Rally list to 19 May 2024
Continue readingRamzy Baroud endorses Freedom Flotilla to Gaza
12 MayVIDEO
Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a US-Palestinian journalist, media consultant, an author, internationally-syndicated columnist, Editor of Palestine Chronicle (1999-present), former Managing Editor of London-based Middle East Eye, former Editor-in-Chief of The Brunei Times and former Deputy Managing Editor of Al Jazeera online.
This video is his endorsement of the 2024 Freedom Flotilla and why it is significant.
Rally for Palestine
9 MayTo view events around Aotearoa:
- Go to the PSNA Homepage – www.PSNA.nz
- Scroll down to the button “For a list of events Nationwide, please click here – Check back often for updates”
- Click the button
- Check back on Friday for any moves, adds or changes
Nationwide
Saturday 11 May
World keffiyeh day
See here – https://www.instagram.com/keffiyehday?igshid=iyjrizrjb4hj
Join a solidarity action near you:
Continue readingFlotilla determined to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza
7 MayAlJazeera English podcast – The Take, 7 May 2024
As aid barely trickles into Gaza, a group of activists are trying to take matters into their own hands. The Freedom Flotilla movement planned to set sail to Gaza, bringing more than 5000 tons of aid and taking on great personal risk. The Take looks into their years-long struggle to break Israel’s siege on Gaza.
Israeli tanks take over in Rafah
7 MayVIDEO by AlJazeera 7 May 2024
The Rafah border crossing in Gaza has been closed on the Palestinian side, due to the presence of Israeli tanks, according to the border authority.
Israeli tanks are now blocking the main artery bringing humanitarian aid into the strip – parts of which are already experiencing ‘full-blown famine.’
That comes after a night of heavy Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in southern Gaza.
At least 14 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes, in the past few hours.
The attacks follow a unanimous vote by the Israeli war cabinet, to continue its operation in the city – and comes despite Hamas’ announcement that it’s ready to accept a ceasefire deal.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum is in Rafah, in southern Gaza and Mohammed Jamjoom is on the phone now from the Jordanian capital, Amman for the latest developments
Rallies, marches, vigils & protests around the motu this week
1 MayTo view events around Aotearoa:
Continue readingFreedom flotilla blocked – but determined to sail for Gaza
30 AprVIDEO: Democracy Now! talks with one of the Freedom Flotilla organisers, Huwaida Arraf 30 April 2024
Hundreds of activists aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were blocked in Turkey on Saturday as they attempted to set sail for the besieged Palestinian territory with 5,500 tons of aid. Organizers say Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flagged ships under pressure from Israel and the United States.
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla brings together a “cross-section of humanity” in hundreds of community leaders from all walks of life to raise awareness of Israel’s blockade of Gaza and rally support for its end. “We are determined to stop this by direct action” where international governments “have sadly failed,” says one of the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla, the Palestinian American human rights attorney Huwaida Arraf. “This is not the end. We are pursuing this legally and politically,” she says about this latest “minor setback.” Arraf was part of the previous iteration of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, in which 10 participants were killed in an attack from the Israeli Navy when it raided the ships in international waters.
Ed: Our Kia Ora Gaza team of 3 Kiwi doctors are due to return home this week, until the flotilla is able to sail again.
TVNZ news on the delay of Gaza Freedom Flotilla
28 AprTVNZ One News lead item today on the delay of the Freedom Flotilla.
Ready to sail to Gaza – but Flotilla faces another obstruction to urgent humanitarian mission
27 AprVIDEO REPORT: On April 26, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey, the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza announced that, at Israel’s request, the government of Guinea-Bissau had withdrawn its flag from two of the three vessels that comprise this year’s emergency flotilla to Gaza. As Dimitri Lascaris explains, Guinea-Bissau’s action constitutes a flagrant violation of its obligation under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide.(Video: Dimitri Lascaris)
Dr Adnan Ali (left) and the other Kiwi doctors who are participants on the Freedom Flotilla, joined a big demonstration in Istanbul today demanding safe & unhindered passage for the international flotilla to Gaza. (Photo: Kia Ora Gaza)
UN experts demand safe passage for Freedom Flotilla’s humanitarian mission to Gaza
GENEVA (27 April 2024) – UN experts (Francesca Albanese & Michael Fakhri) today demanded safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, whose ships departing Türkiye will be carrying 5,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international humanitarian observers to the besieged Gaza Strip. “As the Freedom Flotilla approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, Israel must adhere to international law, including recent orders from the International Court of Justice to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid,” the experts said.
They issued the following statement:
Continue readingUnderhanded Israeli tactic delays Flotilla departure
26 Apr/ Coalition statements, Featured, News, Press releases / By alex
For immediate release, Thursday April 25.
The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the trip to Gaza.
However, today we received word of an administrative roadblock initiated by Israel in an attempt to prevent our departure. Israel is pressuring the Republic of Guinea Bissau to withdraw its flag from our lead ship—Akdeniz (“Mediterranean”). This triggered a request for an additional inspection, this one by the flag state, that delays our April 26 planned departure.
This is another example of Israel obstructing the delivery of life-saving aid to the people in Gaza who face a deliberately created famine. How many more children will die of malnutrition and dehydration because of this delay and an ongoing siege which must be broken?
