By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
1 June 2010

In the strongest terms, we the International League of Peoples’ Struggle condemn as a crime against humanity the barbaric attack by the Israeli navy on the Freedom Flotilla of six boats from several countries, with more than 700 unarmed people on board carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Reports say that at least 19 people have been killed and scores wounded in the attack. The boat passengers include parliamentarians, trade unionists, journalists, academics, religious leaders, social activists, the elderly, women and children.

The Freedom Flotilla was bringing much needed supplies of medicine, food and building materials to the people of Gaza long besieged by Israeli military forces, with the support of the US and Egypt. The Freedom Flotilla was organized by the Free Gaza Movement together with a number of human rights organizations, including the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organization from Malaysia, the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza, and the Swedish and Greek Boat to Gaza among others.

Aside from their humanitarian objective, the organizers of Freedom Flotilla wanted to make manifest their condemnation of the economic blockade on Gaza that has been imposed by Israel for the past four years. The blockade has brought terrible suffering on the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, a situation described by UN agencies as a humanitarian crisis.

According to Free Gaza Movement, Israel has limited fuel to run the power station putting much of Gaza in darkness. Israeli authorities allow just enough trucks coming into Gaza to prevent total starvation. The Egyptian government in collaboration with the Israeli-US policy of blockading Palestinians is building an underground steel wall to prevent people in Gaza from bringing in vitally needed supplies through tunnels.

The US and other western imperialist states share the blame for their limitless support to the rogue Zionist state. The United Nations has consistently shown its utter inutility in stopping Israel from repeatedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The imperialists have used their veto power to block any resolution condemning Israeli crimes and calling for sanctions. Unflinching imperialist support for Israel has encouraged the Zionist state to carry out atrocities with impunity.

Already the European Union has come out with a lame statement calling for an investigation into the incident. Investigations of this sort are useless and have only resulted in whitewash and Israel eventually getting off the hook.

What will put an end to Israeli war crimes is for the Palestinian people to throw off the yoke of Israeli occupation through revolution. The Palestinian people deserve the support of the people of the world in their just struggle for national liberation, democracy, peace and a better life. We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, call on all its member-organizations and all other forces in the world to support the Palestinian people.

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
1 June 2010

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