Article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
(Photo: Screengrab/Global Sumud Flotilla)
“Shame on European governments who are not acting to stop Israel!” said UN expert Francesca Albanese. “When will Israel’s impunity end?”
Israel’s raid on a peaceful flotilla of international vessels attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip was described Monday as an act of brazen piracy and condemned by human rights activists and experts who say the world should no longer stand by in the face of such criminality.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, called the operations by Israel “yet another act of piracy by the Israeli army in international waters” that must be condemned by the global community.
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Noting that the flotilla is “carrying basic necessities to a desperate population in Gaza,” Albanese said: “Shame on European governments who are not acting to stop Israel! When will Israel’s impunity end?”
A dispatch was issued by the Global Sumud Flotilla—which has repeatedly tried to break the siege of Gaza—shortly after 10:30 am local time, which said that their vessels off the coast of Cyprus were “currently surrounded and under active interception by Israeli naval warships in international waters, approximately 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza.”
The Israeli forces reportedly boarded a number of the more than 50 vessels traveling in the flotilla and began detaining those aboard.
“By intercepting the flotilla at a perimeter of 250 nautical miles today and in Cyprus’ SAR zone,” said the Flotilla in its statement, “the Israeli regime continues to demonstrate a systematic disregard for international maritime law, freedom of navigation on the high seas, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”
Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist who was detained and imprisoned by the Israelis for several days after being kidnapped off a boat on a previous attempt by humanitarians to reach Gaza with relief supplies, said in a video statement on Monday that now was the time for the international community to act.
“Do something,” pleaded Avila. “Take to the streets. The world cannot stand a genocide. The world cannot stand a country that violates international law, to continue killing children, assassinating children out of hunger, killing people with drones.”
“They want you not to talk about what’s happening in Gaza,” he continued. “There’s no real ceasefire. Seven months of people getting killed, aid still being hindered, more than half the land being taken away, and their plans are the worst for that area—it is complete ethnic cleansing and genocide. We need to stop that.”
Ann Wright, a retired US Army colonel who has long been a leading anti-war activist and is currently serving as a member of the support team at the Flotilla’s Crisis Center stationed in Istanbul, Turkiye, called the operation to deliver aid the “largest civilian flotilla in the history of support for Palestinians in Gaza” to date.
“Stop the genocide, not the flotilla,” said Stephen Bowen, executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.
Independent journalist Alex Colston, embedded with the flotilla activists and on one of the vessels approached by Israeli forces, reported that he could confirm “people on intercepted boats are being moved to one, maybe two, military prison frigates,” though it was not clear where exactly those detained would be taken.
Article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
