UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights takes on UN Secretary General over the Gaza Flotilla
In a June 2, 2011 article titled "A UN Secretary General vs. Freedom Flotilla 2," United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights Richard Falk described Israeli treatment of Palestinians in Gaza "(Israeli treatment of Palestinians)...is an extraordinary narrative of Israeli cruelty and deafening international silence. The silence was broken only by the brave civil society initiatives in recent years that brought both the symbolic relief of empathy and human solidarity, as well as the token amounts of substantive assistance in the form of much needed food and medicine."
In a direct challenge to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's recent statement that the flotilla was "unhelpful," Falk argued that the UN and governments continue to allow Israel to perpetrate criminal actions with impunity:
"We should not overlook that further in the background of this sordid effort to interfere with Freedom Flotilla 2 is the geopolitical muscle of the United States that blindly (and dumbly) backs Israel no matter how outrageous or criminal its behavior. And undoubtedly, this geopolitical pressure helps explain this attempted interference with a courageous and needed humanitarian initiative that should have been affirmed by the UN rather than condemned. It needs to be kept in mind that despite the near universal verbal objections of world leaders, including even Ban Ki-moon, to the Israeli blockade, no meaningful action has been yet taken by either governments or the UN in the face of Israel's undisguised refusal to respect the requirements of belligerent occupation of Gaza as set forth in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and the First Additional Protocol appended thereto in 1977."
Falk takes on Ban Ki-moon's characterization of the flotilla in a statement that may end his six-year appointment with the UN...
"Instead of protecting those who would act on behalf of unlawful Palestinian victimization, the UN Secretary General disgraces the office by taking a one-sided stand in support of one of the most flagrant and long lasting instances of injustice that has been allowed to persist in the world. True, his spokesperson tries to soften the impact of such a message by vacuously stating that 'the situation in the Gaza Strip must be changed, and Israel must conduct real measures to end the siege.'"
Center for Constitutional Rights calls Israel's blockade of Gaza and its attacks on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Illegal
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) calls Israel's blockade of Gaza "collective punishment" by Israel of the entire 1.5 million population of Gaza since 2007 triggered by the democratic election of Hamas in parliamentary elections. CCR cites U.N. reports and resolutions that have found that Israel maintains "effective control" over Gaza which is a characteristic of occupation. Israel controls the quantity and means of entry into Gaza of goods and materials and the movement of Palestinians into and out of Gaza.
CCR's legal analysis of the Israeli naval attack on the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla is that Israel...
"Cannot simply intercept vessels outside of its territorial waters traveling to Gaza. As such, an attack or interception of humanitarian vessels traveling to Gaza in international waters must be deemed illegal. Even if Israel's blockade were legal, the attack on the flotilla would remain illegal because:1) It was a premeditated attack on a humanitarian vessel that posed no threat to Israel's security -- not an act of self-defense.
2) Israel's response would have been disproportionate even as an act of self-defense."
"Is Israel Beyond International Law?" asks Turkey's Foreign Minister
The government of Turkey is not
intimidated by the United States or by the United Nations Secretary
General. Richard Falk notes that the Turkish Government "refuses to bow to such abusive pressures even when backed by the UN at its highest level."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said numerous times when questioned on the Freedom Flotilla 2,
"...no democratic government should claim the authority to exercise control over the initiatives of civil society, as represented by NGOs. [N]obody should expect Turkey ... to forget that nine civilians were killed last year [...] Therefore we are sending a clear message to all those concerned. The same tragedy should not be repeated again.[D]o we think that one member state is beyond international law?"
Citizen Activists Say Israel is Not Beyond International Law
Citizen activists will continue to challenge Israel's impunity of acting beyond international law and will sail to Gaza until Israel ends its naval blockade of Gaza. We on the US Boat to Gaza have the audacity to hope that the United States will finally use its substantial economic leverage to convince Israel that it is in its own security interest, as well as the security interest of the United States itself, to end the blockade of Gaza and respect the human rights of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and around the world.
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