[Peace-discuss] Gaza's Ark: Help Us Tell How Gaza's Ark Will Challenge the Blockade

[Robert Naiman]

From: Gaza's Ark
Date: Fri, Apr 19, 2013 at 1:28 PM
Subject: Help Us Tell How Gaza's Ark Will Challenge the Blockade


  <http://www.gazaark.org/translation/>
<http://www.gazaark.org/translation/>*Français - Español - Italiano -
Português - Deutsch - Dansk - Svenska - Norsk - ελληνικά - العربية - עברית
: <http://www.gazaark.org/translation/>
**http://www.gazaark.org/translation/*
*
**Help Us Tell How Gaza's Ark Will Challenge the Blockade*



Dear Friends,

Gaza’s Ark is a project supporting Palestinians to rebuild a boat in Gaza
which will carry Palestinian products out to the world. With your support,
Gaza's Ark will challenge the unjust blockade of civilians in Gaza. With
your support, Palestinians will achieve their right to live with dignity.

We're very close to making an announcement about our boat! Meanwhile, we've
made a  video telling the story of how Gaza's Ark will challenge the
blockade and show that global public opinion hasn't forgotten the struggle
for Palestinian rights.  It's just five minutes long, but we hope you'll
agree it's very powerful. Please watch our video here and share with your
networks:
http://www.gazaark.org/2013/04/19/video-how-gazas-ark-will-challenge-the-blockade-of-gaza/

One easy way to show your support for Gaza's Ark is to become an endorser.
We list endorsers on our website - it shows how support for Gaza's Ark is
coming from all over the world. You can also encourage your friends to
become endorsers. Here is the link:
http://www.gazaark.org/endorse/

Gaza's Ark supporters recently gathered at the World Social Forum in Tunis,
spreading the news about Gaza's Ark to social movements from around the
world. They issued a public statement to the media gathered in Tunis about
the role of Gaza's Ark in challenging the blockade. The statement is
reproduced below* and is also available on our website:
http://www.gazaark.org/2013/04/04/freedom-flotilla-coalition-statement-in-tunis/

Thank you for all you do for justice!
Gaza’s Ark Steering Committee
 *Gaza's Ark Steering Committee*
*Building Hope by sailing from Palestine against the blockade


 <http://www.gazaark.org/translation/>*
<http://www.gazaark.org/translation/>*Français - Español - Italiano -
Português - Deutsch - Dansk - Svenska - Norsk - ελληνικά - العربية - עברית
: <http://www.gazaark.org/translation/>
**http://www.gazaark.org/translation/*

-----------------------

**
Gaza’s Ark and other Direct Action
against the Blockade & for Freedom of Movement*
(http://freedomflotilla.org/)

*Freedom Flotilla Coalition Statement
Tunis, March 31, 2013*


The international Freedom Flotilla Coalition, representing civil society
solidarity organizations and individual activists from different countries,
attended the World Social Forum in Tunis where we spread our call for
direct non-violent action against the inhuman and illegal blockade of Gaza
and in support of full freedom of movement for all Palestinians.****

We were delighted to meet with great interest from World Social Forum
participants and many Tunisians for our current Gaza’s Ark campaign, which
challenges the blockade from the inside out by rebuilding a boat to sail
from the only Mediterranean port closed to navigation with a cargo of
Palestinian products for export. These export products will be purchased by
solidarity organizations and businesses willing to assume the commercial
risk of the voyage in order to support some Palestinians in Gaza with an
opportunity to overcome Israel’s stranglehold on their ability to earn a
living through their own work. In addition to Palestinian products from the
Gaza Strip, we call for the export of products from all of Palestine via
the port of Gaza, in defiant rejection of the occupier’s separation
policies which try to divide the occupied Palestinian territories.****

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is also announcing our new campaign to
increase solidarity with the fishermen of Gaza, who face a further illegal
reduction of their fishing waters (from 6 to just 3 nautical miles) in
recent weeks, just a few after the small gains made following the November
2012 cease-fire. It is utterly unacceptable that Palestinian fishing boats
still face shooting and violent seizure from the Israeli navy for fishing
in their own waters. The Palestinian fishing fleet must have access to no
less than the full 20 nautical mile fishing zone they are guaranteed under
the Oslo accords, and beyond that, to fishing in international waters, as
do as all other coastal nations in the world.****

We call for the immediate and safe return of all boats seized by the
Israeli occupation navy: both the dozens of Palestinian fishing boats that
have been stolen and the different international vessels from solidarity
voyages sequestered over a number years. We demand that all these boats be
returned without delay to their rightful owners, in the locations where
they were seized and in the same condition they were seized, and that
Israel pay compensation to owners for any damage incurred as well as for
the lost use of their property.****

The Freedom Flotilla’s strategy of direct action against the blockade
includes legal follow-up in our countries to demand public accountability
from those responsible for these Israeli crimes against civilians. Legal
proceedings against Israeli crimes are already underway in Turkey and Spain
and are being prepared in other countries as well. ****

Our attendance at the Forum in Tunis allowed us not only to present our
work and campaigns to other World Social Forum participants (including
participating in the convergent assembly that led to the final declaration
on Palestine), it also put us in touch with new supporters from the world
over. We are particularly pleased to have met many new Tunisians supporters
at the Forum and at the Land Day march for Palestine on the final day, and
we looking forward to forging new partnerships for our campaigns in Tunisia
and in other countries.****

The blockade of Gaza will not be lifted by empty ‘apologies’ between
governments about ‘incidents’: a real, concrete and lasting solution
requires direct action against the blockade by grassroots civil-society
organizations in solidarity with Palestinians.****

-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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