The Israeli assault on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza had been “brutal and disproportionate” according to the UN Human Rights Council, Brent residents were told at a public meeting at Willesden Green library organised by Brent Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Audrey Bomse, Legal Coordinator of the Free Gaza Movement detailed the various grave international humanitarian and human rights violations that Israel had committed.
The purpose of the meeting was to examine the relations between Israel and Palestine in the light of international and criminal law. The speakers, focused on the events of last May, when Israeli commandos intercepted a flotilla of vessels attempting to break the Israeli blockade and take humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Sarah Colbourne and Alex Lort Phillips, who had been on the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, which came under attack from the commandos, gave first hand accounts of the event to a shocked audience. Sarah and Alex said that the attack, in which nine civilians were killed, had led to a significant shift of opinion on the issue of Israeli’s illegal activities.
The meeting also heard about the attempts to revise the law on universal jurisdiction so that Israeli ministers, suspected of war crimes, would avoid arrest in the UK. Brent PSC is urging Brent residents to contact their MPs to ask them to vote against any weakening of the law and will be organising a lobby of MPs on the Palestine issue on November 24th.
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