RAMALLAH, June 6 (JMCC) - An Israeli organization has sent letters warning maritime insurers and a telecommunications company that if they provide services to boats participating in a flotilla seeking to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, they will be sued in court.
Sherut HaDin Law Center,
reports the Jerusalem Post, says that these measure should be sufficient to prevent the flotilla from setting sail, since any boat must have maritime insurance before leaving port, and only one US-based company provides telecommunications services in the area.
Companies could be sued for providing material support to
Hamas, considered a terrorist organization in the United States and some European countries.
“There is no need for Israeli soldiers to repel down ropes in order to stop the next flotilla – all that’s needed is some courage and original thinking,” said Shurat HaDin’s Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.
Darshan-Leitner told The Jerusalem Post that Shurat HaDin had recently approached mobile satellite services company Inmarsat – the only company that provides communications and navigations services to ships that sail in the region – requesting that they refuse to provide their services to ships participating in the flotilla.
“We informed them that if they do so, they will be in violation of the American Neutrality Act, which prohibits aiding a group in their struggle against the military of an ally country,” said Darshan-Leitner. “Since Imarsat has offices in the US, the law binds them.”
The group has also sent letters to 30 of the top maritime insurance companies in the world announcing their intent to sue if they provide insurance to ships participating in the flotilla.
This time last year, Israeli commandos forcibly boarded ships in a
flotilla seeking to break the Gaza blockade, killing eight Turks and one-Turkish-American.