On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America unreservedly condemn the Zionist state of Israel for its murderous attack on a flotilla of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces’ commando attack on the Freedom Flotilla in international waters early Monday morning resulted in the deaths of at least ten activists aboard the lead ship and injuries to dozens more. The six ships in the flotilla were carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians under siege in Gaza, and were illegally boarded by IDF personnel eighty miles out in international waters. When activists responded in self-defense, the commandos opened fire.
The organizations which sponsored the flotilla, the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish-based IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation,planned to deliver 10,000 tons of food, medicine, construction materials, wheelchairs, and other aid. Israel has been engaged in an illegal blockade of Gaza since 2007, as a form of collective punishment against the residents of Gaza, provoking a major humanitarian crisis condemned by numerous human rights organizations and other non-governmental organizations.
The majority of the more than 600 activists aboard the ships were Turkish, but there were also activists from Ireland, the United States, Britain, Australia, Greece, Canada, Malaysia, Algeria, Serbia, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, and Kuwait, and included Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, European parliamentarians, human rights activists, at least one Holocaust survivor, and Dr. Fintan Lane (son of former Irish Republican Socialist Party chairperson Jim Lane). In a troubling development, those aboard were kept away from the media, allowing the Israeli government to control the message of what happened before and during the raid.
These are the rogue actions of a rogue state. Israel was born a rogue state, and will remain a rogue state as long as it exists in defiance of the national rights of the Palestinian people. All progressive minded people must stand together against the brutality perpetrated by this rogue state, whether it be the daily oppression meted out to the Palestinian people or acts of aggression against those who would aid the Palestinians.
The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America call on Israel to immediately release all Freedom Flotilla activists currently being held, and put an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza. Further, we salute the courage of the activists who were willing to risk their lives to aid the Palestinians, and mourn the loss of those who died.
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Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
PO Box 901479
Kansas City MO 64190-1479
USA
[email protected]
http://www.irscna.org/
