November
2, 2011 – Two boats carrying twenty-seven human rights activists from
five countries, including the United States, have made it to
international waters and are headed to Gaza. Today, the flotilla set
sail unannounced from Turkey with the aim of ending the siege and
isolation of Gaza. The boats are carrying letters from people in the
United States to the people of Gaza, as well as medicine.  This latest
attempt comes less than six months after the “Stay Human Flotilla” was
detained and sabotaged in Greece by local port authorities in response
to mounting pressure from the United States and Israel.

 

In light of Israel’s attack on the May 2010
flotilla, which killed nine civilians including 18-year old U.S. citizen
Furkan Doğan, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) calls on the
international community to ensure the safe passage of the ships through
international waters into Gaza and prevent a repetition of last year’s
lethal assault by Israeli forces.

 

Said CCR senior staff sttorney Maria LaHood,
“CCR applauds the persistence of civil society to break the siege on
Gaza, where Palestinians remain imprisoned and isolated, without access
to the supplies necessary to sustain and rebuild their lives.”

 

The Center for Constitutional Rights also
denounced the introduction in early October of House Bill H.R. 3131, in
which the sponsors “express gratitude to the government of Greece for
preventing the [July 2011 Freedom Flotilla II-Stay Human] from setting
sail” and “direct the Secretary of State to…report on whether any
support organization that participated in the planning or execution of
the [flotilla] should be designated as a foreign terrorist
organization.” The Freedom Flotilla II was a July 2011 attempt by human
rights activists to break the Israeli blockade and deliver aid to the
Gaza Strip.  As the International Committee of the Red Cross recently
stated, “the easing of the closure in June 2010 has had little
impact on the daily lives of the residents in Gaza,” and “Israel retains
effective control over the Gaza strip, in particular the movement of
persons and goods.”  

 

 CCR issued the following statement:

 

“The Center for Constitutional Rights denounces H.R. 3131 as
another example of the increasing use of the word ‘terrorism’ to create
fear and stoke irrational response to activism, including the growing
use of ‘material support’ charges to punish people for humanitarian
activity and expressions of international solidarity or dissent. The
Center for Constitutional Rights has long called for the end of the
siege of Gaza and has supported the flotilla efforts, which, at their
core, seek to end the isolation of Palestinians living in Gaza.   In May
2011, CCR filed a lawsuit against numerous government agencies,
including the Defense, Justice, and State Departments, seeking the
release of documents regarding the U.S. government’s knowledge of,
and actions in relation to, the May 31, 2010 attack by Israel on a
six-boat flotilla in international waters, resulting in the death of nine
civilians, including a 18-year old U.S. citizen Furkan Doğan. It is
Israel’s illegal blockade and the May 2010 killing of unarmed flotilla
participants by Israeli commandos that should be condemned and for which
accountability should be sought, rather than the victims’ attempts to
break the siege on Gaza.”  

 

“H.R. 3131 is a disgrace and an attempt at
fear-mongering based on the libelous assertion that if you are against
the illegal blockade of Gaza, you are a terrorist.  This is yet another
attempt to silence the voices of ordinary citizens acting in good
conscience.  We will continue to organize and send boats in order to
show our support for the imprisoned population of Gaza. We will not be
silenced,” said Jane Hirschmann, one of the organizers of a U.S. boat
with the Stay Human flotilla to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope.

 

The July 2011 flotilla was not the first aid
attempt to be stopped.  On May, 31, 2010, more than 700 civilians from
nearly 40 countries on the Freedom Flotilla I sought to bring aid and
supplies to the Gaza Strip, but Israeli commandos intercepted the
six-boat flotilla in international waters, killing nine passengers,
including one U.S. citizen, Furkan Doğan. There had been five successful
voyages to Gaza in 2008, and all four attempts to reach Gaza in 2010
were forcefully blocked.

 

Also, Monday, UNESCO voted to recognize Palestine as a full member of the organization, which Center for Constitutional Rights attorneys said demonstrates that the international community increasingly rejects
the United States’ isolation of the Palestinian people, and is a small
step toward their self-determination.   Because of the vote, the United
States is cutting funding to UNESCO. 

 

The Center for Constitutional Rights is engaged
in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation seeking information
about the U.S. knowledge of, and response to, the attack on last year’s
flotilla. For more information, please see our case page.  For a factsheet about the illegality of the blockade of Gaza and the attack on the Gaza flotilla, please click here.