from Crikey .....

In a tearful and gruesome testimony, Salah Al-Samouni spoke of the two days of Israeli helicopter attacks in the Zaytoun area of Gaza that claimed 29 members of his family on Jan. 5 and 6.

"They hit us, they hit us with Apaches," Mr. Samouni told United Nations war crimes investigators in Gaza City on Sunday. "I found my 2-year-old daughter, she was dead.... Why?"

Six months after Israel's winter military offensive that left over 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead (10 soldiers and three civilians), the UN is holding unprecedented public hearings in Gaza City and Geneva this week into allegations that war crimes were carried out during the conflict.

Led by South African judge Richard Goldstone, himself of Jewish descent, the fact-finding mission has a mandate to investigate all suspected violations of international law, including those carried out by Hamas and other Palestinian militants throughout the conflict.

A 15-member UN team came to Gaza earlier this month to speak with victims and survey the destruction.

Despite the mission's scope, however, serious doubts exist about its ability to yield prosecutions or produce a sense of justice for either side.

Israel's refusal to cooperate with the mission, and the fact that it is not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), make it unlikely Israeli officials will end up on trial, human rights groups say.

For their part, Israeli officials insist the investigation is inherently biased against the Jewish state. They note that the UN Human Rights Council resolution that established the mission's mandate failed to call for an investigation into Palestinian rocket fire that has terrorized residents of southern Israel for years. Israel says it wasn't targeting civilians but Hamas fighters were deliberately hiding among civilians.

The UN requested permission to hold hearings in southern Israel for victims of Palestinian rocket fire, but the Israeli government refused to host the team - or even allow it to travel through Israel into Gaza or the West Bank.

Mr. Steinberg says Israel's government decided the investigation is so political in its leanings that allowing the fact-finders into southern Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkelon - both regular targets of Palestinian rocket fire - would do nothing to either repair the image of bias or influence the ultimate findings of the mission.

"The general consensus was that there is so much bias and built-in animosity towards Israel with this investigation that allowing them into Sderot simply wouldn't change anything," Steinberg says.

Others say Israel's blanket refusal to work with the UN team or even acknowledge Israeli crimes may have taken place is fodder for those who accuse its officials of enjoying years of impunity.

"The track record of Israeli impunity, it's been a longstanding problem," says Amnesty International's chief researcher for Israel and the Palestinian territories, Donatella Rovera.

http://www.truthout.org/063009O?n

Whilst the entire EU is threatening Iran with sanctions if it doesn't release 1 Iranian employee of UK Embassy .....

Dear President Obama,

My friend, Cynthia McKinney and Nobel laureate, Mairead Maguire and 20 other people were trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, which, as I understand, is something that you have encouraged Israel to allow.

The Honorable Cynthia McKinney served six terms in the US Congress and she was the Green Party candidate for the office that you eventually won. It is an outrage that the Israeli Navy would block the boat that she and 21 others were on in international waters and board the boat and kidnap the crew and humanitarian aid workers.

President Obama, when an American captain was kidnapped by Somali "pirates" US Navy SEALS were sent in to rescue him. He was the captain of a private, for profit, ship and the US military was used to rescue him.

What Israel did, outside of its waters, to an unarmed boat filled with aid for Gazans who have been trapped in a concentration camp by Israel, is an act of international piracy and you must demand that Israel release Ms. McKinney and her fellow captors with all haste.

I just received word that the illegally detained captives have been moved to another prison and may be charged with trying to enter Israel illegally, when they were trying to get aid to Gaza and were not even in Israeli waters.

I can't even express my immense outrage at this overt breach of international law that has been perpetrated by Israel.

Use your influence as the greatest dispenser of military aid to Israel to force that rogue state to release Ms. McKinney et. al., then we can talk about their immoral occupation of Palestine and the inhumane blockade of Gaza.

With urgency,

Cindy Sheehan

Israel has allowed a former U.S. congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, to return home days after detaining her and other activists on board a ship carrying relief supplies for Gaza, a pro-Palestinian group said on Monday.

Israeli authorities intercepted the vessel, which had 21 activists on board, on June 30 and said it would not be permitted to enter Gaza's coastal waters because of security risks in the area and an existing naval blockade.

