DEFENDERS OF GIBRALTAR MEET WITH NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE FREEDOM OF CEUTA AND MELILLA

DEFENDERS OF GIBRALTAR MEET WITH NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE FREEDOM OF CEUTA AND MELILLA

 

This past weekend, members of the committee of the DoG were invited to meet with Yahya Yahya, a Moroccan Senator and President of the Committee for the Freedom of Ceuta and Melilla. This relationship has been the fruit of the committees hard work and labour to establish contacts around the world and is one of many to come.

Yahya Yahya offered Gibraltar and its people its full support and expressed that the people of Morocco stand with us against the fascist actions of this PP Government. I can personally tell you that Gibraltar has plenty of solidarity and support in Morocco, and more should be done to nurture this and help it grow.

We were treated with the utmost respect and given the opportunity to speak to many people, including prominent Moroccan journalists as well as other politicians. It was extremely interesting to see Spain's actions through the eyes of another culture.

With a bit of time to spare after one of our very interesting and enlightening discussions, we decided to pay a visit to the Spanish Consulate in Tangiers and make a very unequivocal statement:

"Morocco stands side by side with Gibraltar - we have plenty of friends around the world, and many are willing to step forward and be counted"

This video is a taster - another video with subtitles will be uploaded on youtube at a later point today.

Lastly - for those who wish to get more involved with the work of the Defenders of Gibraltar, and are willing to set aside singular political party aims or ambitions, please get in touch with one of the members of the committee who will be happy to listen to your views and ideas.

The right to self determination MUST be paramount. That is the Spanish hypocrisy. When Spain starts acting hypocritically, they invite problems with Morocco and quite frankly they deserve it. Apart from the Spanish hypocrisy on the right to self determination, and its bullying of Gibraltar, we had lots of discussions on the mistreatment of muslims in both Ceuta and Melilla. 

 Watch the video online - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4sfz78SwxY&list=UUWaF56tCdVi13pX5Oyt0cbQ&feature=c4-overview

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In Gibraltar Chronicle - http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=32559

DoG draws flack after meeting Moroccan nationalist

 The chairman of the Defenders of Gibraltar, Gareth Gingell, travelled to Morocco recently to meet with Moroccan nationalists from the Committee for the Coordination of the Liberation of Ceuta and Melilla.
 In a video posted by the DoG on Youtube yesterday, Yahya Yahya, a Moroccan nationalist politician, said the encounter was a way of offering support to Gibraltar in the face of “brutal oppression” from Spain.
“No more repression, no more outdated demagogy,” he said in the video, in which he also reflected on Spain’s “repression” of “Moroccan Muslims” in Ceuta and Melilla.
The video also shows Mr Gingell standing next to Mr Yahya against a backdrop of the flags of Morocco, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom.
Speaking to the camera, Mr Gingell said he had discussed in detail the “repressive and medieval” actions of the PP government against Gibraltar.
He said the exchange of personal experience and history had established much common ground and the beginnings of a working relationship.
He said he had found “plenty of solidarity for our cause” and that DoG would work to strengthen this.
Mr Gingell also reflected on Spain’s “glaring hypocrisy” in denying self determination to Catalonia, the Basque region and Gibraltar, while defending it for Ceuta and Melilla and calling for that right in the western Sahara.
The video drew a hostile reaction from many people on social media who questioned the wisdom establishing links with nationalist groups in Morocco, in particular those that clamoured for the return of Ceuta and Melilla to Spain on the grounds of territorial integrity.
Others argued that it was the elected politicians who should represent the people of Gibraltar abroad, rather than non-governmental groups.

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So Defenders of Gibraltar are not dying or silenced! - we are all very much alive and as such watch this space as more of our strategy will come out in the open. 

THE SKY ABOVE US - THE EARTH BELOW US - FIRE WITHIN US!

Remember our aim and strategy:

GROUP PHILOSOPHY

The Spanish Government continue to deny us our universal rights and ability to determine our own future. They have always been the same! Us Gibraltarians need to stick together more than ever now in the face of what can only be perceived as obvious bullying tactics and incompetent diversionary tactics.We feel it is time for us as citizens to let the world know what we have suffered at the hands of the Spanish government and what we continue to suffer.

Enough is Enough.

We aim to lobby, demonstrate, and laugh in the face of overwhelming odds. In Gibraltar, our voices are strong and many. It is time we took that voice to the world and screamed that the constant political oppression must stop. We are not a pawn in the 21st Centuries Great Game. Democracy and Justice are on our side.

We are a NON-VIOLENT movement - we have to be smart and not give the Spanish the excuse they are looking for.

As a Defender of Gibraltar, you pledge to Defend not only your land, but also your people. This is regardless of your political affiliation, as the love of your homeland should transcend such things which only serve to divide us

ORGANISATION

The movement is a collective of like minded individuals who have pulled together to take a stand against Spanish harassment and oppression. 

