What a screwball…
The Finnish tabloid, the Ilta Sanomat, errs in its reporting, repeating untruths about the blockade. The UNSC, the only body that can pass binding measures/resolutions, has not deemed the blockade of Gaza by both Egypt and Israel to be illegal. On the contrary. The UN’s own Palmer Report on Egypt and Israel’s blockade of Gaza upholds their actions, stating that:
Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.
Time for the Finnish media to take a needed breath and actually dig around for the facts instead of breathlessly repeating activist propaganda.
The World Jewish Congress is asking for an apology from Anna Kontula MP
Kontula was arrested on Monday in Israel with an international activist group.
The World Congress of Jews criticizes MP Anna Kontula’s (left) attempt to invade Gaza and organize a protest there.
The congress accuses Kontula of criticizing only Israel for the blockade of Gaza, ignoring Egypt’s role in Gaza. According to the Congress, double standards against Israel are an expression of anti-Semitism. The congress demands an apology from Kontula.
The World Jewish Congress is an international organization that promotes the affairs of Jewish communities and organizations.
The Jewish congregation in Helsinki has also criticized Kontula’s actions in their Facebook post.
“By criticizing only the Israeli embargo on Gaza, and without any criticism or action against a similar embargo on Egypt, the MP is, according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition, quite likely to have committed anti-Semitism,” the congregation writes.
According to the congregation, the European Parliament has also accepted this definition.
Israel and Egypt have been blockading Gaza since 2007. According to Israel, the blockade is aimed at blocking Hamas, a terrorist organization in the West. The blockade, for example, controls the amount of weapons and food being exported to Gaza.
According to the UN , the blockade of Gaza is a “flagrant violation of international law”. It has been found to punish civilians in the region above all.
According to the UN, about one million people in the area need immediate food aid because of the blockade. According to the World Bank, the blockade has once again put the Gaza economy in dire straits.
Kontula defended her actions with the importance of the matter
Kontula was arrested by Israeli police on Monday with an international activist group. She was released after 10 hours.
Kontula previously told the BTI that she wanted to draw attention to the plight of Gaza in her protest.
“I was on my way to a demonstration to invade Gaza to protest the blockade caused a humanitarian crisis,” Kontula told the BTI on Tuesday. He also said he wanted to protest the Finnish arms trade with Israel.
Unusual means Kontula defended with importance.
– There are issues where the attention of the world is so much elsewhere that conventional means, even those of a politician, are not enough to put them on the agenda, and where it is so important that it deserves attention.
