Monday, 31 May 2010
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Israeli Navy threatening Gaza Freedom Humanitarian Aid Flotilla, full of non-violent peace and humanitarian aid activists in International Waters
We have all just heard live from Hassan Ghani, Sarah Colborne and all the other national spokespeople on the IHH Boat that the Flotilla has got rada contact showing 3 Israeli warships approaching, with one visible to IHH boat eyes. There are drones flying overhead. The flotilla is between 90 and 120 miles out at sea. That is far outside the 68 mile exclusion zone Israel has today (illegally) declared. The ships are clearly in international waters. The flotilla passengers all have life belts on, clearly anxious, but organised and determined.
Watch the IHH deck live (Blood Pressure Warning: the stream keeps freezing, buffering and pausing for obvious reasons):
http://www.livestream.com/insaniyardim
I have already spoken to the Foreign Office Emergency Response team, who are not in the position of doing anything pro-actively (they never are, it's just not their job). They are acutely aware of the flotilla's situation and ready to assist as appropriate any UK citizens abroad, or their direct relatives, "who need or request consular assistance".
The people we really have to hammer away at are our elected representatives. We HAVE to email/phone/text our Government Ministers - AND YOUR INDIVIDUAL CONSTITUENCY MP - to get them to support the convoy and tell the Israeli Navy to bugger off:
1) PHONE - the BBC and SKY and ask them WHY there has been virtually no coverage of the Freedom Flotilla which has 40 British passengers and crew on board (in total across all the ships) and is being threatened by the Israeli Navy with armed attack? Contact them on BBC 020 8624 9111 and SKY 020 7705 3000.
2) EMAIL - WILLIAM HAGUE
private.office@fco.gov.uk
AINAGCorrespondence@fco.gov.uk
haguew@parliment.uk
3) EMAIL or PHONE - NICK CLEGG
TELEPHONE Nick Clegg at the following numbers:
Sheffield Hallam constituency office - 0114 230 9002
House of Commons - 020 7219 2371
EMAIL ADDRESSES:
cleggn@parliament.uk,
libdemleader@parliament.uk,
nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk,
leader@libdems.org.uk
Please do your utmost to raise support and lobby for safety for the flotilla.
There are moves to hold a DEMONSTRATION AT DOWNING STREET AT 2PM, TOMORROW MONDAY 31ST MAY whatever happens this evening. As soon as I get more information about this you'll know!!
Best wishes
Ellie Merton
(Friend of Tox on the IHH boat,
Viva Palestina Convoy 3, a driver of ambulance F5,
Chair, Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign)
LATEST FLOTILLA UPDATE!! and some branch news...
Meanwhile, more concretely, the Israeli Government is threatening the usual military action, preparing the Navy to assault the boats and take ships and passengers to Ashdod, in order to ransack/steal the aid, and deport/imprison the 750 activists (and crew?). But the threats are hollow at the moment, because the flotilla hasn't really set off yet!
In terms of WHEN we demonstrate in London (because of course we will...) there has already been a demo outside the Israeli embassy. PSC and Stop the War Coalition are coordinating to back a second demo ONCE the flotilla is properly underway (which it isn't yet) and Israeli government is genuinely about to enact their threats. I'll let you know soonest once we have that news. My sources on the boats, and at Free Gaza and PSC doubt anything will happen today (Saturday), but it might later in the Bank Holiday weekend.
HOWEVER, there is much action to be taken now - using computers and telephones - to lobby politicians and media to get them to support the flotilla.
2) EMAIL or PHONE - NICK CLEGG
TELEPHONE Nick Clegg at the following numbers:
Sheffield Hallam constituency office - 0114 230 9002
House of Commons - 020 7219 2371
EMAIL ADDRESSES:
cleggn@parliament.uk, libdemleader@parliament.uk, nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk, leader@libdems.org.uk
LETTER TEMPLATE:
Dear Mr Clegg,
I am writing to you to ask for you to show support for the International Flotilla of ships that is currently sailing towards Gaza. 750 people in 8 ships, loaded with 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid are due to dock in Gaza on Sunday afternoon.
