IAWM CALLS ON FOREIGN MINISTER EAMON GILMORE TO SEEK SAFE PASSAGE FOR GAZA FLOTILLA

IAWM CALLS ON FOREIGN MINISTER EAMON GILMORE TO SEEK SAFE PASSAGE FOR GAZA FLOTILLA

IAWM CALLS ON FOREIGN MINISTER EAMON GILMORE TO SEEK SAFE PASSAGE FOR GAZA FLOTILLA

IAWM PRESS RELEASE 20 JUNE 2011

–    IAWM CALLS ON FOREIGN MINISTER EAMON GILMORE TO SEEK SAFE PASSAGE FOR GAZA FLOTILLA
–    25 IRISH PASSENGERS ON BOARD THE MV SAOIRSE ON FREEDOM FLOTILLA II – STAY HUMAN

In an open letter to Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore today, the Irish Anti War Movement (IAWM), one of whose Steering Committee members will participate in Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human, requested that the Minister publicly call on the Israeli Government to allow free passage of the Irish ship to Gaza and for it to withdraw its threats of violent action against the flotilla participants.

The Freedom Flotilla will set sail for Gaza in the next 10 days and will consist of 11 ships from the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland and elsewhere. Several hundred concerned citizens from around the world, supported by tens of thousands of small donations from ordinary people, will be passengers on board the ships. Cargo ships will carry Israeli-banned items such as reconstruction materials and medical equipment. The Saoirse will carry 25 passengers, including artist Felim Egan, former Leinster rugby player Trevor Hogan, Paul Murphy MEP, former TD Chris Andrews and several Councillors and activists.

The letter to Mr. Gilmore noted that some of his Oireachtas and party colleagues will be participating in the flotilla as well as many members of civil society and “many people of the Jewish faith ….. including 86-year old Hedy Epstein who lost her parents in the Holocaust.”

The letter written by Jim Roche, PRO of the IAWM, who will travel on board the Irish ship MV Saoirse further noted: “Minister, the people of Gaza are being slowly starved and are being completely deprived of their human rights to live in dignity. This is happening while the Governments of the world remain silent and is the reason why concerned citizens from around the world have organised this humanitarian flotilla.

He continued: “Given Ireland’s long history of empathy with oppressed peoples I urge you now to lead the way among Foreign Ministers of the world and to call on Israel to end the illegal siege of Gaza, to comply with relevant UN resolutions and the Geneva Convention, to allow safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla and to withdraw its threat of violence against the peaceful participants.”

He concluded by calling on Minister Gilmore “to be on the right side of history and to openly condemn the continued oppression of the Palestinian people by a state practicing apartheid policies.”

Full text of letter below.

END

For further info contact:

Jim Roche, PRO Steering Committee, IAWM, Tel. 087 6472737
Claudia Saba, Steering Committee IAWM and ISTG Steering Committee, Tel. 086 393 8821   
Richard Boyd Barrett TD, Chair IAWM, Tel. 086 781 4520
Michael Youlton, Co Chair IAWM, Tel. 086 815 9487
Memet Uludag, Secretary IAWM, Tel. 087 791 9307

Lola Hynes, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 086 822 8795

Daryl Southern, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 085 277 6505

www.irishantiwar.org

 

 

Jim Roche,

19 Rutledge Terrace,

Dublin 8.

 

Eamon Gilmore

Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Department of Foreign Affairs
80 St Stephen’s Green,
Dublin 2

 

20 June 2011

 

Dear Minister Gilmore,

 

FREEDOM FLOTILLA II – STAY HUMAN

 

I am writing to inform you that 24 other Irish citizens and myself will be participating in the New Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human to Gaza on board the Irish ship MV Saoirse in the next ten days. Please note that there will be many people of the Jewish faith on the international flotilla, including 86-year old Hedy Epstein who lost her parents in the Holocaust. Some of your Oireachtas and party colleagues will also be taking part, as well as other members of civil society.

I am writing to request that you call publicly on the Israeli Government to allow free passage of the Irish ship to Gaza and for it to withdraw its threats of violent action against the participants. 

 

This humanitarian action by concerned peace activists from around the globe including Ireland, is motivated by solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza and a sense of exasperation with the conspiracy of silence by the governments of the world. The effects of the illegal Israeli siege continue to cause terrible human suffering for the Palestinian people.

 

According to a new UN report published in March 2011, the blockade imposed by Israel in June 2007 has “locked in” 1.5 million people (some half of whom are under the age of 16) in what is one of the most densely populated areas on earth, triggering “a protracted human dignity crisis” with grave humanitarian consequences. The most recent figures published by the UN and international humanitarian and human rights organisations confirm that roughly 80% of the population rely on international aid in order to survive; 65% live below the poverty line; 52% are food insecure; nearly 40% are unemployed; there are no building materials for much-needed schools and hospitals; nearly all of the drinking water is contaminated and unfit for consumption; cancer and other seriously ill patients cannot get access to the specialist treatment that would potentially save their lives; and children are suffering untreated post-traumatic stress as a result of the white phosphorous shells used illegally in Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.

 

Two and a half years following this brutal military onslaught – which resulted in the deaths of almost 1500 people (among them 430 children) and the destruction of thousands of homes and buildings – almost no homes and buildings have been rebuilt, sanitation and sewage systems are worse than ever with raw waste being pumped into the sea, farmers continue to be shot at along the border with Israel, nutrition deficiencies and malnutrition continue to rise, the economy is shut down by a lack of functioning factories and electricity, students hold little to no prospects of exiting for study abroad and the ill continue to suffer for want of necessary medications and medical supplies and equipment.

 

The extent of the crisis was underlined in December 2010, when 22 international humanitarian organisations, including Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid and Medical Aid for Palestinians produced a comprehensive report calling for international action to force Israel to unconditionally lift its blockade, noting that the Palestinians of Gaza continue to live in the same devastating and dehumanising conditions.

 

Earlier this month (June 2011), the health authority in Gaza proclaimed a state of emergency due to an acute shortage of vital medicines. Approximately 178 types of medications and 123 types of medical supplies have run out, and an additional 69 types of medications and 70 types of medical supplies are expected to run out within the next three months. The claim by the Israeli authorities last year that they would deliver the supplies they offloaded at the port of Ashdod has been exposed as a lie – since it was recently revealed that medicines confiscated by Israel from last year’s flotilla have still not been delivered and are now, in any case, out of date.

 

Minister, the people of Gaza are being slowly starved and are being completely deprived of their human rights to live in dignity. This is happening while the Governments of the world remain silent. That is why concerned citizens from around the world have organised this humanitarian and solidarity flotilla.

 

Given Ireland’s long history of empathy with oppressed peoples I urge you now to lead the way among Foreign Ministers of the world and to call on Israel to end the illegal siege of Gaza, to comply with relevant UN resolutions and the Geneva Convention, to allow safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla and to withdraw its threat of violence against the peaceful participants.

 

I urge you to be on the right side of history and to openly condemn the continued oppression of the Palestinian people by a state practicing apartheid policies.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Jim Roche

PRO Steering Committee Irish Anti War Movement

Member of Irish Ship to Gaza Steering Committee

Member of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign