01.01.09
Free Gaza ships
RG mail
Israeli Gunboats Came out of the Darkness and Rammed us Three Times
http://www.FreeGaza.org
(Lebanon, Tuesday 30 December) – Today the Free Gaza ship “Dignity”
carefully made its way to safe harbor in Tyre, Lebanon’s southern-most
port city, after receiving serious structural damage when Israeli
warships rammed its bow and the port side. Waiting to greet the
passengers and crew were thousands of Lebanese who came out to show
their solidarity with this attempt to deliver volunteer doctors and
desperately needed medical supplies to war-ravaged Gaza. The Lebanese
government has pledged to provide a forensic analysis of what happened
in the dark morning, when Israel rammed the civilian ship in
international waters, and put the people on board in danger of losing
their lives.
The Dignity, on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, was attacked by
the Israeli Navy at approximately 6am (UST) in international waters,
roughly 90 miles off the coast of Gaza. Several Israeli warships
surrounded the small, human rights boat, firing live ammunition around
it, then intentionally ramming it three times. According to ship’s
captain Denis Healy, the Israeli attack came, “”without any warning,
or any provocation.”
Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated
that, “The gunboats gave us no warning. They came up out of the
darkness firing flares and flashing huge flood lights into our faces.
We were so shocked that at first we didn’t react. We knew we were well
within international waters and supposedly safe from attack. They
rammed us three times, hitting the side of the boat hard. We began
taking on water and, for a few minutes, we all feared for our lives.
After they rammed us, they started screaming at us as we were
frantically getting the life boats ready and putting on our life
jackets. They kept yelling that if we didn’t turn back they would
shoot us.”
Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. congresswoman and Green Party
presidential candidate, was traveling to Gaza aboard the Dignity in
order to assess the impact of Israel’s military onslaught against the
civilian population of the Gaza Strip. According to McKinney, “Israeli
patrol boats…tracked us for about 30 minutes…and then all of a
sudden they rammed us approximately three times, twice in the front
and once in the side…the Israelis indicated that [they felt] we were
involved in terrorist activities.”
The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus at 7pm (UST) on
Monday 29 December with a cargo of over 3 tons of desperately needed
medical supplies donated to Gaza by the people of Cyprus. Three
surgeons were also aboard, traveling to Gaza to volunteer in
overwhelmed hospitals and clinics. The ship was searched by Cypriot
Port authorities prior to departure, and its passenger list was made
public.
Israel’s deplorable attack on the unarmed Dignity is a violation of
both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea, which states that “the high seas should be reserved for
peaceful purposes.”
Delivering doctors and urgently needed medical supplies to civilians
is a just such a “peaceful purpose.” Deliberately ramming a mercy ship
and endangering its passengers is an act of terrorism.
CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP
attacking the civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence to
prevent human rights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian
people.
Mark Regev in the Prime Minister’s office at:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264
[5]mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
[6]mediasar@mod.gov.il
Major Liebovitz from the Israeli Navy at:
+ 972 5 781 86248
###
The Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to Gaza
in August 2008. These were the first international boats to land in
the port in 41 years. Since August, four more voyages were successful,
taking Parliamentarians, human rights workers, and other dignitaries
to witness the effects of Israel’s draconian policies on the civilians
of Gaza.
[7]http://www.FreeGaza.org
References
1. mailto:freelance@mailworks.org
2. mailto:lubnna@gmail.com
3. mailto:sahara78@hotmail.co.uk
4. http://www.freegaza.org/
5. mailto:mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
6. mailto:mediasar@mod.gov.il
7. http://www.freegaza.org/