Remember doing nothing means nothing changes!

I will leave you with some great thoughts from our Chariman and Leader of Defenders of Gibraltar- Gareth Gingell

"What I do, I do. It is not for me, or for popularity or fame. What I do is not just down to my nature, my genes, my character, my upbringing or circumstance; It is all of these things woven together.

All of us have this beautiful gift of life - I have chosen to live my life standing up for others, standing up to the bully and sticking up for the little guy because that is one of my purposes in life. I do not ask for anything material, for none can buy my allegiance or my voice. I am a free human being in a free world, and I will never be shackled. I am not perfect, and do not aspire to perfection - I would rather be criticised for being different, than for being the same as everyone else. I will fail in many things, but these failures are what shape my future victories - you cannot have one without the other.

When my time comes to an end in this world, regardless of what my opponents think of me, I will leave with my head held high knowing that no matter what, I tried to leave this world a little better for the next."

For all my fellow comrades - a great motivational video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEBz6PzF50

Anne-Marie Struggles

 

Foreign Office and the UK Government and Governor must be held accountable for lack of action on Standing up to the bully that Spain is!

Foreign Office and the UK Government and Governor must be held accountable for lack of action on Standing up to the bully that Spain is!

Once again we just hear words and many of them and as such nothing is changing.
It is with utter disgust and disappointment that all can see the lack of action on defending our rights as a people and a country!

Are we going to continue to accept being treated like 3rd class citizens by our UK Government - FCO and our Governor?

Are we just going to continue to sit idly by while the European Union also treat us as third class citizens?

While we all sit and wait for diplomacy we are losing our fight to be heard and have our choices!

It is not right that UK, FCO and our Govenor succumb to bowing to Spain all the time - we are fed up at not being treated or valued as British Citizens!

We keep stating that even though we may not have oil or petrol we deserve the same protection and respect that the Falklanders get from UK and the FCO!

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Today's Panorama shares our sentiments! http://www.panorama.gi/

Time for action - not words or visits Talking Point
The time has come for action - and not words or visits to try and cover up inaction.
MPs in London have it clear in their minds that the Foreign Office, and by extension the UK government, are not doing enough to help Gibraltar, instead they offer words and more words, which may be nice to hear, but solve nothing. And of late there is the suggestion that a visit to Gibraltar might be required to do the trick, as some MPs have noted.
But who wants more words, who wants a visit?
Anyone who has the temerity of suggesting to the Foreign Office that there is a need for action gets the response: What action? Send a gunboat?
Even if you forget the gunboat, there is a clear need to beef up the diplomatic front. Time and again, officials seem to fall asleep when Gibraltar is being discussed, with the result that decisions are taken which work against the Gibraltar interest.
What kind of help is that? And some will ask if the officials were asleep or pretending that they were, to avoid any Gibraltar storm upsetting their own personal relations.
Our readers will have noted how the Foreign Office has been getting stick on different issues from the environmental audit committee of the House of Commons, following the comprehensive reports we have been publishing.
But even on the diplomatic front there is a case for the UK to be more aggressive and more on top of Gibraltar issues, but as MPs have realised, and said, the UK is failing to protect Gibraltar, failing to look after Gibraltar’s interests.
Instead we have Foreign Office mandarins giving preference to not upsetting the Madrid government, as if they have not yet understood that the said government can get upset even with our doing nothing to upset anyone!
Come one, don’t treat the people of Gibraltar as if they were idiots. The Foreign Office in particular must honour their obligations to defend the British people of Gibraltar.
How foreign can those mandarins get?
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 Even the Foreign Affairs Committee share our sentiments! as reported in the panorama.gi today

