The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has told supporters that the “Break the Siege” aid project for besieged Gaza from Turkey has been put on hold — indefinitely — due to rising tensions in the wake of the assassinations of key resistance leaders in the capitals of Lebanon and Iran.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to attempt to sail but, in the meantime, we need to let everyone know that for the moment, the sailing of Break the Siege must be put on hold, indefinitely,” said flotilla reporter Tan Safi in a video to supporters.

“Our other campaign vessel, Handala, will continue its journey towards Gaza.

An update from the Freedom Flotilla.              Video: Gaza Freedom Flotilla

“Our respective national campaigns remain active and engaged: please watch for updates about our actions and other Palestine solidarity actions near you.

“Keep an eye on the crew and participants of Handala and continue demanding their safe passage according to international law.

“Keep amplifying Palestinian voices.

“Together we must and will continue to demand sanctions, an end to the genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation, and justice for all the babies, children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents — human beings who have been murdered by the genocidal machine that is Israel.

Two New Zealand volunteers, Youssef Sammour and Rana Hamida, are crew on the Handala and feature in the the video.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in the early hours of Wednesday at his war veterans’ guest house in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel by Iran.

His assassination came hours after top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, five civilians – three women and two children – also died in the attack.

Republished from Kia Ora Gaza with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has told supporters that the “Break the Siege” aid project for besieged Gaza from Turkey has been put on hold — indefinitely — due to rising tensions in the wake of the assassinations of key resistance leaders in the capitals of Lebanon and Iran.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to attempt to sail but, in the meantime, we need to let everyone know that for the moment, the sailing of Break the Siege must be put on hold, indefinitely,” said flotilla reporter Tan Safi in a video to supporters.

“Our other campaign vessel, Handala, will continue its journey towards Gaza.

An update from the Freedom Flotilla.              Video: Gaza Freedom Flotilla

“Our respective national campaigns remain active and engaged: please watch for updates about our actions and other Palestine solidarity actions near you.

“Keep an eye on the crew and participants of Handala and continue demanding their safe passage according to international law.

“Keep amplifying Palestinian voices.

“Together we must and will continue to demand sanctions, an end to the genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation, and justice for all the babies, children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents — human beings who have been murdered by the genocidal machine that is Israel.

Two New Zealand volunteers, Youssef Sammour and Rana Hamida, are crew on the Handala and feature in the the video.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in the early hours of Wednesday at his war veterans’ guest house in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel by Iran.

His assassination came hours after top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, five civilians – three women and two children – also died in the attack.

Republished from Kia Ora Gaza with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Thousands marched for Palestine across Australia at the weekend in the wake of Israel’s massacre of more than 100 starving Palestinians who were trying to get flour from an aid truck southwest of Gaza City.

Israel’s siege on Gaza has stopped Palestinians from accessing food, medical supplies and other crucial aid. A United Nations report found that more than 90 percent of the population, more than 2 million people, are facing starvation and malnutrition.

This is made worse by the cutting of funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by Western governments, the main organisation providing aid to Gaza, after Israel alleged that 12 of its 30,000 staff were involved in the October 7 incursion.

The Labor government has refused to restore funding to UNRWA despite foreign minister Penny Wong conceding she had not seen any evidence to support Israel’s allegations.

“Our government has suspended funding to UNRWA when instead it should be restoring it and increasing it,” Greens senator Larissa Waters told the Meanjin/Brisbane rally on March 3, reported Alex Bainbridge.

Waters said that Foreign Minister Penny Wong was right to condemn Israel’s attack on food vans but that she was “not bowled over by the strength of response because Senator Wong has said she’s going to get her department to have a little word to the Israeli ambassador”.

“That’s all she’s going to do after we saw desperate parents getting slaughtered [while getting] food for their children.”

‘Solidarity with Palestinian women’
The rally had a “Solidarity with Palestinian women” theme in recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8.

Call on global Jewish community to rise up against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.   Video: Green Left

Protesters held a minute’s silence in recognition of United States Air Force serviceperson Aaron Bushnell who self-immolated on February 25 in protest against the US government’s participation in genocide.

Israel has begun its bombardment offensive against Rafah, the small city in southern Gaza where 1.4 million people are sheltering. More than 30,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7.

A YouGov survey found that more than 80 percent of Australians support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, showing the Palestine solidarity movement has cut through the establishment media pro-Israel messaging.

Edie Shepherd, from the Tzedek Collective, an anti-Zionist Jewish group told thousands at the rally in Gadigal/Sydney on March 3 that the global Jewish community must “rise up against the dominant Zionist frameworks that wield hate, power militarism to carry out atrocities against Palestinians”, reported Peter Boyle.

