I hope you are aware of Mike Treen’s ordeal. He, along with other passengers and crew on the Freedom Flotilla boat Al Awda, was hijacked in international waters and forced to go to Israel. Mike was brutally tasered, while being arrested. Why has there been no public and political outrage here in NZ? What is the matter with us?
It’s important that Mike Treen’s story be told and discussed.
But bear in mind though, that this year’s Freedom Flotilla, was not the first. There have been many attempts to break Israel’s sadistic, Noah Chomsky’s word, siege, collective punishment imposed on Gaza. Mike has helped maintain an international humanitarian movement. We should be proud of him.
Mike wasn’t the only one on board the Al Awda. There were people of many nationalities, many backgrounds, each with a story to tell and share.
One of the passengers was Dr Swee Chai Ang.
Dr Ang was born in Penang, Malaysia. She grew up and studied in Singapore. In 1973 she obtained her medical degree and in 1976 her master’s in occupational medicine at the University of Singapore. She joined her husband, a human rights lawyer, in exile in London in 1977, and became a refugee herself. She has since become an UK citizen. She obtained her FRCS (Eng), and completed her orthopaedic surgical training in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in Northeast England. She is the first female orthopaedic consultant appointed to the St Bartholomew and the Royal London Hospitals. I mentioned this to a retired GP woman friend who took a post graduate course in UK in 1992. My friend told me that woman senior doctors and consultants in Britain were very rare indeed, as for women non-British consultants, rarer still!
Dr Swee Chai Ang’s appointment means she was very very highly respected.
In the eighties and early nineties, she took time out to work as trauma and orthopaedics consultant in the refugee camps of Lebanon and later for the United Nations in Gaza and World Health Organisation in the West Bank. Her Christian religion means a lot to her. She went to Beirut never having met any Palestinians. She explains the experiences that led her to become a passionate advocate for the Palestinian people.
“It began in 1982 when as an ignorant Pro-Israel Christian doctor I first stepped foot as a volunteer surgeon in Gaza Hospital in Beirut’s Sabra Shatila Palestinian refugee camp. There I fell in love passionately with a generous, kind, honest and gentle people – the Palestinians. They were forced out of Palestine in 1948 and found themselves, refugees. Despite the dispossession, persecution and injustice they remained human.
About 3 weeks after my arrival, more than three thousand of them were cruelly massacred. My heart was broken and trampled on, and would have remained dead and buried in the rubble of their bulldozed homes. But the survivors, even while burying their own loved ones, nurtured me back to life with their tears and love. The children filled with courage, hope and dignity inspired me and gave me the strength to walk on with them. “We are not afraid Doctor, come with us”.
Dr Ang is Co-Founder and Patron of British Charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.
She did not hesitate when invited to join the Freedom Flotilla 2018.
“I knew I must join them. This summer marks the thirty-sixth year of my journey with the Palestinians….It is now 70 years since the Palestinian Nakba and Diaspora in 1948. When will their journey home begin?
The Flotilla brings hope to the besieged Palestinians. They are praying for us in their mosques and churches in the Gaza Strip. They know we are making this journey for them. Even if we are to be abducted, imprisoned and deported, may we remain faithful in solidarity and love for the people of Palestine and Gaza.”
She explained her decision to family and friends.
“ A doctor, a surgeon is a human being with a conscience and a compassionate heart, much more than just a skilled technician. The very fact that I can do operations and fix broken bones will not stop me from losing my humanity. A robot might turn the other way, but a child of God does not.
Most of you know that I am going to seventy come the end of the year and I would like to make this my birthday present to the people of Gaza and Palestine. “
Dr Swee Chai Ang was on the Al Awda, the same boat as Mike Treen. She has described the violence used by heavily armed Israelis, in a report everyone should read.
Her entire report can be found here.
It’s a shocking ugly story. The Norwegian captain being thrown against the cabin wall and punched, Mike being tasered in the neck and face..
Meanwhile the violence against Palestinians, the Gazans in particular, continues.
Dr Swee Chai Ang finished her report by saying,
“We must continue to be strong to bring hope and justice to the Palestinians and be prepared to pay the price, and to be worthy of the Palestinians. As long as I survive I will exist to resist. To do less will be a crime.”
Why the silence here in NZ, the silence from media, religious leaders, academics..
Why are our political leaders so gutless? The Israeli Embassy should be expelled.
I love this woman! Look at her photo. She may appear to be physically weak. But in her head and in her heart she is a tower of strenght!
Oh, by the way, two of the participants on the Al Awda were Israeli citizens.
That’s another story.
Lois Griffiths is a human rights activist
Many thanks for this article. These monstrous thugs have managed to subdue almost all vestiges of decency in the supposedly ‘free world.’ Political leaders, journalistic hacks, and the vast pack of running dogs will bark and yowl and sniff about Trump, Russia, Iran, the endless ‘opposition,’ anything at all except the poisonous wound on the face of the earth that Israel has turned out to be.
