Palestinians commemorate the 6th anniversary of Mavi Marmara by Israeli assault terrorists. Armed Israeli terrorists attacked a non-violent peace protest by passengers aboard a ship intended to showcase the illegal Israel embargo against Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and to provide humanitarian aid
By Mohammed Asad
Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip near the sea to commemorate the 6th Anniversary of the Israeli terrorist assault against the non-violent civilian flotilla of ships including the Mavi Marmara which was intended to protest the illegal Israeli embargo. Israeli terrorists attacked the ships unprovoked, boarded the ships and killed nine civilians.
Among the nine murdered civilians, all identified originally as having Turkish citizenship, was one passenger, American, Fulkan Dogan, 19, who was brutally murdered while resisting the night assault of the civilian non-violent protest ship. Dogan’s American nationality was downplayed by the American media to cover up Israel’s terrorism.
The American news media asserted that the unarmed ship passengers wanted a confrontation and therefore the Israeli violence was “justified,” but the world knows that Israel has rejected human rights for Palestinians and that they target civilians in their violent terrorism attacks and their media propaganda.
Palestinians and the world will not forget.
Israel and the Western media tried to minimize the terrorist strike in which Israeli military guerrillas illegally boarded the ship in international waters before the ship entered Israeli sea territory and began shooting passengers. Nine were killed, most shot in the head and about 100 more were injured. The Guardian Newspaper wrote:
“Nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine, which carried out the autopsies for the Turkish ministry of justice today.
“The results revealed that a 60-year-old man, Ibrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. A 19-year-old, named as Fulkan Dogan, who also has US citizenship, was shot five times from less that 45cm, in the face, in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back. Two other men were shot four times, and five of the victims were shot either in the back of the head or in the back, said Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the council of forensic medicine.”
Here is the statement released by the group at the commemoration:
In this day the 30th of May we are here to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the deadly 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza bound flotilla Mavi Marmara we are here to remember our brothers the nine Turkish activists who were killed in 2010 in their attempt to deliver humanitarian aids to Gaza and to break Israel blockade.
Gaza the largest prison in the world came under the blockade since 2007 . two million of inhabitants of Gaza have been deprived of many of their basic needs. It’s the worst miserable one in humanity in 21 century. It’s a collective punishment and an illegal in all international laws. The poverty and an unemployment rate have reached over 45% and 60% among youth. It is considered the highest rate in the middle east.
Also, the continuous closure of Rafah crossing the only gate way to the outside world is a violation to Palestinian rights. Sever restrictions are imposed in the movement of people in and out of Gaza. The embargo deprives thousands of people to travel and prevented construction materials to enter the strip.
About 75,000 of Palestinians remain homeless in the blockade in Gaza nearly two years after Israel’s last devastating offensive. The national movement for breaking the siege and reconstruction the Gaza is working hard to put pressure on the international community to end the suffering and stop the an un humanitarian crime . in this day that mark the anniversary of flotilla raid , the international movement for breaking the siege announce the launch of the international week to break the siege campaign. In this connection we would like to stress on the following points:
First: we thank all free people of the world and all partners especially the international campaign to break the siege and the European campaign to break the siege for their role mandate public and official activities to put pressure on the international community and maintain Gaza blockade present in the international and public community.
Second: the current un humanitarian situation in Gaza requires immediate action to end the siege and un reports should be applied as people in Gaza can’t bear the siege anymore.
Third: we appeal the nations to take an action to participate in this week to support Gaza.
Finally we call the United Nation and the league of Arab states to take an action to break the siege.
photographer Mohammed Asad's photo of Dalia Khalifa won an award in March 2015 at a competition organised by the UN.
'Unbreakable' - is the photo of 9yr old Dalia Khalifa, taken at Al-Shifa Hospital on Aug 9th, 2014. Dalia was badly injured in an Israeli air strike during Operation 'Protective Edge'.
'Unbreakable' is the Grand Jury Winner in the photography competition, organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Middle East and North Africa (UN OCHA).
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Mohammed Asad's home in Shujaiyya was destroyed by Israeli missiles, mortars and tank fire on Friday August 1, 2014 while he was documenting the Israeli massacre of civilians in the Gaza Strip. He is now living in temporary housing as he scrambles to find Internet access to share his photographs when possible.]
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