Moro CSO’s condemn Israeli attack vs. Peace Flotilla

By: Ali Zhul-Qarnain

June 3, 2010 - Various Moro civil society organizations condemned in the strongest terms possible the attack of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on the Freedom Flotilla off the Gazan coastline.

“Imposing a food blockade against any group of people – regardless of religious affiliations and irrespective of political convictions – is worse enough because it violates the law of God and that of man. And the barbarity of harming those who help a starving population such as the people of Gaza is beyond the power of words to describe.”

This is the reaction of Rahib L. Kudto, the national president of the United Youth for Peace and Development, Inc. (UNYPAD), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in Cotabato City, on the attack of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) against the Freedom Flotilla while the convoy of ship are still in the international waters.

Kudto, concurrently, is the deputy secretary-general of the Mindanao People’s Caucus (MPC) and the chairperson of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society – Kutawato Regional Management Committee (CBCS-KRMC).

Contrary to what the IDF claims, the Freedom Flotilla was not full of Hamas terrorists but instead full of peace activists, members of European parliaments and other groups who wanted the blockade of Gaza be lifted immediately.

Bobby Benito, the Executive Director of the Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace (BCJP) said the Israeli attack was “an act of brutal state terrorism."

“Israel, like any other state, has the right to defend itself and its territories, but this was an outrageous use of lethal force to defend an outrageous and lethal policy -- Israel's blockade of Gaza, where two thirds of families don't know where they'll find their next meal,” Benito said.

“The lives of people who perished in the attack cannot be brought back. But perhaps, together, we can make this dark moment a turning point -- if we arise with an unshakable call for justice, and an unbreakable dream of peace,“ Benito added.

Meanwhile, Taher Solaiman, the president and founder of the Cotabato Center for Peace and Development Initiatives, Inc. (CCPDII), an NGO based in Carmen, North Cotabato, said “the food blockade against Gaza is no less than a form of a collective punishment of its whole population which is illegal under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law and, therefore, its perpetrators should not go unpunished.”

The UNYPAD, BCJP and CCPDII are one in calling for “an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation on the Israeli attack on the Peace Flotilla; to punish whoever will be found guilty and, for the outright lifting of the food blockade against Gaza.”