Inspiring!
Dr Ang is not a great example – she circulated a video made by David Duke which was terribly antisemitic and failed to apologise for it. https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/authors_of_anti_israel_letter_in_the_lancet_promote_antisemitic_video_by_white_supremacist_david_duke/
We should be very careful to separate out anti-Zionism from anti-Semitism. Jews are not the enemy unless they want self determination in Israel.
You brought it up Helen. Here is the letter Dr Ang and others wrote in The Lancet
We are doctors and scientists, who spend our lives developing means to care and protect health and lives. We are also informed people; we teach the ethics of our professions, together with the knowledge and practice of it. We all have worked in and known the situation of Gaza for years.
On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel.
We ask our colleagues, old and young professionals, to denounce this Israeli aggression. We challenge the perversity of a propaganda that justifies the creation of an emergency to masquerade a massacre, a so-called “defensive aggression”. In reality it is a ruthless assault of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity. We wish to report the facts as we see them and their implications on the lives of the people.
We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose.
This action also terrifies those who are not directly hit, and wounds the soul, mind, and resilience of the young generation. Our condemnation and disgust are further compounded by the denial and prohibition for Gaza to receive external help and supplies to alleviate the dire circumstances.
The blockade on Gaza has tightened further since last year and this has worsened the toll on Gaza’s population. In Gaza, people suffer from hunger, thirst, pollution, shortage of medicines, electricity, and any means to get an income, not only by being bombed and shelled. Power crisis, gasoline shortage, water and food scarcity, sewage outflow and ever decreasing resources are disasters caused directly and indirectly by the siege.1
People in Gaza are resisting this aggression because they want a better and normal life and, even while crying in sorrow, pain, and terror, they reject a temporary truce that does not provide a real chance for a better future. A voice under the attacks in Gaza is that of Um Al Ramlawi who speaks for all in Gaza: “They are killing us all anyway—either a slow death by the siege, or a fast one by military attacks. We have nothing left to lose—we must fight for our rights, or die trying.”2
Gaza has been blockaded by sea and land since 2006. Any individual of Gaza, including fishermen venturing beyond 3 nautical miles of the coast of Gaza, face being shot by the Israeli Navy. No one from Gaza can leave from the only two checkpoints, Erez or Rafah, without special permission from the Israelis and the Egyptians, which is hard to come by for many, if not impossible. People in Gaza are unable to go abroad to study, work, visit families, or do business. Wounded and sick people cannot leave easily to get specialised treatment outside Gaza. Entries of food and medicines into Gaza have been restricted and many essential items for survival are prohibited.3 Before the present assault, medical stock items in Gaza were already at an all time low because of the blockade.3 They have run out now. Likewise, Gaza is unable to export its produce. Agriculture has been severely impaired by the imposition of a buffer zone, and agricultural products cannot be exported due to the blockade. 80% of Gaza’s population is dependent on food rations from the UN.
Much of Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure had been destroyed during Operation Cast Lead, 2008–09, and building materials have been blockaded so that schools, homes, and institutions cannot be properly rebuilt. Factories destroyed by bombardment have rarely been rebuilt adding unemployment to destitution.
Despite the difficult conditions, the people of Gaza and their political leaders have recently moved to resolve their conflicts “without arms and harm” through the process of reconciliation between factions, their leadership renouncing titles and positions, so that a unity government can be formed abolishing the divisive factional politics operating since 2007. This reconciliation, although accepted by many in the international community, was rejected by Israel. The present Israeli attacks stop this chance of political unity between Gaza and the West Bank and single out a part of the Palestinian society by destroying the lives of people of Gaza. Under the pretext of eliminating terrorism, Israel is trying to destroy the growing Palestinian unity. Among other lies, it is stated that civilians in Gaza are hostages of Hamas whereas the truth is that the Gaza Strip is sealed by the Israelis and Egyptians.
Gaza has been bombed continuously for the past 14 days followed now by invasion on land by tanks and thousands of Israeli troops. More than 60 000 civilians from Northern Gaza were ordered to leave their homes. These internally displaced people have nowhere to go since Central and Southern Gaza are also subjected to heavy artillery bombardment. The whole of Gaza is under attack. The only shelters in Gaza are the schools of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uncertain shelters already targeted during Cast Lead, killing many.
According to Gaza Ministry of Health and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),1 as of July 21, 149 of the 558 killed in Gaza and 1100 of the 3504 wounded are children. Those buried under the rubble are not counted yet. As we write, the BBC reports of the bombing of another hospital, hitting the intensive care unit and operating theatres, with deaths of patients and staff. There are now fears for the main hospital Al Shifa. Moreover, most people are psychologically traumatised in Gaza. Anyone older than 6 years has already lived through their third military assault by Israel.