However, the Israeli Government has issued serious threats, and the safety of all the passengers and crew is in substantial danger. Both passengers and crew pose NO THREAT, and should be allowed to sail safely into Gaza without incident, backed by international law, humanitarian law and maritime law. 35 passengers and crew are British nationals with further passengers being British residents, so you have a moral obligation with regards all their safety.
May I take this chance to remind you of your statements concerning Gaza and the illegal Israeli "Siege" quoted from your own article in the Guardian newspaper last year?
"The legacy of Operation Cast Lead is a living nightmare for one and a half million Palestinians squeezed into one of the most overcrowded and wretched stretches of land on the planet. And as Israel and Egypt maintain a near total blockade against Gaza, the misery deepens by the day."
You then went on to say:
"And what has the British government and the international community done to lift the blockade? Next to nothing. Tough-sounding declarations are issued at regular intervals but little real pressure is applied. It is a scandal that the international community has sat on its hands in the face of this unfolding crisis."
Mr Clegg, you yourself are now part of the British Government. What are you going to do? Are you going to call for an immediate end to the siege, or are you going to do what the previous Government did, which was nothing? This time, the buck stops with your administration, Mr Clegg.
So as you can see, it is now your turn to step up to the plate and be counted. In the last two days, the EU has called for an immediate end to the siege, and for the flotilla to be allowed a safe passage into Gaza. John Ging from UNWRA has even called for aid agencies to use Gaza port because the roads are blocked by Israel and Egypt. UN HQ has asked for the flotilla's safe delivery. Will you join these voices? Will you say "Enough Is Enough"?
I look forward to your response since time is of the essence.
Yours sincerely
........................
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Report on fascinating foreign affairs discussion with MP candidates in Waltham Forest
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Make Palestine a massive issue at the General Election!
GENERAL ELECTION 2010: |
LOBBY YOUR PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES |
Over 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are now into their fourth year of living under a horrific and brutal siege, and Israel’s continuing illegal settlement building programme throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem is further entrenching its illegal occupation. It is vital that MPs in the next Parliament understand they have a responsibility to act to end Israel’s violations of international law. Ask them to show their support by signing up to PSC’s six election pledges:
It only takes one minute. Just click here to find out who your Parliamentary candidates are and start lobbying. Please send replies to elections@palestinecampaign.org – candidates can also directly sign the pledge by sending their name, constituency and party to this email. Find out if your local candidates have sign the pledge here:www.palestinecampaign.org/elections You may want to download our election briefing to send to your candidates with more in-depth information about the pledges. In solidarity, Hugh Lanning P.S. please forward this email to your friends, family and colleagues and share our lobbying link on facebook and twitter! |
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010
THURSDAY!! Rich Wiles speaking in Walthamstow at 7pm, Hornbeam Centre


Friday, 5 March 2010
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Girls and boys have returned from Gaza - the Viva Palestina convoy delivers strong results

With huge apologies for the delay in updating you, it is with great delight we can say that WFPSC and Lost Voices of Gaza contingents on the Viva Palestina convoy have successfully delivered their aid and visited Gaza!
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Anniversary of the Gaza attacks
We need you, our supporters, to write to the UK Foreign Office and to the UK Egyptian Embassy, to lobby them to drop their conditions and allow the Viva Palestina Aid Convoy through to Gaza.
Why must the people of Gaza continually be punished for existing? Why must the humanitarian efforts of a few hundred international peace volunteers be sneered at by Egyptian officials?
