Islamic Information Center - IIC Condemns the Attack Against Peaceful Flotilla and Urges Community Action

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(WASHINGTON DC -- JUNE 1, 2010) The Islamic Information Center (IIC) condemns the attack against the peaceful aide carrying flotilla by Israeli forces that took place this weekend, and calls upon community members to take action. IIC joins the growing consensus of human rights organizations calling for the US government to take immediate action.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.)

Contact President Obama and other elected representatives and officials to request that they condemn Israel's brutal actions and work to end the siege of Gaza.

CONTACT President Obama by email or call 202-456-1111 (Press '1' when prompted.)
CONTACT your elected representatives in Congress
CONTACT Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by email or call 202-647-5291 (Press '1' when prompted.)

The list of human rights organizations, academics, and countries around the world who are condemning Israel's massacre of civilians and calling for immediate action is growing:

The Elders group of past and present world leaders, including former South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on Monday condemned as “completely inexcusable” the deadly Israeli attack on a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza. At least 10 people are reported to have been killed when Israeli commandos raided the boats on Monday in an operation that has drawn international condemnation. “The Elders have condemned the reported killing by Israeli forces of more than a dozen people who were attempting to deliver relief supplies to the Gaza Strip by sea,” the 12—member group said in a statement issued in Johannesburg, where it met over the weekend. The group, which was launched by Mr. Mandela on his birthday in 2007 to try to solve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, called for a “full investigation” of the incident and urged the UN Security Council “to debate the situation with a view to mandating action to end the closure of the Gaza Strip.” “This tragic incident should draw the world’s attention to the terrible suffering of Gaza’s 1.5 million people, half of whom are children under the age of 18,” the group said.

The Elders includes six Nobel peace prize winners — former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, former US president Jimmy Carter, detained Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Mr. Mandela and Tutu. Norway’s first female Prime Minister Gro Brundtland; former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso; former Irish president and ex—UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson; Mozambican social activist Graca Machel; Indian women’s rights activist Ela Bhatt; and Algerian veteran UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi are the other members.

Politicians in Northern Ireland have condemned Israel's raid on a convoy of ships taking aid to Gaza. The Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said people are outraged by what happened. The SDLP's Claire Hanna described the attack by Israel as a "totally disproportionate and unacceptable action" on a humanitarian mission. Demonstrations against the Israeli actions were held in Belfast and Londonderry on Monday. Mr McGuinness attended the event in Derry. "Obviously people are outraged and very angry at this attack on human rights workers. "People who are trying to assist Palestians have been treated despicably by the Israelis for many many years. "I think people are absolutely outraged that we're seeing the Israelis get away with pure unadulterated murder."

Spain condemned the death of at least 19 people during the attack perpetrated by the Israeli navy on a civil flotilla carrying aid to Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip. As acting president of the European Union this semester, the Spanish government termed unacceptable the decease of unarmed civilians and immediately called the Tel Aviv ambassador to Madrid to ask for an explanation about the aggression.

The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Monday condemned the military intervention by Israel against the flotilla bringing aid to Gaza. In a statement Papandreou said "today's tragic events are to be condemned and [are] unacceptable. The violence imposed by the Israeli military forces against the international flotilla for the provision of humanitarian assistance to Gaza cannot be justified.

The Cyprus government also condemns the assault by Israelis against the flotilla of activists carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, President of the Republic Demetris Christofias has said, expressing the belief that Israel will be condemned by the international community for this assault.

Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, urged the U.N. Security Council in an emergency session Monday to condemn Israel's raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip and to set up a U.N. inquiry to hold accountable those responsible for it. "Turkey would like to see that the Security Council strongly reacts and adopts a presidential statement strongly condemning this Israeli act of aggression, demanding an urgent inquiry into the incident and calling for the punishment of all responsible authorities," he said in an address to the 15-nation council. "I call on this council to step up and do what is expected of it."

The Asian Human Rights Commission and a few other regional human rights organizations based in Hong Kong, strongly condemn this brutal attack, and called for the Israeli government to be held accountable for their actions by an impartial, international criminal tribunal. “We call on the United States government, which has financially supported Israeli military interventions for many years, to take a categorical position on this attack, and accept its own culpability in these events. We call on governments around the world to denounce these events and support the upliftment of the Palestinian people,” senior officials of the organizations said while addressing a demonstration held in Hong Kong today.

Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the Israeli commando raid on Freedom Flotilla going to Gaza and said the incident is the indication of Israel’s state-terrorism policy. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the PML-N chief said that on one side the world talks about a campaign against terrorism and on the other side it does not take any strict action against such brutal activities.

Other prominent Muslim organizations have also called for the same:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today urged President Obama to condemn what the Muslim civil rights group called an Israeli "massacre" of civilians on a flotilla of ships in international waters seeking to bring humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip. Israeli commandos killed at least 10 civilians in a pre-dawn raid on the flotilla. Israel's attack on the flotilla has already been condemned by the international community. SEE: Israeli Action Widely Condemned (LA Times) & Turkey, Germany, France Lead Condemnation of Israeli Ship Raid

A number of Americans, including former Ambassador Edward L. Peck, are among those taking part in the humanitarian aid effort. Other passengers include 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland. The nationalities of the dead are not yet known. In a statement, United Nations officials said: "We wish to make clear that such tragedies are entirely avoidable if Israel heeds the repeated calls of the international community to end its counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza."

"It is imperative that President Obama not only speak out strongly against this massacre of civilians but also demonstrate our nation's outrage at Israel's brutal actions by taking concrete steps to end the humanitarian siege imposed on Gaza with America's support," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Our nation must now work to end the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza." Awad also urged the president to live up to his statement one year ago in Cairo in which he said that America will not turn its back on "the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own."

The Muslim Public Affairs Council today called upon the Obama administration to condemn Israel's deadly attack on a convoy of unarmed international peace activists bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has at least 10 people dead. Media reports indicate over 60 people were also wounded after Israeli Defense Forces descended on the aid convoy in international waters while sailing for the Gaza Strip. SEE: "Deadly Israeli Raid on Aid Flotilla Draws Condemnation" (New York Times) & SEE ALSO: "Mandela's Nobel-Winning Elders Condemn Gaza Flotilla Attack" (Earth Times)

Named the Freedom Flotilla, and led by the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish organization, Insani Yardim Vakfi (Humanitarian Relief Foundation), the convoy of six cargo and passenger boats is the most ambitious attempt yet to break Israel's three-year blockade of Gaza. The Free Gaza Movement, one of the organizers of the aid, said that Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the deck of one of the ships and "immediately opened fire on unarmed civilians." In light of this illegal attack which took place in international waters, it is imperative that the Obama administration also demand that the Israeli government lift the three-year-old siege on Gaza.