As a Green Party candidate for Congress and an American Jew, we are happy to endorse this statement from the Green Party of the United States:
The Green Party of the United States condemns the attack by the Israeli navy on Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ships in international wates near Cyprus, which have left at least 19 human rights activists dead and at least 50 wounded.
"The attacks on the aid boats is a criminal act of piracy and a deliberate provocation," said Dr. Justine McCabe, co-chair of the Green Party's International Committee.
"We demand immediate action from the US, including emergency orders from President Obama to cut off all aid to Israel. The policies of the US regarding Israel and Palestine up to now have convinced Israel that it can act with impunity in committing massacres and massive human violations against Palestinian civilians. These illegal and atrocious actions now include the murder of other countries' citizens in international waters," added Dr. McCabe, who recently returned to the US from Haifa, where she participated in a coalition of over 400 Jewish and Palestinian Israelis and internationals who met to promote the growing call for the one democratic state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Israel had earlier threatened to seize the Freedom Flotilla ships and arrest the activists when they entered Gaza coastal waters, but instead executed a surprise maneuver at night in international waters that resulted in death and mayhem for nonviolent activists attempting to deliver 10,000 tons of supplies to the people of Gaza.
2008 Green presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney has released a statement on the massacre ("Cynthia McKinney Mourns the Dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: People of the US and the world must end Israeli impunity now!"). Ms. McKinney, a former member of Congress from Georgia, was one of 21 human rights activists on board the Free Gaza relief boat seized by the Israeli navy in international waters when it tried to deliver medical and other humanitarian aid to Gaza in June 2009, in the wake of Israel's invasion of Gaza.
Ms. McKinney and the other activists were held in an Israeli jail for several days.
"The US government's lack of response to the seizing of the Free Gaza boat and jailing of a former member of Congress was interpreted by Israel as a license for even more extreme illegal actions," said Starlene Rankin, co-chair of the Lavender Green Caucus. "We urge all Americans who value justice, human rights, and peace to put pressure on the White House and on their Representatives and Senators to move right now to stop all aid to Israel and seek international condemnation of these acts."
"We also urge Americans to be wary of the justifications for Israel's crimes that will come from politicians, media commentators, AIPAC, and other apologists for Israel. These justifications are meant to cover up atrocities, including yesterday's murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla," said Ms. Rankin.
