Israel kills peace activists aboard flotilla

PROTEST: Tuesday 1st of June 5pm outside Wesley Church, the corner of Hay & William St in the Perth CBB.

Not since the French Secret Service blew up the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour in 1985 has there been such a brazen act of international piracy by a sovereign state. Governments all around the world have condemned the criminal actions of Somali pirates in international waters off the horn of Africa, and have even sent naval armadas to confront those pirates. The international community must now unreservedly condemn this criminal act of piracy on the high seas, and immediately sent an international naval armada to restrain the barbaric actions of the Israeli Navy.

Friends of Palestine Western Australia has called an emergency protest tomorrow (Tuesday) 5.00pm outside Wesley Church, the corner of Hay & William St in the Perth CBB.

You can take action before the protest tomorrow by contacting the following:-

Israeli Prime Minister’s Office

Israeli Ministry of Defence

Israeli Members of the Knesset Presidium
Dalia Itzik
Collete Avital,
Mohammad Barakeh
Amnon Cohen
Yuli-Yoel Edelstein
Yitzhak Levi
David Rotem
Otniel Schneller
Yitzhak Ziv

Israeli Knesset public complaints department
Gila Rothschild

Israeli Chairman, Security and Foreign Affairs Committee
Tzachi Hanegbi

Israeli Ambassador to Australia
HE Yuval Rotem
ambassadorsec@canberra.mfa.gov.il

And please ask our own government to condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Hon Stephen Smith
Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au

Australian Ambassador to Israel
HE John Larsen
Fax: +972 3 6935002

(comment first posted by Free the P - on Perth Indymedia)

In an attempt to cover their murderous actions the Israeli Government has attempted to label the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid "an armada of hate and violence" linked to Al Qaeda.

The Jerusalem Post reports below:

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a press conference on Monday that while he was sorry for lives lost, the organizers of the Gaza-bound protest flotilla were solely responsible for the outcome of the fatal IDF raid earlier in the day. Fifteen activists were killed and dozen wounded in the violent clashes.

Barak said that the soldiers tried to disperse the activists aboard the ship peacefully but were forced to open fire to protect themselves.

He called the flotilla a provocation, specifically called the IHH, an Islamic aid organization, "extremist supporters of terror."

The defense minister also called on Arab and Palestinian leaders not to let this "provocation by irresponsible people" ruin the progress made in proximity peace talks.

Barak's comnments followed the first Israeli response on the clashes, whereby Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that the flotilla of ships "was an armada of hate and violence. "It was a premeditated and outrageous provocation" and its organizers had ties to global Jihad, al Qaida and Hamas, said Ayalon. "Their intent was violent, their methods were violent and their results were unfortunately violent," Ayalon said.

"Israel regrets the loss of life and did everything it could to avoid this outcome," Ayalon stressed, adding that Israel had offered to transport the humanitarian cargo on board the ship to Gaza.

"The organizers on the ship did not heed the calls of our forces this morning to peacefully follow them and bring a peaceful closure to this event," said Ayalon, iterating that the successful arrival of the flotilla in Gaza would have created "a corridor of arms smuggling."

To read some independent background on the IHH - read the wikipedia entryhere

Visit the IHH official site here