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Update from Gaza Freedom Movement
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/06/12639/
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is comprised of: Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, The Perdana Global Peace Organization, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza, with hundreds of groups and organizations around the world supporting the effort.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli apartheid in Palestine by using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles. Founded by a small group of activists in August, 2001, ISM aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources, international solidarity and an international voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming military occupation force.
http://palsolidarity.org/about
FGM: Update on Israeli attack on Humanitarian Boats (2010)
Action Alert: Israeli military attacks Gaza Freedom Flotilla, 10 deaths confirmed (2010)
Flotilla: Did Israel deliberately murder civilians aboard Freedom Flotilla? (2010)
Free Gaza Movement lands in Gaza (2008)
Israeli military forcibly stops aid boat to Gaza — again (2010)
Viva Palestina was brought about in January 2009 by a group including British Member of Parliament George Galloway in response to the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.
Viva Palestina (Long live Palestine, in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) is a British-based registered charity which came into being in January 2009
Viva Palestina’s Participation
Viva Palestina has taken a fairly low profile in the flotilla. Groups and individuals involved with VP, however, have created their own personal initiatives to participate and raise funds for the flotilla.
Former VP participant Laura Stuart launched the “Gaza Boat Convoy” group based in the UK. In an interview with Iran’s Press TV, Stuart stated that Viva Palestina is working with IHH on the flotilla. Money raised by the Gaza Boat Convoy are transferred to IHH.
“Team Palestina,” also a UK based entity created by a former VP participant, reported that the organization raised £5,200 for IHH at its first fundraiser held in Bradford.
Viva Palestina briefly advertised its participation in the flotilla on the official Viva Palestina UK website in late April, saying that “[b]y taking part in this flotilla, Viva Palestina will be bringing much needed humanitarian aid, and attempting to break the siege once more.” VP officials stated that they will be purchasing supplies for the flotilla in Turkey, requested donations, and also noted that a “Viva Palestina Flotilla” group was created on Facebook.
Irish activist Caoimhe Butterly, who participated in past Viva Palestina convoys, is one of the lead players in the flotilla, as an Irish representative of FGM. During an interview with Hizballah’s Al-Manar TV, Butterly was asked to convey a message to the people of Gaza and the rest of the world:
VP activist Muhammad Sawalha, announced preparations for the flotilla in December, 2009, during the “International Forum to Support Resistance” held in Beirut, Lebanon. Also attending that meeting were Khaled Mashaal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al- Qaradawi.
“The next time the confrontation will be directly with the Zionist enemy itself on the high seas,” Sawalha said. He formerly ran Hamas operations in the West Bank and Gaza before leaving for Britain. In London, he is the president of the British Muslim Initiative (BMI), a group dominated by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK.
IHH’s website refers to Sawalha as the person “who coordinates the campaign in Europe.”
A British delegation of Viva Palestina UK activists, led by Galloway aide Kevin Ovenden, attended the send off rally for the second ship in Istanbul on Saturday. Zaher Birawi, a close ally of Galloway during the past Viva Palestina convoys, was named the official spokesperson of the flotilla.
Kevin Ovenden, a representative of Viva Palestina , was on the main ship of the Freedom Flotilla when Israeli soldiers descended onto the deck – he spoke from Turkey to Siân Ruddick
9 March 2009 - 180 extra trucks of aid donated by Libya’s Gaddafi Foundation and The International Organization for Peace, Care and Relief ( IOPCR )
The boat is to be delivered later in a flotilla of craft which Viva Palestina intends to take into Gaza harbour.
Ronald Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946) is an anti-war activist, veteran and writer who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He is best known as the author of the memoir Born on the Fourth of July
On April 8, 2009 Kovic joined British MP and activist George Galloway to launch Viva Palestina USA, an American branch of Viva Palestina. Kovic will co-lead with Mr.Galloway a humanitarian relief convoy to the Gaza Strip in early July, 2009. On December 6, 2009 Kovic spoke honoring Bruce Springsteen at the 32nd annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. On December 22, 2009 Ron Kovic, Oliver Stone, and friends celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1989 film release of Born on the Fourth of July at a dinner party in Torrance, California.
Kovic was a speaker at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, seconding the nomination of draft resister Fritz Efaw for Vice President of the United States. From 1990 to 1991, Kovic took part in several anti-war demonstrations against the first Gulf War, which occurred not long after the release of his biographical film. He is currently an outspoken critic of the Iraq War. In November 2003, he joined protests in London against the visit of George W. Bush.
he led a march of several hundred thousand demonstrators on Trafalgar Square, where a huge rally was held protesting the visit of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Ron Kovic attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado. On Sunday, August 24, 2008, the day before the convention began, Kovic spoke, then led thousands in a march against the Iraq war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Kovic
On 8 January George Galloway was deported from Egypt and declared persona non grata. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit described the aid convoy as “farcical” and said the country would no longer allow such solidarity convoys into the Hamas-run coastal area.
Viva Palestina founder George Galloway said that he was planning more Viva Palestina Convoys, “Next year we will bring a Viva Palestina Hugo Chavez convoy from Venezuela, maybe one from Iran which we are currently discussing. And people from other countries such as Australia and South Africa are also asking if they can get involved.
A worker at Viva Palestina was on board the 2010 flotilla raided by the Israelis
While in Gaza, AFP reported that Viva Palestina donated more than 100 vehicles carrying aid worth more than 1.4 US dollars to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip.
Financial support for Hamas is unlawful in Canada, the United States and most of the EU, because of Hamas’ classification as a terrorist organization.
July 20, 2006
Tony Snow to Helen Thomas: “Thank You for the Hezbollah View”
At the Apr. 1, 2002 briefing, Thomas asked White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer:
“Does the president think that the Palestinians have a right to resist 35 years of brutal military occupation and suppression?”
Fleischer responds that President George W. Bush supports an Israeli-Palestinian peace process leading to a two-state solution, and the administration’s “focus is on peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
The legal and moral distinctions between resistance and terrorism aside, Thomas persisted: “But does he [the president] think they have a legitimate right to fight for their land?”
Fleischer: “Helen, I do not accept the description or the premise of your question and the manner that you asked it.”
Thomas, muttering: “Occupation, 35 years.”
A majority of the arrested “peace activists” who brutally attacked the Israeli soldiers with pipes, metal rods. chairs and knives are linked to terror groups including Al-Qaeda. Several are members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Arab Media Reports on Flotilla Participants: Writing Wills, Preparing for Martyrdom, Determined to Reach Gaza or Die
The Egyptian flotilla delegation included two members of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in the Egyptian parliament: Muhammad Al-Baltaji and Hazem Farouq.
Al-Baltaji, who is deputy secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc in Egypt, said at a March 2010 conference, “A nation that excels at dying will be blessed by Allah with a life of dignity and with eternal paradise.” He also said that his movement “will never recognize Israel and will never abandon the resistance,” and that “resistance is the only road map that can save Jerusalem, restore the Arab honor, and prevent Palestine from becoming a second Andalusia.
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Helen Thomas disrupts MSM oilspill backlash w/best Code Pink imitation: “Why are we still in Afghanistan killing & dying”
10:34 AM May 27th via TweetDeck
.michellemalkin
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More pictures - Roses for Helen Thomas