MEGA Channel: Βίντεο με την Πειρατεία στην “Ελεύθερη Μεσόγειο” του Στόλου της Ελευθερίας; Piracy on Free Mediterranean cargo ship of Freedom Flotilla
September 19, 2010
Ο Βαγγέλης Πισσίας επικεφαλής της Πρωτοβουλίας “Ένα Καράβι για τη Γάζα” στο Mega Σαββατοκύριακο 19 Σεπ 2010 παρουσιάζει 4 λεπτο βίντεο ντοκουμέντο της εισβολής των Ισραηλινών πειρατών στο φορτηγό πλοίο “Ελευθερη Μεσόγειος” του Στόλου της Ελευθερίας. Πρώτη Παγκόσμια Μετάδοση!
Breathtaking Video! Piracy on Free Mediterranean Cargo Ship of Freedom Flotilla! World’s first broadcast.
Evidence for international courts
August 17, 2010
Source: Enet
This is a photo from material that was saved and sent to “Eleftherotypia”. It shows Israeli soldiers with the guns in their hands on Greek flag cargo ship “Eleftheri Mesogeios” (Free Mediterranean) while they are arresting an activist, professor Vangelis Pissias.
The initative “A Ship to Gaza” stated at “E” that the whole material and the photograph will be used as evidence at international courts.
The initiative addresses a question to the Greek government: “What is Netaniahou doing in Greece? He is accountable both to UN and to his country.”
Official report on the flotilla campaign by IHH
July 2, 2010
Below is the official report for the Mavi Marmara ship to Gaza campaign. I’m glad to see that the IHH from Turkey has officially documented all of the information, photos and statistics for the Flotilla campaign.
Take a look:
Download: 8.03MB
(May take a little time to download the report. )
Συγκλονιστική η μαρτυρία του δημοσιογράφου που μετείχε στην αποστολή
June 4, 2010
Source: Skai.gr
“Συγκλονιστική η μαρτυρία του δημοσιογράφου του ΣΚΑΪ Άρη Χατζηστεφάνου που μετείχε στην αποστολή, για την αγριότητα των ισραηλινών δυνάμεων κατά τη διάρκεια της κράτησης και ανάκρισης των ακτιβιστών.”
“The shocking testimony of SKAI journalist Ari Hadjistefanou participant in the mission [Ship to Gaza], the brutality of the Israeli forces during detention and questioning of activists.”
Shocking stories told by Greek activists who returned back to Athens
June 2, 2010
Source: Enet.gr
© Translation Muslim Association of Greece
The first six Greek activists condemned the illegal detention of the Greeks at Ashdod port in Israel and the violence they faced after their arrival at the airport Eleftherios Venizelos this morning. They characterized Israel’s action as “piracy” and they stressed that the ships carried only humanitarian aid and were thoroughly checked before departing from their ports.
As Aristidis Papadokostopoulos stated, on the Greek ship was humanitarian aid, wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and medical supplies.
According to the activist when the ship was raided by the Israelis, the Free Mediterranean was 70 miles away from the waters of Gaza.
He described the Israeli actions as “clearly piratical” and underlined that “we can not allow Israel to play the role of the policeman.”
On his part, activist D. Gelalis from Larissa said that “around four o’clock in the morning we saw inflatable boats everywhere approaching us and within seconds fully armed commandos boarded the vessel.”
Activists also tell of beatings and use of electric shock and said, “We didn’t even have the right to get up of the chair. We had to raise our hands to use the toilet.”
The rest of the Greeks which are illegally detained will be brought against Israeli justice as Thanos Petrogiannis, an engineer from the Greek university, stressed.
“We went to offer help. According to the Israelis 80 miles away from the land is considered Israeli international waters and that we had entered their country illegally,” he said.
He continued by saying, “The ones who are still detained refused to sign any papers given to them by the Israelis. They will be taken to court in about 10-15 days.”
He added, “That the humanitarian aid carried by the ships bound for the Gaza strip has been seized.”
The use of violence from the Israeli commandos was condemned by the activist Michalis Grigoropoulos.
“We were in international waters. The Israelis hijacked our ship. They took us hostage as they kept aiming guns at our heads,” he said. He continued by saying that, “I was the steersman of the boat. They descended from the helicopters dropping and threw tear gas. We didn’t resist, we couldn’t do anything against the commandos.“
He also witnessed the use of electroshock to whoever tried to create a human shield in front of the bridge. Concerning the conditions of the detainment he said, “They wouldn’t even let us use the toilet, eat or drink water as they also made videos of us.
As far as the confiscation of the humanitarian aid and other personal belongings is concerned Michalis Grigoropoulos stated, “They confiscated everything. They left nothing but my papers. They took mobiles, laptops, cameras and personal belongings.”