“Time to toughen things up with Spain” - says Foreign
Affairs Committee by Leo Olivero
The FCO who have spent the best part of a year doing their diplomatic best to get the Spanish Government round the ad hoc table but to no avail. They are not giving up on Spain and still insist on their seemingly one-strategy approach in handling the Gibraltar situation.
In a week where the Foreign Office and UK Government have been strongly criticised by the Commons Environment Audit Committee for letting Gibraltar down, more news comes from Westminster from another distinguished Committee, this time the Foreign Affairs Committee who were very recently informed during another parliamentary inquiry that ad hoc talks are ‘ a key part of the FCO’s diplomatic [Gibraltar] strategy’.
This is what Mark Simmonds, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told the Foreign Affairs Committee during oral evidence.
ESCALATION
Mr Simmonds was answering questions from Committee member Andrew Rosindell who told him that on many occasions in the past year the British Government had expressed the wish to calm tensions over Gibraltar or calm things down. But in fact there had been an escalation of difficulties over the past year. Reviewing what has happened, Mr Rosindell added, “Has the policy of calming tensions failed and is it not time we toughened things up a little”?
Mr Simmonds told the committee that the time-consuming delays at the border and incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters were unacceptable and that the UK Government had made representations to their Spanish counterparts at an extremely senior level on both those fronts. He reiterated the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Europe had all spoken to their Spanish counterparts, particularly throughout the summer, regarding those important issues. Simmonds also acknowledged that challenges would continue ahead, but added that the firm stance the FCO took, and the lobbying that occurred at a very high political level over the summer have gone some way to expressing the UK’s very serious displeasure at the Spanish behaviour.
The Committee then asked Mr Simmonds what was the Government’s strategy for getting the trilateral talks back on track? Particularly if the Spanish Government are not prepared to continue with that sensible way forward, probing the FCO senior official further he asked what will the British Government do to give a clear and unambiguous demonstration to Madrid that the UK are not prepared to continue down the route of allowing them effectively to bully Gibraltar while they are not even willing to sit down with the people of Gibraltar with elected officials from the Rock to discuss the issues that concern them?
a:Simmonds replied that the Spanish Government unilaterally withdrew from those [trilateral] talks and that the UK Government agreed in April last [nearly 12 months ago] with the Government of Gibraltar and the Spanish Government that they would put in place ad hoc talks with the agreement of Madrid – Simmonds adding, that everyone was waiting on specific dates from the Spanish Government as to when these ad hoc talks might take place, and that London continues to lobby and push for them [the ad hoc talks] to take place as a key part of their diplomatic strategy.
How Bad do Things Have to Get ?
Mr Simmonds said: “I need to say you will have heard the Minister for Europe and me say this in the main (Commons) Chamber, is that we do not think that an escalation of the dispute is a constructive way forward, whether that be sending additional Navy ships or whatever it may be. As this is a political dispute and the actions - delays at the border or incursions into territorial waters are clearly political, there has to be a political solution. There is absolutely no question but that we believe this is a threat to the sovereignty of Gibraltar. As you will know, Her Majesty’s Government stand shoulder to shoulder, four-square with the people of Gibraltar in their desire to remain British, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that that remains the case. That includes a diplomatic and political strategy to resolve the current problems”.
This generated another comment from Mr Rosindell who said “But Minister, the Minister of State said in the Chamber in answer to a question from me two weeks ago that the time was not right to send the Spanish ambassador back to Madrid. He said, quite bluntly, “No.” At what stage do you feel that it would be appropriate? How bad do things need to get before we make a categorical diplomatic statement about the treatment of the people of Gibraltar by Spain”?
Foreign affairs committee member Mr John Baron (conservative MP) acknowledged the point made by Simmonds about their having to be a political and diplomatic solution, but, pointed out the very unusual situation where one EU member is basically making a territorial claim on another and asked Mr Simmonds if he was satisfied that all available options had been explored within the EU structures to make the UK’S case known and for an appropriate decision to be pursued? And that even though the EU Commission had visited the frontier, he said, “we got a pretty wishy-washy answer from them”.
Simmonds then made a shallow remark which really summed up and confirmed for me the mentality behind the FCO’s failed diplomacy over Gibraltar when he said “this pressure on Gibraltar is perhaps a domestic distraction while the Spanish economy has significant problems. If the media are to be believed, the economy in Spain is starting to get better, to mend and to grow again. Hopefully, that [the economy] will assuage) some of the pressures that have been put on Gibraltar”.
This latter comment from a very senior FCO official was a shallow response to say the least, because not only it seems is the FCO waiting for the Spanish Government to decide when they are in the mood to sit and talk in an ad hoc, or any other kind of forum suitable to them and their policies. Because now it seems the FCO has intelligently worked out that because the Spanish economy is improving this could improve things for Gibraltar!
From which planet have people like Mark Simmonds at the FCO been handling the Gibraltar issue? How can the Foreign Office even think about associating any improvement or progress regarding Gibraltar’s historical problem with Spain, based on the economy of the Government in Madrid. No wonder Gibraltar has not made any headway, if anything matters are far worse than before. WITH THAT MENTALITY!
HI-JACKING PARTS OF GIBRALTAR WATERS
All this comes after two weeks where we it came to light that the FCO had watched whilst Spain hi-jacked parts of BGTW to build a multi-million euro marina complex, later attempting to unsuccessfully wriggle themselves out of their ineffective defence of British sovereignty, by saying that the existence of the Spanish Mole and marina is an historic fact!
What historic fact is the FCO talking about is best known to them. Because if it is an historical fact, how is it that the Royal Navy has the so called Spanish historical mole and the not so historical new marina clearly within BGTW and installed in modern tactical mapping equipment on board their vessels. And why hasn’t the FCO or the British Government ever brought this so called historical issue up in any of the many statements made when the tension regarding the waters was red hot and when the Spanish Government were making all kinds of demands regarding BGTW. Was not this an opportune time for the FCO to have told the Spaniards they had already nicked and built a massive complex in BGTW and to shut the xxxx-up! It’s all rubbish and a total insult to people’s intelligence!
Luckily criticism of the FCO’s performance also comes from British MPs as well. The other Commons audit committee which Panorama this week has published extensive reports on its findings said that the FCO has continued to ignore and fail Gibraltar in order to appease the Spanish government which is a point that other UK MPs also share.
The perception of the latter committee was that the relationship between the UK and Gibraltar is very much biased in favour of Spain with everything being done not to upset the Spanish government at the expense of Gibraltar’s interests!
The FCO still have a lot to answer for. I for one will not let them forget. As it is sad that not only do we constantly have to look over our shoulders to see what Spain and the EU are up too, but also our so called friends and allies in London!
23-01-14 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
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We the Defenders of Gibraltar will continue to highlight the bullying tactics by Spain and the lack of action by UK Government, FCO, Our Governor and even the EU and we will do this worldwide!


