EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday called for an immediate end to Israel’s Gaza blockade, as an aid flotilla prepared to set sail for the enclave despite the embargo.
“The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive,” she said in a statement.
“We would like to reiterate the EU’s call for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”
In spite of this appeal, the government of Cyprus has taken the extraordinary step of preventing members of the European parliament from joining the Freedom Flotilla.
The Cyprus Mail reported today:
Cypriot authorities prevented pro-Palestinian activists, including 30 MPs from nine European countries, from leaving the island yesterday to join a flotilla in international waters, which is on its way to blockaded Gaza.
In addition to issuing an edict banning ships headed for Gaza to set sail from the island’s ports, or dock on the island on their way back, the authorities yesterday forbade any small vessels from leaving Cyprus in case they were on their way to the flotilla of eight ships carrying around 700 peace activists, and 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
The government denied it bowed to pressure from Israel to put the ban in place.
The European Union guarantees the right of freedom of movement of its citizens within the territory of its member states. Cyprus has been a member of the EU since 2004.
A Tweet @freegazaorg said at about 11AM Eastern:
Twenty have left from Famaghusta, [Turkish controlled] Northern Cyprus, four German MPs, one Swedish MP, all the passengers from Challenger 1. Hedy [Epstein] not going.
The Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that if Israel behaved like pirates and attacked the international Freedom Flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of aid meant for Gaza, then the Palestinians will have won.
“The flotilla’s message is clear and it will reach the entire world,” Haniyeh said Saturday morning during a press conference held at the Gaza port where the ships were expected to dock.
“The meaning of the flotilla is that the entire world opposes the siege on the Gaza Strip, and if Israel behaves like pirates and sea-terrorists – we will win,” he added.
Ashton’s message is good, but she has no real power or influence, and has already been dismissed from the get-go as “pro-Palestinian”. Cyprus’ behaviour has been outrageous, and I hope it will at least be addressed at the European Parliament, some of whose members are aboard the flotilla.
And Cyprus is a member of the EU.
This behavior is almost inexplicable. To prevent members of other governments from leaving their territory!?!?
Forsure Israel got to them. First step the EU should take is kicking Cyprus out.
First step the EU should take is kicking Cyprus out
Sadly, the Union has no such mechanism.
No way at all to revoke a nation’s membership???
Nope. The um likelihood that such an um eventuality might um arise was not um foreseen.
“Forsure Israel got to them.” Or Goldman Sachs, Cyprus is tangled up with the Greek economy.
Cyprus is tangled up with the Greek economy.
With large-scale investment by Russians and Israelis (and Russian-Israelis).
mafias … oh yea, state and mafia same thing in those places
There’s an Israeli casino there, isn’t there?
In Cyprus, organizers were trying to find a way to have two dozen would-be passengers, including 19 European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor, join the ships anchored in international waters off the island. The Cypriot government did not allow smaller boats to ferry the group to the flotilla, Berlin said.
Authorities in Cyprus said the decision was made to protect the island’s “vital interests” — including economic ties with Israel.
Oh, they’ll let anyone* in these days.
* Offer may not be valid in countries with a Mohammedan (and/or dark-skinned) majority. Judeo-Christian values you know. Sorry. Can’t be helped.
—-
Seriously, the fact the Cyprus is an EU member, makes it much worse. Haaretz surmised that it was the Turkish origins of some of the ships and the Turkish sponsorship of the initiative that lay behind Cyprus’ decision. Of course that didn’t seem to bother Greece.
How come the flotilla didn’t swing by the “Turkish side” of the island?
How come the flotilla didn’t swing by the “Turkish side” of the island?
It did, docking at Famagusta – off-course, with one of the boats in need of repairs and taking on water, and European MPs waiting in Greek Cyprus forced to go north to meet the flotilla (leaving the Greek MPs behind).
Ho hum. The limp-wristed, mealy-mouthed European Union which repeatedly issues limp and lame statements about the I/P situation but recently upgraded Israel’s trade status with it. Even with the Israelis spitting in their face about a week ago by refusing to allow about 15 EU parliamentarians into Gaza through Israel’s Erez crossing thereby forcing them to travel to Egypt and enter through Rafah, they still kiss Israeli arse.
I think that is changing. Certainly it is changing much faster in the US. Name a politician who has spoken out about I-P in the US who will still hold their office next term.
Incidentally, if Cyprus has violated EU laws by restricting freedom of movement for European citizens (as seems to be the case), what sort of punitive measures would they be subject to?
Chaos,
Depite all the fancy talk, the EU is primarily an economic union. It can impose fines on member states for violating Union directives, but generally does so only in economic (deficit, antitrust, etc.) and occasionally environmental (waste treatment, emissions, etc.) matters. Italy pays quite a few of these fines (often in the form of withheld grants allocations). I don’t think a member state has ever been fined over a matter of diplomacy, foreign policy or border control. Were there a left-wing majority in European Parliament right now, Cyprus might have gotten a weak condemnation. Under the current political circumstances (in Parliament and the European Commission), I doubt anything will be happen.
Assaf Oron has just posted on this subject over at PEP Central, and so far not one of the usual but dwindling Zionist tools has shown up to make nasty remarks. link to dailykos.com
The reaction would have been very different just a couple of years ago.
I post infrequent diaries at DailyKos. Most have had to do with Alaska politics, but a few have been over one I/P issue or another. Remarkably, when I posted there on May 20th, about the Elvis Costello cancelation, I received almost no vitriol. Some understandable pushback re a reference to WWII daily caloric intake by forced laborers compared to Gaza, and I got nailed by giving an erroneous date for the first performance of Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony (a typo), but – overall – I was impressed by how un-hijacked the thread remained and remains.
The overwhelming majority of the members of that site have always been condemnatory of the Israeli occupation, if the internal polls are any indication, but a small core of rabid Zionists, backed up by biased admins, dominated the issue for years and made the issue so radioactive people feared to become involved in the discussion.
And I think the ordinary, liberal members are getting the word that they can now say what they think without fear of retribution.
Sounds like what Huffington Post became after December of 2008.
Catherine Ashton is not a very impressive person, and fills a figurehead post at the EU. She’s doing her best, God bless her, but it will have no effect at all.
….
Do you think this has anything to do with
OK,
HTML tags not working.
I was saying, does anyone think this reaction has anything to do with link to reuters.com? Is this somehow tied to the Greek debt crisis?
I don’t presume to know, just posing a question.