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TechnoratiIsrael to Deport Gaza Activists
Israel says it will expel eight pro-Palestinian activists detained at sea last week as they tried to ferry aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel's blockade.
![[Mairead Maguire was detained trying to enter Gaza (BBC)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/maguire_gaza.jpg "maguire_gaza.jpg")
Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire and former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney are among the detainees.
They complain the Israeli navy seized them illegally in Palestinian waters.
Israel's navy has blockaded Gaza since the election victory of Hamas militants in 2006. It said the Greek ship ignored orders to stop and was intercepted.
The crew and passengers were taken into custody last Tuesday and the ship, which had set sail from Cyprus, was impounded in the Israeli port of Ashdod.
Israel's Interior Ministry said the activists would be sent home later on Monday, after refusing to comply willingly with their deportation orders.
Officials said the three tonnes of aid would be delivered to Gaza by road once it had been checked over.
On Friday, five Bahrainis were deported after interior and foreign ministry officials touched down on Israeli soil for the first time to escort them home.
Israel has allowed several protest boats to dock in Gaza in the past year, but has blocked others.
'Kidnapped'
Speaking to the media from jail near Tel Aviv, Ms Maguire said the activists were considering contesting the Israeli deportation orders because the recipients had been brought to Israel by the authorities against their will.
"We were kidnapped and we were brought here at point of a gun from Gazan waters here to Israel; we have been abducted," Ms McGuire told the al-Jazeera network.
Ms Maguire co-founded Women for Peace, which later became the Community for Peace People, along with fellow Belfast woman Betty Williams.
The two women were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for their efforts in trying to encourage a peaceful resolution to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The International Committee of the Red Cross recently described the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza as people "trapped in despair", unable to rebuild their lives after Israel's offensive.
Donors have pledged $4.5bn for reconstruction and rehabilitation in Gaza following the 22-day offensive which left more than 50,000 homes, 800 industrial properties and 200 schools damaged or destroyed, as well as 39 mosques and two churches.
Israel says its blockade of Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons smuggling and to put pressure on the Hamas movement to release an Israeli soldier captured in a cross-border raid in 2006.
26 Comments so far
Show AllI just turned 76 and when I was young I thought the 3rd reich was the last reich. ¿Was I wrong?
If you define terrorism as acts of violence against civilians for political purposes ... the Israeli military is the second largest TERRORIST organization in the world, second only the the US MILITARY.
What we have done to the Palestinians, the Iraqis, the Afghanis and the Pakistanis _are_ acts of terrorism.
We're no better than we accuse them of being.
It is time to stop teaching our children to be violent.
BAN VIOLENT TOYS, NOW.
The only way Israel is gonna change their land grabbing and ethnic cleansing crimes is when the US government joins the boycott.
The only way the Arabs and Mid East will trust the USA is if US government joins the boycott of Israel.
Other wise Israel is just playin the USA for suckers and the US government is playin us all for suckers.
They have carved up Palestine now so that it is divided in isolated pieces so once the Boycott becomes the catalyst Palestinians can begin bargaining for a land swap for a contiguous sovereign state guarding its own borders and security with a mutual peace agreement from the Arab States for Israel and Palestine.
After watching this closely for over 50 years, Nothing else will work.
Shalom
If someone boycotts anyone who does action X - this is not racism.
If someone boycott only Y because they did X, while not caring if anyone else did X or worse, this is racism.
If you, Jim Glover, what to prove you're not a racist, please tell us what actions requires a boycott, and provide us a list of all UN members that you think needs to be boycotted.
Why don't you lead the boycott by personal example and throw away your computer which uses components developed in Israel? (which means that we'll never see you here again)
To tell others to boycotte the most democratic and the most progressive state in the region, while you, yourlelf, continue to use Israeli products, is not only racism but also an hypocracy.
Dude, why do you only comment on only one issue? Your motives are suspicious and your racist, imperialist, right-wing, hatemongering viewpoints are not only ridiculous but unwelcome
Judging everyone equally is not racism.
Check my comment from July 7th, 2009 1:28 am.
"...the most democratic and the most progressive state in the region..." Are you talking about Israel???
Try THE MOST AGGRESSIVE AND VIOLENT state in the region. The Palestinians aren't ALLOWED to have a democratic state ... or any other kind for that matter ... because Israel controls EVERYTHING.
STOP the ILLEGAL flow of US weapons to Israel and they will be FORCED to meet the Palestinians as equals at the negotiating table. (Yes, the $Billion$ in military weapons supplied to Israel, which are then turned upon civilian populations, ARE a violation of US Law.) The Israelis need to be forced to recognize that the Palestinians are PEOPLE, not less than animals.
Israel is NOT America's friend. They'd as soon stab us in the back as anybody else.
They still haven't admitted that they attacked a US Navy ship in International waters in 1967.
REMEMBER THE LIBERTY!! Israel is NOT our friend.
Progressive_Patriot: "...the most democratic and the most progressive state in the region..." Are you talking about Israel???"
Yes. If you take into account gays right, woman's wright, free speech, free press (including critisising the governments and the army), freedom of religion, right of minorities, the ability to vote and be elected.
Did you know that in some ME countries homosexuality is a crime punishable by death? Not in Israel.
Did you know that is some ME countries woman can't chose who to marry, how many kids to have and which career path to chose? Not in Israel.
Did you know that is some ME countries, jurnalists who critisize the government will be jailed? or worse?
Did you know that on many ME countries people who convert from Islam will be executed?
Israel is not perfect. But comparing to all other countries in the ME (Even Turkey or Iraq) Israel is the most progressive country in the Middle-East.
====
The attack on the Liberty, according to recent evidence, was a friendly fire case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
On July 2, 2003, the National Security Agency released copies of the recordings made by an EC-121 aircraft that flew near the attacks from 2:30 p.m. to 3:27 p.m., Sinai time (1230 to 1327 Z), and the resultant translations and summaries.[7] These revelations were elicited as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Florida bankruptcy judge and retired naval aviator Jay Cristol. Two linguists who were aboard the EC-121 when the recordings were made, however, have claimed separately that at least two additional tapes were made that have been excluded from the NSA releases up to and including a June 8, 2007 release.[10]
English transcripts of the tapes—recorded by U.S. warplanes—indicate that Israel still believed it had hit an Egyptian supply ship even after the attack had stopped. [8] [9] After the attack, the rescue helicopters are heard relaying several urgent requests that the rescuers ask the first survivor pulled out of the water what his nationality is, and discussing whether the survivors from the attacked ship will speak Arabic.
"They complain the Israeli navy seized them illegally in Palestinian waters."
Nice revisionist history, there BBC. they complained that they were abducted in *international* waters.
You may approve or disprove of the Israeli blockade on Gaza, but you should not distort the facts. The vessel was intercepted in Gazan waters, not in international waters, and Israel controls these waters under international law. This was true since the six-day war in 1967, and remains true under the Oslo agreements.
You want to talk about International Law?
Israel is in violation of International Law for allowing settlements to be built in occupied territory.
Israel is in violation of UN resolutions for not withdrawing to the borders that were in place before the 1967 war. So if we attacked Saddam Hussein for Bush's allegation that they were in violation of UN resolutions (which was a flat out lie ... they were allowing UN inspectors to search for WMD), shouldn't we also attack Israel?
If they are under UN direction to withdraw to the original borders, what right do they then have to control Gazan territorial waters, or any other Palestinian territory? Who has given them that authority? Certainly not any UN sanctioned treaty ... must be the US and all the $Billion$ in military aid that we send them annually that makes them _think_ they have the authority.
How would you feel if all of the Iraqi refugees from our INVASION were suddenly allowed to move into Hoboken NJ or Butte MT ... or right in your back yard ... and push out the existing residents? Would this meet with your approval? That is EXACTLY what happened to the Palestinians.
As for all the "anti-Semitic" rhetoric that Zionist supporters throw around, the Palestinians _are_ Semites. Can you really tell me that _every_ Jew who has immigrated to Israel has Semitic ancestral roots there?
> If they are under UN direction to withdraw to the original borders,
> what right do they then have to control Gazan territorial
> waters, or any other Palestinian territory? Certainly not any UN sanctioned treaty
The Palestinians gave Israel these right, in the Oslo agreements.
International Law? You are in insult sir! If you want to know something about international law, consult Dr. Richard Falk, a Nobel Prize winning, world renowned expert on international law.
Now, since you will not do that, go back to your AIPAC propaganda sheet and tell us some more whoppers, good for a laugh at least. Yes I am laughing at you.
I repeat the facts, whether you find them to be an insult or not: (1) The ship was not in international waters, as was previously claimed by at least two comments here, and (2) Israel controls Gazan waters according to the Oslo agreement.
Now as much as this may surprise and possibly insult you, I don't share your taste in humor. In the category of laughable ramblings and whoppers I much prefer Richard Falk's work over anything that AIPAC has ever produced. He thinks that the interception of the vessel was a criminal act? Oh well, he also thinks that the US government was behind 9/11, and has published in 1979 a magnificent op-ed in the New-York Times where he stated that: “the depiction of Khomeini as fanatical, reactionary and the bearer of crude prejudices seems certainly and happily false ... To suppose that Ayatollah Khomeini is dissembling seems almost beyond belief. ... Having created a new model of popular revolution based, for the most part, on nonviolent tactics, Iran may yet provide us with a desperately-needed model of humane governance for a third-world country.” Tell that to the thousands of families whose beloved ones were executed by Khomeini and his nonviolent regime between 1979-1981.
