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Estelle - Ship to Gaza has been intercepted and boared by IDF

category international | anti-war / imperialism | news report author Sunday October 21, 2012 00:41author by Supporter

Breaking News - Oct 20th

The latest in the series of ships to Gaza - the Estelle has been boarded by the Israelis. Initial reports had indicated it was being attacked.

The ship with a crew of 20 aboard with people of eight nationalities was boarded by Israeli forces and forced to sail to the port of Ashdod
In an act violating international maritime law, Israeli naval forces boarded a humanitarian aid ship, the SV Estelle, that was en route to the Gaza Strip bringing humanitarian aid supplies including musical instruments and building materials. These are among the thousands of items still banned by Israeli forces from entering Gaza.
estelle_ship_to_gaza.jpg

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement praising the Israeli navy for intercepting the ship, saying that the aim of the humanitarian aid activists was to 'delegitimize Israel', and claiming that 'there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza'.

The attack on the international aid ship comes just days after a leaked document from the Israeli government revealed that Israeli officials had calculated the amount of food necessary to hold every Gazan man, woman and child to a 1200 calorie 'diet', and allowing just that amount of food to trickle into the besieged coastal Strip. This kind of calorie count and collective punishment of a population is a direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.

In addition, just two weeks ago the United Nations issued a report stating that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is so severe that the entire Strip will be uninhabitable in less than 15 years. Currently, two thirds of the population of Gaza depend on United Nations food aid for survival.

See http://www.gazaark.org/2012/10/20/david-heap-interviewed-on-israeli-attack-on-estelle/
David Heap, Gaza’s Ark Steering Committee member, currently in Gaza attending an academic conference was interviewed by CTV News. 20 October 2012.

The initial report stated: According to Dror Feiler, spokesperson for Ship to Gaza Sweden, Estelle was attacked at 10.15 AM CET. Five or six military vessels surrounded Estelle. Soldiers wearing masks are now trying to board the ship. The attack took place on international waters: N31 26 E33 45 For latest updates see Twitter

https://twitter.com/search?q=%40ShiptogazaSe&src=typd

Other Updates Ship to Gazas web site attacked
Publiceringsdatum:
2012-10-20
It is not only Ship to Gaza´s Estelle which has been targeted by attackers. At the same time as Estelle was hijacked our web site, shiptogaza.se, was attacked, which resulted in inavailability for several hours. Our IT-experts state that these attacks were intentional and well planned. Ship to Gaza is considering the option to report the incident to the police.

Related Link: http://shiptogaza.se/en

Location of the Estelle when news came in
Location of the Estelle when news came in

Comments (8 of 8)

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author by Justin Morahanpublication date Mon Oct 22, 2012 14:14author address author phone

An ex-MP, one week short of his eightieth birthday, remains in an Israeli jail as of this morning after fellow protestors were released

Related Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ex-mp-sits-in-israeli-custody-while-fellow-protesters-from-other-nations
author by Tpublication date Mon Oct 22, 2012 14:50author address author phone

The link to the Globe piece is broken or else the editors of the Globe have decided they don't want to cover that story.

Meanwhile here is a press release covering the same:


Montreal, 20121021-11h45

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is concerned about the treatment of the Estelle crew by Israeli authorities.

The Estelle was attacked by the IDF at 10AM local time on Saturday.

Eighteen hours later the crew had still to meet consular representatives or lawyers. Circulating reports about theuse of force and tasers during the attack on the Estelle increase our worries about the well-being of the crew members.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is also concerned about reports that Israeli crew members were transferred to Ashkelon prison and will face persecution.

“Despite the confirmed deportation of some of the crew members (from Greece and Italy) we are deeply concerned about the continuing detention of the others, including Jim Manly,” said Ehab Lotayef, noting Manly is a former Canadian MP (1980-88) and retired United Church Minister.

“We call on all governments to increase pressure on the Israeli government to ensure the Estelle crew are treated with dignity, that their rights as non-violent protesters be respected and that they all be released immediately,” said Lotayef.

Related Link: http://www.gazaark.org/2012/10/21/release-international-concern-for-jim-manly-and-the-crew-of-the-estelle/
author by zionism=racismpublication date Tue Oct 23, 2012 00:07author address author phone

even in the camps the prisoners were allowed to make music - but shitty little Israel seems to hate the fact that Palestinian children might make music

gazaviolin.jpg

auschwitzorchestragaza.jpg

author by wolfhoundpublication date Wed Oct 24, 2012 20:34author address author phone

I see we have a poster from an American Holocaust denial site being displayed.

author by fredpublication date Thu Oct 25, 2012 00:06author address author phone

good poster though isn't it?. Are you denying that this is true about the musical instrument ban?
Or are you trying to smear the poster because you cannot attack the truth of the FACTS it is highlighting?

Just goes to show you, even nasty holocaust deniers can still create a poster that presents some damning concrete facts about the stupidity of israeli policy in a very striking fashion!

author by STFUpublication date Thu Oct 25, 2012 00:12author address author phone

from the usual suspects.

Never can pass up an opportunity to use the Holocaust for political gain

That's one of the main reasons that more and more people are beginning to despise the Zionists -

Wolfhound thinks that just by posting about "Denial" he can distract people from the fact that Israel likes to punish little children and make their lives as miserable as possible

Not only are Palestinian children not allowed musical instruments but the Israelis make sure that they do not receive enough food either

This is after they actually made the cold-blooded calculation of the absolute minimum calorie requirements (something the Nazis also did to camp inmates) but then made sure prevent many food shipments getting through, making ti impossible to provide the calculated minimum that they themselves acknowledged.

So essentially they are deliberately attempting to create malnutrition amongst the captive Palestinian population they have penned into the largest prison camp in the world.

IMHO the Nazis would look at the Israelis and say "wow I wish we could have got away with that without being criticised by the US"

Israel is a VERY sick society

author by Zionism=Racismpublication date Thu Oct 25, 2012 00:15author address author phone

He's trying to smear the poster because he cannot attack the truth of the FACTS

The Zio-racists are getting desperate.

It's bad alright when even when the Zio-racists scream "Denier" the Zionists still look like the bad guys

author by wolfhoundpublication date Sun Oct 28, 2012 00:50author address author phone

So it's ok to trawl through American ( labor ! ) White Power and conspiracy theory sites just as long as the link is only to something nasty about the Jews ? Well, FYI, there were no " orchestras" in the death camps...music was played as the trains decanted their soon-to-be murdered passengers...to give a soothing impression !
Secondly, Hamas has banned music in Gaza as un-Islamic...and music shops have been firebombed. Hamas are islamists...not Islamic.


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