Freedom Flotilla and next measures to be taken

These are the statements from a passenger on the Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by the Israel navy before it could deliver the humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.

"I was deported for having violated Israeli law," Peck added. "I asked [the Israeli official processing his deportation], 'What law have I violated?' He said, 'You have illegally entered Israel.' I said, 'Well, now, wait. Our ship was taken over by armed commandos. I was brought here at gunpoint against my will, and you call that illegally entering Israel?'"

To Navy vet Joe Meadors, “There is no doubt that the Israelis were committing piracy on the high seas against the Freedom Flotilla and used deadly force against unarmed humanitarians whose only crime was defending themselves against a sea and airborne invasion by heavily armed aggressors."

"As a survivor of the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty," Meadors said, "I am fully aware of the tactics the Israelis are capable of and willing to use with impunity and without remorse. That time they fired machine guns, cannon, rockets, napalm, and torpedoes on us, then deliberately machine-gunned life rafts we had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship. And the only response from the American government was to impose a gag order on the crew of the USS Liberty."

"This time, too," Meadors continued, "the Israelis have shown no remorse, and I fear that the US government is again granting them impunity."

You can read a full detail of the account in free palestine movement.

Concurrently, our former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that a new evaluation on the efficiency of the shipping of humanitarian relief aid to Gaza had to be made to safeguard the aid so that it will reach the people of Gaza.

He said: "We have to make an assesment first as to the effectiveness of the method of bringing relief to Gaza. This is not just a propaganda.

"We are very worried that the cement for example is not allowed by the Israelis to be imported into Gaza. They (Palestinians) may make use of it to build military bunkers to fight against them (Israelis), but without the cement they (Palestinians) cannot build the houses," said Dr Mahathir when asked on the next move of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) to bring aid to the Gazans following the hijacking of the relief vessels by Israel's navy.

"If Egypt opens it border with Raffah in Gaza, they want to examine everything and every item that we take and that may cause delays, and also they may consider certain things as dangerous," he said.