July, 26 2010, 11:37am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Niamh Moloughney, +353 857 747 257
Donna Baranski-Walker, +650 325-4663 Rebuilding Alliance
Huwaida Arraf, +972-548-817-046 or +970-598-336-215
UN Promises Delivery of Freedom Flotilla Cargo to Gaza
LONDON
Six weeks after the Freedom Flotilla ships were forcibly boarded in
international waters, their passengers illegally jailed and the cargo
impounded by the Israeli authorities, the office of the United Nations
Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East (UNSCO) has promised to deliver
the full humanitarian aid cargo to UN. agencies in Gaza.
"The cargo finally being processed for delivery this week consists of
supplies prevented by Israel from entering Gaza for the last three
years. On the MV Rachel Corrie, the cargo ship of the Free Gaza
Movement, we were carrying 20 tons of paper, plus pens & books for
schools & universities, over 50 tons of medical supplies & 550
tons of cement for Al Shifa Hospital. Instead of docking in Gaza &
distributing the supplies to the intended recipients, Israel impounded
cargo, searched, then handed over to an overburdened UN, who can give no
guarantees that it will get to the intended schools or NGO's." said
Niamh Moloughney, coordinator of the Free Gaza Movement - Ireland.
The Rebuilding Alliance, one of the U.S. organizations to place
humanitarian cargo on the Rachel Corrie is none-the-less hopeful that
the backpacks, sports equipment, and building materials donated by
hundreds of Americans will be delivered to the designated Gaza
non-governmental organizations (NGO's) .
"When we first learned of the Freedom Flotilla, we asked our partner
NGO's in Gaza what we could send that would matter most to them, given
the 3 year-long blockade," said Donna Baranski-Walker, Executive
Director of the Rebuidling Alliance, a San Mateo CA-based nonprofit.
"They asked Americans to send messages to children, along with
backpacks, sports equipment, and cement to build a kindergarten."
Added Ms. Moloughney, "Israel has insisted that cargo be brought into
Ashdod for delivery, but this ignores the overall illegitimacy of
Israel's closure policy. It also means that once more Israel profits
from its illegal acts. The 'easing' of the blockade means nothing to
families whose homes and businesses are still in ruins and allows them
only to be consumers of Israeli goods."
The Free Gaza Movement repeats that only a complete end to Israel's
punitive closure policy will suffice in starting to repair the economy
of this decimated slice of the Mediterranean, the only territory in the
world that does not have access to its own sea.
"We ask people throughout the world to press their governments to
open Gaza, not just for aid but for movement and trade as well, to truly
end the collective punishment of Gaza's civilian population," said
Huwaida Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza Movement. "That's why we will
continue to send ships to Gaza loaded with civilian supplies Israel
refuses to allow into Gaza - and on return, fill our ships with goods
from Gaza for export. We look forward to international cooperation in
developing a sea route certification system to assure aid, fair trade
and the safety of all."
Israel continues to hold all of the vessels that it illegally
commandeered, including the seven ships of the Freedom Flotilla, as well
as the Spirit of Humanity, which Israel hijacked in June 2009.
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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Trump Signs Executive Order to Advance 'Deeply Dangerous' Deep-Sea Mining
"The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn't restricted to the ocean floor: It will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it," one campaigner warned.
Apr 24, 2025
Amid global calls for a ban on deep-sea mining to protect marine ecosystems, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to advance the risky practice and "restore American dominance in offshore critical minerals and resources."
"The broad order avoids a direct confrontation with the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority and seeks essentially to jump-start the mining of U.S. waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry," notedReuters, which had previewed the measure aimed at attaining nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, titanium, and rare earth elements.
"The International Seabed Authority—created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the U.S. has not ratified—has for years been considering standards for deep-sea mining in international waters, although it has yet to formalize them due to unresolved differences over acceptable levels of dust, noise, and other factors from the practice," the agency reported.
Trump's order directs Cabinet members including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick—whose department oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—to expedite the permit process and work on various related reports.
"Authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
Deep-sea mining is opposed by over 30 countries as well as academics and advocacy groups worldwide. Among them is Greenpeace USA, whose campaigner Arlo Hemphill said Thursday that "authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
"We condemn this administration's attempt to launch this destructive industry on the high seas in the Pacific by bypassing the United Nations process," Hemphill declared. "This is an insult to multilateralism and a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry."
"But this executive order is not the start of deep-sea mining. Everywhere governments have tried to start deep-sea mining, they have failed. This will be no different," he added. "We call on the international community to stand against this unacceptable undermining of international cooperation by agreeing to a global moratorium on deep-sea mining. The United States government has no right to unilaterally allow an industry to destroy the common heritage of humankind, and rip up the deep sea for the profit of a few corporations."
No exaggeration, deep sea mining could cause the massive collapse of the entire deep sea ecosystem and food chain. This is an existential risk to every person on this planet. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/c...
[image or embed]
— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) April 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Ocean Conservancy vice president for external affairs Jeff Watters also blasted the move, saying that "this executive order flies in the face of NOAA's mission. NOAA is charged with protecting, not imperiling, the ocean and its economic benefits, including fishing and tourism; and scientists agree that deep-sea mining is a deeply dangerous endeavor for our ocean and all of us who depend on it."
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He highlighted that "NOAA is already being threatened by this administration's unprecedented cuts. NOAA is the eyes and ears for our water and air. NOAA provides Americans with accessible and accurate weather forecasts; it tracks hurricanes and tsunamis; it responds to oil spills; it keeps seafood on the table; and so much more. Forcing the agency to carry out deep-sea mining permitting while these essential services are slashed will only harm our ocean and our country."
"It's not just our country this executive order would harm: This action has far-reaching implications beyond the U.S.," Watters added, warning that by unilaterally allowing deep-sea mining, "the administration is opening a door for other countries to do the same—and all of us, and the ocean we all depend on, will be worse off for it."
As The New York Timesreported:
The executive order could pave the way for the Metals Company, a prominent seabed mining company, to receive an expedited permit from NOAA to actively mine for the first time. The publicly traded company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, disclosed in March that it would ask the Trump administration through a U.S. subsidiary for approval to mine in international waters. The company has already spent more than $500 million doing exploratory work.
"We have a boat that's production-ready," said Gerard Barron, the company's chief executive, in an interview on Thursday. "We have a means of processing the materials in an allied friendly partner nation. We're just missing the permit to allow us to begin."
In response to the late March disclosure—which came during International Seabed Authority negotiations—Louisa Casson, senior campaigner for Greenpeace International, said that "this is another of the Metals Company's pathetic ploys and an insult to multilateralism. It shows that a moratorium on deep-sea mining is more urgently needed than ever. It also proves that the company's CEO Gerard Barron's plans never focused on solutions for the climate catastrophe."
"The Metals Company is desperate and now is encouraging a breach of customary international law by announcing their intent to mine the international seabed through the United States' Deep-Sea Hard Mineral Resources Act," the camapigner asserted. "This comes after the Metals Company has spent years exerting immense pressure on the International Seabed Authority to try and force governments to allow mining in the international seabed—the common heritage of humankind."
Casson stressed that "states, civil society, scientists, companies, and Indigenous communities continue to resist these efforts. Having tried and failed to pressure the international community to meet their demands, this reckless announcement is a slap in the face to international cooperation."
Less than a week later, the Norwegian deep-sea mining company Loke Marine Minerals declared bankruptcy—which Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, a campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, noted came "on the same day that we shut down a deep-sea mining conference in Bergen."
The Norwegian government in December halted plans to move forward with deep-sea mining in the Arctic Ocean, which Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, had called "a testament to the power of principled, courageous political action, and... a moment to celebrate for environmental advocates, ocean ecosystems, and future generations alike."
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India said it was downgrading relations with Pakistan, whom it blamed for supporting "cross-border terrorism" after gunmen killed 25 Indians and one Nepali and wounded at least 17 others at a popular vacation spot in Pahalgam, Kashmir on Tuesday.
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A front group of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed mostly tourists.
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif countered that his country's government believes "very strongly" that the attack "was a false flag operation."
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