The following letter was delivered to the Greek Government on July 12, 2011 making it clear that the people of Gaza seek freedom and respect for their human rights, including their right to lead a dignified life, not charity. Seemingly deaf to their call, yesterday a spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Delavekouras, repeated the Greek Government's "generous offer" to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza - instead of helping them gain the freedom that is rightfully theirs.
We, members of Palestinian civil society in Gaza, have been watching the actions your government has taken to block Freedom Flotilla 2 from setting sail towards the biggest open air prison - the Gaza Strip - to challenge Israel's criminal blockade. Israel's closure of Gaza has deprived us of things that most people take for granted, first and foremost, our freedom of movement. We are not allowed to pursue adequate health care or educational opportunities because we cannot travel freely. We are cut off from our families in other parts of the occupied territory and abroad; and we are not allowed to invite people to visit us in Gaza. Now, you have imported this restriction on the people whose main mission is to stand in solidarity with us.
The people of Gaza are not only in need of humanitarian aid because we are prevented from building our economy. We are not allowed to import raw materials or to export; our fishermen and farmers get shot at when attempting to fish or to harvest their crops. As a result of deliberate Israeli policy, 80% of our people have become food aid dependent, our infrastructure is in shambles, and our children cannot imagine a day when they will know freedom.
Your offer to deliver the cargo of the Freedom Flotilla entrenches the notion that humanitarian aid will solve our problems and is a weak attempt to disguise your complicity in Israel's blockade.
We are so sorry not to accept your charity. The organizers and participants of the Freedom Flotilla recognize that our plight is not about humanitarian aid; it is about our human rights. They carry with them something more important than aid; they carry hope, love, solidarity and respect. Your offer to collude with our oppressors to deliver aid to us is totally REJECTED.
While it is clear that you have been under enormous political pressure to comply with the will of the Israeli regime, to collaborate with Israel in violating international law and legitimizing the siege, we refuse to accept your breadcrumbs. We crave freedom, dignity and the ability to make choices in our daily lives. We urge you to immediately reconsider and to let the Freedom Flotilla sail.
Finally we recognize the historical relations between our people and your country's support for our legitimate rights. With this history in mind and your previous acknowledgment of the freedoms denied to us, we are calling on you to allow the freedom flotilla boats to leave for Gaza, thus challenging Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip and illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
Sincerely,
Palestinian Network of NGOs (PNGO)
Representing over 60 non-governmental organizations in Gaza
www.pngoportal.net
Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza
General Society for Rehabilitation
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp
Ajyal Association, Gaza
Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat
Local Initiative, Beit Hanoun
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Middle East Children's Alliance - Gaza office
Alshomoa Club for Women
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
General Union of Palestinian Syndicates
General Union of Palestinian Women
Palestinian Congregation for Lawyers
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
Union of Health Work Committees
Union of Synergies-Women Unit
Union of Women's Work Committees
Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime
Palestine Sailing Federation
Fishing and Marine Sports Association
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students' Union
For further information go to: freegaza.org
Yalla ghazza
What a joke the Greeks are in all of this.
Quixotic.
Only a fool like you can lob a cheap insult at a hugely dignified people fighting for their civil rights. You exemplify and deepen the problem with your supercilious, sneering lack of humanity.
there were folks back in the days of the civil rights movement who would have said the same thing… some folks have an eye to injustice and the need to move forward and others are oblivious to it… count witty in the later category.. a movement towards greater equality will happen in spite of people like witty..
“Only a fool like you can lob a cheap insult at a hugely dignified people fighting for their civil rights. You exemplify and deepen the problem with your supercilious, sneering lack of humanity.”
But, but, isn’t Witty being lauded as the very personification of civility on the post devoted to his 10,000th comment?
