Skip to main content

Intifada Youth Coalition prepares to break Gaza sea blockade


The Intifada Youth Coalition, a Palestinian organization in Gaza, stated on Tuesday that is was preparing to break the six nautical-mile barrier imposed on Gaza fishermen by the Israeli occupation. The Coalition declared that it is in consultation with several parties to organize a demonstration that will break the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

A cargo ship is currently being rebuilt in which Palestinian and international activists intend to set sail from Gaza’s port to deliver Palestinian products to buyers across the world, in defiance of Israel’s blockade.

Campaigners are well aware that Israeli forces will prohibit any boats from leaving Gaza’s port.

Following disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, Israel unilaterally established a “buffer zone” - an area prohibited to Palestinians along the land and sea borders of the Gaza Strip. The precise area designated by Israel as the “buffer zone” is not clear and the policy is typically enforced with live fire.

The establishment of the “buffer zone” is illegal under both Israeli and international law. Preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Enforcing the “buffer zone” through the use of live fire often results in the direct targeting of civilians and/or indiscriminate attacks, both of which constitute war crimes.

Israel has formally restricted the movement of Palestinians since June 1989, when it imposed a magnetic-card system whereby only those with such a card were allowed to leave the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities did not issue the cards to released prisoners, former administrative detainees, or people who had been detained and released without charges being filed against them.

January 1991 marked the beginning of the permanent closure policy imposed on the Gaza Strip. Each resident of Gaza who desired to travel to Israel or the West Bank was required to obtain a personal exit permit. On the eve of the Oslo Agreements, in March 1993, Israel imposed a general closure on Gaza with the building of permanent checkpoints.

On October 2000, Israel imposed a comprehensive closure of Gaza, building an electronic fence around the strip. In addition, Israeli forces bombed Gaza International Airport forcing its closure. During the second intifada Israeli forces destroyed the infrastructure of a seaport that was under construction. The sea blockade has severely damaged Gaza’s fishing industry. According to the Oslo Agreements, Palestinian fishing was to be permitted up to 20 nautical miles (37 km) offshore, however, the agreement has not been ratified and Israel allows fishermen to travel only up to 6 nautical miles (11Km) - and in many instances up to 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) - offshore. more

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of  the novel coronavirus  spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with  some joking  that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario.  But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned.  "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible
Post a Comment
Read more

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co
Post a Comment
Read more

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of
Post a Comment
Read more