Israel is hard at work to stop international citizen activists groups from 22 countries that form the Gaza Freedom Flotilla from sailing in less than three weeks to bring international attention to Israel's brutal siege on Gaza. As a part of Israeli government propaganda, the civil society to civil society project is purposefully and wrongly portrayed by the Israeli government as sending weapons and "material support" to Gaza's democratically elected government headed by Hamas -- a group Israel and the United States have designated as a terrorist organization.
Extensive investigations by the United Nations, Turkey and even the Israeli government concluded there were no weapons on any of the six ships of the 2010 flotilla and that the cargo was consigned to non-governmental organizations in Gaza. However, the Israeli government never lets truth get in the way of its propaganda machine!
Israel's massive diplomatic offensive on European countries, Turkey, Canada and the United States that strongly demands countries not allow ships and passengers to sail has been followed by a new type of warfare called "lawfare."
Instead of direct military "warfare," the Israeli government and its front organizations, American Israeli Public Affairs Council (AIPAC) and the Shurat HaDin Law Center, are using lawsuits filed against insurance and satellite telephone companies that may sell equipment to the flotilla organizers and against citizen activist groups that have raised funds to purchase ships as strategies to attempt to stop the flotilla.
AIPAC Joins Israeli Government Attack on the Gaza Flotilla
On June 2, New York City corporate attorney Neal Sher, the former executive director of AIPAC, the most powerful lobby in the United States, filed a lawsuit in Toronto, Canada against the organizers of the Canadian Boat to Gaza for "raising funds and providing material support to Hamas."
The lawsuit was on behalf of a Canadian-Israeli citizen and asks for an interim and permanent injunction to stop the Canadian Boat to Gaza initiative "from continuing to raise funds, purchasing equipment or supplies, and purchasing or renting a vessel for the purpose of delivering goods or funds to the Gaza Strip." The lawsuit also wants to block the Canadian grassroots group "from sending goods, funds or any other material support, directly or indirectly, to Hamas or any of its representatives, and/or from aiding and abetting Hamas by assisting in bringing imports and exports to and from the Gaza Strip."
In addition, the Canadian-Israeli citizen, 68-year old Cherna Rosenberg, wants $1 million in damages "for trauma and injuries suffered as a consequence of the defendants' conspiracy" from the time she lived in the Israeli town of Sderot, where she "endured the constant and relentless mortar attacks emanating from Gaza."
The lawsuit's aim is to continue the Israeli government's six-decade control over the economic future of Gaza by refusing to allow the export and import of goods by sea and the free movement of Palestinian people without the approval of either the Israeli or Egyptian government.
One would hope that a counter-suit by a citizen of Gaza would be brought asking for millions of dollars in damages for the daily attacks on Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces "for trauma and injuries suffered as a consequence of Israel's aggression on civilians" in all parts of Gaza where "they endured constant and relentless attacks by F-16s, Apache gunships, naval bombardment, drones, white phosphorus, dense inert metal explosive bombs and countless other weapons."
Lawsuits in the US Against Companies Offering Services to Participating Ships
A second lawsuit attempts to prevent the flotilla from sailing by bringing lawsuits in the United States against companies that provide services to ships in the flotilla.
Shurat HaDin Law Center, reportedly an independent non-profit organization but certainly supporting and working for the policies of the State of Israel, sent letters to worldwide maritime insurance firms and satellite communications companies, warning that companies that provide services that assist in the breach of the Israeli blockade on Gaza will be sued in the United States for aiding the Hamas terrorist organization.
Shurat HaDin's Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner demanded that mobile satellite services company Inmarsat, one of the companies providing communication and navigation services to ships that sail in the region, refuse to provide their equipment and services to ships participating in the flotilla. Darshan-Leitner said, "We informed them that if they do so, they will be in violation of the American Neutrality Act, which prohibits aiding a group in their struggle against the military of an ally country. Since Imarsat has offices in the US, the law binds them."
Shurat HaDin has also sent letters to 30 of the top maritime insurance companies in the world announcing the law center's intent to sue if the companies provide insurance to ships participating in the flotilla.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
