Dear friends,
Peter is off to join the flotilla. If you are interested in receiving regular updates, sign up with http://www.freegaza.org
There are various theories about how the Israelis might deal with this latest attempt to break their illegal blockade of Gaza. If they sabotage some of the larger ships en route, so the the smaller ships can then be picked off in the usual way, we can rely on the Turkish government to complain – but not our own. The Israelis may bomb the port of Gaza before the boats arrive, as the international community rarely complains when Gazans are killed (continuing Israeli military incursions in which unarmed Gazans are killed are a regular occurence). In any event, it is very unlikely that David ‘I’m a Zionist’ Cameron or our new Foreign Secretary William Hague, who has been a member of Conservative Friends of Israel since he was 15, will be making waves.
Peter is risking his risk his life by joining the flotilla, as he believes that people are more likely to take an interest in the suffering of the Gazans and do something to help if a local man is involved. Please don’t let him down. Andrew Turner has ignored our request to ask the Foreign Office for British naval protection. If everyone who reads this e-mail sends a brief message to Andrew Turner, and then copies it to William Hague, the Foreign Office and some of the media links below, they will know that we are keeping our eye on them and expect some action.
IW Friends of Palestine has received some very generous and much appreciated donations for the flotilla and fund raising stalls have also been arranged, including a cake stall at Ryde School with £55 raised by the students. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed in one way or another. If anyone reading this would like to make a contribution, school supplies and also bags of cement (@£3 per 50kg), are still being added to the ships as money comes in. The Paypal link on http://www.freegaza.org is now working well and I suggest you donate directly via that link.
The success of Free Gaza depends entirely on activating the population of Western countries. What we can do at this stage to help Peter & the 600 others sailing with him, is to deluge our political representatives with mail. Please do your bit – and let me know so I know who has responded to this call for action.
Andrew Turner: mail@islandMP.com
Foreign Office: The ‘Near East Desk’ AINAGCorrespondence@fco.gov.UK; Head of ‘Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Territories’ – nicolas.harrocks@fco.gov.uk; William Hague (Foreign Minister) – private.office@fco.gov.uk; David Cameron – info@davidcameron.com + https://email.number10.gov.UK/Contact.aspx; Nick Clegg – http://www.nickclegg.com/nccom_contact.aspx + Hague, Cameron & Clegg also haveTwitter & Facebook sites
Media: Head of BBC News – peter.horrocks@bbc.co.uk; BBC News online form: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4030000/newsid_4032600/4032695.stm Channel 4 News – news@channel4.com; ITN – editor@itn.co.UK; The Independent – newseditor@independent.co.uk + foreigneditor@independent.co.uk; The Guardian – national@guardian.co.uk + foreign@guardian.co.uk
(I can provide more addresses – for The Daily Telegraph etc. – to anyone who feels that having composed an e-mail they might as well send it to as many people as possible).
Good news re. the video link that took place last week between some 6th formers at Ryde School and their counterparts in Gaza. More to follow, once the flotilla is out of the way.
I look forward to being deluged by copies of e-mails that have been sent in support of Peter.
Thank you,
Rachel
Rtuc's Blog 