http://www.freegaza.org/
http://www.al-awda.org/
We have just set up a Face-book page, please visit and leave well wishes for
all those on this humanitarian mission, on behalf of Cynthia's family,
friends and colleagues thanks to all.
For interview requests, please email Rosa Clemente
Leoloa, Billy, Lucy, Rosa and Green Party Activists
From: The Organizer
[mailto:theorganizer@earthlink.net]
Sent: 2008 December 30 Tuesday 5:05 PM
__________________________________________________
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
mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
CALL Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 33697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
mediasar@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.
_________________
Palestinian
Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees Urges
Labor/Education Boycott Of Israel, Divestment Of Bonds Stocks
Union urges immediate boycott following Gaza university bombing
Appeal, Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and
Employees, 30 December 2008
The following appeal was issued on 29 December 2008:
The Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees
condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombing today of the campus of the
Islamic University in Gaza. This wanton destruction of an academic institution
is only the latest in the ongoing lethal campaign launched by the Israeli
government and army against Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip. This
murderous rampage has caused more than 300 deaths and the injury of close to
1,500 Palestinians. And the carnage continues with impunity.
We add our voice to the urgent appeal
issued two days ago by
the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
urging international civil society not just to protest and condemn Israel's
massacre in Gaza, but also to join and intensify the international boycott,
divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel to end its impunity and
to hold it accountable for its persistent violations of international law and
Palestinian rights. We agree that, without sustained, effective pressure by
people of conscience the world over, Israel will continue with its gradual,
rolling acts of genocide against the Palestinians, burying any prospects for a
just peace under the blood and rubble of Gaza, Nablus and Jerusalem.
Today, at the height of the lethal Israeli assault against the Palestinian
people in Gaza, we are met with deafening silence emanating from the Israeli
academy. Does it condone the murderous bombing campaign that its government is
carrying out in the name of all Israelis? Are the members of the academy
dutifully preparing for the reserve call-up just approved by their government,
ready to serve in the death squads committing war crimes around the clock? Are
Israeli universities willing to call for an end to the occupation? Are they
going to cut their organic and deep-rooted ties with the military-security establishment?
There is no doubt that the aggression against the Gaza Strip has reached
horrendous proportions, described by many international public figures as
constituting war crimes and a continuation of the ethnic cleansing unleashed 60
years ago.
We urge academics around the world to intensify their boycott of Israeli
academic institutions, and to isolate the Israeli academy in international
forums, associations of academics, and other international venues. Israeli
academic institutions are complicit in the entrenched system of oppression
practiced by the Israeli state, and their silence at this critical moment is
only the most vociferous indicator of this complicity.
Dr. Amjad Barham
President
Palestinian
Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees
===
- "We are the children of a people whose historic ethos
is built on the memory of pogroms. The sight of Jews firing at innocent
Palestinians has no other name than pogrom. Even when Jews do this, it is a
pogrom."