Irish ship keeps on through adversity
Morning Star -
A lone boat carrying Free Gaza activists is heading towards the Gaza Strip in a poignant display of defiance following Israel's slaughter of at least nine of their colleagues.
The Rachel Corrie is carrying an Irish and Malaysian crew of 12. Among its cargo it is thought there are 200 fire officers' uniforms donated by Fire Brigades Union members in Bristol.
Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday are both on board.
Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin demanded that Israel allows the boat - named after the US activist who was crushed to death under an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003 - to reach its destination unimpeded.
"The Rachel Corrie, the Irish ship which citizens of Ireland are on, can be shadowed in, but unimpeded, given what has happened and the need to defuse the situation rapidly and allow them to discharge their goods," he said.
Speaking about Israel's three-year siege of Gaza yesterday, Ms Maguire said: "Could you imagine if that happened to the 1.5 million people in Northern Ireland, the world would be absolutely crying out that this stop immediately."
The latest attempt to break Israel's illegal blockade follows the assault on Monday morning on a convoy carrying 700 solidarity campaigners.
Tel Aviv has since been the focus of continued outrage - particularly from Turkey, the home country of the victims of the bloody massacre on the lead ship.
Following an emergency session of the United Nations security council on Monday night, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Israeli raid "banditry and piracy" on the high seas and "murder conducted by a state."
Istanbul, which currently holds a temporary seat on the security council, was instrumental in securing a statement which was watered down by the United States, Israel's main financial backer and political ally.
Palestinians, Arabs and Turks had called for condemnation of the slaughter "in the strongest terms" and "an independent international investigation."
In the event the agreed statement called only for "a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards" and did not name Israel.
But Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour told an open security council meeting that "those fleets, one after the other, will be coming until the unethical blockade is put to an end and the suffering stops for our people."
Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday are both on board.
Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin demanded that Israel allows the boat - named after the US activist who was crushed to death under an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003 - to reach its destination unimpeded.
"The Rachel Corrie, the Irish ship which citizens of Ireland are on, can be shadowed in, but unimpeded, given what has happened and the need to defuse the situation rapidly and allow them to discharge their goods," he said.
Speaking about Israel's three-year siege of Gaza yesterday, Ms Maguire said: "Could you imagine if that happened to the 1.5 million people in Northern Ireland, the world would be absolutely crying out that this stop immediately."
The latest attempt to break Israel's illegal blockade follows the assault on Monday morning on a convoy carrying 700 solidarity campaigners.
Tel Aviv has since been the focus of continued outrage - particularly from Turkey, the home country of the victims of the bloody massacre on the lead ship.
Following an emergency session of the United Nations security council on Monday night, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the Israeli raid "banditry and piracy" on the high seas and "murder conducted by a state."
Istanbul, which currently holds a temporary seat on the security council, was instrumental in securing a statement which was watered down by the United States, Israel's main financial backer and political ally.
Palestinians, Arabs and Turks had called for condemnation of the slaughter "in the strongest terms" and "an independent international investigation."
In the event the agreed statement called only for "a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards" and did not name Israel.
But Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour told an open security council meeting that "those fleets, one after the other, will be coming until the unethical blockade is put to an end and the suffering stops for our people."
Posts
