November, 18 2008, 01:55am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Greta Berlin, France +33 49 34 24 309
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, Jerusalem +972 547 366 393
Osama Qashoo, U.K. +44 78 33 38 16 60
Paul Larudee, U.S. +1 510 236 5338
Free Gaza to Aid Agencies: "Deliver it by Sea!"
The Free Gaza Movement Today Issued This Open Letter to All Organizations Delivering Humanitarian Aid to The Gaza Strip
INTERNATIONAL
Israel's closure of its land borders with Gaza, and Egypt's submission to Israeli pressure to close the Rafah border is a humanitarian disaster
for 1.5 million Palestinians. The United Nations announced last
Thursday that inside Gaza it had run out of the food essentials to
supply 750,000 desperately needy citizens. "This has become a blockade
against the United Nations itself," a spokesman said.
Therefore, the sea route to
Gaza must be considered as a viable option to deliver essential
supplies. Since August 2008, the Free Gaza Movement has delivered aid
and personnel to Gaza three times without Israeli or Egyptian
intervention. Our boat, the DIGNITY, sailed directly from international
waters to the waters of Gaza.
The Free Gaza Movement now has
an inspection procedure in place in Cyprus to ensure the boat and
contents comply with international regulations. In addition, we publish
information about our passengers and cargo that ensures nothing and no
one harmful is on board. Israel has shown itself willing to accept such
assurances from us.
The Free Gaza Movement
therefore encourages all agencies to consider the sea route to deliver
aid to Gaza. Furthermore, a concerted effort to use the sea will make
it all but impossible for Israel to close this vital route.
We are available to assist
interested parties and to offer our services. Please contact one or
more of the people listed on this release.
Free Gaza is a human rights group founded in 2006. Our mission is to break the Israel's illegal siege on Gaza's 1.8 million civilians, since it inflicts collective punishment on the Palestinians who live there and has destroyed its economy. Free Gaza believes in direct action in confronting Israel's abuse of Palestinians using non-violent means and has found these voyages to be one of the most effective ways to alert the world to the prison-like conditions of Gaza. Ultimately, there is no better example of direct action than Free Gaza's sustained attempts to break the siege on Gaza which Israel claims it no longer occupies
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