We know the treatment we are getting is undeserved and basically unwarranted and just like Spain has to answer for their bullying our UK Government, FCO and Governor have to answer for their lack of action and they are accountable for any incidents that occur due to their appeasement!


Below are recent photos fo the Border Queues just 2 days ago - do not believe the lies the bullyig - the oppressing of our people and lack of freedom of movement is very true and still happening as too are the incursions in our British Gibraltar Territorial Waters!

Photos by Trevor Bickerstaff 21/01/2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is how they slow the queues down!
 

Notice no Green lane
 

The hero of the day 21/01
 
This School Girl Says It All.....
Todays Queues at the frontier Made a little School Girl, Tired of waiting in the queues stepped into action, If only the Guardia Civil could direct traffic like she can.....

Even She would know that the queues are inhumane..... Lets be like her and do something about it by Signing the Petition online or at the Piazza tomorrow until Saturday from 10:00 am until 2 Pm
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/spanish-government-undermining-our-right-to-freedom-of-movement.html

Do not be deceived all continues just as bad! The truth needs to be heard! 

Spain has to change their treatment towards Gibraltar and as Nato ally needs to show respect for maritime laws!

Spain has to change their treatment towards Gibraltar and as Nato ally needs to show respect for maritime laws!

Just when one thought Spain was behaving and was doing at least less incursions in Our British Gibraltar Territorial Waters - lo and behold they do a dangerous stunt!

Not one but TWO Spanish State Vessels enter our British Territorial Waters in the DARK wit no navigational LIGHTS! How can they be allowed to do this and face no consequences?

LET US HOPE THAT THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL NEVER GIVE A SEAT TO SPAIN!

I am sure the United Nations Security would not take this so lightly if it were to other countries so why on earth is it acceptable for Spain to do this to us!

“The vessels were a serious risk to maritime safety around the Bay of Gibraltar and jeopardised not only the safety of the Customs and Guardia Civil vessels and officers, but other vessels and seamen in the area,”

Our United Kingdom Government - Our Governor Sir James Dutton and Our Foreign Commonwealth Office really need to start to do their job and protect the integrity of our British Territorial Waters!

It is unacceptable that nothing is done and only words are said! I do believe that our UK Government and the FCO and our Governor are actually waiting until an accident or worse still a death occurs before they do what they are all paid to do!

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Chronicle - http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=32527

Spanish voyage in the dark posed ‘serious maritime risk’

 The British Government will raise safety concerns with Spain after two Spanish state vessels sailed through British waters without navigational lights.
The absence of light contravened international collision regulations and posed a serious risk at sea, officials said.
 “The vessels were a serious risk to maritime safety around the Bay of Gibraltar and jeopardised not only the safety of the Customs and Guardia Civil vessels and officers, but other vessels and seamen in the area,” one source told the Chronicle.
The first incident involved a Spanish Customs vessel and occurred on Saturday.
The second involved the Guardia Civil vessel Rio Tormes and occurred in the early hours of Monday morning.
On both occasions, the Royal Navy used Channel 16 on the VHF radio to instruct the vessels to switch on navigational lights but they remained off.
“The two unlawful incidents by the Spanish Customs and Guardia Civil vessels during night hours over the weekend posed a risk to maritime safety around the Bay of Gibraltar,” a spokesman for the Foreign Office told the Chronicle.
“Her Majesty’s Government will be making a formal diplomatic protest to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea state specifically that a power driven vessel is required to show lights between sunset and sunrise.
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The Telegraph says it all - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/gibraltar/10582854/Britain-is-not-doing-enough-to-defend-Gibraltar-says-shadow-Europe-minister.html#pd_a_7299324

Britain is not doing enough to defend Gibraltar, says shadow Europe minister

William Hague should ask the European Commission to publish a letter they sent to Madrid, which Gareth Thomas says details "concerns about the heavy handed nature of controls on the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar"

Union flag flies at Europa Point in front of the Rock (rear), a monolithic limestone promontory, and the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim mosque in Gibraltar Photo: REUTERS

By Harriet Alexander

Gibraltar is a territory "under siege" and Spain should be made to account for its actions in relation to The Rock, the shadow minister for Europe has said.

