A couple of months ago I went to a show by Mark Thomas, he decided to walk the wall Israel is building around Israel (inside the West Bank). Along the way he spoke to people on both sides of the wall. Ultra Orthodox settlers, secular Jews, peaceniks, IDF soldiers, Palestian politics, children and workers and anyone else he met along the way.

He recorded his trip in a book called Extreme Rambling and then had the show around the trip too.

What he details is utterly horrific. I had read about the wall and though it must be bad but kind of suffered from Bad Thing Overload and it became just another terrible thing happening in some corner of the world.

The fence as Israel calls it, wall as the Palestinians call it and Apartheid Wall as it is more accurately described is a naked land grab. An attempt to steal what little land and resources are left in the West Bank, in places diverting dozens of Kilometres into the West Bank to surround illegal settlements.

Workers are herded like cattle through gates at particular times of the day whilst others are refused permits to cross the wall. Even if their ill newborn child is on the other side. In some places cars must drop their passengers off, drive through and pick the passengers up once they have trecked through the barrier themselves. Including young children and the infirm.

Children cannot cross a road, so have to go through a tunnel under it, which flows with sewage. Meanwhile the school they arrive it is having it’s toilet block demolished as it doesn’t have the impossible to get permit. Leaving aside that having building permits doesn’t stop the Israeli state bulldozing homes or surrounding them with walls anyway, whether this wall cuts through football pitches or farms is irrelevant.

Of course, this only applies to Palestinians. Israeli citizens can travel back and forward with impunity.

Meanwhile the child conscripts in the IDF snatch children, keep them in prison for days before dropping them off miles from home to get back themselves. Others are repeatedly beaten.

And after all this, people can still get through the barrier if they know the right people or can grease the right palms.

And apologists for this country which is committing state terrorism on a daily basis defend it because of made up stories in a book by bronze age goat herders about a sociopathic mountain war god!

Israel has essentially turned the West Bank into the worlds largest concentration camp. Meanwhile in the Gaza strip A4 paper and corriander are banned from importation by a sea blockade whilst the ingredients for rockets are all allowed through. Never mind that the threat from armed militias letting off these rockets is the premise used to blockade corriander but let petrol and metal tubing through.

To the west of these countries of course, the masses in Northern African countries like Libya and Egypt get full support from the West in taking up arms against despots via the UN whilst sanction after sanction against Israels behaviour in Palestine is ignored.

Until the Israeli state ceases to treat Palestinians as chattel it is difficult to take on board any of the bleating from it’s apologists. It’s hard to take the moral high ground when you invade and occupy the high ground.

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MPs: Jim McGovern (Labour)

MSPs: Joe FitzPatrick (SNP), Alison McInnes (Liberal Democrat), Richard Baker (Labour), Alex Johnstone (Conservative), Nanette Milne (Conservative), Marlyn Glen (Labour), Nigel Don (SNP), Maureen Watt (SNP)

MEPs : Alyn Smith (SNP), David Martin (Labour), Catherine Stihler (Labour), Ian Hudghton (SNP), Struan Stevenson (Conservative), George Lyon (Liberal Democrat)

Dear X,

I am sure that like all people of conscience you have been horrified by the reports of the Israeli military attacks on neutral vessels in international waters killing at least 9 civilians. Amongst those on board were a man from Dundee – Ali El-Awaisi who was reportedly tortured.

The time line of events appears to be filling out as expected now that the Israeli state has released their prisoners.

This appears to be:
On 6 of the boats where the passengers and crew did not resist they were beaten.

on the Mavi Marmara:
IDF attacking the boat with weapons fire from the boats and helicopters damaging transmitting equipment and killing passengers.

Someone waving a white flag and a cameraman being shot – the cameraman being shot 4 times in the head.

IDF illegally boarding the vessel in international waters.

IDF boarding and the passengers and crew defending themselves. They additionally disarmed the soldiers and threw any guns or ammo they found on them overboard.

This continued until they were overwhelmed and more were killed or injured.

They were subsequently interrogated for information.

There are some reports that the tally of killed and injured given by Israel does not match those recorded by those on the boat and that several people are still unaccounted for.

They were then taken to a prison and interrogated, attacked by dogs and some claim to have been tortured.

All film and footage from those on board has been seized by Israel and so far tiny snippets which out of context support part of the Israeli narrative have been released (breaching international copyright laws). These have included clips with no sound at points in the time line where those on board claim they were being shot at.

The aid was then subsequently filtered using the secret Israel check-list of prohibited material into the Occupied Palestine Territories. One known item removed was batteries for electric wheelchairs. The justification for this was they could be used to arm suicide vests. Given they are the size of car batteries this is clearly a lie. Other items known to be banned include deadly coriander and evil sheets of A4 paper.

I would ask what you are capable and willing to do in your capacity as an elected representative of the people of Scotland and Dundee/North East to:

1. Bring attention to this outrageous attack on a humanitarian convoy.
2. Ensure that the truth of the events is released and not solely sanitised propaganda of the Israeli state.
3. Ensure the safe return of all passengers of these vessels to their home states including the dead, injured and the disappeared.
4. Ensure the safe return of all their possessions including the footage taken of the assault.
5. Ensure the safe passage of any subsequent aid convoys to Gaza or anywhere else carrying aid or passengers from Dundee given this outrageous precedent which has been set in the Mediterranean of state forces attacking such convoys.
6. Ending the blockade of Gaza.
7. Ensure that the ignored UN resolutions against Israel are enforced to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Additionally I invite you to attend the demonstration in Edinburgh tomorrow. There have been two buses laid on by Tayside for Justice in Palestine.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Graham

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What has not been as widely reported are the demos in Israel against the action

One account described the slogans/banners and the hoops they had to jump through to be able to protest.

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96 years and 230+ wars (28 ongoing) after the war to end all wars.

Israel have been blockading medical supplies to Palestine for months and one of their ships rammed a vessel in international waters taking urgent medical supplies to help the injured.

Consider donating a small sum to Medical Aid for Palestine, one of the charities working to provide on the ground emergency medical aid.

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