Gaza
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Update from GazaFriends: DIGNITY to Israeli gunboat “Feel Free to Make a Donation”
For Immediate Release November 8, 2008 Contact: Mary Hughes, Cyprus +357 96 75 00 59 Greta Berlin, Cyprus: +357 99 08 17 67 Osama Qashoo, +44 78 33 38 16 60 Angela Godfrey Goldstein, Jerusalem: +972 547 366 393 Larnaca: The DIGNITY pulled into Gaza at 9:15 a.m. Gaza time after an uneventful trip from… Continue reading
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Media Lens: CHILDREN IN THE CROSSHAIRS
3 November, 2008 Media Silent On Evidence Of Israeli Targeting Of Youngsters <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media On the afternoon of Thursday 28 February, 2008, a group of <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>Palestinian boys were playing football on some open ground near their homes in the <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>Gaza Strip. At around… Continue reading
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Gaza Friends: SS Dignity arrives home safe
The SS DIGNITY arrived at 6:30 this morning as the sun was just splitting the waters of the Mediterranean. I watched the boat come around the corner of the quay, its Palestinian flag flying from one of the masts. Waiting up most of the night worrying about whether they were OK and answering worried callers… Continue reading
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GazaFriends Update 1 November, 2008: Bombarded by bombs by Mary Hughes-Tompson
28 October, 2008 For Immediate Release On October 28, 2008 as the sun was setting, 27 passengers on board the SS DIGNITY left for Gaza. It was the second attempt by the Free Gaza Movement to break Israel’s stranglehold on the 1.5 million civilians of Gaza. Although Israel threatened to stop the boat, arrest its… Continue reading
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Ramzi Kysia: GazaFriends “Nam, Nehnu Nastatyeh!” is Arabic for “Yes, We Can!” 29 October 2008 13:33:27 GMT
This morning I arrived in Gaza aboard the SS Dignity, part of a Free Gaza Movement delegation of twenty seven doctors, lawyers, teachers, and human rights activists from across the world, including Mairead Maguire – the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Continue reading
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GazaFriends Update 28 October, 2008: A ship called dignity
Several times over the past week, people had said that Israel was looking for the Free Gaza, asking port authorities where it was and when we were going. So today was another triumph for the human spirit. Continue reading
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GazaFriends: Israel Threatens to Forcibly Stop Us
For Immediate Release October 28, 2008 Contact: Greta Berlin, Cyprus: +357 99 08 17 67 Angela Godfrey Goldstein, Jerusalem: +972 547 366 393 Huwaida Arraf (on boat): +357 96 723 999 /SS Dignity: +357 967 80 329 Osama Qashoo, +447833381660 This morning, the Free Gaza Movement was informed through the media that the Israeli Navy… Continue reading
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Gaza Friends: YES, WE ARE COMING
As part of the message, we invited Aharon Abramovitz, Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense, to join the voyage to witness first hand the devastating effects of Israel’s illegal policies on the occupied civilian population of the Gaza Strip (Please leave your weapons at home, we are nonviolent). Continue reading
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Sameh Habeeb – The Children of Gaza: Weaned on Fear and Trauma
Gaza Strip, Palestine – Severe terror and traumas are de facto storms for children in the occupied territories, especially those who exist in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing Israeli military operations and violent retaliation induce psychological maladies and wretched conditions. The recent CEASEFIRE in Gaza allows a temporary rest but not the cure for their… Continue reading
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The Palestinians: Warehousing a “Surplus People” By Jeff Halper
So rapid is the pace of systemic change in that indivisible entity known as Palestine/Israel that it almost defies our ability to keep up with it. The deliberate and systematic campaign of driving Palestinians out of the country in 1948 was quickly forgotten, the plight of more than 700,000 refugees becoming an invisible “non-issue.” Instead,… Continue reading
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UPDATE FROM GAZA ON FISHERMEN ACCOMPANIMENT THIS PAST SATURDAY By Andrew Muncie
It was just 09:30 in the morning, and we were only 4 miles out to sea, having barely left Gaza’s coastline behind, when the gunboat’s heavy machine gun opened up, spraying the wake around our hull with bullets. Continue reading
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“End of an Odyssey” By: Jeff Halper
(One Palestinian from Hebron was in jail for being illegally in Israel; I was in jail for being illegally in Palestine.) As it stands, I’m out on bail. The state will probably press charges in the next few weeks, and I could be jailed for two or so months. I now am a Palestinian in… Continue reading
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Palestinians Calculating Next Move: Coexistence with Occupation Not an Option By: Sam Bahour
A newly released Palestinian strategy document which outlines strategic political options gives witness to a renewed breath of fresh air in the Palestinians’ struggle for freedom and independence. Continue reading
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FREE GAZA — LIBERTY ARRIVE IN CYPRUS WITH PALESTINIANS ON-BOARD
The historic return voyage represents the first time ever that Palestinians have been able freely to enter and leave their country. The Free Gaza Movement will mark this historic moment with a reception at Larnaca Harbour , as will Palestinians in Gaza , as both boats return safely from Gazan and international waters after a… Continue reading
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Palestine: When is the doctor a doctor? And when is he a citizen? By Derek Summerfield
Summerfield has spent the last 16 years exposing Israeli war crimes and publishing scathing critiques in Britain’s leading medical journals on the complicity of Israeli doctors. Today, the name of this honorary senior lecturer at London’s Institute of Psychiatry and teaching associate at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, stands out in… Continue reading
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Leaving Gaza – Journey Hour One
The SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty left port in Gaza at 3:40 PM, and have begun their long voyage back to Cyprus. Aboard the ship are seven Palestinian passengers, including several children. We were able to speak with Paul Larudee on the SS Liberty just a few minutes ago: Continue reading
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SS FREE GAZA & SS LIBERTY TO LEAVE FOR CYPRUS WITH PALESTINIANS ON-BOARD
Several Palestinians who have previously been denied exit visas by Israel will join international human rights workers on the journey. Among the Palestinians leaving are Saed Mosleh, age 10, of Beit Hanoon, Gaza. Saed lost his leg due to an Israeli tank shell and is leaving Gaza with his father to seek medical treatment. Also… Continue reading
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Fulbright or McCarthy for Palestinian students? By Fidaa Abed, 17 August 2008
“Last week, I landed in Washington, DC, brimming with optimism. Upon arrival, I was whisked into a separate room. An American official informed me that he had just received information about me that he could not reveal. However, it required him to put me on the next plane home. I was shocked. And I was… Continue reading
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Sailing into Gaza By Huwaida Arraf August 25, 2008
On Saturday, after 32 hours on the high seas, I sailed into the port of Gaza City with 45 other citizens from around the world in defiance of Israel’s blockade. We traveled from Cyprus with humanitarian provisions for Palestinians living under siege. My family in Michigan was worried sick. Continue reading
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GazaFriends – Gone Fishing 25 August, 2008
Israel has refused to let Palestinians fish in their own waters for the past 15 months. Even before that, they restricted Palestinian fishermen to around 6 miles. Now, they shoot holes in the boats and in the fishermen if they are caught farther out than about a kilometer. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 