Flotilla To Gaza.

[give her dixie]

Gaza is not only the worlds largest priison camp, but one big human labratory.

Israhell control the water, electricity, sewage, food, and just about everything else
that is needed for daily life. They turn each one on and off whenever they choose.

The tunnels provide a lifeline, however, due to the cost and time to build them,
the black market prices for everything is very high.

Egypt built an underground steel wall recently, which goes down 30 metres in places.
This wall was fully funded by the US taxpayers, and it was designed to cut off the lifeline.

However, people are building the tunnels deep enough to by pass the steel wall,
and others are using cutting gear to cut holes in it. At present, it takes 2 weeks to burn a
hole though it. So, the wall is a failure, and another waste of US taxpayers money.

What happened to the jews in the Warsaw ghetto was horrible, however, they have learned
from that and today implement a system that is much worse.

The Oppressed have now become the Oppressor.

[give her dixie]

Short News Clip on the Flotilla.

Check out the boats......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TvStsUTJY&playnext_from=TL&videos=syBWf14_oNQ

[give her dixie]

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15985

The U.S. corporate media have provided little coverage on some important happenings in the Middle East during the past 18 months. You might ask what's the big deal -- bad stuff happens there all the time and it doesn't concern me. In this case, recent events have the potential to create an international crisis in the coming days. Before getting to the possible explosive situation, we first need some background information.

One key event is that Gaza has become a flash point in the relations between Turkey and Israel. In a dramatic reversal, Turkey has moved from close relations with Israel to being quite critical of Israeli policies, particularly of those against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. For example, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan labeled Israeli actions in Gaza during its December 2008 attack a "crime against humanity".

Taking a longer-term view, Erdogan also said: "Civilians and children are dying in Gaza. Those who keep their silence over these attacks out of whatever concern or for whatever diplomatic reason, will pay the price before history." His statements offered quite a contrast to the tepid and shameful position taken by U.S. officials.

In addition, Erdogan has identified Israel as the principal threat against peace in the Middle East. He also backed the adoption of the Goldstone Report that called for an independent investigation of Israeli and Hamas war crimes. Although most of the countries around the world agreed with this position, the U.S. and a few other nations opposed an independent investigation of the war crimes charges.

To put it mildly, none of Erdogan's comments have endeared him to Israeli officials.

In addition, the Turkish Prime Minister has said that it is a priority for him and Turkey to lift the unjust siege on Gaza. Israel has maintained this siege since 2007 and, combined with the devastation caused during the Israeli attack, Palestinians are merely surviving, not really living. Israel has not allowed materials into Gaza for rebuilding and it allows just enough food in to prevent the Palestinians from starving.

This past January Turkey strongly supported the Viva Palestina convoy's effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. The convoy of over 500 international humanitarian activists was able to deliver more than 150 vehicles carrying medicine and other aid to the besieged Palestinians. Arriving in Gaza was a major accomplishment, but the aid that the convoy brought in was a drop in the bucket compared to the need.

In early May of this year, John Ging, Head of United Nation's Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip, said: "We recommend the world send ships to the shores of Gaza, and we believe that Israel would not stop these vessels because the sea is open, and many human rights organizations have been successful in previous similar steps, and proved that breaking the siege on Gaza is possible."

Currently eight ships from several nations including Turkey are doing just that. These ships, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, have as their goal to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has said that it will not allow this current flotilla to reach Gaza, and it will use military means if necessary to stop the ships.

Two key points are: 1) the Turkish ship will be flying the Turkish flag; and 2) Turkey is a member of NATO. What might happen if Israel were to attack a Turkish flagged vessel carrying humanitarian aid in international waters? The precedent has been established that an attack on one NATO member state will be viewed as an attack on NATO. How would NATO respond to an Israeli attack on a Turkish flagged vessel? Even if the Turkish ship were not flying its flag, how would the world respond to an attack on unarmed vessels carrying humanitarian aid in international waters?

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is now on its way and is scheduled to reach Gaza this week. Since the U.S. corporate-dominated mainstream media seem to be ignoring this issue, go to freegaza.org or to international media for updates on this looming crisis. There is still time for Israel to avoid an explosive situation by simply complying with international law and honoring its responsibilities to the Palestinians. Unfortunately it is doubtful that Israel will do so.

