We are heart-sick and outraged about the brutal attack launched by the Israeli Military on the Free Gaza Movement’s flotilla of boats in the early morning hours (Eastern Mediterranean time), Monday, May 31. The boats were carrying civilian passengers and humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, and were clearly in international waters when this illegal attack occurred, in violation of international law.

The number of dead and injured are still unconfirmed, but lowest figures reported are 9 killed and 34 injured. The Israeli Government has still not released their names. Over 700 citizens from nearly forty countries were on board the flotilla vessels.

We grieve for those who have been killed and pray for the recovery of those who have been injured. We salute them for their sacrifice in solidarity with Gazans suffering under a prolonged and immoral siege, which is itself a despicable and illegal act of collective punishment upon a civilian population. People on board the flotilla boats included human rights activists, journalists, public servants, and Palestinians hoping to reunite with family members. Some of those on board, we know personally. We continue to marvel at the courage, dedication, and moral clarity of all these activists. Like our daughter Rachel Corrie, they were coming to the aid of the people of Gaza because governments of the world have failed to act. Our hearts, go out,as well, to the families and friends of all those on board the flotilla vessels, many of whom may still not know the fate of their loved ones.

Pro-Palestinian activists intended on breaking a three year blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. As the waters calm down, it seems that Israel is trying to stay afloat with condemnation coming from the International community. Craig Corrie says he doesn’t think that the United States has not done enough, including bringing aid to Gaza.

Free Gaza Movement

Israel Murders at Least 4 Unarmed Civilians on Aid Flotilla to Gaza, Dozens Injured

(Cyprus, June 1, 2010, 6:30AM local) Under darkness of night, Israeli commandos from at least 14 warships and military helicopters boarded the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began shooting. According to live video from the ship, at least two civilians have been murdered, and dozens injured. Israeli television is reporting 16 civilians killed.

The Mavi Marmara was part of a 6-ship unarmed flotilla, including a U.S.-flagged vessel, carrying 700 passengers from 40 different countries and 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza.

The last GPS signal from the flotilla, sent just prior to the attack, placed the ships at latitude:32.64113, longitude:33.56727 – approximately 65 miles off the coast of Netanya, well in international waters.

Palestinian fishermen are regularly fired upon off the coast of Gaza, but these are the first Israeli murders of internationals at sea. In recent years, the Israeli military has adopted increasingly vicious policies toward international human rights workers in Palestine, murdering Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurdall in 2003.

The names of the dead are not yet known. The flotilla passengers included retired US diplomats Amb. Edward Peck and Col. Ann Wright as well as humanitarian aid and human rights workers, several Members of Parliament from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Malaysia, and Palestinian Members of the Knesset.

Numbers for Israeli officials:

Ben Lynfield, The Scotsman

It was one of the more dramatic events in the second intifada uprising. And now it is coming back to haunt an Israeli general who believed he was above the law – or perhaps was the law.

American Rachel Corrie, 23, was fatally wounded when an Israeli D-9 military bulldozer buried her under sandy soil near the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, according to fellow volunteers with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, who were with her. She died of her injuries after being evacuated by ambulance.

Ms Corrie, wearing a fluorescent orange jacket and carrying a megaphone, was among a group of ISM volunteers that over a period of three hours sought to block two army bulldozers from demolishing Palestinian homes.

In death, Ms Corrie, from Olympia, Washington, became a symbol of idealism and self-sacrifice to many and an embarrassment to Israel.

Her parents have left no stone unturned to unearth what really happened that day – 16 March, 2003 – and have launched a civil suit trying to pin responsibility on the state of Israel, which has thus far said her death was unintentional and even blamed the victim herself for behaving “illegally.”

But now evidence has emerged in the civil suit that Israel’s then Gaza commander obstructed the military police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.

The apparent intervention of Major-General Doron Almog, then head of Israel’s southern command, is documented in testimony taken by Israeli military police from the commander of the bulldozer a day after Ms Corrie was killed.

The Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural Project in coordination with the People’s Movement Assembly

When: Saturday, May 8th 2010, 6 – 10PM
Where: The Mural Site, Corner of State & Capitol

For more information visit http://olympiarafahmural.org/
To volunteer please email: hilhack4paz@gmail.com

This event is free of charge and open to the public! We will be gathering in front of the mural and are looking forward to this being a bridging of communities!

Evening’s Agenda
6:00pm: Gathering at the Mural
Food & Beverages
DJ Turtledove

7:00pm: Grupo Quetzalcoatl de Olympia!

7:30pm: Live Music
Southern Skies (Olympia)
AudioPharmacy (San Francisco)

8:30pm: The Mural Speaks!

An Introduction to the Mural Audio Components
With Live performances by Project Participants

• Books to Prisoners
• Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
• Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB)
• Gateways for Incarcerated Youth
• Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine (San Francisco)
• Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies)
• Inmigrantes Unidos
• Movimiento Estudantil Chicano de Azatlan (MEChA)
• Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace (OMJP)
• Parents Organizing for Welfare & Economic Rights (POWER)
• SafePlace
• Stonewall Youth
• The Rachel Corrie Foundation
• The Olympia Rafah Sister City Project
• AND MORE!

10pm: Possible surprise guests!

The Mural Speaks event will be the finale to The People’s Assembly: Collaboration, Networking and Solidarity, a gathering of Olympia’s grassroots organizers to discuss the US Social Forum and other strategies moving forward in the struggle for social justice. For more information, visit http://omjp.net.