Israeli Navy fires at civilians
Showing posts with label chemical weapons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chemical weapons. Show all posts
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
MSP asks Israeli embassy to investigate Israeli Defence Force “misinformation”
PRESS RELEASE
12 November 2008
For Immediate Use
Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, today announced that he had suggested the Israeli Embassy in London launch an inquiry into the “misinformation” he implied it was being fed by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
The suggestion was made in a letter he sent today to Ms Ronit Ben Dor, the Embassy’s Head of Public Affairs, and follows correspondence on the subject of the IDF’s alleged aggressive interactions with Palestinian fishermen and international peace activists in waters under the authority
of Gaza.
Dr Wilson commented, “I originally wrote to the Embassy to protest against the IDF shooting in the direction of Gazan fishermen and the peace
activists trying to help them pursue their livelihood in waters in which they are entitled to fish, waters in which they have long been prevented from fishing by the IDF.
“Reliable reports suggest the Israelis are continuing to attack fishermen and protestors — by shooting, by the direct ramming of boats and by the
use of chemicals. This is in waters over which Israel has no jurisdiction. If the head of Public Affairs does not know this, as suggested by her claim that it is the activists who chose (and, by implication, are continuing to choose) to confront the IDF and that the IDF fired into the air (and, by implication, are continuing to fire into the air) — then she is being lied to by the IDF and she should investigate immediately.
“As I said in my letter, preventing fishermen from feeding themselves and their families does nothing to make Israelis safer.”
Contact
Dr Bill Wilson MSP
Tel +44 (0) 131 3486805
Fax +44 (0) 131 3486806
E-mail Bill.Wilson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Notes to Editors
1. The full text of Dr Wilson’s letter
http://www.billwilsonmsp.org/images//to_ronit_ben_dor_re_shooting_at_fishermen_121108.pdf
2. Further information on the interaction between elements of the Israeli
Defence Force, Palestinian fishermen and peace activists
http://www.freegaza.org
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Israeli Chemical Warfare on Palestinian Fishermen
To view original report on the Free Gaza Movement Website click here
9:15 am. From a small Palestinian fishing boat, David Schermerhorn watched as Israeli sailors aboard a large Navy Gunboat put on Hazmat suits and masks. Five minutes later, the fishermen and internationals were blasted by water from a cannon mounted atop the gunboat. The water was filthy, with an appalling chemical smell to it.
Listening to David on his satellite phone, we could hear water hitting the cabin, a harsh thumping sound. It was pouring into the cabin as the boat flooded with water that drained out through the back. The sharp staccato of machine guns in the background clearly sounded close to the boat.
Everyone aboard the fishing boat was drenched.
Nikolas Bolos, a chemical engineer from Greece and one of the DIGNITY crew members, collected samples of water in glass containers for later analysis. The three internationals on board reported that, from the moment the boat approached the Israeli-imposed six-mile limit, it came under attack by machine-gun fire and water pulsing out of the powerful cannons.
11:30 am. David, "They have been shooting at us with water cannon off and on for the past two hours. Water has been hitting the boat from only 50 feet away. Vik, the Italian international, was yelling at the Israeli gunboat that there are three internationals on board, and the Palestinians are just fishing. We've moved into the cabin to get away from the heavy water-cannon fire as the gunboat has been trying to break the windows with the water. I've moved away from them just in case they shatter."
Early afternoon. "The gunboat is moving to the front of the fishing boat and is starting to bombard it with water again. There's a real possibility that the boat might break apart from that angle." David whispered from inside the wheelhouse.
5:00 pm, the boats were returning to the port. The boat David was on had brought in about 100 kilos of fish instead of the 1500 kilos they had caught a week before. Throughout the day to protect their catch from contamination by the chemical spray, the fishermen had lowered the nets back into the water. Much of the catch was lost.
"The sun is setting, and all was calm once we passed the 6-mile limit. But we were soaked with whatever was in that water, and we can only hope that none of us will get sick We'll certainly know more tomorrow." David said.
