In its latest act of piracy,  Apartheid Israel has seized a Gaza-bound ship Zaytouna-Oliva in international waters and kidnapped, robbed and imprisoned 13 humane, anti-racist  women including the Australian captain, Madeleine Habib (from my hometown Hobart, Tasmania),  Northern Ireland Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire and New Zealand Greens  MP Marama Davidson. Apartheid Israel has repeatedly kidnapped Australian women in international waters but in this instance except for the Australian Greens the response from  Australian MPs has been deafening silence.

A notable exception to this cowardly and dishonorable silence from Australian MPs has been the decent, progressive and pro-human rights Greens. Australian Greens Co-Deputy Leader and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam, has demanded release of the Australian kidnap victim and her colleagues: “The Australian Government must know that this voyage was intended to peacefully draw attention to the brutal and counterproductive siege of Gaza by the Israeli military. In September 2015 a report published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development on assistance to the Palestinian people warned that the Gaza Strip could be “uninhabitable” by 2020, as a result of the combination of the siege and periodic bombardment. The Australian Government must step up in support of these peaceful campaigners who have put their safety at risk to bring attention to the untenable situation on the Gaza strip” [1].

Stalwart Australian campaigner for Palestinian human rights, Dr Vacy Vlazna, has written to Julie Bishop MP, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs demanding the release of the 13 women: “Please urgently demand that Israel immediately and unconditionally releases the 13 woman crew of the Zaytouna-Oliva humanitarian boat to continue its mission to help the besieged people of Gaza. The captain of the vessel is Australian, Madeleine Habib, and her crew includes Nobel laureate from Northern Ireland Mairead Maguire, retired U.S. army colonel Ann Wright, and Marama Davidson member of the New Zealand Parliament. Israel has a record of brutally treating previous humanitarian workers on Freedom Flotilla boats. The world remembers the horrific execution of 10 unarmed activists on the Mavi Marmara in 2010 by Israeli commandoes”.

To the best of my knowledge there has been no public statement about this latest kidnapping in international waters of an Australian woman by Apartheid Israel from Foreign Minister Bishop, PM Malcolm Turnbull, from any other member of the US lackey, pro-Zionist, Liberal Party-National Party Coalition Government or indeed from any member of the US lackey, pro-Zionist Labor Opposition led by Bill Shorten.

Open Letter To  Australian MPs Re  Israeli Kidnap Of Gaza-bound Australian Woman  In International Waters | Countercurrents