Israel hijacks humanitarian ship and abducts crew to Israel and mistreatment in prison
Israeli Military abducts crew on mercy mission to besieged Gaza
The Israeli Military recognises no limits to its criminal behaviour. Having imprisoned, massacred, and starved the people of Gaza, they have now kidnapped a group of people sailing with a small cargo of olive trees, medicine and children’s toys to Gaza. The small vessel was in international waters. This kind of piracy is routine for the Israeli Military dealing with Palestinian fishing boats. The Israeli Military threatened repeatedly to fire on the crew of the Spirit of Humanity, resorting to kidnap when the tiny vessel refused to turn back.
One Scot, Theresa McDermott, is among six British members of the crew of a small boat who have been kidnapped by the Israeli Military and forcibly taken to Israel this afternoon.
Part of a statement released today by the organisers of the relief mission reads:
According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released yesterday, the Palestinians living in Gaza are “trapped in despair.” Thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed earlier during Israel’s December/January massacre are still without shelter despite pledges of almost $4.5 billion in aid, because Israel refuses to allow cement and other building material into the Gaza Strip. The report also notes that hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients due to Israel’s disruption of medical supplies.
All of the prisoners have stressed that although their fate has become the subject of an international news story, that of the 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has not been given the same attention. They also reiterate that their fate is only part of the wider story of the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
The full text of the email received by British supporters at around noon on Thursday 2nd July is as follows:
“sending this fortuitously, could pass this on to relevant contacts pls thx 02/06/09
Now at Ramla prison, Givon, separated from arab and aljazeera passengers, after being kidnapped by Israeli special forces supported by 6 navy gunships in Palestinian waters 18 miles off the Gaza coast. Unaware of the status of 2 Palestinian Israeli citizens separated on arrest. 4 British nationals including the Captain of the Spirit of Humanity Denis Healey and Adie Mormech, Ishmahil Blagrove and Fathi Jaouadi are being held in the high security Ramla Givon prison where they are also holding former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney who was also on board the boat. Conditions at the prison are appalling, 14-20 to a cell measuring 7m by 7m. Nobel Laureate Mairead McGuire forcibly removed in handcuffs and status unknown. Please raise as much awareness as possible of this injustice.”
For more information on the FreeGaza boat project and events to this point, see www.freegaza.org and www.palsolidarity.org.
See the Free Gaza Scotland website: www.freegaza-scotland.org
For more information in the UK, please call
Andrew Bowman on 07921928077 or
Sarah Gould 07761714910.
For more information on the FreeGaza movement, contact
Sarah Irving in Manchester on 07739 147095 or
the project's headquarters in Cyprus – Greta Berlin 00 357 99 284 102
More info: Hilary Smith tel: 07818 040 982
What you can do:
Immediately email / call your MP (click here) to demand they
add their own voice, publicly and loudly, to Gerald Kaufmann’s protest in the House of Commons tomorrow (one of his constituents is among those kidnapped by Israel).
make a public statement unreservedly condemning this example of Israel’s criminality and demand the crew's immediate and unconditional release
Support the boycott campaign against this nuclear-armed rogue state
don’t buy anything Israeli and urge your friends and family to do likewise
find out what contracts your Council or workplace has with Israeli companies (Eden Springs, Veolia) and get them cancelled. SPSC can help here campaign@scottishpsc.org.uk
join your local active Palestine solidarity group and make a difference