The Palestinian Youth Network condemns the criminal and terrorist actions Israel is taking against the aid ships and calls the international community to take immediate public action against these attacks in front of your local Israeli Embassies.
TAKE ACTION!
Israel Murders at Least 15 Unarmed Civilians on Aid Flotilla to Gaza, Dozens Injured
Under darkness of night, Israeli commandos from at least 14 warships and military helicopters boarded the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began shooting. According to live video from the ship, at least two civilians have been murdered, and dozens injured. Israeli television is reporting 16 civilians killed.
The Mavi Marmara was part of a 6-ship unarmed flotilla, including a U.S.-flagged vessel, carrying 700 passengers from 40 different countries and 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza.
The last GPS signal from the flotilla, sent just prior to the attack, placed the ships at latitude:32.64113, longitude:33.56727 - approximately 65 miles off the coast of Netanya, well in international waters.
Palestinian fishermen are regularly fired upon off the coast of Gaza, but these are the first Israeli murders of internationals at sea. In recent years, the Israeli military has adopted increasingly vicious policies toward international human rights workers in Palestine, murdering Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurdall in 2003.
The names of the dead are not yet known. The flotilla passengers included retired US diplomats Amb. Edward Peck and Col. Ann Wright, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, and former UN assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday, as well as humanitarian aid and human rights workers, several Members of Parliament from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Malaysia, and Palestinian Members of the Knesset.
We’re not surprised that the attacks took place in International waters, or that they were a reckless, murderous over-reaction to unarmed ships carrying medical supplies and building materials.
Israel routinely meets nonviolent Palestinian protest with lethal violence.
The Israeli war crimes and massacres continues, the deadly closure of Gaza continues, the colonisation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank continues, and the inalienable right of refugees to return to their homes still remains out of reach for millions. Grassroots resistance to Israel's ongoing attacks has never been as urgent as it is today
TAKE ACTION, CALL YOUR REPRESTANTIVES, AND THE ISRAELI EMBASSIES WORLDWIDE, PROTEST OUTSIDE ISRAELI EMBASSSIES IN YOUR CITY
HOLD ISRAEL ACCOUNTABLE. MAKE SURE YOUR COUNTRY HOLDS ISRAEL ACCOUNTABLE, .