Boats to Gaza Stopped by Israeli Warships

UPDATE: - The IDF have taken the boats bound for Gaza Now is the time to act. Call the State Department and the White House and tell them to press the Israelis to ensure the safety of those aboard the two ships!

Image courtesy: english.ahram.org.eg

(MEDITERRANEAN SEA) - At 7:43 am (east coast time) ground support crew lost contact with two ships, the Saoirse of Ireland and the Tahrir of Canada, carrying 27 civilian passengers, medical supplies and letters of support for the people of Gaza. On board the Tahrir is one American, Kit Kittredge.

At 7:30 am the Tahrir was interrogated, via radio, by the Israeli Navy. The ships were approximately 48 nautical miles off the coastline, well into international waters. Asked by the Israeli Navy for their destination, Canadian activist Ehab Lotayef replied, "The conscience of humanity." When they repeated the question, asking for final destination, Lotayef said, "The betterment of mankind."

Now is the time to act. Call the State Department and the White House and tell them to press the Israelis to ensure the safety of those aboard the two ships!

Call the State Department:

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 202-647-5291
• U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro 011-972-3-519-7575
• Office of Israel/Palestinian Affairs Paul Sutphin 202-647-3672
• Office of Consular Affairs, Kim Richter 202-647-8308

and the White House: 202-456-1414

We urge you to organize support actions in your area today. Send the information to our webmaster at bio190d@gmail.com - it will be posted immediately.

For those of you in the NYC area an emergency support vigil will take place from 5pm to 6:30pm today - Friday, November 4th across the street from the Israeli Consulate at 800 2nd Avenue between 42nd Street and 43rd Street. Denise Rickles, with Code Pink NYC, will be the point person for this support rally. She can be reached at deniserr@msn.com. 

Please bring appropriate signs with you such as:
END THE SIEGE OF GAZA NOW!
OCCUPY WALL STREET NOT GAZA
END U.S. FUNDING OF ISRAELI ATTACKS

End Israel's Unwarranted Murder of Kids