(Yet) Another illegal act by Israel
In the early hours of June 9th, Israeli forces surrounded the Freedom Flotilla’s ship the Madleen and prevented the twelve activists on board from reaching Gaza.
Volunteers at the Gaza Soup Kitchen posted this:
Today in Gaza, our Gaza Soup Kitchen team was making plans. The chefs and bakers—people who cook under siege, who create warmth with almost nothing—were preparing to head to the small Gaza pier. They planned to welcome the Madleen, to greet the brave activists from the Freedom Flotilla with flags, gratitude, and the same large pots they use to feed their community.
For a moment, there was hope.
Tonight, that hope was shattered….Our team is heartbroken—but not surprised.
Jewish Voice for Labour joins the voices worldwide who are appalled at the hijacking of the humanitarian boat Madleen and the arrest (kidnapping) of the 12 courageous, unarmed volunteers trying to take a token amount of aid but a great deal of hope to the people of Gaza. This attack in international waters is an act of piracy and the perpetrators must be held to account for their crime.
The Freedom Flotilla’s much larger boat, Conscience, was already seriously damaged following a drone attack by Israel. The Madleen never entered Israeli waters; Israel’s action is illegal just as they acted as illegal pirates in boarding the Mavi Marmara in 2010 and murdering 10 people, the same year and in the same manner that the Jewish Boat to Gaza, captained by JVL’s Secretary Glyn Secker, was ambushed and prevented from landing in Gaza. On that occasion they attempted to kill the two Israeli refuseniks on board, and forcefully towed the boat to Ashdod. Keir Starmer and the UK government must demand that Israel immediately releases the crew of the Madleen and the boat itself and allow them to sail to Gaza to deliver the urgently needed food and medical supplies.
In a statement made just two hours before, Greta Thunberg, the best known of the activists on board, included this in her message:
As we are sailing closer to Gaza with Israel saying they will not allow the boat to arrive with humanitarian aid (which would be a crime by them), it’s very important to keep in mind that this mission is not about us or the boat. This is about the genocide, blockade and systematic oppression of Palestinians.
People in Gaza don’t need anyone to come and save them, they need us to amplify and support their struggle for justice, that we end our complicity, put pressure and cut ties with those committing human rights violations. Keep all eyes on deck, but above all, all eyes on Palestine and all oppressed people.”
Israel’s Minister of Defence, Israel Katz, spoke of these activists in the most despicable terms, referring to the boat as “A hate boat”, to Greta Thunberg as antisemitic and the other activists as “her Hamas-propaganda spouting friends”. Such comments are clearly ludicrous but are par for the course for Israel. As a Jewish organisation we strongly oppose yet another routine use of totally unfounded allegations of antisemitism to attempt to justify and try to cover up yet another war crime by Israel.
That Israel feels the need to block a small boat with 12 unarmed people and a tiny amount of aid is a sign of its weakness and desperation. It shows the world yet again that it views Palestinians as less than human and undeserving of support – or even baby food. It has demonstrated that its 17 year siege of Gaza does not stop at the land borders, encompassing also the sea and the sky. It is a siege on every aspect of Palestinian life and we will not stop demonstrating against these heinous acts until the people of Palestine are free.
JVL stands in solidarity with the Madleen, the Freedom Flotilla movement and, above all, the people of Palestine.
Great statement – thanks very much, and for reminding people about the Jewish Boat to Gaza which, in 2010, underwent a similar ‘arrest’ in international waters as the Madleen. Israel clearly doesnt care what anyone in the rest of the world thinks.
Great statement and one I fully endorse. Need to get people writing to
Their MP!
This is a tragedy, but sadly not unexpected. The Israeli government believes it is beyond the law, beyond any kind of human morality. They have to be brought to justice.
Total solidarity to the crew on Madleen.
The lack of coverage and the bias of the coverage that has emerged shames both the mainstream Western media and the governments who have remained complicit in the genocide ,,,, the language used to describe the attack on the flotilla and the illegality of Israel has been effectively ignored or airbrushed across the mainstream outlets …. grim
I followed the Madleen and the very brave people there in. Taking humanitarian aid to Gaza . I half expected the Israelis to pirate it. Where is the outcry from the world . I have emailed Starmer , my MP, and the foreign secretary. Presently no reply .
The genocide has to be stopped and now .
The terrorist State of Israel has again extended its genocide of the indigenous people whose lives it is stealing like no other evil state or criminal entity can.
Steven Taylor is right but the fact that the mainstream outlets are failing to report the news of Israel’s breaking the law, slaughtering children and healthcare workers and journalists and doing so with impunity calls on us to write to the mainstream media in far greater numbers and hold them to account as their readers and subscribers. It seems to me the BBC are showing TV programmes about Nazis and World War II constantly anymore, and I suspect underlying that is an intention to justify Israel’s behaviour now, because if then, in an unjustifiable manner.
The anti-Semitic flotilla members are turning a blind eye to the truth and have proven once again that they prefer the murderers to the murdered and continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children
Written by someone who evidently has no trouble ignoring 20 months of slaughter and starvation meted out to people who, one must presume, are different to him by, one can also safely assume, people who are like him.
The Gaza Humanitarian Fund apparently quietly delivered 1 million meals and essential supplies today, using local Palestinian contractors to unload 20 aid trucks at remote locations.
5,000 bags of flour.
Greta Thunberg is sailing in with 100 kg of flour. What a hero…you go girl!
Does anyone else have the impression our friend Steinberg does not watch the news much?