[WCUSP] Fw: [jvp-philadelphia] Fwd: FW: 'Free Gaza' sailing from Cyprus

Thu Jul 24 19:00:10 EDT 2008

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rachael Kamel" <rachaelkamel at gmail.com>
To: "JVP Philadelphia" <jvp-philadelphia at lists.riseup.net>; 
<ajjp at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:31 PM
Subject: [jvp-philadelphia] Fwd: FW: 'Free Gaza' sailing from Cyprus


> FYI (from the AFSC e-waves). best, RK
>
>
>
> Ship sponsored in part by Carter Center to challenge Israeli blockade
> of Gaza port:
>
>
> "Free Gaza" initiative to try and enter Gaza by sea and open port
> Date: 19 / 07 / 2008  Time:  14:58
> www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30657
>
> Bethlehem - Ma'an - A small shipping vessel will set sail for Gaza from
> Cyprus on 5 August expecting to be illegally detained as it enters Gazan
> waters.
>
> The waters off the Gaza Strip are patrolled by Israeli naval vessels, and
> Israel enforces a "Fishing Limit" that is 6 nautical miles (11.1 km) from
> the Gaza shore. These restrictions on access and borders are enforced
> despite the 2005 Israeli "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip.
>
> There will be 60 people aboard the "Free Gaza" vessel including a 
> Holocaust
> survivor a survivor of the Palestinian Nakba, and members of the
> international Palestinian diaspora.
>
> The crew intends to travel into the Gaza strip, past the international
> waters boundary, the 1996 Oslo accords boundary (20 nautical miles from 
> the
> Gaza coast), the 2002 Bertini agreement boundary (12 nautical miles and 
> 22.2
> km from the Gaza coast) and the current "Fishing Limit" imposed by the
> Israeli navy since October 2006.
>
> Legally, the group says there should be no problem passing each of these
> lines since Israel disengaged from the Gaza strip in 2005 and should no
> longer its control airspace and territorial waters.
>
> The initiative hopes to draw attention to the continued de facto 
> occupation
> of Gaza. In an interview with Ma'an on Saturday, a spokesperson for the
> group in Israel said that the crew expects to be stopped by the Israeli 
> navy
> shortly after they cross from international waters into Gazan territorial
> waters, which according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
> Sea, extend 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from an area's shoreline.
>
> While Israel has not signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, they
> did sign the Bertini Agreement in August 2002 with the UN, which stated 
> that
> Gazan territory extended the full 12 nautical miles from the shore.
>
> In June 2005, Israel unilaterally "disengaged" from Gaza and withdrew all
> troops to the 1967 borders. In theory, Gazans control the entire Strip,
> excluding approximately 650 meters along the eastern border which is 
> called
> a buffer and "no go" zone.
>
> The trip organizers think one of four things will happen to the ship: it 
> may
> be stopped as it crosses or approaches the barrier marking the 
> international
> waters boundary, in which case the crew is prepared to stay on board for 
> at
> least two weeks in protest of the illegal halt of passage. The second
> possibility envisioned by the organizers is that the ship will be allowed 
> to
> pass into the area, and will be stopped in the territorial waters. In this
> eventuality the crew expects to be arrested, and the ship dragged to 
> shore.
>
> A third possibility is that the ship will be sunk by the navy.
>
> The final option is that the ship actually makes it through to the Gaza 
> port
> near Gaza City in the north of the Strip.
>
> According to Holocaust survivor and crew member Hedy Epstein, in the event
> that they can get through to Gaza they will "open the port, fish with the
> fishermen, help in the clinics, and work in the schools."
>
> What Epstein hopes to do on this journey is to "remind the world that we
> will not stand by and watch 1.5 million people suffer death by starvation
> and disease."
>
> Coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, Palestinian
> Legislative Council member and lawyer Jamal Al-Khudari said that he hopes
> the arrival of the ship in Gaza will mean an end to the siege. He 
> emphasized
> that the ship has a right to enter the local waters and Gazans have the
> right to host their guests without Israeli intervention.
>
> Opening a port in Gaza would allow residents to export agricultural
> products, and gain control over the goods and material brought into the
> region. Currently, all crossing points are controlled by Israel and Egypt.
> The truce between Hamas and Israel was supposed to see the blockade and
> restriction on essential goods lifted, but food, medical supplies, cement
> and fuel are still only trickling in.
>
> The ship was invited to Gaza by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in 
> the
> Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, the Palestinian Centre
> for Human Rights and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, and support
> for the initiative was provided in part from Carter Center in the US and
> Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
>
>
> If you are media, please email us to reserve a place on the boat or boats;
> we intend to have satellite capabilities onboard; we will keep you posted 
> on
> dates and locations.
>
> The Free Gaza Movement
> 405 Vista Heights Road
> El Cerrito, CA 94530
>
> www.freegaza.org <http://www.freegaza.org/>
> friendsofgaza at gmail.com
>
>
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