June, 05 2010, 12:31pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Free Gaza Cyprus: Greta Berlin or Mary Hughes
tel: +357 99 187275 or +357 96 383 809,
Free Gaza Ireland: Niamh Moloughney
tel: +353 (0)85 7747257 or +353 (0)91 472279,
Perdana Global Peace Organisation, Malaysia: Ram Karthigasu
tel: +60 1222 70159,
Israeli Military Forcibly Stops Aid Boat to Gaza - Again
Just before
9am this morning, the Israeli military forcibly siezed the Irish-owned
humanitarian relief ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, from delivering over 1000 tons
of medical and construction supplies to besieged Gaza. For the second time in
less than a week, Israeli naval commandos stormed an unarmed aid ship, brutally
taking its passengers hostage and towing the ship toward Ashdod port in
Southern Israel. It is not yet known
whether any of the Rachel Corrie's passengers were killed or injured during the
attack, but they are believed to be unharmed.
OFF THE GAZA COAST
Just before
9am this morning, the Israeli military forcibly siezed the Irish-owned
humanitarian relief ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, from delivering over 1000 tons
of medical and construction supplies to besieged Gaza. For the second time in
less than a week, Israeli naval commandos stormed an unarmed aid ship, brutally
taking its passengers hostage and towing the ship toward Ashdod port in
Southern Israel. It is not yet known
whether any of the Rachel Corrie's passengers were killed or injured during the
attack, but they are believed to be unharmed.
The Corrie carried 11 passengers and 9 crew
from 5 different countires, mostly Ireland and Malaysia. The passengers
included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, Parit Member of the
Malaysian Parliament Mohd Nizar Zakaria, and former UN Assistant Secretary
General, Denis Halliday. Nine
international human rights workers were killed on Monday when Israeli commandos
violently stormed the Turkish aid ship, Mavi Marmara and five other unarmed boats
taking supplies to Gaza. Prior to being taken hostage by Israeli forces, Derek
Graham, an Irish coordinator with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that:
"Despite what happened on the Mavi Marmara earlier this week, we are not
afraid."
The 1200-ton cargo ship was purchased
through a special fund set up by former Malaysian Prime Minister and Perdana
Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) chairman Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The ship
was named after an American human rights worker, killed in 2003 when she was
crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. Its cargo included
hundreds of tons of medical equipment and cement, as well as paper from the
people of Norway, donated to UN-run schools in Gaza.
According to Denis Halliday: "We are
the only Gaza-bound aid ship left out here. We're determined to deliver our
cargo." The Rachel Corrie had been part of the Freedom Flotilla, a 40-nation
effort to break through Israel's illegal blockade, before being forced to drop
off late last week due to suspicious mechanical problems.
The attack on the Rachel Corrie may spell
trouble for Israel's relationship with Ireland. The Irish government had
formally requested Israel allow the ship to reach Gaza. On 1 June, the Irish
parliament also passed an all-party motion condemning Israel's use of military
force against civilian aid ships, and demanding "an end to the illegal
Israeli blockade of Gaza."
Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire summed up
the hopes of this joint Irish-Malaysian effort to overcome Israel's cruel
blockade by saying: "We are inspired by the people of Gaza whose courage,
love and joy in welcoming us, even in the midst of such suffering gives us all
hope. They represent the very best of humanity, and we are all privileged to be
given the opportunity to support them in their nonviolent struggle for human dignity,
and freedom. This trip will again highlight Israel's criminal blockade and
illegal occupation. In a demonstration of the power of global citizen action,
we hope to awaken the conscience of all."
---
Passengers
aboard the Rachel Corrie include:
Ahmed Faizal bin Azumu, human rights
worker, Malaysia
Matthias Chang, attorney, author &
human rights worker, Malaysia
Derek Graham, Free Gaza Ireland
Jenny Graham, Free Gaza Ireland
Denis Halliday, former UN Assistant
Secretary General, Ireland
Mohd Jufri Bin Mohd Judin, journalist,
Malaysia
Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal, PGPO
representative, Malaysia
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize
laureate, Ireland
Abdul Halim Bin Mohamed, journalist,
Malaysia
Fiona Thompson, film-maker, Ireland
The Hon. Mohd Nizar Zakaria, Parit Member
of Parliament, Malaysia
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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Sanders Calls for Repeal of Trump-Era Deregulation Blamed for Bank Collapses
"We cannot continue down the road of more socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for everyone else," said the U.S. Senator from Vermont.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday night called for a full repeal of the 2018 banking deregulations signed into law by former President Donald Trump and declared that "now is not the time for taxpayers bail out Silicon Valley Bank"—the California bank that collapsed Friday.
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In 2018, ignoring the vocal warnings of experts and advocacy groups, the then-Republican-controlled Congress passed legislation that weakened post-financial crisis regulations for banks with between $50 billion and $250 billion in assets, sparking fears of systemically risky failures and more taxpayer bailouts.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was an outspoken opponent of the deregulatory measure, said in a statement Friday that "President Trump and congressional Republicans' decision to roll back Dodd-Frank's 'too big to fail' rules for banks like SVB—reducing both oversight and capital requirements—contributed to a costly collapse."
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The bank's last-ditch efforts to raise capital and find a buyer failed, prompting regulators to seize its assets and begin efforts to make depositors whole. (SVB reportedly paid out bonuses to U.S. employees just hours before federal regulators took over.)
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In an appearance on "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pledged that "we are not going to do that again," referring to the bank bailouts of 2008.
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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is currently seeking a buyer for SVB, with final bids due by Sunday afternoon, according toBloomberg.
The Washington Postreported Sunday that "federal authorities are seriously considering safeguarding all uninsured deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, weighing an extraordinary intervention to prevent what they fear would be a panic in the U.S. financial system."
"Although the FDIC insures bank deposits up to $250,000, a provision in federal banking law may give them the authority to protect the uninsured deposits as well if they conclude that failing to do so would pose a systemic risk to the broader financial system," the newspaper reported. "In that event, uninsured deposits could be backstopped by an insurance fund, paid into regularly by U.S. banks."
"This predictable disaster should give serious pause to the current MAGA House majority who are pursuing further rollbacks of consumer financial protections after taking money hand over fist from Wall Street banks."
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"The chickens came home to roost this week in the Republican war against Wall Street reform and consumer financial protections," Zelnick continued. "This predictable disaster should give serious pause to the current MAGA House majority who are pursuing further rollbacks of consumer financial protections after taking money hand over fist from Wall Street banks—but don't count on it."
Some expert observers were quick to voice concern that SVB's collapse is just the start of broader chaos in the financial industry and the overall economy.
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"The Fed's actions to fight increasing inflation will need to be materially adjusted, which it should be anyway because inflation is driven by many factors that are beyond the Fed's control," he said. "Causing financial instability and a recession (of any depth and length) while missing the mark on inflation should cause a fundamental rethinking of the Fed's powers, authorities, and role."
This story has been updated to include comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
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