Israel Murders Human Rights Workers Delivering Humanitarian Aid
Monday 31 May 2010
by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
(Photo: michaelramallah; Edited: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t)
On Sunday, Israel murdered human rights workers who were attempting to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, because Gaza has been virtually cut off from the outside world by Israel. At least 19 people were reportedly killed and dozens injured when Israeli troops boarded the 6-ship Freedom Flotilla convoy in international waters and immediately fired live ammunition at the people on board the ships. The convoy was comprised of 700 people from 50 nationalities and included a Nobel laureate, members of parliament from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Turkey and Malaysia, as well as Palestinian members of the Israeli Knesset and a Holocaust survivor.
Israel's armed attack on these human rights workers constitutes a clear breach of international law. The human rights workers should be released immediately, medical treatment should be provided for the wounded, and all humanitarian aid materials should be immediately transferred to Gaza.
Human rights organizations and bar associations, including the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, the National Lawyers Guild, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, MADRE, the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy, World Human Rights, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and the governments of Britain, France, Germany and Turkey have condemned the Israeli assault. The U.S. government, has not yet spoken out in opposition to the assault by Israel, the largest recipient of U.S. aid since World War II.
There should be an international investigation of crimes committed during and after Israel's armed attack on the Freedom Flotilla and prosecution of all Israeli officials and soldiers responsible.
Israel must end its illegal blockade of Gaza, which constitutes unlawful aggression under General Assembly Resolution 3314 (1974). When the Security Council convenes, it should order Israel to cease its acts of aggression.
This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Comments
This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.
Watch out! You'll be branded
Mon, 05/31/2010 - 20:18 — Andrew (not verified)Watch out! You'll be branded an anti-Semitic if you dare suggest that Israel act according to the same standards that they expect everyone else to adhere to.
Several years ago we met
Mon, 05/31/2010 - 21:33 — pazooter (not verified)Several years ago we met your parents, or perhaps in-laws on a cruise. They were proud of you and the fact that I had followed your TruthOut articles through the early Bush years. With this article I'm sure they are even prouder. Thank you for speaking out.
Andrew, unfortunately, you
Mon, 05/31/2010 - 21:36 — Greg Alario (not verified)Andrew, unfortunately, you may be more accurate in your words than I would like to admit. I must admit, my urgent outrage was tempered by the trepidation brought on by fearing to come off as anti-semetic. Thanks for demanding I dismiss that cowardice and say that this bigotry motivated, self righteous oppression can, in no way, be allowed to be tolerated.
Anyone who allows their belief in the superiority of their Religulous beliefs have missed the point and have assumed an arrogance that must be addressed as such.
Shame on Israel. May their unforgivable act be dealt with as deserved. I am saddened by the possibility of the bloodshed that will follow for retribution.
It never occurs otherwise.
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 00:43 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)It never occurs otherwise. Israel is the aggressor yet again, and they claim it was self-defense. Of course they do! What else is new? This has been going on for decade upon decade, for over half a century, and the so-called enforcer of human rights, the U.N., continues to allow Israel to get away with mass murder. It appears it will never end.
Next Israel will claim that they found weapons bound for Hamas on the ships, weapons that Israel planted there. That is predictable too. Those who have mercy on besieged peoples are supposedly enemies, and all possible attempts to discredit and carry out crimes against humanity against non-violent international aid workers will be carried out.
And, because no end will be brought to this madness by humankind, I continue to beseech with "my" prayer, the final prayer in the New Testament, the words of the apostle John crying unto God through Jesus the Messiah, "Even so (return very quickly), Lord Jesus", and bring about Your final end to all of humanity's mass-murderous insanity!
The current Israeli
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 06:21 — Anonymous (not verified)The current Israeli government is exploring whether there are any practical penalties for outrageous behavior, and whether policies of ultimate control of all of Palestine may be pursued with impunity. The "gift" of shattered glass to Joe Biden, the in-your-face announcement of new settlements to embarrass Barack Obama, ramping up the ghettoization of Gaza, demonstrations of unlimited use of military power. We start to see who the dangerous nuclear power is.
"Murder," my, that's
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 10:13 — Anonymous (not verified)"Murder," my, that's objective journalism. Plus, the news station referenced is not Israeli television, but Arab, though it broadcasts out of Israeli, I understand. Gee, would the Arabs ever broadcast a pro-Israeli station out of their lands?
Also, the New York Times, among other larger outlets, have said the 9, not 19, were killed.
With videos showing that Israeli officials were attacked with weapons when they attempted to board, and one was thrown overboard; all preceding the attack on the passengers as the Israelis defended themselves in what is conventional border behavior, particularly in a country so continuously in a militarized state.
With all things considered, clearly the trip was designed, not to deliver supplies, but to provoke a violent confrontation that would strain U.S./relations and derail peace efforts once again.
