Paul Murphy: Urges Observer as Flotilla Faces Smear Campaign
Paul Murphy spoke to relatives and supporters about a civilian flotilla challenging Israel's actions and urged the government to act, at minimum by sending an observer on the legal boat. He described the flotilla as part of a global uprising against genocide, Zionism and imperialism and criticised Western governments for arming and funding Israel.
Paul Murphy opened by thanking the relatives present for their sacrifices, extra familial responsibilities and the danger their relatives have put themselves into by volunteering for the flotilla.
He said the flotilla inspired mass global mobilisation, citing 28,000 volunteers and a 24-hour general strike of Italian workers that pressured Italy to send naval ships. He added that Spain and Turkey also came under pressure to send ships or troops, and praised people acting while some governments fail to act.
Murphy said Israel is scared of the flotilla and pointed to a smear campaign that labels it a jihadist or Hamas initiative and calls participants terrorists. He referenced an Israeli ministry tweet misidentifying figures and warned the lies are intended to prepare the ground to justify actions like those on the Mal by Marmara in 2010.
He said People For Profit signed up to a motion they do not fully agree with because it allows joint wording, while calling the motion unbalanced for not referencing the almost 10,000 Palestinian hostages. He criticised the motion's approval of the New York Declaration, saying it denies the right of the Palestinian people to choose their own representatives.
Murphy concluded by pressing the government to act and asked explicitly whether it would at the very least agree to send an observer on the legal boat, arguing that the government has to take some action.
Relatives honoured
Paul Murphy opened by thanking the relatives present for their sacrifices, extra familial responsibilities and the danger their relatives have put themselves into by volunteering for the flotilla.
Scale and international response
He said the flotilla inspired mass global mobilisation, citing 28,000 volunteers and a 24-hour general strike of Italian workers that pressured Italy to send naval ships. He added that Spain and Turkey also came under pressure to send ships or troops, and praised people acting while some governments fail to act.
Smear campaign and security concerns
Murphy said Israel is scared of the flotilla and pointed to a smear campaign that labels it a jihadist or Hamas initiative and calls participants terrorists. He referenced an Israeli ministry tweet misidentifying figures and warned the lies are intended to prepare the ground to justify actions like those on the Mal by Marmara in 2010.
Domestic political stance
He said People For Profit signed up to a motion they do not fully agree with because it allows joint wording, while calling the motion unbalanced for not referencing the almost 10,000 Palestinian hostages. He criticised the motion's approval of the New York Declaration, saying it denies the right of the Palestinian people to choose their own representatives.
Demand to the government
Murphy concluded by pressing the government to act and asked explicitly whether it would at the very least agree to send an observer on the legal boat, arguing that the government has to take some action.
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Transcript
First of all, I just want to thank the relatives who are here for being here and for the sacrifices you yourselves are making, extra familial responsibilities, the worry you're going through, and for the sacrifice and the danger that your relatives have put themselves into. The flotilla that they're participating in is at the vanguard of a global uprising of millions of people against genocide, against Zionism, and against imperialism. It helped to inspire a 24-hour general strike of Italian workers that in turn put pressure on the Italian government to send naval ships, and then Spain came under pressure, Turkey came under pressure also to send troops, send ships, and the strength of the flotilla is that it's people acting, incredibly 28,000 people volunteered to participate in the flotilla to put their lives on the line, incredible, speaking to the scale of the global movement. To act while governments like our own fail to act, and to act while other governments in the West act alright, but act to arm genocide, act to fund genocide, act to support genocide. Israel is scared of the flotilla, there's no question about that. You look at the smear campaign, describing it as a jihadist initiative, a Hamas flotilla, calling the participants terrorists. I was looking at a tweet there from some Israeli ministry, with a picture of George Galloway beside someone else, saying that he was the same person as someone else, he was a different person entirely, but all to say here's evidence, finally we have the evidence this is a Hamas flotilla. In a way it's laughable, it's ridiculous, but it's very scary, because obviously it's a lie designed to prepare the ground to justify the kind of actions that happened on the Mal by Marmara in 2010. It's why I think we have to say to the government, this is welcome, it's welcome we're all coming together, we in People For Profit have signed up to a motion that we don't fully agree with, we think it's unbalanced, it doesn't reference the almost 10,000 Palestinian hostages, it mentions it approves the New York Declaration, which denies the right of the Palestinian people to choose their own representatives, but we signed up for it so that we can have joint words. So where's the action going to be, at the very, very least will you not agree to send an observer on the legal boat, the government has to act.