Gareth Thomas, the Labour MP for Harrow West, said that residents of Gibraltar were concerned that Britain was not doing enough to defend them from Spanish harassment. The past 12 months have seen the highest ever number of incursions by Spanish ships into Gibraltar's waters, with the almost double the incidents from 2012.

"I was struck by the sense that the Gibraltarians have of being under siege," said Mr Thomas, who visited Gibraltar in November. "Spanish ships are coming into their waters on a regular basis."

Ahead of a debate in the House of Lords on Monday, Mr Thomas has written to William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, to call for him to press the European Commission to take further action. The Commission visited Gibraltar over the summer, to inspect the border after weeks of particularly long queues at the frontier.

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In Chronicle - http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=32529

Spain ‘changes tempo’ over incursions

by Brian Reyes

 

 

 A drop in the number of incursions by Spanish state vessels into British Gibraltar territorial waters could signal “a slight change in attitude” in Madrid, a British Government minister said yesterday.

The observation was made during a question and answer session in the House of Lords in which there was evident cross-party support for Gibraltar in the face of pressure from Spain.
 Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, senior Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, said there had been a sharp rise in incursions over the past two years, rising from 23 in 2011 to 228 in 2012 and 509 last year. “The good news is that there has been a welcome reduction since December of last year and therefore this may mean that there is a slight change in attitude,” she said.
Baroness Warsi was responding to a question from Labour peer and Gibraltar Freeman Lord Hoyle, who asked her about the British Government’s response to the incursions and persistent queues at the border.
The minister reeled off a long list of contacts between senior ministers and their Spanish counterparts - all the way up to Prime Minister himself – going back several months.
She repeated the standard line that Britain remained confident the Gibraltar waters were British “as sovereignty flows from land”.
She also insisted that Britain considered the border checks to be “…disproportionate, politically motivated and therefore unlawful under EU law.”
Baroness Warsi was quizzed by Lords from both sides of the House on the British Government’s handling of row with Spain.
Labour peer Lord Anderson described the sea incursions as “reckless” and said the border queues were “highly damaging to the [Gibraltar] economy”.
“The Spanish Government should be told that these provocations will not help because there is overwhelming support among all parties for listening to the Government and people of Gibraltar before there is any change in Gibraltar’s status,” he said.
Baroness Warsi was asked whether British officials had reminded Spain of the “hypocrisy” of claiming Gibraltar when Spain retained the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco.
“These discussions are always about trying to resolve matters, not to try and make matters worse,” she replied, to laughter.
She would not be drawn on the detail of those discussions but added: “Needless to say that we make the views of the people of Gibraltar robustly known to the Government of Spain.”
Baroness Warsi also underscored the British Government’s commitment to engaging in dialogue through ad hoc talks, a format that the Gibraltar Government also accepts.
“Our strategy at this stage is to de-escalate the situation and try and resolve these matters through diplomatic and political routes,” she said.
Last night, a spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed that there had been just eight Spanish incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters so far this this year, most of them of a minor nature.

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Unfortunately what is very clear to see is that unless our UK Government, Our Governor and our Foreign Office stand up to Spain - these dangerous bullying tactics will continue!

UK Government, FCO and Governor have a responsibility and are accountable and as such really need to get their act together and stop playing the "Hot Potato" with everything that concerns Gibraltar! We are British Citizens and as such deserve the same protection as The Falklands or even the UK!

Words have proved to go with the wind and by not dealing with the issue or by ignoring it is NOT resolving the issue!

So we need to put pressure Internationally but that DOES NOT EXEMPT UK from their responsibilities!

Anne-Marie Struggles

European Commission needs to revisit the problem with the border queues!

EU Commission must review the problems at the Border with Spain!

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the current situation at the border with Spain is affecting everyone! The situation is having an adverse effect on both sides and people from all parts of the European Community! The people affected and not just cross frontier workers or Gibraltarians but it affects Tourism in general! It also is affecting transports of goods which are not just for businesses but essential medical necessities.

We are all aware that Spain upped their inhumane border queues after the EU commission's unfair decision! Why inhumane? Basically everyone who lives and breathes the life as we do, in that, I mean those living on either side of the border experience everyday what goes on! Is it right that people have to wait in queues caused on purpose by Spanish Para Military Guardia Civils on every "whim" from their Spanish Government? Is it right that  it was affecting only Cars, Motorbikes and cyclists? Remember the queues at any sudden moment with no reason can be from 2 hours to 8 hours! We have had these queues at times to coincide with some political event that has upset Spain! It has been so obvious that even when a timetable was leaked it did not surprise anyone!

