Friday, October 31, 2008

Israeli Gunboats Attack Palestinian Fishing Boats

This press release came today from the Free Gaza movement - the internationals who are accompanying Gazan fishermen. Tuesday's post (below) links to a video of this or a similar attack: http://redressnewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/video-day-in-life-of-gazan-fisherman.html.

For Immediate Release
For More Information, Please Contact:Greta Berlin (Cyprus) +357 99 081 767 / iristulip@gmail.comOsama Qashoo (Cyprus) +44 (0)78 3338 1660 / osamaqashoo@gmail.comAngela Godfrey Goldstein (Jerusalem) +972 (0)54 736 6393 / angela@icahd.org

At 10:00 am Cyprus time, three Israeli gunboats attacked Palestinian fishing boats in the territorial waters of Gaza. Eleven internationals have accompanied the fishermen on five of the boats. The internationals were from the Free Gaza Movement and had landed on the shores of Gaza on October 29 aboard the SS DIGNITY.

According to David Schermerhorn, one of the internationals on board, "Three naval vessels attacked us with machine gun fire and water cannons. All three boats have machine guns on board, one of them has a huge water cannon. The water from the cannon was so fierce, it blasted a lot of the equipment overboard as well as my GPS locator. At the time of the attack, we were about 9 miles offshore fishing. Several of us got on the radio to the Israeli navy and shouted, "We are human rights watchers. We are unarmed internationals, and we are recording everything you are doing. They completely ignored us and continued menacing all of the boats."

As David was talking to us, one of the gunboats came back to within 45 meters, shearing the water and making it difficult for the small boat to steer its course.

Greta Berlin
Media TeamFree Gaza Movement357 99 08 17 67
www.freegaza.org/
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

No comments: