fascist. We are not Nazis, we are not fascists.

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