genocidal-religious supremacists in Gaza
Washington, 3 July (AKI) – An independent United Nations human rights expert denounced what he described as “the unlawful naval seizure” by an Israeli gunboat of a ship carrying medicine and reconstruction material for the people of the Gaza Strip.
Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said the Israeli action “implements its cruel blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza.”
It also violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits any form of collective punishment directed at an occupied people, he stated.
A news release issued from his office in Geneva says the boat had been inspected in response to Israeli demands before departure by the port authorities in Cyprus to determine whether there were weapons on board. None were found, and Israeli authorities were so informed.
“Nonetheless, the 21 peace activists on the boat were arrested, held in captivity, and have been charged with ‘illegal entry’ to Israel even though they had no intention of going to Israel,” the release states.
The activists, members of the Free Gaza Movement along several dozen politicians and volunteers have sailed from Cyprus to the Palestinian territory since August in different vessels to bring humanitarian supplies in defiance of the Israeli blockade.
Last month a group of UN agencies and non-governmental organisations called for an end to the two-year blockade on Gaza, which has left the population of 1.5 million almost totally dependent on international aid.
In addition, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly called on Israel to ease its blockade, most recently during a meeting in New York with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits any form of collective punishment directed at an occupied people, he stated.
The Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply, for the simple reason that Gaza is not occupied, nor is Israel obliged to fully meet every demand of a people that has declared war on them.
Mull over that one for a while and get back to me.
Richard Falk is making up international law as he goes along. KGS