Human Rights Workers to Accompany Gaza Fishermen on Monday

Posted Aug 31, 2008      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version Bookmark and Share

Human Rights Workers to Accompany Gaza Fishermen on Monday

GAZA CITY (1 September 2008) - Human Rights Observers from the Free Gaza
Movement and the International Solidarity Movement launch campaign to
monitor Israeli naval aggression against Gazan fishermen.

According to a recent article in The Guardian, “Under the Oslo accords,
which in 1993 were supposed to herald the coming of an independent
Palestinian state, Gazan fishermen were to be allowed 20 nautical miles
out to sea, where they could catch sardine as they migrated from the Nile
delta up towards Turkey during the spring. But Israeli naval ships in
recent years have imposed their own, much-reduced limits, sometimes fewer
than 6 miles out.” Israel enforces these arbitrary limits with lethal
violence. Many fishermen have either been killed or injured as a result.
Just 3 days ago 4 such fishermen were attacked and “arrested” by Israeli
gunboats.

This Monday morning, human rights workers from the Free Gaza Movement will
accompany fishermen from Gaza City as they venture out to assert their
right to fish their own coastal waters. The aim of these internationals
will be to record and document the continued harassment of the Palestinian
fishermen, and the arbitrary attacks and threats to which they are
subjected. It is hoped that their presence will also act as some form of
deterent to these abuses.

The scope of the campaign extends beyond Gaza City all the way along
Gaza’s coast. Human Rights Workers may be present on any Gazan fishing
boat, at any time from this point onward. The boats on which they are
present will not be specially marked.

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http://www.freegaza.org

 

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