Contact: Mary Hughes, Cyprus +357 96 75 00 59
Greta Berlin, Cyprus: +357 99 08 17 67
Osama Qashoo, +44 78 33 38 16 60
Angela Godfrey Goldstein, Jerusalem: +972 547 366 393
Sunday, 09 November 2008 10:55
Gaza : All day9:15 am. From a small Palestinian fishing boat, David Schermerhorn watched as Israeli sailors aboard a large Navy Gunboat put on Hazmat suits and masks. Five minutes later, the fishermen and internationals were blasted by water from a cannon mounted atop the gunboat. The water was filthy, with an appalling chemical smell to it.
Listening to David on his satellite phone, we could hear water hitting the cabin, a harsh thumping sound. It was pouring into the cabin as the boat flooded with water that drained out through the back. The sharp staccato of machine guns in the background clearly sounded close to the boat.
Everyone aboard the fishing boat was drenched.
Nikolas Bolos, a chemical engineer from Greece and one of the DIGNITY crew members, collected samples of water in glass containers for later analysis. The three internationals on board reported that, from the moment the boat approached the Israeli-imposed six-mile limit, it came under attack by machine-gun fire and water pulsing out of the powerful cannons.
11:30 am. David, "They have been shooting at us with water cannon off and on for the past two hours. Water has been hitting the boat from only 50 feet away. Vik, the Italian international, was yelling at the Israeli gunboat that there are three internationals on board, and the Palestinians are just fishing. We've moved into the cabin to get away from the heavy water-cannon fire as the gunboat has been trying to break the windows with the water. I've moved away from them just in case they shatter."
Early afternoon. "The gunboat is moving to the front of the fishing boat and is starting to bombard it with water again. There's a real possibility that the boat might break apart from that angle." David whispered from inside the wheelhouse.
5:00 pm, the boats were returning to the port. The boat David was on had brought in about 100 kilos of fish instead of the 1500 kilos they had caught a week before. Throughout the day to protect their catch from contamination by the chemical spray, the fishermen had lowered the nets back into the water. Much of the catch was lost.
"The sun is setting, and all was calm once we passed the 6-mile limit. But we were soaked with whatever was in that water, and we can only hope that none of us will get sick We'll certainly know more tomorrow." David said.
Contact: Mary Hughes, Cyprus +357 96 75 00 59
Greta Berlin, Cyprus: +357 99 08 17 67
Osama Qashoo, +44 78 33 38 16 60
Angela Godfrey Goldstein, Jerusalem: +972 547 366 393
URGENT ALERT: Israeli gunboats firing on fishing boat (Update 11am)
To view original report on the Free Gaza Movement website click here
Greta Berlin just emailed this from Cyprus. She is on the satellite phone with David Schermerhorn. He is out fishing with Vik, Nicos and the Palestinians. They were attacked from the moment they passed the 6-mile limit. Water cannons and machine gun fire into the water. At 9:29, he called me again. The gunboat has come within 50 feet of the fishing boat and has cut across where the nets are.
Vik is yelling at the Israeli gunboat, telling them that three internationals are on board and they are all unarmed and they just want to go fishing. The pleas were met by water cannon so strong that all of the people on board went into the cabin for protection. David is trying to get water samples to bring back and have analyzed.
The connection is very difficult to understand, but I can hear Vik in the background and hear the machine gun fire and the water hitting the wheelhouse. They are trying to break the windows in the wheelhouse. Another fishing boat about 100 yards off is also being attacked. He then yelled in the phone that the boat was being hit by water from the front, that the Israeli gunboat is trying to actually break up the boat.
The connection just broke. Please put whatever pressure on that you can ...
Update:
At 10:53 an Israeli gunboat is off the port side of the fishing boat getting ready to spray dirty water on the crew and the fish. The crew is trying to raise the nets and the fish inside. The Israeli military on board the gunboat have masks on before they spray the boat, an indication that the water is going to be dirty.
The way point of the boat is .021 as the fishermen frantically try to raise their nets. The larger gunboat with the water cannon mounted on it has gone around to the winward side of the fishing boat, where they always shoot the water cannon. It is 50 yards off and preparing to fire as the nets are being hauled in as fast as the crew can work. As David is talking at 11:05, gunboat started to fire dirty water, attacking the crew and the fish. Nicos has collected the water in a sample jar and will bring it back for analysis. They are trying to ruin the catch.
Update: 11:23 The large gunboat has dropped back after spraying the crew with dirty water. The crew dropped the fish back into the sea to protect them and they were not hit. David said that the military men on the gunboat were wearing hazmat suits and masks, an indication of how dangerous the water must be. Everyone on board was hit, but no fish were ruined.
Sunday, 09 November 2008 03:33
Vik is yelling at the Israeli gunboat, telling them that three internationals are on board and they are all unarmed and they just want to go fishing. The pleas were met by water cannon so strong that all of the people on board went into the cabin for protection. David is trying to get water samples to bring back and have analyzed.
The connection is very difficult to understand, but I can hear Vik in the background and hear the machine gun fire and the water hitting the wheelhouse. They are trying to break the windows in the wheelhouse. Another fishing boat about 100 yards off is also being attacked. He then yelled in the phone that the boat was being hit by water from the front, that the Israeli gunboat is trying to actually break up the boat.
The connection just broke. Please put whatever pressure on that you can ...
Update:
At 10:53 an Israeli gunboat is off the port side of the fishing boat getting ready to spray dirty water on the crew and the fish. The crew is trying to raise the nets and the fish inside. The Israeli military on board the gunboat have masks on before they spray the boat, an indication that the water is going to be dirty.
The way point of the boat is .021 as the fishermen frantically try to raise their nets. The larger gunboat with the water cannon mounted on it has gone around to the winward side of the fishing boat, where they always shoot the water cannon. It is 50 yards off and preparing to fire as the nets are being hauled in as fast as the crew can work. As David is talking at 11:05, gunboat started to fire dirty water, attacking the crew and the fish. Nicos has collected the water in a sample jar and will bring it back for analysis. They are trying to ruin the catch.
Update: 11:23 The large gunboat has dropped back after spraying the crew with dirty water. The crew dropped the fish back into the sea to protect them and they were not hit. David said that the military men on the gunboat were wearing hazmat suits and masks, an indication of how dangerous the water must be. Everyone on board was hit, but no fish were ruined.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Israeli navy spray chemical substance at Gazan fishermen
Posted on ISM webpage: November 5, 2008
The Israeli navy continuously attacked Palestinian fishing
boats in Gaza throughout yesterday (4th November), using live ammunition
and a high-powered water cannon containing a noxious chemical
substance.
International Human Rights Observers (HROs) accompanying several fishing boats off the coast of Gaza approximately 8 nautical miles from shore reported that the Israeli navy constantly shot live ammunition extremely close to the boats, damaging many of the fishing nets in the process.
The international HROs also reported the use of a high-powered water cannon that was continuously used against the boats. Not only does this water cannon regularly damages the fishing boats themselves, the HROs have reported that recently the water has contained a foul smelling chemical substance. It is assumed that this substance is the same that has been frequently used by Israeli forces against the non- violent protests against the construction of the annexation barrier in the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin. The substance have however been taken for separate chemical analysis.
With the boats fishing 8 nautical miles from shore, this is well within the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994. With regular claims that from the Israeli government that it has ‘disengaged’ from Gaza, these patrols and attacks from the Israeli navy, regularly occuring from as little as 3 miles from shore, represent a clear signal of the continuation of occupation of Gazan territory as well as regular breaches of the current cease-fire.
The use of chemical substances by the Israeli navy on Gazan fishermen outside of internationally recognised Israeli territorial waters, such as that occurred today, also directly contradicts the Chemical Weapons Convention that took force in 1997 and that is ratified by 149 countries. Within the convention it is detailed that “Each state party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while citing the Chemical Weapons Convention, has made repeated statements on the use of chemical weapons, whether deemed ‘lethal’ or ‘non-lethal’, notably, “It should be emphasized that in situations of armed conflict this absolute prohibition applies to all biological and chemical agents, whether labeled “lethal” or “non-lethal”
Israel cannot claim that it has ‘disengaged’ from the Gaza Strip and not be in clear and direct contravention of these statements.
The violent attacks on Gazan fishermen by the Israeli navy appears to have escalated in recent weeks. International HROs have reported that
live ammunition is being fired continuously closer to the boats, while the damage to fishing boats has also increased.
On the 5th of October Mohammed Musleh was severely injured while fishing off the the coast of the Gaza Strip. He was shot with a 50mm bullet in the leg. He was recently transferred to Jerusalem, after much delay at the Erez, crossing in efforts to save his leg.