He also said that he refused to sign papers submitted to him by the Israelis and he was removed against his will.
”They did not let me contact my lawyer or even the Greek embassy,” he said. He continued by accusing the Greek government by saying that, “Taken to trial will be the ones who refused to sign Israeli documents. The Greek government has done nothing to safeguard the Greek ships. They did not do anything to prevent them from jumping on our ships.”
Israeli claims
On the other side, the spokesman of the defence ministry in Israel, Sady Muoni, speaking on NET, said that the passengers of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara aimed at provoking us.
He insisted that the occupants of the ship tried to lynch the Israeli soldiers while he claimed that an activist fired first.
Following that, Muoni added that the soldiers had to use violence.
Greek protest
The ambassador of Greece in Israel responded to the illegal detainment of Greek activists by Israel with a protest, calling for their immediate release.
He states that the arrest of the activists took place in international waters and that Israel could not ask from the detainees to sign documents for attempting to enter the country illegally.
According to the latest reports, 610 people have been transferred to Dire Sheva prison and held as prisoners until their cases are heard by the Israeli court.
Amongst the 610 prisoners are 31 Greeks, in which the Greek ambassador of Tel Aviv is going to visit.
From their part, Israeli authorities note that they are not held as prisoners but detained in a specially designed place in prisons.
Even though the custody of the Greek activists remains unclear, in Jerusalem and in parts of Northern Israel, Israeli Arabs are protesting against the bloody attack against the Freedom Flotilla.
Translated by Julie Jalloul
Bullets, tear gas and tazers: witnesses tell of raid
June 1, 2010
Source: AFP and Google
BERLIN — Shocked activists on Tuesday recounted how Israeli troops stormed on deck firing tear gas, electroshock weapons and real bullets at unarmed passengers as they raided the ill-fated Gaza aid flotilla.
Israel has blamed activists on the lead ship, the Mavi Marmara, for the deadly outcome to Monday’s pre-dawn raid, saying they attacked soldiers with clubs and knives as they boarded.
But a group of German witnesses who experienced the assault first hand before being detained and deported denied anyone on board was armed with more than a few wooden sticks.
“Personally I saw two and a half wooden batons that were used … There was really nothing else. We never saw any knives,” Norman Paech, a 72-year-old former member of parliament told reporters in Berlin.
“The Israeli government justifies the raid because they were attacked. This is absolutely not the case,” said Paech, wrapped in a blue blanket and visibly shaken by the bloody outcome to the mission
“This was not an act of self-defence.”
A German doctor on the ship, Matthias Jochheim, who had bloodstains on his trousers from people he treated, said he had personally seen four dead people and expected the total death toll to be 15.
The Israeli military says nine passengers were killed in the fight.
Paech, a former MP from the far-left Die Linke party, said he took photographic evidence but that his camera had been confiscated.
He denied Israel’s suggestion that passengers had been lying in ambush.
“We had not prepared in any way to fight. We didn’t even consider it,” he added. “No violence, no resistance — because we knew very well that we would have absolutely no chance against soldiers like this.
“This was an attack in international waters on a peaceful mission… This was a clear act of piracy,” he added.
The former MP’s comments were backed up by two others on board the convoy, MPs Inge Hoeger, 59, and Annette Groth, 56.
“We felt like we were in a war, like we were being kidnapped,” Hoeger said. “Nobody had a weapon.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told parliament an Australian man on board the main ship had undergone surgery after being shot in the leg.
The Mavi Marmara was one of six ships carrying some 10,000 tonnes of supplies to Gaza, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007 when the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the territory.
A Greek activist on one of the smaller boats, the Eleftheri Mesogeio, said Israeli troops used rubber bullets, tear gas and electroshock weapons to subdue those aboard.
Commandos jumped onto the ship at around 0530 GMT, an hour after the clashes on the Mavi Marmara, he said.
“They fired rubber coated bullets, tear gas and then used electroshock weapons on some activists,” he told Skai television after Israel deported him and five compatriots to Athens.
A Frenchman detained on another of the six ships told reporters his fellow passengers offered no resistance to arrest.
“The instructions were clear. Do not provoke, remain calm and go to meet them (the commandos) saying ‘We are pacifists and not terrorists’,” Youssef Benderbal said after arriving at a Paris airport.
“Masked commandos took possession of the ship. They were aiming for the captain’s cabin,” said Benderbal, a member of a French aid group for Palestinians.
Israel detained 686 passengers after the raid.
As first-hand accounts began to emerge from deported activists, hundreds of foreign nationals were still being held.
They include aid workers and at least three reporters — two Australians and a Spaniard — who have refused to sign their deportation papers.
The Greek passenger Grigoropoulos said he was kept incommunicado in “wretched detention conditions” at the Israeli port of Ashdod, denied access to a lawyer and made to sign papers he did not understand.