Personally I find the ‘civility’ (actually I prefer the term ‘sanctimonious’) a mask for the continual denigration of Palestinians and their fight for civil rights and dignity. The veneer of politeness makes it worse – the continual and deliberate refusal to understand or empathise with people who have the same right to life and liberty as the cosseted and self-obsessed Israelis. The deliberate smearing of campaigns like BDS as violent, or seeking the extinction of Israelis is pathetic, but worse, perpetuates the divisiveness, deepens the hatred which RW claims, in his pompous way, to be against. Refusing to debate, but just issuing proclamations from his mountain top suggests a person in love with the sound of their own voice, immune to evidence, facts or persuasion. 10,000 posts and what has he learnt from being here, from the thousands of detailed, heartbreaking accounts of life under a sadistic occupation? Nothing, his sole aim is to keep the status quo, preserve the privileges of the elite and deliberately and continually mischaracterise the Palestinian case for justice – like Israel describing every initiative as threatening, terrorism etc. Meanwhile, pretending that the mythical two states is still viable or possible, when every action of his Israeli state machine is designed to make it further out of reach and impossible, a convenient cover for continual dispossession, and the inflicted cruelty and destruction of Palestinian lives. I find it dishonest.
Yep, justicewillprevail, Witty is dishonest; like any good used car salesman, he is first dishonest with himself–only after each sale pitch does he relapse into momentary mental integrity, and only until his next sales pitch target walks in the door.
Is how I could get 10k too.
Hubristic.
And we’re supposed to believe you didn’t feel about African American human rights the same way as you feel about Palestinian human rights?
As in stinky Zionist poop.
Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts. (Virgil, 19 BCE, in Aeneid).
i can’t stop crying.
thank you, thank you for your strength and dignity in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Fantastic, courageous, dignified and heartbreaking. Palestinians have a culture deeper, more humane and civil, not to mention centuries-older, than the cheap, superficial, vindictive and utterly inhuman Israeli shallow culture. That letter speaks volumes about the attitudes prevalent on both sides, and should, if Israel and all its little apologists had hearts, burn shame into them for all they have done. Millions of people around the world hear it and support you. Anyone who had a heart would, there is no other option.
The dignity and strength of the Palestinians is truly amazing. And humbling.
Gaza is full of wonderful people. And the way Israel portrays them is hateful. It’s nice to see Gazans getting the message out. There is nothing like civil society to smash the lies of hasbara.
it is so refreshing in the realm of politics/diplomacy when plain words are used that simply tell it like it is without spin
the truth will set you free
be patient, Gaza, not broken but patient … the world opinion and energy is mobilizing for your freedom
Yes, that’s it brilliant. Attack the central narrative.
I cannot not stop crying either.
Sometimes, all we need really is love, and what I actually mean by this is that LOVE is first and foremost what we need, what our Hearts cry out for. The rest will follow.
Better to hang on to hope and love, then to become filled with hate, the path the Occupier walks down.
My Heart, my prayers, are in Palestine, in Gaza, with them, always
“Your offer to collude with our oppressors to deliver aid to us is totally REJECTED.”
As an American, I am not used to seeing such naked integrity on display! I suppose one must get away from the corporate media and the sewers of imperial corruption to witness such an occurrence, like finding some “extinct” species in a distant backwater, far from the “civilizing” influences of empire. Of course, we shouldn’t be too critical of Greece, they have enough problems of their own.
What should be clear is that Gaza effectively has no viable economy beyond international aid. What can one expect in an open air prison where access is controlled by hostile armed guards? What should also be clear is the extent to which Zionism and empire are highly compatible, sort of a perverse love story from the dark side of the force.
Zionist thugs are gnashing their teeth in frustration because no matter what they do; they can’t break Gaza and so they’re left with dreaming of razing her to the ground. So vicious is their deep hatred of Gaza and Palestinians in general that they hope and pray for any excuse to materialize so they can rid themselves of this thorn in their side. Zionists view Palestinians as sub-human and provide endless proof of their supremacist nature.
So after all there is NO humanitarian crisis in Gaza, only humanitarian rights crisis.
I pure love it:
First they elect government which declares war on their neighbor, and now they want to have humanitarian right without switching the government.
No brain = no pain.
clearly you have no brain, and haven’t understood a word. Back to school.
So because Jews survived the Holocaust, there was no genocide? That’s the logic you’re employing, Israeli.