AMERICAN ISRAELIS APPALLED BY WORLD ATTACK ON ISRAEL’S DEFENSIVE ACTION;LABEL IT AS ANTI-SEMITISM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 1, 2010
The American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) today expressed its outrage at the seemingly coordinated world attack upon Israel for its defensive action in trying to prevent the “flotilla” terrorist attempt to breach Israel’s legitimate anti-terrorist defenses.
AIAC is a non-partisan, non-political, issue-oriented NGO whose purpose is to represent a united voice of the more than 250,000 Americans living in Israel on issues which affect Israel, Israel-U.S. relations, and the Jewish people worldwide.
“The flotilla’s attempt to aggressively breach Israel’s legally-declared and maintained maritime blockade against the Hamas terrorist-controlled Gaza Strip was intended as a direct attack upon Israel and its citizens,” stated AIAC Chairman Harvey Schwartz. “The American Israelis condemn those who have heavily criticized Israel for taking the steps necessary to defend its citizens from this outrageous attack.
“The Israeli maritime blockade of the terrorist-controlled Gaza Strip was fully in accord with maritime and international law,” continued Chairman Schwartz. “Its imposition and parameters were fully disclosed in accordance with such law. Such blockades are not uncommon. Perhaps the most famous one was the 1962 United States blockade of Cuba, after discovering that the Communist Cuban government was cooperating with the then Communist Soviet Union regime to construct a missile base in Cuba aimed at the U.S. In accordance with accepted international norms, the Soviets did not attempt to run the blockade.
“In this case, Israel was following the precedent established by the U.S. in declaring a maritime blockade in the face of potential attack. International law requires respect for a legitimately imposed and maintained maritime blockade (such as Israel’s) and permits the declaring country to use force to prevent an offender from breaking the blockade.
“The world condemnation should have been properly focused on the flotilla’s leaders and international sponsors whose refusal to adhere to international law and Israel’s numerous warnings was the direct cause of the unnecessary loss of life and serious injuries suffered by the Israeli military.
“Clearly, the flotilla’s intentions were not ‘humanitarian.’ Had their sole purpose been to see to it that ‘humanitarian aid’ was delivered to the Gaza residents, they would have followed well-established procedures to achieve that goal. For example, they could have shipped the goods to Gaza through the Egyptian border. Alternatively, they could, and should, have followed Israel’s offer to deliver the materials to Gaza after passing inspection that none of the goods were prohibited contraband, such as missiles or other military supplies which Hamas has used to attack Israel’s civilian population. Israel already transfers more than 1 million tons annually of humanitarian aid materials to Gaza. That the flotilla’s leaders and international sponsors refused to take any of these approaches proves beyond any doubt that their purpose was not ‘humanitarian’ but, rather, to directly attack Israel’s vital interests.
“The international community’s record-breaking rush to condemn Israel – rather than placing the blame where it truly belongs – has greatly shaken the Israeli people. When coupled with the numerous anti-Israel actions, such as (i) taking no action against Iran’s nuclear threat to Israel’s existence, (ii) remaining silent in the face of Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s flouting of UN Security Council resolutions by massively re-arming, (iii) directly attacking Israel through the recently-enacted NPT resolution while remaining silent about Iran’s aggressive nuclear program, (iv) encouraging anti-Israel delegitimizing activities, and (v) silence in the face of Hamas’s blatant violations of basic human rights by refusing any visits by the International Red Cross to the illegally captured prisoner Gilad Schalit, the only logical conclusion that can be drawn is that they are motivated solely by the vile scourge of anti-Semitism.”
Aaron Tirschwell, AIAC’s Executive Director, called upon the world’s Jewish population – as well as all people of good will – to support the truth. “Israel is the victim, not the aggressor,” Tirschwell stated. “The world can no longer permit anti-Semitism to motivate its actions.”
Topic: American Israeli Action Coalition - Flotilla News (Read 624 times)