“This is an opportunity for the world to wake up and resolve this issue.”       


        Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Oct. 8, 2023 – see link below

Photo credit: Al Jazeera English CC BY-SA 2.0 (license link below)

The Canadian Boat to Gaza stresses the importance of looking at the root causes of the current attacks on Israel and the Israeli military response. We object to the Canadian government’s unqualified support for Israel.  The tragic loss of life in the past few days require an immediate ceasefire, not an escalation of violence. The recent violence has a context which is far too often ignored by both government and media.

While we do not support violence in any form, we must point to the precipitating factors that led to the current crisis. Canada along with the international community has failed to acknowledge the 17 year old blockade of Gaza in any substantive way. A blockade that severely limits access to employment, food, fresh water, electricity, and health services as well as other basic necessities is collective punishment: a war crime under international humanitarian law. 

Israel has occupied Palestine for 75 years. Basic human rights are denied, Palestinian homes are demolished, Israeli settlements continue to expand and settler violence is on the rise. Palestinian children are imprisoned without just cause. The Canadian government and our allies are silent about these ongoing crimes, and therefore complicit in the root causes of the violence.

We call on the Canadian government to do all that is within its power, both in word and action, to address these inhumane acts and call for an immediate cease-fire. 

We call upon those living in this part of Turtle Island to make the same demand of our government (see below). 

See also:

Government of Canada to refrain from issuing one-sided statements that unconditionally support Israel, by the Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations.

You can send this statement via e-mail (or modify to your own message) using these links provided by the Canadian Palestinian Social Association of London:
Or find your MP and contact info: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en or here: https://www.noscommunes.ca/Members/fr

Palestinian ambassador to the UK refuses to condemn attacks: “Israel must be told by the international community that it must respect international law.” (Sky News, UK).

Palestinians Speak the Language of Violence Israel Taught Them. by Chris Hedges.

IJV Calls for a Ceasefire and Systemic Change in Palestine-Israel. Statement by Independent Jewish Voices Canada.

FFC stands by the Palestinian people, calls for an immediate end to Israeli attacks and blockade.  Statement by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

Photo: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

Canadian Boat to Gaza participates in Freedom Flotilla 2023

 

For #GazaKids, help us to #EndGazaBlockade

Dear friends and supporters,

The Freedom Flotilla vessel Handala, sailing against the blockade of Gaza, has been visiting English and Welsh ports this month. Supporters of human rights for Palestinians, especially for the Palestinians of Gaza who are mostly children and refugees, have greeted Handala at events in Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol and most recently Southampton.

This 18 metre former fishing vessel from northern Norway joins more than 12 years of Freedom Flotilla Coalition sailings which have challenged the illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza with successive voyages since 2010. With support from local chapters of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, welcome events included greetings from trade unionistsprogressive politicians and community representatives.

Vancouver film-maker and Canadian Boat to Gaza (CBG) Steering Committee member Jase Tanner joined the voyage from Scotland to Bristol, documenting many of the events and speakers along the way. From Bristol to Southampton to Rotterdam, the Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee is represented by London women’s Advocate/ Counsellor and CBG member Wendy Goldsmith, who also participated in the 2016 Women’s Boat to Gaza. Wendy says she is sailing with Handala to help raise awareness of the plight of Palestinian children in Gaza, the world’s largest open air prison, deemed uninhabitable by the United Nations: “We sail to bring awareness to Israel’s ongoing violations of International law, their apartheid regime and their blatant disregard for the humanitarian crisis it has created and sustains.” Montreal lawyer-journalist Dimitri Lascaris, who covered the 2018 Flotilla For a Just Future for Palestine, will join this year’s final leg in Scandinavia this August.

This year’s voyage began in early April in Kristiansund, Norway and crossed from Oslo to Scotland in June. Our boat will continue to visit northern European ports in July and August of 2023 to raise awareness about Western governments’ complicity with the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and occupation of Palestine. The vessel was named Handala at a ceremony in Bergen on April 13, in honour of the emblematic Palestinian refugee child waiting for return to a free Palestine. This same Freedom Flotilla vessel will sail to the Mediterranean to challenge the blockade of Gaza more directly in 2024. 

For more background on the 2023 Freedom Flotilla, see our FAQ. Please follow and share our videos on Youtube, our messages on Twitter, on Facebook and on Instagram

In solidarity,
The Canadian Boat to Gaza Steering Committee

Please continue to help us spread the word about our campaigns:
Twitter: @CanadaBoatGaza @GazaFFlotilla
www.facebook.com/CanadaBoatGaza        
www.facebook.com/BateauCanadienGaza 
www.facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition  

Together, we can help end the blockade!

In solidarity,

the Canadian Boat to Gaza team

Canadian Boat to Gaza: www.canadaboatgaza.org email: canadaboatgaza@gmail.com

Bateau canadien pour GAZA: www.canadaboatgaza.org courriel: canadaboatgaza@gmail.comThis is an internal CBG message. Pls keep this in mind before sharing the information below.

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‘Handala’ Boat Naming and Launch

‘Handala’ Boat Naming and Launch

Sailing again For the Children of Gaza 

What: Naming ceremony for  Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s new boat ‘Handala’, and the formal launch of its voyage to challenge and end the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade of Gaza. 

Who: Fauzia Hussaini-Wiik, Bergen head of Landsorganisasjonen i Norge (LO), the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions;  Arne Birger Heli, Captain and representative of Ship to Gaza Norway; participants from on board the Al Awda/Kårstein, Freedom Flotilla 2018; a representative of fishers and farmers in Gaza.

When: April 18, 2023, 17:00 CEST.

Where: Bryggen Harbour, Bergen, Norway.

Why: Most of the West’s governments and many international corporations continue to be complicit in Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and so in response to calls from partners in Gaza the Freedom Flotilla sails again to challenge and end the blockade, calling for full freedom of movement for all Palestinians.
Our 2023 voyage focuses on the children of Gaza and we have chosen to name this boat Handala after the iconic 10-year-old Palestinian refugee child created by Naji Al-Ali in his cartoons about Palestinians’ longing for return to a free homeland.

For more information see www.handala.org/handala/index.html

For additional information, please see freedomflotilla.org/frequently-asked-questions/ or please contact: freedomflotilla.org/media-contacts/ 

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a grassroots people-to-people solidarity movement composed of campaigns and initiatives from different parts of the world, working together to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. More information at freedomflotilla.org.

Sailing For the Children of Gaza

After the global pandemic pause, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is now set to resume our sailing to challenge the illegal, immoral and inhuman blockade of Gaza. We met in London between 4-6 November with representatives of our member campaigns from different countries (Norway, Malaysia, US, Sweden, Canada, France, New Zealand, Turkey and the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza), and with British and international pro-Palestine solidarity organizations (including Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), popular conference for Palestinians Abroad, Miles of Smiles), to discuss plans to reactivate and expand our work. Our goals remain full human rights for all Palestinians, and in particular, freedom of movement within historic Palestine and the right of return.

In light of the worsening political situation in apartheid Israel and the increasingly brutal repression in occupied Palestine, we are reaching out to other parts of the solidarity movement to work together towards our common goals. This work includes amplifying Palestinian voices, especially those from Gaza, and supporting our civil society partners, like the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which represents farmers and fishers in Gaza. The UAWC, along with other Palestinian civil society organizations, has been unjustly smeared and targeted by the Israeli occupation in an attempt to undermine their important role in documenting human rights violations and building resilience in Palestine. While some of our partner organizations are actively involved with important programs addressing the most urgent needs of Palestinian children traumatized by the blockade and murderous Israeli attacks on Gaza, we recognize that a lasting solution requires an end to the blockade.

Solidarity movements are under attack in Palestine and around the world. Our response must reflect and amplify the urgent pleas from our civil society partners to end the blockade of Gaza. At the same time, we also work to end the media blockade by exposing the brutal reality of occupation and apartheid.

As our predecessors in the Free Gaza Movement said when they began these challenging voyages in 2008, we sail until Gaza and Palestine are free!

Freedom Flotilla-funded ambulance at work in Gaza

Read the report in the Palestine Chronicle that features the ambulance which our campaign helped to fund.

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/freedom-flotilla-sponsored-ambulance-serve-disabled-patients-in-gaza-photos-video/ 

With our Freedom Flotilla partners, along with the generous support of donors like you, we were able to fund this ambulance which arrived in Gaza in November. As a part of the Miles of Smiles humanitarian convoy, it’s now being used by the Benevolent Society for Disabled People in Gaza. 

Please watch and share this video showing this donated ambulance at work.

Legal victory against Israeli seizure of Tahrir. Ambulances on their way to Gaza.

Finally, after 10 years, the Israeli government has settled our compensation claim for its seizure of our boat and its cargo.

On November 4, 2011, the Tahrir, funded by grassroots donations from Canada, Australia, Belgium and Denmark, along with its cargo of some $30,000 in medical aid, was stolen by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and never delivered to our civil society partners in Gaza. A dozen people on board, including journalists, were imprisoned in Israel and eventually deported.

In January 2012, the Canadian Boat to Gaza filed a legal claim against the Israeli military. Through diligent research, our amazing Israeli legal team established an irrefutable basis for our claim. As a result, we have received a net settlement of $185,647 CDN, about half of the Tahrir’s total costs. Although we have accepted this out-of-court settlement, it does not represent full justice for our losses, much less for those of Palestinians.Many more Palestinian boats from Gaza have been stolen and damaged by the IOF: their owners face far greater legal obstacles than we do in pursuing claims and obtaining justice.

“This settlement is a victory for us and for the entire Freedom Flotilla movement, as well as for all organizations and individuals who contributed time and money to ending the blockade of Gaza.” said Canadian-Israeli Sandra Ruch, who was the registered owner of the Tahrir on behalf of our campaign, outside the Israeli consulte in Toronto today (video). “Of course, the funds from this settlement will be dedicated to the ongoing actions to help achieve full freedom of movement for all Palestinians.”

While we are not seeking donations for our campaign at this time, we ask you to support our sister campaigns in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, as well as our partners in Gaza, including We Are Not Numbers. Our other partner in Gaza, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (also representing Palestinian fishers), urgently needs solidarity now: please consider signing and sending this letter supporting them and other Palestinian civil society organizations targeted by the Israeli occupation.

We are using a portion of this settlement towards purchasing much-needed new ambulances for Gaza. These new ambulances, which our Freedom Flotilla partners helped fund, are now en route towardsPalestine: when they arrive we will let you know.

UPDATE: The convoy of ambulances arrived in Gaza on November 8: here are some details about the arrival, including a ‘Peace Train’ video, from our friends at Kia Ora Gaza.

Thank you once again for your continued support. Together we will keep physically challenging and eventually help break the illegal blockade!

Victoire juridique contre la saisie israélienne du Tahrir. Les ambulances partent pour Gaza.

Enfin, après 10 ans, le gouvernement israélien a réglé notre demande de dédommagement pour sa saisie de notre bateau et de sa cargaison. 

Le 4 novembre 2011, le Tahrir, financé par des dons populaires du Canada, de l’Australie, de la Belgique et du Danemark, ainsi que sa cargaison d’environ 30 000 $ d’aide médicale, ont été volés par les forces d’occupation israéliennes et n’ont jamais été livrés à nos partenaires de la société civile à Gaza. Une douzaine de personnes à bord, dont des journalistes, ont été emprisonnées en Israël et finalement déportées. 

En janvier 2012, le Bateau canadien pour Gaza a déposé une plainte contre l’armée israélienne. Grâce à des recherches diligentes, notre incroyable équipe juridique israélienne a établi une base incontestable pour notre demande. En conséquence, nous avons reçu un règlement net de 185 647 dollars canadiens, soit environ la moitié des coûts totaux du Tahrir. Bien que nous ayons accepté ce règlement hors tribunaux, il ne représente pas une justice complète pour nos pertes, et encore moins pour celles des Palestiniens.ne.s. De nombreux autres bateaux palestiniens de Gaza ont été volés et endommagés par la marine de l’occupation israélienne: leurs propriétaires rencontrent des obstacles juridiques bien plus importants que les nôtres pour faire valoir leurs droits et obtenir justice. 

“Ce règlement est une victoire pour nous et pour l’ensemble du mouvement de la Flottille de la liberté, ainsi que pour toutes les organisations et personnes qui ont contribué en temps et en argent à la levée du blocus de Gaza”, a déclaré la Canadienne-Israélienne Sandra Ruch, qui était la propriétaire immatriculée du Tahrir au nom de notre campagne, devant le consulat israélien à Toronto aujourd’hui (vidéo). “Bien sûr, les fonds de ce règlement seront consacrés aux actions en cours pour aider à atteindre la pleine liberté de mouvement pour le peuple palestinien.” 

Si nous ne sollicitons pas de dons pour notre campagne à l’heure actuelle, nous vous demandons de soutenir nos campagnes sœurs de la coalition de la Flottille de la liberté, ainsi que nos partenaires à Gaza, notamment We Are Not Numbers. Notre autre partenaire à Gaza, l’Union des comités de travail agricole, a un besoin urgent de solidarité maintenant : veuillez signer et envoyer cette lettre pour les soutenir, ainsi que d’autres organisations de la société civile palestinienne ciblées par l’occupation israélienne. 

Nous utilisons une partie de ce règlement pour acheter de nouvelles ambulances dont Gaza a tant besoin. Ces nouvelles ambulances, que nos partenaires de la Flottille de la liberté ont contribué à financer, sont maintenant en route vers la Palestine : nous vous informerons de leur arrivée. 

Merci encore pour votre soutien continu. Ensemble, nous continuerons à défier physiquement le blocus que nous finirons par aider à briser  ! 

Already unliveable: Help the Freedom Flotilla sail against the inhuman blockade of Gaza

 

Dear Supporters,
In 2020, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition will sail again to break the illegal and inhuman blockade of Gaza. During this mission we will be focusing on children and youth struggling to survive in the wreckage of Gaza, their beloved home. Canada Boat to Gaza is reaching out to children and youth organizations, and to individuals like you, to help support our work and to bring an end to the suffering in Gaza.

Eight years ago in 2012, the UN declared that Gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020. Over the years, the international community has watched that prediction become truth. Palestinians in Gaza live among bombed out hospitals, schools, and homes. There are water, food and electricity shortages throughout the beleaguered strip making basic survival a serious challenge. The desperate economic situation in Gaza also means that children have to think and act as older than they are, with too many of them working to help support their families.

The most vulnerable of the innocent are children and youth, many of whom have been deliberately targeted by Israeli snipers since the beginning of the Great March of Return, when Palestinians demand their right to return to their homeland from which Israel expelled them. Israeli snipers have murdered at least 256 Palestinians in these peaceful protests, and more than 29,000 have been maimed for life, many of them children and youth. Please watch and share this award-winning short video about one of them, Dreams in the Crosshairs, created by one of our Palestinian partner organizations in Gaza, We Are Not Numbers, with funding from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

The world expresses outrage and yet the slaughter and deliberate destruction of Gaza continues with impunity. In November 2019, after a three day Israeli offensive on Gaza, Palestinian Health Minister, Dr. Mai al-Kaila, reported that one-third of the Palestinians killed by Israeli missiles and shells were women and children.

It seems clear that Israel is systematic targeting Gaza's future, its children and youth. Imagine if this was happening in your hometown. Imagine if it was your child who was permanently maimed for peacefully protesting human rights violations. Would the world still be silent? Would you want others to speak up against these attacks?

Will you help us sail this year? Together we can help end the blockade! Read and share our last message (Why we Sail, and Sail and Sail Again) on the Canadian Boat to Gaza website.

Many of you will be hearing this week about the "Steal of the Century" proposed by the US President. We remind everyone that without justice, there can be no peace, and so we encourage you to read, share and amplify Palestinian responses in your communities and around the world, including this "Appeal of the Century" from We Are Not Numbers.

A critical way to help our campaign is to contribute financially. There are different ways you can make a donation. Click here to donate. We ask you to consider a monthly donation. We are pleased to accept e-transfers from Canadian bank accounts (Interac) or online using a major credit card or PayPal account. You can also donate by cheque or money order and mailing to Canadian Boat to Gaza, PO Box 1950, London Stn. B, London, Ontario N6A 5J4, CANADA. In other countries, please consider donating through one of our Freedom Flotilla coalition partner campaigns : https://jfp.freedomflotilla.org/donate

Why We Sail, Sail, and Sail Again: Freedom Flotilla 2020

Freedom Flotilla sailors and participants are sometimes asked: Why do you keep sailing toward Gaza only to be captured? Why not give the funds you raise directly to the Palestinians of Gaza as aid? Our rationale for sailing and our experiences in 2018 provide some answers. Our Palestinian partners in Gaza are asking us to challenge the illegal blockade. In May 2018 the Norwegian fishing trawler Al Awda (The Return) and the Swedish sailing ship Freedom sailed from Scandinavia. Over two months, we called on ports in Denmark, Germany, Holland, England, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy spreading the message of freedom for Palestinians. Israel has extended its reach, pressuring governments in Cyprus,Turkey, and Greece to prevent our ships sailing from their ports.

Canadians Karen DeVito and John Turnbull joined the sailing ship Freedom in Denmark and crewed her from Copenhagen to Palermo where John then captained the ship on the final leg toward Gaza. Other Canadians, including Heather Milton-LighteningRon RousseauMajed KhraishiKathy Wazana, and Larry Commodore of the Stó:lo Nation, were on board Al Awda at different points in her voyage, and Canadian journalist Dimitri Lascaris reported for The Real News Network from Flotilla boats and from several ports. 

The arrival of the ships at each European port occasioned special events, marches, music, speaking opportunities, as well as visits with municipal and provincial politicians. In some places cities and regions had passed motions to support the Flotilla and recognize Palestine. In Amsterdam, activists organized a small-boat Flotilla through the canals with music, banners and flags. Supporters followed along the canals and bridges handing out hundreds of flyers. Brighton, England gave a rousing welcome on the pier, held an information event in a local park, and a packed house speaking event in the town. Gijón, Spain held a march through the city with about 800 people with music, dancing, singing and a Palestinian flag that required 40 people to parade it through the streets. The City Council of Cádiz, Spain voted the Flotilla "Illustrious Visitor." Two smaller Swedish sailboats crossed Netherland, Belgium and France by river and canal, catching public interest when authorities prevented them from mooring in Paris, and visited a number of other waterside communities.

Energizing local solidarity groups, providing outreach and diplomacy are all aspects of the Flotilla's work. The voyage around Europe is so valuable in these respects. We also discovered that refugees would visit our ships at each port. The mayors of three Italian ports met our ships at the piers and declared refugees welcome to their cities, regardless of their then-Prime Minister's negative attitude. Our crew met with local and provincial politicians, ambassadors– they attended regional parliamentary sessions, municipal meetings and gave presentations to the public as well as tours of the boats. All these activities are part of why we sail.

Palestinians in Gaza are now more than ever connected with the rest of the world by the internet. They know when the Freedom Flotilla is coming; they go to the seashore and wait. We are answering a civil society call when we sail–when we ask our partner organizations in Gaza if they would prefer a donations over a Flotilla, they always respond saying we should to sail and raise international awareness about the blockade. They prefer we expand awareness of the longest running occupation in modern history. They also tell us that our sailing gives Palestinians hope and the knowledge that they are not alone.

The Flotilla movement has launched successful legal challenges to Israel for improper confiscation of our ships. One recent court victory by Ship to Gaza Sweden provided the funds for purchase of the Freedom and two smaller sailboats that travelled through France to the Mediterranean. And so Captain John, when interrogated on the way to an Israeli prison, was pleased to answer this question: "Did a terrorist organization provide your funding?" with a solid "Yes!". Then to the question "Which one?", John replied: "The Israeli government."

The Freedom, aside from its main cargo of hope, also carried some medical aid that Israel is required to deliver. To date our 114 boxes remain in Israel, awaiting delivery to Gaza. While these medical supplies were not a significant quantity, they provide another opportunity for ongoing legal action in Israeli courts against the blockade.

The Flotilla will sail again in 2020, at the request of Palestinians of Gaza. This is the year the UN report declared that Gaza will be unliveable. Right now, most of its drinking water is contaminated. Every child shows symptoms of psychological distress. Each Friday Palestinians stand on their own land near the fence asking for their human rights as Israeli snipers shoot them. In 2018 the IDF has killed 254 people in Gaza, 47 of them children. Thousands have been injured; many amputations have resulted.

There are shortages of medicine in Gaza. Children go to school in shifts. Many are orphaned. Israeli drones fly overhead day and night. Hospitals are overwhelmed, especially on Fridays. Last summer we met young Jamil from Gaza in an Italian port; his mother had applied to Israel for permission to take him there for medical treatment. During the years of waiting he had survived on blood transfusions from his grandfather. He must return once his rare blood condition is treated. We saw the worry in his mother’s eyes. Gaza is hazardous even for a healthy child. 

And so the flotilla will sail again in 2020, even more mindful this year of the children of Gaza and the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the Mavi Marmara and other Flotilla vessels in 2010.

One critical way to help this campaign is to contribute financially. There are different ways you can make a donation. Click here to donate. We ask you to consider a monthly donation. We are pleased to accept e-transfers from Canadian bank accounts (Interac) or online using a major credit card or PayPal account. You can also donate by cheque or money order and mailing to Canadian Boat to Gaza, PO Box 1950, London Stn. B, London, Ontario N6A 5J4, CANADA. In other countries, please consider donating through one of our Freedom Flotilla coalition partner campaigns.

Please help us spread the word about our campaigns:

– share our messages with your family, friends and/or work colleagues and encourage them to join our mailing list; 
– send an endorsement message from your association, union, congregation or political party;
– organize and attend events to raise funds and awareness for our campaign;
– join a Freedom Flotilla campaign near you and encourage others to do so;
– follow us on the web, Facebook, Twitter (see below) and share our posts widely.

Together, we can help end the blockade!