Discussion meeting on the Israeli raid

As you are likely aware, on the morning of Monday, May 31st, members of the Israeli Navy boarded a flotilla of ships headed for the Gaza strip, which remains under a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007. Although the facts surrounding the raid are hotly disputed and some remain shrouded in mystery, the flotilla was carrying humanitarian relief to Gazans, and its passengers made their intentions to pass through the blockade clear. The flotilla and its representatives did not accede to requests by the Israeli government to hand off supplies to them for distribution rather than to Gazans directly. The boarding took place in international waters.

These events, which ended in a number of casualties, have sparked global controversy and debate, much of which hinges upon public international law and international humanitarian law. Although arguments relating to "international law" have been presented by all sides of this issue to support a variety of positions, conversations in the media or other public fora have often lacked precision about the legal implications of the blockade and last week's raid.

You are cordially invited to an interactive discussion this Thursday (19.30 - 21.00 hours) with Utrecht University Professor Terry Gill to discuss these implications and more. The discussion meeting will take place at JK15A, room 001.

Please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to attend this discussion. For more information see www.urios.org.