@11:21, I think the glass
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 10:14 — Anonymous (not verified)@11:21, I think the glass accident was only that, with no other "mystical" meanings from Allah, or deliberate malintent. He accidentally leaned, in his typical way of focusing when speaking, and it broke.
@01:18 Well anyone who is not aware of the rabid antisemitism in this debate clearly has no credible understanding in speaking about its misapplication as a term. Rather, too, many watch, unsurprised, as Israel is set up once again, and focused on in a way that no other country on earth, is. Because "it's those Jews again."
Iran is the dangerous
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 10:21 — Anonymous (not verified)Iran is the dangerous nuclear power.
Given the kind of hatred of Israel ever seeking its own rationalization on the internet, and in Europe where it ever sleeps to waken immediately and rear its ugly head, I can only say, that my prior belief in disarmament is modified in that I think Israel definitely should keep its nuclear weaponry until the Arab world can demonstrate in a legitimate fashion that they accept its presence in the Middle East.
I notice that the Arab
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 11:11 — Anonymous (not verified)I notice that the Arab station (sloppily) edited out the audio portion where the Israeli officials would blasting an announcement that they were entering militarized water. The station cut it out of the video, but not completely enough, to escape notice of their bungled attempt to edit.
(While the "dolled up" newscaster could barely conceal the "wet hate" curling her lips and revealing her inner self.)
Why did the Israeli military
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 22:32 — Anonymous (not verified)Why did the Israeli military board and invade these civilian ships when they must have known that there were at least a few militants on board seeking a violent confrontation? An agreement could have been brokered by the Israeli government to allow these ships to dock and clear an Israeli customs procedure that would include a thorough search for any weapons, and encourage all of the nonmilitary aid to go through.
This entire episode shows the Israeli policies to be incredibly counter productive and look brutal. aggressive and ugly. It looks as though this Israeli government is controlled by military extremists. This antisocial behavior must be effectively confronted by the U.S.
"An agreement could have
Wed, 06/02/2010 - 12:57 — Anonymous (not verified)"An agreement could have been brokered by the Israeli government to allow these ships to dock and clear an Israeli customs procedure that would include a thorough search for any weapons, and encourage all of the nonmilitary aid to go through."
They DID have that agreement. This ship refused to comply and was insisting on going straight through.
I'd like to know the names of the great and *intelligent* heros who jeopardized the lives of everyone on board when they attacked military people.
Why are they afraid to go on record? Since they wan t to cross a militarized zone in the name of peace and delivering humanitarian aid?
Because they're NOT peace activists!
Palestine, and Lebanon,
Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:33 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)Palestine, and Lebanon, Syria and Iran, are fighting for their very existence in the face of absolute ISRAELI (and U.S. government) intransigence! How much Israel firsters and apologists get things exactly, and completely, backwards! But, of course, we live in an extremely backwards world, where the unrighteous are supposedly "righteous", and the righteous are supposedly "unrighteous"! Are most of the righteous perfect or completely right all of the time? No! But they have a right to defend themselves (and you would do so with sticks and stones, and bombs, suicide or otherwise, if that's all you had, especially against a much bigger military force that mass-slaughters many more innocent civilians than the defenders will ever do)! I am so sick and tired of the excusing of the huge military might of the mass-murdering machine that crushes-to-death millions of innocent people, time and time and time again!!!!!!!!...
...How blind we are to
Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:34 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...How blind we are to proportion, by design of the propaganda apologists for the much bigger mass-murder machine! Because we don't think the mass-extermination by fighter jets and bombers are just as atrocious as suicide bombs! Get real! The former is far worse because it is are carried out on a much larger scale, in one foul swoop, over and over and over again! And, just because the bombs and missiles are U.S. and/or Israeli, etc., doesn't make the atrocity(ies) any less! In fact, the purveyors of mass destruction and murder are MUCH WORSE purveyors of atrocity(ies)! Wake up and face the ABSOLUTELY HUGE level of mass-murder compared to the MUCH SMALLER mass-murder of the defenders! But the MUCH LARGER proportion(s) of atrocities by the aggressor(s) is and/or are (supposedly) excused! What kind of "ass-backwardness" is that, which is excused again and again and again and again, ad nauseum!?!?!?!
God help us all in the face of the intransigence of the blind apologists for the much greater mass-murderous machine, and in the face of that much greater mass-murderous machine itself!!!!!!!!
Hey there! the criminals are
Thu, 06/03/2010 - 10:07 — Anonymous (not verified)Hey there! the criminals are the victims not the victimizers, in particular if Israel God`s given right to do as they please, is at a stake.
Please check out this
Mon, 06/07/2010 - 20:38 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)Please check out this article:
freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/06/we-bought-bullets.html
We (Buy) The Bullets (That Are Used To Murder Innocent Civilians Who Are Doing Their Duty To Help A Besieged And Terrorized People)