However, what people did not expect was that once the bully (that Spanish Government are) were told by EU commission they did not wrong- lo and behold they quickly upped their attack - now on pedestrians! Honestly who can actually give a valid answer to these twists in their so called controls? Anyone who lives and breathes the border life are the only people who can or should have spoken to the EU Commission! The failings on the report and the visit and the conclusion was the very foundation on what they had based their visit was too political! One cannot solve a political situation hearing only from Governments! The way to be fair and investigate the problem would have been meeting the people affected - the actual people who have their lives affected by these inhumane queues! Come on! One does not have to be a scientist to know and see who are the so called tobacco smugglers! Also  do you really think that with so many larger areas of smuggling like the Port of Algeciras or Valencia that Gibraltar Border is a threat? You could only believe the bad Spanish Press publicity if you do not know much about the life in Gibraltar or in towns by the Border!

Gibraltar has over ten thousand cross border workers representing the whole of all the European Union countries! They cross daily - some not once or twice but quite a lot of times! These cross border workers which include people from Gibraltar and Spain too,  have a long history of life on both sides of the border! Both countries providing life for all sides, Gibraltar providing jobs that are not available in Spain due to their financial crisis and for many of us in Gibraltar Spain provides us with places to shop, live and have fun - due to the enormous size of their country! Remember Gibraltar is a great place to live and work but being limited in space means we are also limited in may ways - countryside, shops and restaurants to mention just a few.

All that people want from both sides of the border is to live in peace and tranquility and be able to work and travel freely! This is what everyone wants to do without having to negotiate anything in return! By this I mean all we want is to remain British Gibraltarians and all they want as cross border workers is to be able to work and not change their nationality either!

So what needs to happen? The Government of Spain needs to STOP using the Border as a political weapon and STOP using people from all over Europe as a means to cause them misery, just because they work or visit Gibraltar!

The European Commission not only failed the people of Gibraltar and Spain but actually failed all EU citizens that live or work in Gibraltar!

I say shame on your EU and shame on our UK Government and Foreign Office for not protecting the people! Also for not standing up to the bully that Spain is!

People need to rise up and stand up and speak out!

How can you do this with us and for us?

Please Sign and Share
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/spanish-government-undermining-our-right-to-freedom-of-movement.html

Grassroots group plans EU protest
The Gibraltar Government will sponsor a group of Gibraltarians and local residents who plan to travel to Brussels to protest before the European Union about delays caused by Spanish checks at the border.
The group approached the Government in recent months and is said to include people from all walks of life and from all shades of political opinion.

“The result of these discussions is that a group of Gibraltarians and residents of Gibraltar will travel to Brussels at the end of the month in order to complain about the continuing illegal and disproportionate queues at the border,” the Government said in a statement.

A spokesman added: “The Government is assisting with funding and some logistics assistance.”

The office of Gibraltar’s Liberal Democrat MEP, Sir Graham Watson, has arranged for members of the group to meet with the MEPs currently representing Gibraltar and with other MEPs and officials.

“The Government is planning initiatives of its own in Brussels and will not be involved in this movement which is led by members of the public,” the Government statement said.

“Those participating do so in an individual capacity regardless of their employment, their political sympathies or their group affiliations.”

The group plans to hold protests in Brussels at the EU Parliament and elsewhere.

Representatives of the group – the identity of those travelling has not been confirmed as yet - will also give a presentation to MEPs and hand over a petition.

Members of the public are invited to sign this petition, online at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/spanish-government-undermining-our-right-to-freedom-of-movement.html

The petition to the Chairman of the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament reads as follows:

“We the undersigned are nationals of Member States of the European Union whose right to freedom of movement through an internal border of the EU is being undermined on a daily basis by the actions of the Spanish authorities at the land frontier between Gibraltar and Spain.”

“This is because Spain generates deliberate and unnecessary delays which cause queues of pedestrians, motorcycles, bicycles and cars to cross the frontier between Gibraltar and Spain. These delays can last for many hours.

We urge your Committee to investigate the matter.”
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This is an example of how they are targeting pedestrians who are daily workers.


EU Commission you need to be fair to over ten thousand frontier workers and to thirty thousand Gibraltarians!