He also said “two Greek activists were beaten up” there by Israeli police.
In Britain, relatives of several dozen Britons on board the flotilla waited anxiously for news of their loved ones.
“It’s absolutely terrible not knowing what has happened to him and it’s terrible that the British government hasn’t done more but they don’t want to fall out with Israel,” said Rachel Bridgeland, whose partner was on board.
MAG press release: Israel murders civilians
May 31, 2010
Gaza is bleeding and so are the people who support and love Gaza, but this time literally.
The Muslim Association of Greece highly condemns the hijacking of the unarmed freedom flotilla by the Israeli Navy in international waters. Thanks to the indifference of the world opinion, we were led to this bloody attack resulting in tragic deaths of passengers and dozens of other injured activists who were armed with nothing else but the sense of hope, justice, and the determination of a free Mediterranean.
We have actively participated since the beginning of the movement with plenty of tireless volunteers. The president, Naim Elghandour was on board of the cargo ship, Free Mediterranean, representing all of us.
People from every corner of the world, every age, ideology and status and religion have united for a just cause and now others are dead, others are wounded and some are prisoners. In the holds of the ship are dozens of electric wheelchairs for the disabled, prefabricated homes, desalination systems, building materials, and medical supplies which will never reach the receipts in Gaza who are in dire need.
Amongst the six ships of the “Freedom Flotilla” two Greek vessels and crews, the Free Mediterranean and Sfendoni were severely attacked in international waters as they also witnessed the bringing down of the Greek flag and its humiliation which is something that frightens us.
At least 4o Greek poeple are missing with Israel being the only one able to give us answers. Indeed, these are the very same poeple that killed so many civilians. How reliable can their data be and what is the fate of the hundreds activists?
The international community must act now because today civilians were killed while fighting in the name of liberty.
We express our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims, dead, wounded and prisoners and we dearly wish that one day Gaza will stop bleeding and the Mediterranean will be free.
——
Photo taken from aljazeera.net.
Ship to Gaza video update – May 28, 2010
May 28, 2010
Click on the photo to watch the video.
For live updates and videos, visit http://digitalship.shiptogaza.gr.
Cargo ship to Gaza leaves Greece (full photo gallery)
May 25, 2010
Note from the people from the “Ship to Gaza”:
Subject: The Greek ships leave for Gaza!
First the truck (FREE MEDITERRANEAN) and after the cruise (Sfendoni) depart from Piraeus today bound for the port of Gaza. After weeks of preparation and hard work uploading the truck for three days and nights, ready to join other ships of the “Liberty Fleet” and become the means for breaking the siege of the Zionists, who threatened to stop it. The briefing will be ongoing and will be from the site and from the digital platform. They should be ready for mass mobilization, when it enters the latter part of the business (about four days). We want you all with us!!!
More information and digital broadcasts boat picture of the ships for all of us who can not travel, visit the site www.shiptogaza.gr.
Click on the photo to view the photo gallery from the Muslim Association of Greece.
Abbas sought to abort conference in Athens
July 2, 2009
Source: AlJazeera.net (AlQuds Press)
(Διαβάστε στα Ελληνικά. قراءة العربية)
According to Greek sources
Abbas has sought to abort the Jerusalem Conference in Athens
Greek political source said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas intervened to frustrate the holding of the solidarity of Jerusalem and the conference in the Greek capital Athens, he used strong pressure to limit the attendance, although the conference was successful at the end.
The congress was held on June 22 in Athens in the form of an international symposium titled “Jerusalem, the capital of Arab culture 2009 - Europe for Jerusalem and Gaza.” This event was organized by the Hellenic-Palestinian Friendship & Europeans for Jerusalem with the participation of eminent personalities from Greece, Europe and Palestine, including politicians, parliamentarians, religious leaders and thinkers, intellectuals and representatives of civil society institutions.
However, sources in the Greek Socialist Party revealed the accurate information described, that communications are carried out by the Palestinian president in order to “encircle and reduce the participation in the conference as much as possible.”
The source added that Abbas had contacted George Papandreou personally, President of the PASOK Greek Socialist Party, and asked him to put pressure on his party’s parliamentarians and officials and to get them not to attend the conference “so that the level of political presence, to be low as much as possible.” Abbas also held communications to leaders of other political parties in Greece for the same goal, as assurances of the source.
The source said that “the arguments advanced by Mr. Abbas to put pressure on the politicians was that the Greek organizers of the conference, mostly are close to the government of Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza and do not agree with the views of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority to adopt a negotiating approach in dealing with Israel.”
According to the sources, Abbas has also expressed dismay about the increasing activity of groups advocating the right of return for the lifting of the siege of Gaza in Greece, called on “all that is related to the movement of Palestinians should be done through the PLO and its ambassadors and representations abroad exclusively.”
