Date: 20 / 11 / 2008  Time:  21:27
Gaza – Ma’an –

Three international solidarity activists declared a hunger strike inside an Israeli prison on Thursday seeking a court hearing.

The three were seized from a fishing boat by the Israeli navy on Tuesday along with 15 Palestinian fishermen about 7 miles from the coast of Gaza. They are part of a program to accompany Gazan fishermen who face harassment by Israeli naval forces.

Thirty-four-year-old Andrew Muncie from Scotland, 33-year-old Darlene Wallach from the United States and 57-year-old Vittorio Arrigoni sent a text message to their supporters on Thursday evening declaring the hunger strike.

The activists are facing deportation and are held in an immigration detention center in the city of Ramla, inside Israel. They say they have still not received a hearing.

The three are also demanding that Israel return three fishing boats it confiscated during Tuesday’s interdiction off the Gaza coast. The 15 Palestinians were released the night after the raid. In their message the activists said the fishermen and their families need their boats for their livelihood.

In a press release the Palestinian International Campaign against siege said the arrest of the internationals and the Palestinians was illegal under international law.

Muncie, Wallach, and Arrigoni were among a group of human rights advocates who sailed to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli military blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Earlier on Thursday the International Campaign staged an event in Gaza to call attention to the plight of Gazan fishermen.

Muhsin Ramadan, a member of the campaign, said that “Palestinians have the right to use the sea. What is happening is a collective punishment with no political justification.”

European campaign warns of Israeli attempts to dupe the world on Gaza

[ 19/11/2008 - 04:15 PM ]

BRUSSELS, (PIC)--

The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza has warned of an Israeli attempt to draw the world's attention away from the oppressive siege imposed on the Strip.

The campaign said in a press release in Brussels on Wednesday that the Israeli authority's partial opening of only one of the crossings for the entry of limited food supplies aimed at duping the world into forgetting about the imminent disaster in the Strip as a result of the blockage of fuel and food, medical and humanitarian assistance from entering the Strip for 15 consecutive days.

It said that the allowed quantity does not meet the minimum requirements of the Strip's inhabitants.

The campaign also lashed out at Egypt for opening the Rafah border crossing for limited periods every now and then "just to ward off a popular outrage".

It asked the Egyptian presidency and government to shoulder their ethical and humanitarian responsibilities and to immediately open the Rafah border terminal, which would end the Gaza siege and the suffering of its one and a half million inhabitants.

The campaign charged that Israel was waging a real genocide against the Gaza Strip, warning that the closure of the Rafah crossing was contributing to the same end.

Fifteen Palestinian fishermen and three internationals kidnapped by Israeli Navy
 
Gaza City, 10 a.m.-

Fifteen Palestinian fishermen and 3 international Human Rights Observers (HRO's) were surrounded by the Israeli Navy and taken from their small fishing boats 7 miles off the coast of Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip.
 
The fishermen and the HRO's were transferred from 3 separate boats to the Israeli warships.  Other Palestinian fishermen reported that the 3 boats were seen being taken north by the Israeli Navy.
 
The Human Rights Observers are Andrew Muncie, a Scottish British citizen, Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian citizen, and Darlene Wallach, an American citizen.  They have been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) since they entered Gaza on ships with the first Free Gaza Movement voyage on the 23rd August 2008.
All internationals have previous experience working with the ISM in the West Bank.
 
Fellow activists have been unable to establish contact with the HRO's or with the fishermen since they were abducted.
 
Since their arrival, the ISM volunteers have been accompanying Palestinian fishermen who are regularly attacked by Israeli navy vessels from as little as 3km from shore. They have filmed Israeli forces using live ammunition, shells and water cannons against unarmed fishermen and have documented the attacks on UTube and other video sites.
 
Andrew's colleague Sharon, recently returned to the UK after volunteering with the fishing boats, is available for comment on 07881 651 259.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZBwcPcAeFA
--
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 08 17 67
www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/
 
Gaza: Fida (Arabic) – 00972 599 681 669 fida_qishta@yahoo.com Gaza; Jenny (English) – 00972 598 765 377 ojonamission@yahoo.co.uk ISM Media Office – 00972 2 297 1824 for ISM contacts in the Gaza Strip
 
Gaza: Caoimhe Butterly + 972 598 273 960
 
sahara78@hotmail.co.uk U.K.
 
Ramzi Kysia, +44 75 191 33 097 rrkysia@yahoo.com
 
France: Greta Berlin 357 99 08 17 67 Iristulip@gmail.com