Freedom Flotilla Activists Call on Countries to Stop Israeli Violations

[ 28/09/2010 - 06:29 PM ]

ATHENS, (PIC)--

The Freedom Flotilla coalition ended its meeting in the Greek capital of Athens after discussing developments related to current efforts to end Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip and its unlawful policies against the Palestinians.

The coalition said in a statement on Tuesday that it will not allow Israeli violence against the first Freedom Flotilla to stop global efforts to stand against Israel’s intransigence during the past three months.

“We have joined a number of national alliances in Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Canada, Norway, Belgium, Austria, Australia, the U.S., and other countries. All of the aforementioned countries are working on sending ships to Gaza to break the siege,” the coalition said.

“We began a serious movement to stop Israel’s intransigence, which the state of Israel cannot stop despite all of its power,” the statement reads.

“We took such action because our governments do not intend to hold Israel responsible for the violence it commits against the Palestinians, so we expect our governments to support non-violent acts and commit to international laws.”

“We must take necessary measures when defenseless citizens are exposed to violence, arrests, and murder, especially since we lost nine of our colleagues as a result of Israel’s violence, which does not make sense, and this is only part of the violence the Palestinians have suffered in the past sixty years.”

The coalition has studied the report issued by an independent fact-finding committee formed by the UN Human Rights Council on the attack against the Freedom Flotilla. It has been confirmed that Israeli forces used excessive force against activists on board and committed major violations of international law.

According to the Rome Statute, Greece has the right to take the case to international court and the countires have the power to call for international justice for Israel’s violations of law, the committee stressed.

Israel constantly tries to name people and groups who defend the rights of the Palestinian people “terrorists” as they did with our Turkish partners. Despite that, preparations for the second Freedom Flotilla are under way and will have the same objective as the first one, the coalition explained.

“We call on our countries to take all legal and political means available to ensure that the Israeli state stops its unlawful acts, so we will not be forced to put our lives on the line,” the statement concluded.