McKinney has been released, a statement by the American Muslims for Palestine said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098410.html

Report from John Parker, West Coast Coordinator of the International Action Center.  Parker is one of four IAC activists participating in the Viva Palestina delegation to Gaza.

A delegation of about 200 people left for Cairo, Egypt from July 4th to July 7th, en route to Gaza to make the political demand of breaking and defying Israel's illegal and genocidal siege of Gaza and to provide much-needed humanitarian aid to the people--wheelchairs, walkers and medical supplies.

We are currently split up into two groups.  One group is made up of the drivers of the vehicles that will transport some of the aid from Alexandria, Egypt, through the border of Gaza.  I am part of this group. The other group is gathering and organising other medical supplies in Cairo, and they will meet up with us at the border.

New York City Councilmember Charles Barron has already joined the group in Cairo and will also be at the border for the crossing.  Former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney will also be joining us at the border of Gaza before we cross.  McKinney was released only a few days ago from an Israeli jail, where she and 20 other activists were held after being abducted by the Israeli navy from the Spirit of Humanity boat which was carrying aid to Gaza.  

I am proud to be a part of building and participating in this tremendous effort to expose the horror of Israel's war against the Palestinian people, which the media tries to hide from the world.  As Ron Kovic, one of the initiators of this campaign in the U.S., along with British MP George Galloway said, "We are going there to offer a hand of friendship and solidarity, not bombs and terror."

Israel's bombing of Gaza for 23 days starting last December caused an immense and terrifying amount of damage.  At least 20 percent of the children there suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the bombing.  Half of the hospitals in Gaza and 47,000 homes were damaged.

However, one thing wasn't damaged--the will of the people of Gaza to survive and to strongly demand self-determination.  This is what inspires us to do all we can.

Judging from the reaction we receive here in Egypt from people who see our Viva Palestina USA T-shirts, many of the Egyptian people are proud and inspired by the courageous people of Gaza.  For example, a young woman who spoke English asked Judy Greenspan, another IAC organizer on the trip, what her T-shirt meant.  After Judy told her, she replied that a family member of hers works in a pharmacy and she wanted to donate medical supplies for the convoy.

This delegation is the second such convoy initiated by British MP George Galloway.  He organized the first in the UK.  The second one, which left from the U.S., was organized in collaboration with Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist Ron Kovic, author of "Born on the Fourth of July."

However, in the U.S., this effort is the result of the work of many in the Arab community, in the Mosques, in organizations like Al-Awda and others, in addition to anti-war and social justice organizations. On the delegation are members of CAIR, Middle East Childrens Alliance, Cuba Coalition, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, MECHA, International Action Center, International Socialist Organization, Workers World Party, ANSWER Coalition and many more.  All of the organizations participated in making this campaign possible.  However, along with the UK team of Viva Palestine, the lion's share of the credit must go to the Arab and Muslim communities in the U.S., which raised much of the funding for this effort.

Media coverage of our trip has been good.  Photographs here are from the most recent press conference in Cairo.  The press conference held on July 9 was covered by Al Jazeera and by one of the largest media outlets in Egupt.  In addition, there have been many interviews of individuals on the trip.   With Cynthia McKinney joining us at the border and the presence of Council member Charles Barron, that coverage will increase.

I should also mention the very impressive showing of support by members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement represented by four Black youth.  One of them, Brandon, is shown here holding a red, black and green African Liberation flag.  He began his remarks at the press conference by giving a "shout out" to the people of Africa on the continent and referenced the people of Africa on the U.S. delegation, who were showing their solidarity with Palestine.  He made the links between the racism and repression faced by Palestinian people and the occupation of Gaza with the repression faced by Black people in the U.S. by police brutality and occupation of their neighborhoods.  He said he was inspired to come on the delegation by the actions of Cynthia McKinney.

Viva Palestina Convoy, July 12, 2009, 2:45 am Cairo

The 100 Viva Palestina humanitarian volunteers have decided to stay the night in their buses at the Mubarak Peace Bridge over the Suez Canal despite pressure from the Egyptian security officials to return to Cairo.

The official reason given at the checkpoint for refusing to allow them to cross is that the officials there did not have a list of the names of the members of the convoy. Such a list was, however, at the request of the Egyptian authorities before any of the convoy members set foot in Egypt sent to the Egyptian ambassadors to Washington, D.C., and London.

