Kairos Palestine lauds EU initiative to lift Gaza blockade
Date: 10,June,2010
Dear Mr. Miguel Angel Moratinos:
We are Kairos Palestine, co-authors of "A Moment of Truth" -- Palestinian Christians' word to the world against the occupation of Palestine, and our call for support in establishing a just and lasting peace in our home.
Today, we write regarding your recent announcement that the European Union will present a proposal for lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip. We write, then, to commend this initiative, and to stress the necessity of its enactment. We write to urge you, the Spanish foreign ministry, and the other EU member states to present a proposal driven both by total respect for international law (long since neglected by Israeli policy in Gaza and elsewhere) and by the simple, indisputable need for justice in Gaza (whose population has suffered egregious violations of their human rights, and equally egregious neglect, by the Israeli state, and whose isolation has been protracted by the split between branches of Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and Gaza.).
Like you, we were horrified by the Israeli military's killings of activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla last week. We were appalled by the senseless loss of life, by the wanton abuse of miltiary power, and by the Israeli government's refusal to acknowledge the direness of the circumstances that sparked the creation of the flotilla in the first place. Indeed, one of the most shocking developments of the entire incident was this government's audacity in claiming that the flotilla violated international law: a claim issued by a government and military that illegally attacked the flotilla in international waters and which, most significantly, maintains a blockade that continues to illegally strangle the economy, health, well-being, and basic human liberties of the Gazan people (all in the aftermath of a military assault that killed 1,400 of them, mostly civilians, in 2008-2009). The brutality that befell the Freedom Flotilla is but one expression of the brutality that has historically afflicted the Gaza Strip -- and continues to afflict it every day -- at the hands of occupation.
The Kairos Palestine group is deeply encouraged by the EU's imminent proposal for an end to the blockade of Gaza. We request that you and your colleagues exert all conceivable effort to achieve this end, that you act (in this context and every other) according to the goal of strengthening the unity of the Palestinian people rather than enabling further divisions, and that you hold the Israeli government accountable for its violations of international law and basic human rights. Lifting the blockade is a step -- a crucial, powerful, and very real step -- not only toward justice for Gaza, but, indeed, justice for Palestinians everywhere. We commend the measures you are beginning to discuss, and we hope for -- we urge -- the complete fulfillment of this goal.
We thank you for your time and attention.
Yours sincerely,
Rifat Odeh Kassis
Kairos Palestine
General Coordinator
