BE, Portugal’s Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) political party has requested an urgent hearing today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, to discuss diplomatic protection of the humanitarian aid flotilla travelling to Gaza, which includes the party’s only MP, Mariana Mortágua.
When she set sail for Gaza last month, Ms Mortágua suggested that the ETA for this largest flotilla yet to attempt to break the Israeli blockade, would have reached its destination by mid-September.
We are now almost at the end of the month, and the boats are still in Greek territorial waters. On top of this, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already made it clear that the flotilla will not be allowed to reach its objective. Posting over social media earlier this week, the ministry said: “The so-called “Flotilla to Gaza” is openly backed by jihadi Hamas. In Hamas’s own words: ‘We call for mobilizing all means to support the Global Steadfastness Flotilla heading to Gaza.’ This is not humanitarian. This is a jihadist initiative serving the terror group’s agenda”.
Consequently, the flotilla has come under all kinds of ‘attacks’, supposedly by drones – including being ‘assailed by extremely loud ABBA music’ through the night, and bombed with itching powder and ‘stun grenades’.
Up until time of writing, no one has been hurt, but some damage has been sustained by some of the vessels, say reports.
As a result of these attacks, Spain and Italy have deployed naval ships to protect the flotilla – and this is very possibly what BE wants Portugal to do, too.
In a letter signed by BE leader Jorge Costa – a member of the party’s Political Commission – the party says that “considering the consummate violation of international law and the rapidly worsening threats against the Humanitarian Flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip, the Left Bloc urgently requests an audience with the foreign minister”.
The party wants to “find out about the measures taken by the Ministry to ensure the diplomatic protection of the mission and present contributions to strengthen the Portuguese state’s response at this level”.
The text states that “in the early hours of Wednesday morning, seven of the mission’s vessels were targeted by drones off the coast of Greece”, and that the “devices launched by these devices caused explosions on several vessels, communications were blocked and one of the boats suffered considerable damage”.
“This action took place a few hours after the Israeli Foreign Ministry threatened the mission and declared that it would not allow it to approach Gaza territory. With the Humanitarian Flotilla about to leave Greek territorial waters and enter international waters, there is growing concern for its safety,” Costa stressed, referring once again to the Portuguese-flagged vessel on which travels the party’s only MP, Mariana Mortágua, plus Portuguese actress Sofia Aparício, and Portuguese activist Miguel Duarte.
The Bloc argues that “the exposure of these nationals to a context of military attacks in international waters puts their lives and physical integrity at direct risk, as well as being an affront to international law and the Portuguese Republic.
“All these acts of intimidation are clear violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other instruments of international law that guarantee safe passage for civilian ships in international waters.
“For the Left Bloc, the immediate adoption of effective diplomatic measures is imperative to inhibit further aggression, ensure the integrity of the flotilla and the safety of the participants, and guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza.”
Considering the “seriousness of the facts and Portugal’s constitutional commitment to the defence of human rights and respect for international law”, BE asks Paulo Rangel to receive a delegation from the party leadership “as soon as possible”.
Last night, BE’s national coordinator called for ‘social mobilisation in Portugal’ to pressure the government to protect this mission.
“In Italy, where there is a tradition of strikes, the Italian government condemned the attacks on the flotilla yesterday and sent a navy ship to safeguard it. In Spain, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has already publicly criticised the attacks and guaranteed that there would be consequences,” Jorge Costa adds.
The Global Sumud flotilla, comprising around 50 ships with activists, politicians, journalists, and doctors from more than 40 nationalities, including Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, is considered the largest flotilla organised to date. Also to date, no previous flotillas have been successful.
Source material: Lusa/ Aljazeera/ Telegraph/ Reuters
