Massacre at sea

The high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes. No State may validly purport to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

In the early hours of this morning, the Israeli navy attacked the Freedom Flotilla. According to the Israeli lawyer of the Free Gaza Movement, 10 passengers have been murdered.

With few exceptions, governments of the world are complicit in these murders and in this act of piracy because of the many occasions when they have turned a blind eye to illegal acts by the Israeli government during the 42 years of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The Israeli government believes in its impunity - and our governments have given them every reason to do so.

Today and in the next days, demonstrations and vigils will be held in our country and elsewhere to protest against the illegal attack on the six ships that the Israeli navy carried out in international waters against the six ships of the Freedom Flotilla, which were carrying materials that are urgently needed for the survival of the population of Gaza driven to the brink kby the siege that Israel, with the support of the international community has imposed for more than three years, during which time, operation Cast Lead killed more than 1400 people including 400 children.

The ships that made up the flottilla were completely:

• PEACEFUL
• LEGAL
• HUMANITARIAN

Because the aim was only

• To contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza and to restore normal life in the strip.
  

• To press Israel, Egypt, Italy and the international communtiy to end the embargo.

• To show the people of Gaza that they are not alone.
  

• To call on Israel to respect the norms of International Law and the charter of the Human Rights.
  

We invite all to send letters of protest to foreign minister Frattini and to the under secretary Letta who had been asked to ensure the intervention of the Italian government and who did not do so.

Demonstrations in Italy

31 May

• Rome, 17.00 piazza San Marco.
  
• Milan, 17.30 in piazza San Babila;
  
• Bologna: 17.00 in piazza Maggiore;
  
• Genoa: 18.00 in front of the Prefecture
  
• Turin: 17.00 in front of palazzo Nuovo;
  
• Naples: 17 piazza Plebiscito;
  
• Grosseto: 18 in front of the Prefecture;
  
• Parma: 18 in piazzale della Pace;
  
• Bergamo: 18 in front of the town hall;
  
• Venezia: 17 ponte di Rialto;
  
• Siena: piazza Duomo;
  
• Livorno: 18 piazza Grande;
  
• Firenze: 17 davanti Prefettura;
  
• Padova: ore 17 davanti Prefettura;
  
• Lecce: ore 17.30 piazzetta De Pace;
  
• Pesaro: ore 18.30 davanti al Comune
  
• Treviso: 18.00 davanti alla Prefettura;
  
• Savona: 18:00 piazza Mameli;
  
• Varese: 17 in front of the Prefecture
• Viareggio: 17in front of the town hall
  
• Vicenza: 18.30 in front of the Prefecture
• L'Aquila: 18 in front of the offices of the Guardia di Finanza;
  
• Modena :17 at the Ghirlandina;
  
• Reggio Emilia: 19 piazza Prampolini;
  
• Empoli:18 piazza della Vittoria;
  
• Mantova: 18, in front of the Prefecture in Via Principe Amedeo;
  
• Arezzo : 19 in front of the Prefecture;
  
• Novara: 17.30in front of the Prefecture.
  

1 June

• Catania 18 in front of the Prefecture;
  
• Cagliari 18:00 sit-in at Bastione Saint Remy;
  
• Brindisi, 17.30 in piazza Santa Teresa.
  

We Support the Freedom Flotilla

In these days, a fleet of eight ships is setting sail from ports in Ireland, Turkey and Greece for the port of Gaza City. They are carrying building materials, desalination plant, photovoltaic cells, generators, scholastic materials, and pharmaceuticals for the Palestinian civil society.

It is an action planned and carried out by solidarity organisations and networks and is necessary for the survival of Gaza's population, living under siege for the last three years, deprived of basic necessities and of the materials needed to rebuild a land crushed by the Israeli armed forces' operation Cast Lead, which left more than 1400 dead and more than 5000 injured. Arms that are prohibited by international law were used, including depleted uranium and white phosphorus.


The Israeli government has stated that it will use all necessary means, including force, to prevent the arrival of the ships and the delivery of the cargo. If this happens, the 600 passengers from 40 different nations will be put in danger.

To avoid this happening and to permit the ships to deliver the materials, we ask :

• All political forces, members of parliament and people of culture to take a clear position to prevent yet another action by the Israeli government in contempt for the laws that regulate the civilized life of the peoples sharing this planet.
  
• That Italy should bring political and diplomatic pressure to bear on the Israeli government so that they do not prevent the arrival of the fleet in the Port of Gaza city, repeating, in international waters the actions of piracy already committed in similar circumstances in recent years.
  

The silence in our country that surrounds the suffering inflicted on the population of Gaza and the absence of attention to the humanitarian initiatives of solidarity committees is unacceptable and blameworthy.

Free Market?

In May 2007, Israel was invited to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Supposedly, the OECD rules define certain conditions of membership for states wishing to join - respect for human rights, a commitment to democracy and to the free market.

In the meantime, Israel has been credibly accused of war crimes (in the Goldstone report among others) during the attack on Gaza and of violations of international humanitarian law not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank.

So much for respect for human rights. And democracy? Can a government that controls the lives of millions of people who haven't been able to take part in elections be called "a democracy"? Can militarily governing a civilian population be considered anything other than a dictatorship?

As for the free market, we aren't so convinced about the reality of this concept in our own country or in the other countries that are already members of the OECD - but using the word "free" in a context that includes the occupied Palestinian territories is simply absurd.

Israel is driving an economy of military occupation. The statistics that it presented to the OECD include the West Bank - or rather they include the settler economy. But the calculations of medium income don't include the Palestinians who work in the settlements - for very low wages - and in the account of social services, the exclusion for these services of Palestinian workers who have paid their contributions is not mentioned.

There is no mention at all of the crushed and suffocated economy of the Palestinians under occupation. And the OECD accepts this. The problem of the inclusion in the statistics of illegal settlements is resolved as a technical rather than a political problem, and the Palestinians are once more made invisible. In the words of Israeli economist Shir Hever

"The OECD treats Israel as a country of 7 million citizens, rather than as a state that has 11 million subjects, of whom 4 million are Palestinians who live under occupation. "

There are only a few days left until the 11th May, the date on which the decision of the OECD on Israel's membership is expected. At least if there isn't a strong mobilisation to make them change their minds. !

One vote against is enough to block the entry of a new member state!

It has emerged that the European Union will take a common position, so that the countries that have doubts such as Norway and Turkey are afraid to express their dissent. Belgium and Ireland have shown themselves open to our arguments, but we need to push them to question the bureaucratic EU decision making process.

Let's let them know they are not alone and that they should oppose the membership of Israel without fear. Israel must not be rewarded with the legitimation of war crimes. The OECD would contradict to its own stated principles by accepting Israeli membership. We are asking for coherence!

Sign the letter to the Secretary General of the OECD and to all member states, calling on them to vote against Israeli membership.

Rewarding Israel for human rights violations will not bring peace or justice.

More information on the Economy of the Occupation