In pursuit of justice for Palestinians, Rohingya
JOBURG advocate Shabnam Mayet will be setting the high court aside for the next couple of weeks as she helps to organise a global event on the high seas.
But this is no glamour trip for a young woman who has used her unflinching vow for justice to fight not only for the freedom of Burma’s Rohingya, but also that of Palestinians living under siege around 6 500km away.
Mayet is on the international team behind the Freedom Flotilla Coalition initiative which is this year taking a women’s boat to Gaza.
It’s part of a continuing campaign marshalled by activists from around the world to help draw attention to the open-air jail that has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
Two boats – the Amal (hope in Arabic) and the Zaytouna (olive) – set sail from the port in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday, with a number of high-profile women on board.
These include Norther n Ireland Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead MaGuire, Swedish European MP Malin Björk, American screenwriter and playwright Naomi Wallace and Turkish professional athlete Cigdem Topcuoglu.
Topcuoglu’s husband was among activists killed by Israeli security forces during the Mavi Maramara humanitarian aid flotilla – a companion initative to this year’s Women’s Boat – in 2010.
They died after Israeli naval commandos boarded the Turkish ship in international waters from speedboats and helicopters, claiming to want to drive the vessel to an Israeli port for inspection.
A number of the ship’s 590 passengers resisted and 10 Turkish activists were killed, while many more – including South African journalist Gadija Davids – were wounded or detained.
Mayet was on the South Af- rican legal team which this year represented Davids – who was held against her will in an Israeli prison, assaulted, interrogated and denied consular access and legal representation – in her quest for justice for those killed on the Mavi Marmara.
Mayet’s colleague, attorney Ziyaad Patel, embarked on an international legal battle against the Israeli military chain of command responsible for the raid, assisted by Mayet and advocate Feroze Boda.
Their legal battle resulted in an agreement that four com- manders from the Israeli Navy and Defence Forces would be arrested if they entered South Africa.
This would be as a result of mutual co-operation with Turkish authorities.
But this month, Mayet will be closer to the flotilla itself.
“We felt that this time, all the important positions… admin, organising, captaining the boat, the crew… should be held by women,” she explains. “The point is that women play such an integral part in supporting the world’s great struggles, and they’re not always recognised.
“Even when you look at Syria right now, you don’t hear very much about the women who are at the forefront, yet without women, none of the struggles would really happen,” Mayet points out.
Follow the Women’s Boat to Gaza on @GazaFFlotilla