The US Embassy in Cairo has now stepped in to forward a newly provided list of those convoy members aboard the buses at the bridge to the Egyptian foreign ministry to clear the way for the convoy's passage.

Nancy Mansour Leigh, a spokeswoman for the Viva Palestina delegation at the Suez crossing, says, "It's going to be an uncomfortable night, but it's nothing compared with what the people of Gaza must live through every day. We've already succeeded in securing internet access and are negotiating other necessary facilities. But whatever facilities are provided or not, our determination will see us through the night and all the way to Gaza."

New York City Councilman Charles Barron is on the scene at the Suez Canal and acting as chief negotiator with Egyptian security officials. "The Viva Palestina movement has had a great success this morning with our stand at the Suez crossing. We've now got an agreement for us to stay until the list of our convoy members reaches the foreign ministry. It shows what can be achieved with the determination and commitment of a collective body of people. We are determined to cross onto Gaza, and no matter what happens next, out of this first small confrontation, we've achieved a success for the movement in support of the Palestinian people. The convoy is going to move on, and we ain't gonna let nobody turn us around."

British Member of Parliament George Galloway offered these words of encouragement for the delegation being held up at the crossing:" This is an American convoy. And Americans are used to refusing to give up seats on buses in the struggle for justice. I regard everyone who's putting themselves on the line tonight at the Suez Canal for the success of this humanitarian mission as nothing short of a hero."

An American humanitarian aid convoy carrying 50 vehicles is expected to break the Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.

The Viva Palestina US aid convoy, led by 170 activists, is to cross the Rafah border crossing along the Egyptian border on Tuesday.

The convoy carries hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies for Palestinians, suffering from the two-year long collective punishment on their territory.

The Rafah crossing, which remains closed most of the time, is Gaza's only border that bypasses Israel.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a close watch over the closure of their borders with the Gaza Strip since Hamas took power in the strip in June 2007.

Earlier on Saturday, Egyptian authorities stopped another US aid convoy at the Suez Canal, on its way to the coastal sliver.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=100568&sectionid=351020202

The Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy enters the Gaza Strip, breaking the deadly Israeli blockade imposed on 1.5 million Palestinians for a second time.

The American aid convoy carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies for the people of Gaza crossed the Rafah border on Wednesday upon receiving permission from Cairo after a 10-day delay.

The 200 activists are allowed to stay in the coastal territory only for 24 hours, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Viva Palestina activists, all Americans, including Charles Barron, a New York City Councilman, say that they have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing for about 10 days despite earlier arrangements.

The humanitarian aid convoy consisting of 50 vehicles is the second organized by British Member of Parliament and Press TV presenter George Galloway.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=100784&sectionid=351020202

Allowed only 24 hours in Gaza under threat of not being allowed to return to Egypt, the Viva Palestina convoy has been a whirlwind of activity since crossing the border at Rafah Wednesday night. Organizers have attempted to compress 3 days of planned activities into a single day.

Thursday started by watching a press conference featuring Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh with members of the Neturei Karta, an organization of anti-Zionist Rabbis from Munsey, New York, who traveled with the caravan. Haniyeh emphasized that the government and the people of Gaza take no issue with Jews, but rather with Zionism and the ongoing oppression and blockade by Israel. Rabbi Dovid Weissman concurred that Jews, Christians and Muslims had coexisted peacefully in Muslim countries for centuries prior to the birth of Zionism, and asked for the people of Gaza to join him in praying for the peaceful dismantlement of the state of Israel.

The group then drove around the Gaza Strip in buses to see the aftermath of the bombing onslaught 6 months ago before attending another press conference at the Legislative Assembly and traveling to Shafa Hospital in Gaza City to deliver the medical aid which was brought from the United States and gathered in Cairo. Finally, delegates met with families of some of the 11,000 prisoners being held in Israel at the Ministry of Prisoners in Tel Alhwa, where children of parents killed in December and January also addressed the group.

Fraser Gaspard of Denver, Colorado, said of seeing the devastation firsthand, "It really shows how effective the American weapons we give Israel are, and how deliberate Israel was in its attack from the spots that were hit, schools, hospitals, a cement factory, homes in refugee camps. You could see it was a war of terror against the Gazan people."

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23084.htm