In Aqaba today, we have been demonstrating as much as we can. 20 members of the convoy have gone on hunger strike today, with further people joining up in the coming days. We held a jolly demo on two boats, making an attempt to take Palestinian flags and Gaza support banners over the water to wave at Eilat, the deeply disturbing and flashing Israeli holiday resort on the Red Sea (why does Israel need so much "aid" when it has such huge income generation of its own?). There was a demo in town to mark the hunger strike beginning and this morning a group of convoy volunteers climbed a local mountain overlooking Aqaba and flew an enormous Palestinian flag and VP Convoy banners for all to see. This evening we have a rally at our basecamp compound and a candlelit vigil to honour all 1,400 killed in the attacks on Gaza last year.
We remain steadfast and determined to get our aid to the people of Gaza. We will not be stopped. There is no reason at all why the people of Gaza should be denied our voluntary humanitarian assistance. The families of Gaza are waiting for us to arrive: we get text messages from our friends there every day wishing us well and looking forward to our imminent appearance.
Please help us by contacting the Foreign Office today and reading the riot act to them, to get them off their Christmas backsides and into action to persuade Egypt that Egypt must allow humane behaviour towards the people of Palestine and particularly the people of Gaza. Why does Egypt feebly do the bidding of Apartheid Israel? Does Egypt have no backbone of its own, that it is too wimpy to be strong and caring to its fellow man?
We will wait in Aqaba, clogging up the streets with demos and bashing away on the keyboards of every internet cafe in town for hours at a time until we are allowed to take our aid to Gaza.
Ellie
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
On the Road to Gaza
Rada, Jo and I are still alive, our ambulance is almost still on one piece and your aid is totally intact. Rock on!
It is a huge relief to be able to blog for the first time during the convoy. Getting to an internet cafe has been tough work in most of our overnight destinations (which at the beginning of the trip were entirely petrol stations and sports halls but are now hotels and hostels) and those convoy members that do have internet on their laptops are so busy emailing and blogging themselves they understandably have not had much time to offer to those of us without instant access.
Currently I am sitting in an internet cafe down the road from a press conference/demonstration at the Jordanian Union Complex somewhere in Amman. We are tired, but happy to be here. On the road last night we encountered our first real authority difficulties, with the police blocking our path after crossing the border into Jordan. We had a sit-in, with all convoy ambulances blaring every single horn and flashing every light, and eventually the police gave up, probably due to being deafened (chortle chortle).
Our welcome from normal people in the street throughout Turkey, Syria and now Jordan has been phenomenal. Turkey has been the most overwhelmingly exuberant with clutches of supporters standing in the middle of motorway central reservations in the pouring rain and at 2am just to wave and cheer us on. It is overwhelming to have such heartfelt support.
It is a massive blessing to get a morning off today, only our second bit of time off in over two weeks of solid driving at painfully slow speeds, or break neck races after waiting around for hours at a time. We are all quite stressed because we never know what is happening each day from one hour to the next. There is a lot of justifiable criticism about VP convoy organisers from the convoy members, but it has to be said the resourcefulness of the drivers and the team leaders means we have succeeded in all we have needed to do in spite of anything the organisers fail to fix or arrange.
We are now bracing ourselves for Egypt. We need your support for this. Please contact your MP by email or fax, and also send messages direct to the UK Foreign Office, demanding that Egypt allow safe passage for the convoy and facilitate its entry into Gaza. Egypt must let us in.
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas over the next few days, and please do tell your friends and families that we are living up to your support so far, but we will do our utmost in the time ahead of us to get through Egypt, get into Gaza and give the Palestinian people your support, money, aid, good wishes, solidarity and love. Watch us on Press TV (Sky Channel 515) to keep up to date on our progress from now on....
Hugs all round and "Viva, Viva Palestina!!"
Ellie
Friday, 27 November 2009
We're going to Gaza in an ambulance!


Monday, 16 November 2009
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Chingford Morrisons and South Woodford Waitrose taken over by Boycott Israeli Apartheid Protestors on Sat 7th November
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Waltham Forest PSC mobilising for Boycott Israeli Apartheid week of action!
Head Office - 0845 611 5000