Students protest Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla

Friends of Palestine Society, along with other concerned Warwick students, staged an event on the Piazza last Wednesday, to register their outrage over Israel’s violent protection of its Gaza blockade.

On the 31st of May, Israel caused an international furore when its commandos shot dead nine activists on a Turkish ship that was bound for Gaza.

Israel claims the blockade is necessary to prevent attacks from the Hamas movement that runs Gaza, but some say that it prevents the provision of international aid to the needy within the region. The activists on board the ships claim they were trying to break the blockade to deliver humanitarian supplies directly to Gaza.

One of the event’s organisers, Chris Browne, said that Israel had “acted with little regard for international law or human life in attacking the aid flotilla.”

The event consisted of a stall dispensing information on the ongoing blockade and occupation by Israel, and a letter addressed to William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, calling for him to act decisively following his earlier statement of condemnation. Over a hundred Warwick students signed the letter, which will soon be sent to the Foreign Secretary.

Additionally, those involved in organising the event had their photos taken with two signs, reading “In solidarity with the people of Gaza” and “I am a friend of Palestine,” to express their support for the people of Gaza and the Palestinian cause.

The intention of the Friends of Palestine Society is to collect these images in a montage and send them via e-mail to the students of the Islamic University of Gaza as a visual demonstration of support.

According to its organisers the event was, “intended to act as a reminder to the people of Gaza that we haven’t forgotten them.”

Calling the level of support “really encouraging,” Browne hoped the event would serve to register “support for those most affected; the people of Gaza.”