The massacre in Gaza spares no one, and includes the disabled and sick in hospitals, children playing on the beach or on the roof top, with a large majority of non-combatants. Hospitals, clinics, ambulances, mosques, schools, and press buildings have all been attacked, with thousands of private homes bombed, clearly directing fire to target whole families killing them within their homes, depriving families of their homes by chasing them out a few minutes before destruction. An entire area was destroyed on July 20, leaving thousands of displaced people homeless, beside wounding hundreds and killing at least 70—this is way beyond the purpose of finding tunnels. None of these are military objectives. These attacks aim to terrorise, wound the soul and the body of the people, and make their life impossible in the future, as well as also demolishing their homes and prohibiting the means to rebuild.
Weaponry known to cause long-term damages on health of the whole population are used; particularly non fragmentation weaponry and hard-head bombs.4, 5 We witnessed targeted weaponry used indiscriminately and on children and we constantly see that so-called intelligent weapons fail to be precise, unless they are deliberately used to destroy innocent lives.
We denounce the myth propagated by Israel that the aggression is done caring about saving civilian lives and children’s wellbeing.
Israel’s behaviour has insulted our humanity, intelligence, and dignity as well as our professional ethics and efforts. Even those of us who want to go and help are unable to reach Gaza due to the blockade.
This “defensive aggression” of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity must be stopped.
Additionally, should the use of gas be further confirmed, this is unequivocally a war crime for which, before anything else, high sanctions will have to be taken immediately on Israel with cessation of any trade and collaborative agreements with Europe.
As we write, other massacres and threats to the medical personnel in emergency services and denial of entry for international humanitarian convoys are reported.6 We as scientists and doctors cannot keep silent while this crime against humanity continues. We urge readers not to be silent too. Gaza trapped under siege, is being killed by one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated modern military machines. The land is poisoned by weapon debris, with consequences for future generations. If those of us capable of speaking up fail to do so and take a stand against this war crime, we are also complicit in the destruction of the lives and homes of 1·8 million people in Gaza.
We register with dismay that only 5% of our Israeli academic colleagues signed an appeal to their government to stop the military operation against Gaza. We are tempted to conclude that with the exception of this 5%, the rest of the Israeli academics are complicit in the massacre and destruction of Gaza. We also see the complicity of our countries in Europe and North America in this massacre and the impotence once again of the international institutions and organisations to stop this massacre.
I’ve yet to see you having a post that targets the Egyptian blockade of Gaza Lois. One would think it’s just Israel blockading…inconvenient Egyptian blockade that eh? WHY are Egypt having that blockade (again, like Israel, it’s legal), is it to do with their sovereign right to protect their own country and people from terrorists?…surely not, as that’s what Israel say their blockade is for….let us know what you think Lois, or is it just easier having a go at the Jews and ignoring the same blockade from the, non Jewish, Egyptians?
Possibly because it is Israel that has ultimate control over Gaza not Egypt..money, mail, goods etc
It is after all Israel that is ‘occupying’ Palestinian lands.
plus, America gives Egypt around 2 Billion in mostly military ‘aid’ each year, and that comes with certain ‘pressures’.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2-billion-that-america-gives-to-egypt-each-year-2011-2?r=US&IR=T
Oh the current Egyptian regime is an Israel/US lackey..
Stop saying ‘the Jews’..that’s an antisemitic smear..Many many Jews including some brave Israeli Jews oppose Zionism. Just this week Israeli ‘settlers’ violently attacked Israeli human rights activists in the West Bank.
The blockade is collective punishment , illegal under international law..Also Gaza is used as a laboratory to test and then sell new weapons. Naomi Klein has pointed out that the Gazans are guinea pigs for Israeli’s arms industry.
PS Oh dear, sorry. I meant Heather, not Helen.
I wrote to both Jacinda Adern and Winston expressing my disgust at the government’s lack of action in not expelling the Israeli diplomats . My plea to them was ” How can we as New Zealanders attend ANZAC day celebrations and listen to the obligatory speeches of “Never Again ” and the reminder that people like the Nazi can never raise there ugly heads again . And yet we are complicit in Israel’s behaviour.
Jacinda’s office forwarded my concerns to Winston , who replied with the excuse that its better to have them here to keep communication open. I have to assume that Winston is a Lion to Simon Bridges and a Mouse to Netanyahu
I also mentioned the fact that NZ runs a program expressly for The Israeli military personal who come to NZ for R&R. I am aware that there are many Israelis that don’t agree with the crimes against humanity that Israel commits. Jewish Voice for Peace is one movement that works tirelessly for the rights of Palestinians. The Zionists have spread like a rampant mould throughout the US political system and it is that infiltration that drives and maintains their brutal behaviour . The US supports them as they will be the warhead for taking over the Middle East and that big lake of Black stuff .
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