- Ron Forthofer is a retired professor of biostatistics. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

[give her dixie]

Gaza has been attacked in the past hour
F16's hit targets and 15 people injured. 4 children serious
Click on the following link for details

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Gaza-TV-News/119275738102852

[Hedley Lamarr]

GAZA CITY: The Israeli government warned that it would block a fleet of nine ships carrying 700 international activists and humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip later this week.

The Freedom Flotilla, organized by the group Free Gaza, is the largest humanitarian journey to the Gaza Strip since Israel imposed its crippling blockade on the territories in June 2007 after Hamas forcibly took control of the region.

Jamal Al-Khodary, head of the Popular Committee Against Siege, said in a statement on Tuesday that several legal people as well as hundreds of media professionals and journalists are traveling with the fleet.

He added that preparations on the Palestinian side have been completed and a hundred Palestinian boats will receive the fleet in the open sea.

The organizers of this journey say they are trying to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. But Israel has urged them to bring their goods to Gaza via a pre-approved border crossing.

News reports on Monday said that the Egyptian authorities announced that the fleet could reach Gaza via its territories.

Israeli media reported that the ships, which are sailing from diverse ports in Ireland, Greece and Turkey and are expected to arrive on Thursday, would be boarded before they could reach Gaza. Any activists on board would be arrested.

"Ships that make their own way to Gaza do not do anything to help the people there," said Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry.

He added that Free Gaza is "less interested in bringing help, than with advancing their radical agenda, which plays into the hands of Hamas."

According to different news reports, the fleet includes nine ships; one financed by Kuwait and carrying the flags of Kuwait and Turkey, a ship financed by Algeria, one financed by Sweden and Greece, while the remaining six vessels will carry the activists.

One of the ships bears the number 8,000, referring to the approximate number of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The ships also carry more than 10,000 tons of medical supplies, wood, and construction materials, in addition to 100 mobile homes, and 500 power-chairs for the disabled.

A similar but smaller mission to Gaza was blocked by the Israeli navy a year ago. However, five others have made their way to the region in recent years.

[seafoid]

Israel restricts Gazans to 600 calories per day. That's Zionism and very similar to another ism that flourished in the 1930s.


Israeli spin
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Israeli_humanitarian_lifeline_Gaza_25-May-2010.htm

[give her dixie]

Folks, at 3pm today, the ships will depart Turkey for Gaza. In 48 hours time, Saturday afternoon,  they will be inside Gazan waters.
Israhell has vowed to stop them by force if necessary, and Turkey have threatened to respond
if one of their boats is attacked.

Israhell have prepared a jail to hold everyone before deporting them.

This has the potential to turn very ugly, and a major international crisis is looming.

I am in constant contact with those on board, and will be doing media work from this side.

I will keep you all posted on any news, as it happens.

[Nally Stand]

Maith thú Dixie, go raibh mile

[give her dixie]

Folks, click on the following link for all the latest news on the flotilla.
All the boats have now set sail, and are in international waters.

Israhell have issued serious threats to everyone involved, and they have stated that
they will stop this flotilla from entering Gaza by any means possible.

They have set up a temporary prison, and it is not looking good.
They are due to reach Gaza tomorrow evening, and trouble is looming on the high seas.

Turkey have stated that they will respond immediatly to any acts of aggression on their
citizens and boats. The only country so far to stand up for their citizens.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gaza-TV-News/119275738102852

[give her dixie]

End blockade of Gaza, EU tells Israel

The European Union has called on Israel to immediately end the three-year blockade of Gaza and to allow the Freedom Flotilla to enter the enclave.

"The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement on Friday.

"We would like to reiterate the EU's call for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza," she added.

The Freedom Flotilla, a multinational relief mission heading for the Gaza Strip, consists of nine vessels from Turkey, Ireland, Britain, and Greece that are currently off the coast of Cyprus.

The mission was organized by the Free Gaza Movement.

Ashton made the remarks after Israel threatened to divert the flotilla to its southern port of Ashdod and to detain the activists onboard, AFP reported.

