<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Israel Campaigns against Gaza-Bound Freedom Flotilla II Planned for&nbsp;May]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="createdate">Tuesday, 22 March 2011 11:10 </span> <span class="createby"> Tania Kepler for the Alternative Information Center (AIC) </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Israel  launched a public campaign Tuesday (22 March) against the international  organizations planning the Freedom Flotilla II aid convoy, set to sail  to Gaza in May of this year.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><img style="vertical-align:middle;border:0 solid #000000;margin:0;" src="https://i1.wp.com/www.alternativenews.org/english/images/stories/news/2011/February2011/freedom_flotilla.jpg" alt="freedom_flotilla" width="600" height="403" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Mavi Marmara, part of the original Freedom Flotilla to the Gaza Strip in May 2010</span></span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Israel’s  Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon plans to meet with foreign  ambassadors at the ministry on Tuesday to seek their help in stopping  this year&#8217;s flotilla, reported the Israeli news daily Haaretz.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Foreign Ministry has also been asking foreign governments, including Spain, Britain, Ireland and Sweden, to publish travel advisories warning their citizens against sailing to Gaza. Britain and Ireland have in fact done so, according to Haaretz.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Freedom Flotilla II will sail for Gaza  sometime between May 15, in commemoration of the &#8220;Nakba&#8221;  (&#8220;catastrophe&#8221;), and May 31, the first anniversary of the deadly 2010  flotilla mission, which left nine activists dead.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Activist groups from more than 10 countries have said they are sending at least 15 vessels to join the Freedom Flotilla II: Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, and Turkey.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The International Coalition of the Freedom Flotilla II met in Madrid, Spain  from the 4-6th of February to discuss the upcoming journey. The  meeting, organized by the host delegation Rumbo a Gaza, was attended by  delegates from organizations in Algeria, Canada, Scotland, Spain,  France, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia,  Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">&#8220;We  have at least 15 different groups right now at one or two boats each,&#8221;  said Huwaida Arraf, chairperson of the Free Gaza Movement, one of the  leading nongovernmental organizations in the effort. &#8220;Every meeting we  have, we get one or two new country-based networks or coalitions that  want to join.&#8221;</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Israeli Special Forces attacked the <a href="http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3214-turkel-commission-rules-flotilla-raid-in-accordance-with-intl-law-">Freedom Flotilla</a> convoy in 2010, boarded the Turkish ship the Mavi Marama, and killed 9 Turkish citizens and injured dozens more.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Israel’s Military Intelligence has established a <a href="http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3433-new-israeli-military-unit-to-monitor-bdsdelegitimization-groups-in-opt-a-abroad">new unit</a> responsible for tracking groups abroad, and in the West Bank and Gaza  which are aimed at “delegitimizing the State of Israel”.The push to  create such a unit apparently came in response to the Israeli military’s  deadly attack on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy to Gaza in May 2010.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The  research division of the country’s Military Intelligence also created a  department several months ago dedicated to monitoring left-wing groups  and will work closely with government ministries. The head of the new  unit has been taking part in discussions in the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office  about how to prepare for the possible arrival of a Gaza-bound flotilla  in May, Haaretz reported.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The situation in Gaza, which has been dire for some time due to the Israeli military blockade, significantly worsened following Israel’s military attack Operation Cast Lead. The 22-day military strike reduced much of Gaza&#8217;s  infrastructure and homes to rubble, and killed some 1,400 Palestinians,  the majority of whom were civilians. The population is still reeling  and in desperate need of supplies.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">According  to the UNHRC’s “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of  human rights in the Palestinian territories”, published in January,  Rapporteur Richard Falk notes: “the situation of the civilian population  in Gaza continues to be of critical concern. In 2010, Israeli uses of force resulted in 58 Palestinians killed in Gaza (including 22 civilians) plus 233 Palestinians injured (including 208 civilians).”</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">“Israel  has declared a buffer zone that extends for 1,500 metres into Gaza from  the border fence (comprising 17 per cent of Gaza), and Israeli military  personnel fire at farmers and children who are pursuing normal peaceful  activities close to the border,” the report continues. “These  characteristics of the ongoing Israeli relationship to Gaza are strongly confirmatory of the legal and factual assessment that Gaza remains an occupied territory.”</span></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<p><a href="http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3436-israel-campaigns-against-gaza-bound-freedom-flotilla-ii-planned-for-may">Source</a></p>
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