You don't know the facts, you claim to be an expert? Dr. Richard Falk is the expert. If you do not value academic study and the rule of law you are an uncivilized, irrational barbarian.
Again: Dr. Richard Falk is the expert not you, so bugger off back to AIPAC
Oh joy. Mahmed is back to reassure us that Israel, that paragon of virtue, is in compliance with international agreements. How selectively he defends the mother of all apatheid states. What about the countless UN resolutions, the Geneva Conventions, and all the other international laws that Israel defiantly ignores? It's like defending OJ when the gloves actually fit.
remember: "How selectively he defends the mother of all apatheid states. (Israel)"
If you had done a minimal research, you might have found out that Israel is the least apartheid country in the Middle East.
For example:
In Jordan, selling a land to a Jew is a capital offence. (The Palestinian authority has the same law)
In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims are prohibited from entering Mecca.
Intercepting vessels on international waters and hijacking them is piracy, plain and simple.
If we had a U.S. government which placed basic human rights, justice and respect for international laws above power and profits, we would suspend ALL aid ($3 billion per year!) to Israel until Israel ceased its illegal, cruel blockade of Gaza's borders on land and sea and dismantled all its illegal settlements and outposts on the Palestinian West Bank land it has illegally occupied since 1967.
Hamas terrorist rocket attacks on Israeli civilians can never justify the brutality of IDF killings and mistreatment of Palestinian civilians, so Israel's claims of "self-defense" can be as easily dismissed as Hamas' claims of the "necessity" of retaliating for Israel's cruelty.
But our government stupidly persists in exploiting and abusing the people of the Middle East and Central Asia so we can control their energy resources and geopolitical position, then wonder why they hate us and become suicide bombers.
While I agree civilians must never be targeted; Hamas does have a legal right to fight back against illegal occupation, massarcres, land theft, and being blockaded into the world's largest concentration camp.
International law is only mentioned when it benefits the Empire, otherwise it is scoffed at, ridiculed, and/or ignored. I would suggest googling Dr. Richard Falk, a premier expert on this issue, and a UN rapporteur.
Bring America Back !!!!...............!....Let's hear it for The Fighting Irish---no, not the Notre Dame school, but Ms Mairead McGuire and Betty Williams of Belfast !!Three Cheers, and Cybthia McKinney--Irish or NOt !!
**McKinney is rapidly becoming my American Idol !! She keeps trying to get those meds, foods, supplies to the poor
oppressed of Gaza. Our little sister , Israel, keeps putting jackboot troops in her way to rain on her parade !
**Now since 'Our Team' of Hillary--all Elbows and Prez Barak-- don't look back, had their Inaugural Balls dancing on the fresh graves of 300-400 children and 1200 other dead Gazans, from the most recent Zionist Genocide, nobody expects them to raise a 'whimper' or whisper in favor of several boatloads of humanitarian assistance from a former US Congresswoman, and two Irish Nobel Prize winners ~~
**Team BO Cave-In don't pay much attention to another NObel Peace Prize winner, Prez Jimmy Carter, dont look back to the Camp David Accords, or to several well researched books telling the real Truth of Israel.
**We all know for the US Dog, the tail is wagging the dog, and little sister Zionist Israel most definitely is the True Tail End.
*****************GO IRISH !!!!
TruthKnoller:
Go Irish, indeed! Following describes Ireland's official response to the kidnapping of two Irish citizens. Have I just been asleep; has Hillary Clinton as the U.S. "foreign affairs minister" said or done anything remotely comparable on McKinney's behalf?
.......
"Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin called for the swift release of two Irish nationals detained from the ship including the Nobel Peace Prize winner and a second man identified as Derek Graham.
In a statement received by the Free Gaza Movement, Martin said his department has been closely following the situation and was in ongoing contact with Israeli authorities.
'My immediate priority is ensuring the safety and welfare of Ms Maguire and Mr Graham and securing their release as soon as possible,' the minister said."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38991
I called the State Department last Thursday about this, and they had no statement, no information and could not be bothered to do anything. Our government does not give a F@#$ about us (George Carlin was right).
Ireland, a non-Nato neutral country, has no nukes, and very weak military capabilities; unfortunately Israel does have nukes and an air force that could destroy Ireland in a couple of days. Withought strong pressure from the Empire, nothing will be done about it. Just like Rachel Corrie, Tristan Anderson and others.
It is pretty sad when our own government is our biggest enemy.
Hehhehehe. I invite Israel to attack Ireland. The smoldering crater formerly known as Tel Aviv would be quite a sight to behold.
Israel will end badly.
It does seem that way, doesn't it? It's like they already know they're Karmically screwed so they're just trying to run up the deficit before they have to finally pay up for their decades-long international crime spree.