Israel has said it will not allow the ships to reach the Gaza Strip and has called the attempt to break the blockade a "cheap political stunt."

On Thursday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky also urged Israel to "act with a sense of care" in dealing with the pro-Palestinian activists who are attempting to break the blockade of Gaza.

The Freedom Flotilla is carrying about 10,000 tons of supplies to the 1.5 million people of Gaza, who have endured many hardships during the three-year blockade.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Arab News Editorial: Blockade busting
Will 'Freedom Flotilla' challenge Israelis to the extent 'Exodus' did to the British?

At least eight vessels are now expected to form the "Freedom Flotilla" that will try to sail through the Israeli maritime blockade of Palestine. They hope to deliver much-needed supplies, including medicines, water-treatment equipment and building materials to the beleaguered people within the Gaza Ghetto.

The Netanyahu government has vowed that the flotilla will not get through. It appears that the Israeli Navy is preparing to intercept the aid ships before they can reach the Gaza coast, perhaps in international waters. Since the multinational crew of activists aboard the ships have vowed not to stop, even if they are threatened with force, it would seem a confrontation is inevitable.

It must be wondered if any Israelis remember what happened in these same waters in similar circumstances 63 years ago and whether if they do, they realize that they are preparing to do something which they once labeled as "cruel" and "shameful" when it was done to them.

In 1947, a former US passenger ferry, the SS Warfield was bought by the Zionist agents and renamed the "Exodus." In Marseilles it picked up 4,515 Jews, including 655 children and set sail for the Palestine, then run by the British under a UN mandate. The Zionists announced that the majority of the ship's passengers were survivors of Nazi death camps. The intention was to challenge the British ban on unauthorized arrivals in Palestine in what was the highest profile exercise in "Aliya Bet" — Illegal Immigration.

As the Zionists expected and undoubtedly hoped, the British Navy intercepted the "Exodus," ramming the vessel in the process and killing two of the passengers. Taken first to Haifa, the would-be immigrants were detailed before being sent back to France. When they refused to leave the ship. It was taken by the British to Hamburg in the then British-controlled zone of conquered Germany, where they were detained in camps near Lubeck.

The cleverly fostered international furor that the "Exodus" incident produced was a major coup for the Zionists and a public relations disaster for the British. Coming on top of the rising tide of Zionist violence in Palestine, it helped convince a weak London government to throw up its responsibilities under the mandate and abandon the Palestinians to their fate.

The people of Gaza and the West Bank are still suffering the consequences of that craven capitulation.

The question now is will the "Freedom Flotilla" challenge the Israeli occupiers of the West Bank and the besiegers of the Gaza Ghetto to anything like the same extent? The smart move might be to let the ships get through. But that would be to open the door to further aid convoys and the effective destruction of a major part of the Gaza blockade. The Netanyahu government would hate the triumph this would give to the people of Gaza and their supporters around the world. Therefore it seems that a showdown and perhaps bloodshed is unavoidable, to be recorded by the international press teams aboard the "Freedom Flotilla." Will this therefore become the Palestinians' "Exodus" incident?

[give her dixie]

Click on the following link for a"Live" feed from the Turkish ship on it's way to Gaza.

http://www.livestream.com/insaniyardim?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=ui-content&utm_campaign=insaniyardim&utm_content=insaniyardim

[give her dixie]

Folks, if anyone is interested, I have been working on the following group on facebook, compiling letters, posting reports and video's, and keeping 3,000 people worldwide informed on the Flotilla, and the siege......

The power of social media networking is incredible, and the results are amazing so far.

Click on the following link for a wee look......

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gaza-TV-News/119275738102852?ref=ts

[give her dixie]

Things not looking good folks on the Med right now

3 Israeli warships have now approached the Flotilla.

They have stated that they will take them by force

click on the following link for a live feed from the Turkish ship.

http://www.livestream.com/insaniyardim

Or here, for all my reports:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gaza-TV-News/119275738102852?ref=ts

[mylestheslasher]

This is starting to look nasty. Today Cyprus (no doubt under Israeli pressure) refused to let an Irish delegation leave their port to join the Flotilla as observers - the less witnesses to what is happening the better. What a nasty bunch of bastards Israel are.