Anne-Marie Struggles

The case of the missing British waters by Dr Joe Garcia - Panorama Report

The case of the missing British waters

PANORAMIC VIEW, BY Joe Garcia
Gibraltar may have lost a large chunk of British Gibraltar territorial waters, where the Spanish have built a marina and a mole, while the Foreign Office gives the impression of not being too keen to get to the bottom of this vitally important matter.
Is it that they have been caught napping (again) or that they were wide awake and chose to look the other way?
The case of the missing British waters is serious enough to warrant an in-depth official investigation. We have spent a week asking questions, since GBC stumbled onto a map from the UN's International Maritime Organisation when filming a feature about the work of the RN's Gibraltar Squadron.
One evening last week they said in Newswatch that in the second part of the programme they would air the feature, but as viewers noticed, nothing was shown until the next day. What happened here?
When we asked to be allowed to visit the Gibraltar Squadron to take our own photographs of the IMO map, we were told that GBC had not been given access to film the map. It had been a 'fluke', the Command British Forces told us.
Another UK source in The Convent reiterated that no one had been given permission to access the map, but it was available from UK sources.
The whole thing confirmed our suspicion that there was more to it than met the eye.
QUESTIONS
We started off by asking a number of questions, channelling them through official Foreign Office sources in The Convent.
When we asked how long had the present IMO navigational charts been in use with RN Gibraltar Squadron, we were told: 'I have asked colleagues at the Tower but unlikely you will have an answer today.'
We await a reply.
Has the UK Government at any time informed or warned the Spanish that certain Spanish developments have transgressed onto BGTW?
This was the reply: 'We have protested in the past over construction in this area. This does not affect the determining of the Median Line between British Gibraltar and Spanish territorial waters.'
The Foreign Office answer to this question was not specific enough, saying that they had protested in the past over construction in this area.
"In the past" - when was this?
"In this area" - what area?
We got back to them and asked: "Further to FCO reply where it is stated that the UK has "protested in the past over construction in this area", could you please be more specific about the area you refer to and state if this area is within BGTW?"
MEDIAN LINE
Since the FCO had also made a reference to the all-important Median Line, we also asked: "Can you please elaborate what you mean when you say that 'this does not affect the determining of the Median Line between British Gibraltar and Spanish territorial waters' - are you saying that the Median Line goes over built-up 'Spanish' territory?"
As the UN puts it, where the coasts of two states are opposite or adjacent to each other neither of the two is entitled to extend its territory beyond the median line, every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baseline.
That being the international ruling, it would appear that parts of the Spanish marina and mole encroached into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters - and the UK position was evidently not properly defended.
The Foreign Office was taking its time to answer our follow-up questions, no doubt because we were getting too close for comfort to crucial points. When it came, the terse FCO reply was this: "Our line stands that we have formally protested construction this area and we continue to maintain sovereignty over BGTW, including the area north of the Spanish mole. We will not be drawn into a blow to blow account of diplomatic discussions we have had over this issue."
WHY NOT?
This begs the question: Why not? Why is it that the FCO does not want to be drawn any closer to the burning issue?
If they say that they have protested in the past over construction in the area where the Spanish built a marina and mole, it is obvious that the said protests were ineffective because the Spanish took no notice and went ahead with building within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. What kind of defence of Gibraltar's sovereignty was this?
If the Foreign Office really thinks that the UK continues to hold sovereignty over the large chunk of waters where part of the Spanish marina and mole have been built, then surely they could send a Royal Navy vessel to the area and install the Union Jack there, demanding that port dues be paid to Gibraltar.
And why has this vitally important matter been swept under the carpet for so long and has only come to light now through what they term a 'fluke'?
If possession is nine-tenths of the law, is there a real risk that this large chunk of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters may have been lost forever?
The Foreign Office has much more to answer.
13-01-14 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

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Foreign Office Allows Spain to
Undermine International law!

by Leo Olivero
The Foreign Office has seriously let the Rock down by failing to effectively protect Gibraltar’s maritime sovereignty; It’s as easy as that.

Recently released data corroborates this, together with information regarding the blatant hijack of British waters for Spanish development. Which is another disturbing and serious aspect that also confirms the FCO in London is not protecting the UK’s or Gibraltar’s interests. In fact they are doing the exact opposite.

To explain my opening remarks: When a nation talks about “sovereignty”, it means its right to determine what goes on inside its borders. If sovereignty over territory didn’t need defending, countries wouldn’t be in need of armed forces WOULD THEY?

500 Gobsmacking Incursions!

Unfortunately the latter comment is not the case, because whole armies are employed all over the world to robustly defend borders and territorial waters. Except of course here on our own doorstep. Because with only a few miles of territorial sea requiring some determined defending, the docile attitude of the Foreign Office in London, whether they like it or not, is compounding the problem. This is a British diplomatic strategy that has effectively encouraged the Spanish Government through the Guardia Civil to make over 500 gobsmacking incursions in only 12 months!

Countries attach great geographical, economic, and cultural importance to their territory because such an area could provide the bases for extended territorial claims over land, sea, and airspace as the Spanish Government have continuously demonstrated. This is precisely why nations take such an important issue into account when formulating their respective defence and national security strategies.

