Ed Corrigan
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=135958§ionid=3510302
Palestinians ride boats in a preparation ceremony to receive the international aid convoy "Freedom Flotilla" in Gaza Seaport before its Israeli attack which left 9 activists dead. |
In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the UN, threatened that Tel Aviv will "use all necessary means" to prevent new Gaza-bound aid ships from reaching Gaza.
The threats came as a group of Some 50 female Lebanese and foreign activists announced a plan to send aid ships to Gaza, which has been under siege since 2007.
The new aid convoy planned the mission after Israeli commandos in May stormed the Gaza Freedom Flotilla aid convoy, killing nine civilian activists and injuring dozens of others.
Israeli missile ships have also blocked a Libyan aid ship from reaching Gaza.
Press TV spoke with Lawyer Edward C. Corrigan about the issue.
The following is the transcript of the interview:
Press TV: Israel is threatening to stop another two ships now. Is there any legal basis for this?
Corrigan: Now, clearly Israel's actions are illegal. The blockade is illegal because they are imposing collective punishment on the Gaza population. There is no basis in law to support that. The United Nations says that and the British Foreign Secretary has called for lifting of the siege. Any attack on ships in international water is under the Exclusive Flag Jurisdiction. Legal dictum means that it is an attack on the country the flag of which is on the ship. So, clearly Israel cannot legally attack it. And also, of course, the Israeli's have said that they would withdraw from Gaza, yet they have imposed clearly an illegal siege -- [it is illegal] because it involves collective punishment on 1.5 million people.
Press TV: The UN hasn't done much in order to ease the Gaza blockade, nor has it done anything major to help these aid ships reach Gaza. But what is it the UN can do to sort of ease the situation for Gaza civilians?
Corrigan:Well, there was a proposal to bring the matter before the UN Security Council, but the matter was cancelled. I seriously suspect that that was due to I guess political interference, for Israel by the United States. So, the Security Council clearly can take action. But you are right that the United Nations with the US -- sort of giving Israel protection -- has not taken a stand on these issues.
But, the Security Council clearly does have authority but with the US veto and the US' current position on this matter, it is unlikely that the UN is going to take any action… even a lot of UN agencies are calling for the siege to be lifted and foods and exports from Gaza to be allowed.
Press TV: In May, Israeli commandos attacked a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters. That attack left 9 peace activists dead and dozens more wounded. But except for condemnations from here and there, from the legal point of view, What else can be done to not only prevent Israel from what's its doing to Gaza but to bring it to court for what it did to the previous flotilla?
Corrigan: I believe that the Turkish government could bring the matter to the International Court, suing the Israelis for their attack; not so much on the ship where the nine activists were killed, even though they were all Turkish civilians…the Maldives was their flag but there was another Turkish ship that was in fact attacked by the Israeli's but fortunately nobody was killed there.
But when you attack a ship in international water, you are attacking a ship of Turkey, and a ship of Turkey is of course a member of NATO and therefore Israel actually brazenly attacked a ship that was a member of the NATO alliance and technically that is an act of war on NATO. But due to the political circumstances, the Europeans chose not to honor their own treaty obligations.
But I think that there are various countries which do allow prosecution for war crimes and there is the fact that Israeli soldiers are afraid to go to England right now because they can be prosecuted under the current war crimes provisions under British law. So, that is one possibility.
There are also similar actions taking place in Belgium. But I believe the international high court, like when they did the ruling on the wall, that that would be the more appropriate for Turkey and other countries have been aggrieved in this particular action.
But I think Israel is clearly losing the war for public opinion. You know to attack a Lebanese ship -- with 50 woman involved and is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is both revered in all Christian and Muslim religions, and is going to contain nuns -- would be a PR (Public Relations) disaster for the Israeli's and they would be I think, bearing a heavy price for continuing their very aggressive policy. So, the fact that people are prepared to put their lives on the line, to help break was clearly is a criminal siege of Gaza, I think should be commended by many people.
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