For Immediate Release
June 1, 2010
Contact: Ajamu Baraka, 404.588.9761
http://www.ushrnetwork.org/
The US Human Rights Network today condemned Israel’s illegal assault on the Gaza flotilla in international waters and called on the Obama administration to demand that Israel release those arrested, provide medical care to the wounded, ensure that all humanitarian aid and supplies reach Gaza, and prosecute all those responsible. “Israel’s decision to attack a humanitarian mission showed a complete disregard for human rights and the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza,” said USHRN Executive Director Ajamu Baraka. “The Obama administration should not stand by and treat Israel’s crimes as business as usual”
The flotilla raid, which resulted in at least nine civilian deaths and the detention of almost 700 activists from more than 50 nations, including 13 Americans, has sparked global outrage. Heads of state from around the world have decried the commando-style raid. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed “shock at reports that humanitarian aid was met with violence.” Criticism has also been voiced within Israel: Former Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Alon Liel called the raid a “disaster” and a “terrible mistake” with significant potential consequences.
The United States response to the raid, however, has been grossly inadequate. President Obama issued a one-paragraph statement yesterday regretting the loss of life and urging that “all the facts and circumstances” around the events come to light “as quickly as possible.” Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a trip to Washington scheduled for today.
The U.N. has called for an impartial inquiry into the events, but the implication in the President’s statement is that the U.S. will sit on the sidelines while others pursue the matter. This appears consistent with the administration’s inability or unwillingness to apply diplomatic pressure on Israel in recent months to advance the Middle East peace process. But given the administration’s stated commitments to human rights principles, the President’s best if not only viable option in this case is to stop tiptoeing around political landmines and insist without further ambiguity that such blatant contempt for human rights be addressed without delay.