Over 40,000 people in Gaza make a living from the fishing industry, yet this community has been decimated by Israeli restrictions on fishing rights and the prevention of fuel from reaching the Gaza Strip.
According to the Fishing Syndicate in Gaza, fishermen need 40,000 litres of fuel and 40,000 litres of natural gas each day to operate throughout the high fishing season.
Starting in April each year, there is a migration of fish from the Nile Delta to Turkish waters which Palestinian fishermen have traditionally relied upon. Yet Israel limits fishing 6 miles from the Gaza shore and regularly attacks those who venture further than 3 miles – over 70 fishermen were arrested last year by the Israeli forces. The large schools that form the migration are usually found 10 miles from shore. The average catch of fish was over 3000 tons a year in the 1990’s, now it is around 500 tons directly due to the Israeli siege of Gaza.
Not only this, but the brutal effects of the siege, the water in which the fishermen of Gaza sail in is now receiving 50 million litres of sewage per day because the people of Gaza have no alternative.
Updated on November 5, 2008
International Human Rights Observers (HROs) accompanying several fishing boats off the coast of Gaza approximately 8 nautical miles from shore reported that the Israeli navy constantly shot live ammunition extremely close to the boats, damaging many of the fishing nets in the process.
The international HROs also reported the use of a high-powered water cannon that was continuously used against the boats. Not only does this water cannon regularly damages the fishing boats themselves, the HROs have reported that recently the water has contained a foul smelling chemical substance. It is assumed that this substance is the same that has been frequently used by Israeli forces against the non- violent protests against the construction of the annexation barrier in the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin. The substance have however been taken for separate chemical analysis.
With the boats fishing 8 nautical miles from shore, this is well within the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994. With regular claims that from the Israeli government that it has ‘disengaged’ from Gaza, these patrols and attacks from the Israeli navy, regularly occuring from as little as 3 miles from shore, represent a clear signal of the continuation of occupation of Gazan territory as well as regular breaches of the current cease-fire.
The use of chemical substances by the Israeli navy on Gazan fishermen outside of internationally recognised Israeli territorial waters, such as that occurred today, also directly contradicts the Chemical Weapons Convention that took force in 1997 and that is ratified by 149 countries. Within the convention it is detailed that “Each state party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while citing the Chemical Weapons Convention, has made repeated statements on the use of chemical weapons, whether deemed ‘lethal’ or ‘non-lethal’, notably, “It should be emphasized that in situations of armed conflict this absolute prohibition applies to all biological and chemical agents, whether labeled “lethal” or “non-lethal”
Israel cannot claim that it has ‘disengaged’ from the Gaza Strip and not be in clear and direct contravention of these statements.
The violent attacks on Gazan fishermen by the Israeli navy appears to have escalated in recent weeks. International HROs have reported that
live ammunition is being fired continuously closer to the boats, while the damage to fishing boats has also increased.
On the 5th of October Mohammed Musleh was severely injured while fishing off the the coast of the Gaza Strip. He was shot with a 50mm bullet in the leg. He was recently transferred to Jerusalem, after much delay at the Erez, crossing in efforts to save his leg.
Over 40,000 people in Gaza make a living from the fishing industry, yet this community has been decimated by Israeli restrictions on fishing rights and the prevention of fuel from reaching the Gaza Strip.
According to the Fishing Syndicate in Gaza, fishermen need 40,000 litres of fuel and 40,000 litres of natural gas each day to operate throughout the high fishing season.
Starting in April each year, there is a migration of fish from the Nile Delta to Turkish waters which Palestinian fishermen have traditionally relied upon. Yet Israel limits fishing 6 miles from the Gaza shore and regularly attacks those who venture further than 3 miles – over 70 fishermen were arrested last year by the Israeli forces. The large schools that form the migration are usually found 10 miles from shore. The average catch of fish was over 3000 tons a year in the 1990’s, now it is around 500 tons directly due to the Israeli siege of Gaza.
Not only this, but the brutal effects of the siege, the water in which the fishermen of Gaza sail in is now receiving 50 million litres of sewage per day because the people of Gaza have no alternative.
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