We condemn the violence and offensive policies employed by the Israeli State!

We condemn the ruthless and bloody attack of the Israeli State to the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on May 31, 2010 and call upon all attentive parties to join this act of reprimand. In the face of the petrifying outcomes of the embargo imposed on the people of Palestine by the Israeli State for many years, we urge the public to raise their voice on this issue.

The ever mounting violent and offensive policies of the Israeli State in recent years should be evaluated by the deterrent and punitive agents of international institutions at once and necessary sanctions should immediately be implemented in a decisive manner by the international community as the question of where these reckless policies will end up is a matter of deep concern for all of us. In the absence of the necessary collective response, it is obvious that Israel or other offensive nation states alike will escalate such practices.
This violent attack committed by the Israeli State with an alleged excuse of “they were going to lynch us” is an atrocious military operation, causing the death and injury of a still unclear number of civilians. As the result of the unlawful embargo imposed by the Israeli State, basic human needs such as health care, food or heating cannot be met in Gaza and natural resources are shattered in a brutal manner. This ferocious attack to stop a civilian flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza revealed once again the Israeli State’s insistence on its ongoing unlawful blockade and violence in Gaza for many years.

Although the Israeli State ratified the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1991 and therefore is under the responsibility of assuring the rights to life, health, employment and education as well as freedom of mobility, it continues to impose state terror, explicitly violates international human rights laws, commits war crimes for all the world to see and falls way behind in carrying out any of its responsibilities of securing peace and justice in the region.

In this context, there are two main actions to be taken immediately: First; all necessary steps should be taken by the international community and institutions such as the UN Security Council and the EU to control the Israeli State. Second; every measure should be taken to prevent all kinds of possible aggression against all oppressed minorities who are under the threat of another dominant group. We urge all NGOs and the media to take a stand against all kinds of militarist attacks aimed at civilians and while doing that, to refrain from inviting violent calls and discourses. In this respect, it is of vital importance to resist all kinds of possible provocations, in order to prevent any racist reactions against the Jewish community in Turkey. The social climate just before the September 6-7, 1955 incidents and the extent to which those incidents escalated should never be forgotten. We also demand that the Turkish Government immediately terminate all kinds of existing military cooperation agreements with Israel.

We also demand that the Turkish Government immediately terminates all kinds of existing military cooperation agreements with Israel, including the purchase of 4 Heron planes from Israel. Moreover, given the Israeli State’s offensive record and repeated warnings, we strongly believe and demand that the Turkish Government should account for the negligence of necessary preventive and protective diplomatic measures before the flotilla set off, in order to protect the lives and well being of the volunteers and activists.

All peoples of the region and the world, and the people of Palestine in particular, desire a “permanent peace.” In order to get the hope of a permanent peace off the ground it should be a priority for all of us to protect the democratic rights of the peoples of the region, starting with the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. Within this context we urge all attentive parties to raise their voices and struggle against the violent attitudes of the Israeli State.
 
Women for Women′s Human Rights (WWHR) - New Ways
Istanbul, Turkey