This is not the first time that Israel has used these kinds of tactics to stop our ships from sailing. We have overcome them before and are diligently working to overcome this latest attempt. Our vessels have already passed all required inspections and we are confident that the Akdeniz will pass this inspection provided there is no political interference. We expect this to be no more than a few days delay. Israel will not break our resolve to reach the people of Gaza.
Dr Mads Gilbert on discovery of mass graves at Gaza hospitals.
25 AprVIDEO INTERVIEW: In Khan Younis, the Palestinian Civil Defence recovered nearly 300 bodies from a mass grave at the Nasser Medical Complex AND it says there are more under the rubble, with search efforts continuing. Mads Gilbert, Norwegian physician and a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Tromso has more. (Video: TNT 24 April 2024)
VIDEO: Nelson Mandela’s grandson joins the Freedom Flotilla
25 AprMandla Mandela, member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul yesterday, as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza.
Mandela is also the Ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine. When he met with flotilla participants yesterday he stated: “It was not only our efforts in South Africa that defeated the Apartheid regime, but it was (also) efforts in every corner of the world through international solidarity of the anti-Apartheid campaign.” He said, that while his grandfather was incarcerated for life imprisonment on Robben Island, he drew emmense inspiration from the Palestinian struggle. He added that Palestine “was the greatest moral issue of our time, yet many government choose to remain silent and look away. Many have been complicit in the genocide, the ethnic cleansing, the war crimes, and crimes against humanity that have been meted out on a daily basis against our Palestinian brothers and sisters – not just the 7th of October, but for the past 76 years.”
Mandela chats with Dr Adnan Ali, leader of the Kia Ora Gaza team from Aotearoa/NZ. (Photo: Kia Ora Gaza)
Stand strong with Gaza
24 AprHere is the list of nationwide activities this weekend:
Continue readingKiwi doctors join massive solidarity demonstration in Istanbul.
22 AprFreedom Flotilla participants for all around the world, including the team of Kiwi doctors, join in a massive demonstration of solidarity for Gaza in Istanbul yesterday. The international flotilla ships are due to head for Gaza to deliver 5,500 tons of humanitarian & medical aid this week.
Gaza-bound Kiwi Doctors Farewelled – ‘Succeed And Return Home Safely’
22 AprThursday, 18 April 2024
Press Release: Aotearoa Healthcare Workers For Palestine
Dr Wasfi Shahin, Dr Faiez Idais and Dr Adnan Al-Kenani are three Kiwi doctors bringing humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza as part of Kia Ora Gaza’s Freedom Flotilla. They left from Auckland International Airport at 11am today. AHW4P committee members, Nurse Practitioner Mikey Brenndorfer and Occupational Therapist Romelli Rodriguez-Jolly, joined the supporters gathered to bid them farewell.
“We at Aotearoa Healthcare Workers for Palestine would like to extend our gratitude to our medical colleagues for their courage and wish them all the best in their humanitarian mission”, said AHW4P spokesperson Dr Raisa Ahmed. “We encourage everyone to donate to Kia Ora Gaza for this very important mission. Above all, we hope they will succeed and return home safely.”
Continue readingPro-Palestine activists defy Israel with Gaza-bound aid flotilla
21 AprTNA meets activists from Freedom Flotilla Coalition on the Akdeniz ship seeking to break the Israeli siege on Gaza, hoping to bring relief to its people
By Salwa Amor, the New Arab, 20 April, 2024
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Palestine solidarity activists are preparing a flotilla to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, vowing to break Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory on board the Akdeniz, a seven-floor passenger ship.
Currently docked in Istanbul, the boat will carry 800 people from over 30 nations, from Indonesia to Hawaii, and is expected to transport 5500 tonnes of aid to Gaza once it sets sail from Turkey in the coming days.
Continue readingDespite distractions, Israel is still killing Palestinians daily
20 AprFreedom Flotilla statement
International participants arrive to sail with Freedom Flotilla to Break the Siege
ISTANBUL, TÜRKİYE: Hours ago, the media reported that Israel has attacked Iran. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition stands here to remind the world that with all the escalation between Israel and Iran, the killing is occurring in Gaza. While those two countries go back and forth, we cannot let Israel distract the world from what is causing far more death, disease, and destruction: Israel’s policies of starving and continued bombardment of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children.
On Friday, hundreds of civilians from dozens of countries [including Aotearoa/New Zealand] are meeting in Istanbul to prepare to sail very soon for Gaza, carrying thousands of tons of life-saving food and medicine. The Freedom Flotilla aims to break Israel’s unlawful siege of Gaza and demand an immediate ceasefire to save the lives of thousands of Palestinians.
Continue readingBig farewell as Kiwi doctors fly out to represent Aotearoa on aid flotilla to Gaza
18 AprA passionate haka (pictured above) reverberated throughout the Auckland Airport today, as a medical team of three Kiwi doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters, before flying out to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors hope to be able to reach Gaza and join with other flotilla medics to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid and treat wounded patients in the war-ravaged enclave. Their participation is facilitated by Kia Ora Gaza. (Photo: Jo Currie)
Kiwi medics, Dr Shahin, Dr Idais and Dr Ali salute the airport gathering. (Photo: Achmat Eesau)
Part of the crowd of well-wishers at the airport. (Photo: Jo Currie)
The three Kiwi doctors with fellow health workers at the airport send-off today (Photo: Jo Currie)