Open letter, 18 August 2010

Photo: Protesters hold Palestinian and Turkish flags during a rally to denouncing Israel’s attack on an aid ship bound for Gaza in New York, Tuesday, June 1, 2010.

The following open letter to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey, was issued by various Palestinian organizations on 17 August 2010:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister We are writing to you from under a brutal, hermetic siege now entering its fourth year to express our outrage against the nomination of the notorious former president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe Velez to the Panel of Inquiry into the 31 May 2010 Israeli brutal attack on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza.

Mr. Prime Minister, it is an insult to the memory of those killed in the Israeli massacre against peace activists aboard the Mavi Marmara to have their blood “redeemed” by a man who has a record of violations against human rights and international law. Uribe Velez was an accomplice in corruption and crimes against humanity in Colombia. Lately, he supported the displacement of Afro-Colombian families from their ancestral territories in La Toma, Suarez and kept silent against the denial of their economic and territorial rights. Not only so, but he is a devoted Zionist, committed to the myth and fabrication of “Israel’s security.”

Mr. Prime Minister,

How could a man like this be assigned a duty to uncover crimes against humanity committed against citizens of your own country? Those conscientious people of courage deserve a fair trial against the aggressor. A biased one will only strengthen Israel’s impunity and whitewash its crimes against us, the Palestinians of Gaza.

Israel has uncovered its true criminal, racist face to the world through the latest Gaza genocidal war and lastly with the brutal murder of the innocent Turkish peace activists in daylight. It is time to confront the arrogance of this terrorist state and put it in its place. Both Bolivia and Venezuela recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv. We don’t expect less from Turkey.

Mr. Prime Minister,

We had tears in our eyes the moment you slammed Shimon Peres for Israeli killings during the World Economic Forum and walked off the stage with conviction and courage. You gave us a sense of hope that justice is possible and that we Palestinians of Gaza are not left alone.

The blood of our brothers and sisters in Gaza has not dried up yet, and we have hope in politicians like your Excellency who speak against injustice.

Mr. Prime Minister, just like you bravely confronted the world powers against the Israeli massacre in Gaza, we urge you now to take action against the nomination of the war criminal Alvaro Uribe Velez to the the Panel of Inquiry into the 31 May 2010 Israeli brutal attack on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza. Not only so, but we urge you to stand with leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales in speaking and acting for justice and accountability for Palestine through boycotting apartheid Israel, severing all diplomatic ties with it, and imposing sanctions against it until it complies with international law and ends it occupation, colonization and apartheid in Palestine.

Undersigned organizations
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
University Teachers’ Association in Palestine (UTAP)
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)
The Union Of Palestinian Women’s’ Committees
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Information
General Union of Public Service and Commercial Workers
General Union of Health Service Workers
General Union of Agriculture Workers
General Union of Food Production Workers
General Union of Petrochemical and Gas Workers
Progressive Trade Union Front in Palestine
General Union of Municipality and Local Councils Workers
General Union of Tourism Workers
Arab Cultural Forum
One Democratic State Group (ODSG)