However, the latest news is incomprehensible, where the Foreign Office has again failed Gibraltar by allowing the Spanish Government to build multi-million pound marina complex in a part of British Sovereign Waters without the FCO making any real noises, something that is beyond belief?

What makes the whole story even more ironic, is that whilst the FCO was casually staring at the new marina complex slowly rising from the ground, a few yards away even deeper into BGTW the Spanish Government were going politically ballistic when the Gibraltar Government decided to build the artificial reef!

And also at no time during the ‘Spanish Reef Hysterics’ did the FCO make a sound or even a veiled threat to Madrid to ‘shut the hell up’ warning them they had knowingly infringed international law by illegally developing in British waters. Something that in anybody’s book must be a serious international issue… Except of course in the Foreign Office Manuals of Diplomacy When Defending the Realm!

Sadly the situation is not all new. Even our own politicians have attempted many times over the years to draw the attention of the FCO of the dangers of allowing the Spaniards to get a foothold (for the sake of a better word) in this manner. This is what

Dr Joseph Garcia said in Parliament 2010 on the same issue during one of his interventions “ Gibraltar has seen incursions by the Spanish navy, the Civil Guard and the Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera. The nature of these incidents has moved from one where the Spanish authorities were content to assert their claim as they moved through Gibraltar waters to one where they openly and recklessly challenge the authority of the Royal Navy and the Royal Gibraltar Police. The issue is not only about sovereignty any more, it has become about maritime safety and security as well”.

It is obvious the people at the FCO do not see it that way, allowing such a dangerous, important and delicate territorial problem to go on without once robustly putting their foot down to at least deter the Spaniards. 500 incursions in a year can hardly be classed as a deterrent, but I suspect the FCO will argue with that.

No one wants a pitch battle out in the bay. But for Christ sake, what is the FCO up to when the Spaniards are building whole development under their noses in BGTW and making many hundreds of incursions a year!

How can statements from the FCO notably the Europe Minister David Lidington be taken seriously or even believed when he comes out with some real pearls like the recent comment when he said “the incursions are intolerable and do not constitute a danger to sovereignty of the waters” - what utter rubbish in my opinion.

Of course 500 incursions are intolerable Mr Europe Minister, they are 500 incursions too many, but what have people like you done about it?

Even the MOD as one would expect, has also fallen into the same deluded FCO

mind-frame on this matter when trying to convince some of the UK main stream press last week, when the UK press claimed a ‘2000% increase in incursions last year’ which the MOD thought was under control and felt they were on top of things, when a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The Royal Navy has assets based in Gibraltar able to challenge unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by Spanish state vessels and we remain committed to doing so”.

When asked by Panorama about the Spanish development built in BGTW an FCO spokesman said “We have protested in the past over construction in this area. This does not affect the determining of the Median Line between British Gibraltar and Spanish territorial waters”… An answer from London that made the waters issue even murkier than what they are already!

GBC Fluke Say MOD

Panorama requested from the MOD in Gibraltar a copy or authorisation to take our own photo of the map displayed on the Gibraltar Squadrons vessel tactical navigation system caught on the video footage of the GBC report, headlined as an investigation.

The MOD refused our request saying, “GBC were doing something else and obtained the pictures by fluke.”

I am convinced the concept of “Territorial Sovereignty” and “Jurisdiction” has over the years confused many a mandarin at the FCO. Looking up this subject for myself I discovered that these two concepts have been used interchangeably. However, there is an important distinction between the two concepts. ‘Territorial Sovereignty’ signifies ownership and possession of a territory, which entitles a nation to exercise its authority and jurisdiction over the territory. Whilst on the other-hand ‘Jurisdiction’ justifies competence to affect peoples, properties and events within a territory.

Important Legal Concepts!

However, the most important point in my findings was that “territorial sovereignty” and “jurisdiction” are also two ‘important legal concepts connected to territory’.

As I said previously international law dictates that a country exercises its territorial sovereignty within its boundary. A boundary in this case is an imaginary line that delineates the territorial limit of a nation. However, if these two important international legal concepts {territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction} are not effectively defended it will surely weaken positions!

Serial Diplomatic Threat to Gibraltar’

So if anyone at the FCO thinks that exercising territorial sovereignty, jurisdiction and control is essentially allowing in a period of 12 months 500 incursions by Spanish state vessels, and the sending of hundreds of hopeless radio messages to uninterested listeners and then posting countless useless diplomatic letters before going on to watch construction of a large business concern in BGTW. THEY ARE MISTAKEN!

Because in my opinion, whoever is ultimately taking these decisions at the FCO is without doubt a ‘SERIAL DIPLOMATIC THREAT TO GIBRALTAR’ and as the title of this article suggests clearly allowing or aiding Spain to undermine international law.

This FCO servant may even have to go back to ‘Diplomatic Pre-School in Whitehall’ to effectively learn his trade’!

13-01-14 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR