Thu Mar 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Freedom Flotilla vessel seized by Israeli navy

The Freedom Flotilla III – a convoy of four ships carrying more than 50 pro-Palestinian activists and personalities from 18 countries – was attacked and the vessel Marianne was boarded and taken over by the Israeli Army.

The attack took place in international waters, around 100 nautical miles from Gaza’s shore, which is a violation of international maritime law, something Israel is used to, because it knows that it will count on the complicit silence of the main countries and political forces worldwide.

Israel imposes, since June 2007, a maritime, land and air blockade to the Gaza Strip, which has become a true open-air prison. The five border crossings between Gaza and Israel are completely blocked by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Since the last attack of the Israeli army in Gaza (Operation Margin Protection), in July 2014, when more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed, no humanitarian or reconstruction effort has been undertaken in the small area of 40 km long and 9.5 km wide. The Israeli authorities have refused all requests from various humanitarian organizations bringing aid to the population of Gaza.

The border with Egypt (Rafah) also remains closed most of the time, demonstrating the complicity of the Egyptian military dictatorship with the policy of the Zionist state led by Benjamin Netanyahu. In fact, the Egyptian government built a wall along the border to prevent the passage of people and goods between the two territories.

The more than 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza live in the deepest misery, virtually prevented from cultivating the land, fishing and trading with other countries. Unemployment is around 40% and over 60% of families suffer from “food insecurity”, according to the UN, and have no access to basic items such as soap, water and school supplies.

It is outrageous that the majority of countries and international institutions continue staring at and legitimizing the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. We endorse the words of the Catalonian coalition Prou Complicitat amb Israel: “we not only condemn Israeli crimes and the impunity with which it acts both in Gaza and elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but the complicity of governments that collaborate by supporting and funding the occupation of Palestine”(1).

We call on all parties, civil society organizations, human rights advocates and any person who fights for freedom to condemn this aggression, participate in convened demonstrations and strengthen the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) on Israel.

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