“The greatest shame is that our survival of genocide has been weaponised to commit genocide against Palestinians now.”

Nasser Mashni, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), told the March 3 rally in Garramilla/Darwin that “Israelis and Zionists want to kill Palestinians”, reported Stephen W Enciso.

‘They want decolonisation’
“Palestinians do not want to kill Israels. Indigenous folk do not want to kill their colonisers. They just want to be acknowledged. They want [a] treaty. They want their rights. They want restitution. They want racism to stop and decolonisation to start,” he said.

Kulumbirigin Danggalaba Tiwi woman Mililma May drew links between the colonial violence faced by Indigenous people in Australia and Palestine.

She pointed to the coronial inquest into the killing of Kumanjayi Walker by former constable Zachary Rolfe, in which Rolfe gave evidence about widespread racism in the Northern Territory Police Force.

“We are witnessing in plain evidence the racism and the deep horror that exists in the NT police, as across the colony,” May said.

“We live in the same states and under the same violence as Palestine. It just manifests itself in different ways.”

Kites flying for Gaza
A kite-flying for Gaza event was organised by Pilbara for Palestine in Karratha, Western Australia on March 3.

Children made and flew kites decorated with Palestinian flags, watermelons and “Free Palestine” in solidarity with the children on Gaza.

Organiser Chris Jenkins told Green Left that the action “demonstrated once again that support for Palestine exists from the CBD to the bush”.

The community also raised money for UNRWA.

In Muloobinba/Newcastle a “Hands off Rafah” rally and kite-flying event was held on March 2 at Nobby’s Beach, reported Khaled Ghannam.

Former Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, who visited Palestine in June last year, said the Israeli occupation impacts on everything Palestinians do.

“One of the common things that people we interviewed said was, ‘please take our voice to the world’,” she said.

“We are part of a massive global movement, millions of people are on the move around the world in so many countries, with a similar message to us:

• Ceasefire now,
• Restore UNRWA funding, and
• End the occupation.”

She said the UN had called on Australia and other countries to stop arming Israel.

Republished with permission from Green Left.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has announced in Istanbul a plan to sail again to challenge Israel’s unlawful and deadly siege of Gaza, reports the aid group Kia Ora Gaza.

In the coming weeks, a flotilla will put to sea carrying thousands of tonnes of urgently needed humanitarian aid that will be delivered directly to Palestinians in Gaza, say the organisers.

“After 17 years of a brutal blockade and four months of genocidal assault, including weaponising basic necessities, Palestinians in Gaza are facing an unprecedented and catastrophic humanitarian crisis,” said FFC’s statement.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month ordered provisional measures to protect the Palestinians in Gaza from the “plausible risk” of genocide.

Among six strongly worded measures, the ICJ ordered Israel to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

This decision followed UN Security Council resolutions in November and December 2023 which called for urgent steps to immediately allow “safe, unhindered, and expanded” humanitarian access to Gaza.

“Israel’s blatant noncompliance with these orders, and the failure of other governments to pressure the occupying power to comply, motivate us as civil society organisations to take action,” said Ismail Moola of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance, South Africa.

‘We need to act immediately’
“It is incumbent upon us to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza receive humanitarian aid. We expect that the Security Council will enforce the ICJ ruling, but due to the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza we need to act immediately.”

Organisers said plans for the Save Gaza Campaign were ongoing, and the FFC called on the government of Egypt to facilitate the delivery of life-sustaining aid through Rafah into Gaza.

FFC’s mission, For the Children of Gaza, led by the boat Handala, will again set sail from Northern Europe to Gaza in May 2024.

The FFC gathered in Istanbul to plan these campaigns with representatives from the following organisations: Canadian Boat to Gaza (Canada), US Boat to Gaza (USA), Kia Ora Gaza (Aotearoa New Zealand), Free Gaza Australia (Australia), Ship to Gaza (Norway), MyCARE (Malaysia), Ship to Gaza (Sweden), Palestine Solidarity Alliance (South Africa), IHH (Türkiye), Rumbo a Gaza (Spanish State), Mavi Marmara Association (Türkiye) and the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza.

“Where our governments fail, we sail,” said Karen DeVito of Canadian Boat to Gaza.

“We are charting a course to the conscience of humanity, in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

She said they called on civil society organisations from around the world who share their values and goals to “support and join us”.

Contact details for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Kia Ora Gaza:
Contact: Roger Fowler
Phone: +64 212 999 491
Email: office@kiaoragaza.net
Website: http://www.kiaoragaza.net/
Facebook: KiaOraGaza

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz