Previous voyage sailed in August
An email from the Council for the National Interest Foundation was received this afternoon announcing the next boat voyage to Gaza by international peace activists interested in doing what our own government seems impotent to undertake: to stop the inhumane siege of Gaza.
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2008On October 28, 2008, the Free Gaza Movement will set sail again for Gaza. On board will be a Nobel Peace Prize winner, five physicians, a member of the Israeli Knesset, and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The boat will again carry 26 passengers and crew to the port of Gaza.
“We’ve spent the past month making sure our boat is better and stronger, because the weather is getting more severe. Since we promised the people of Gaza we’d return, we wanted to make sure we would return safely,” said Derek Graham, first mate on board the boat. Mairead Maguire, the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work for peace in Northern Ireland and one of the passengers on board stated, “We sail to Gaza to show the people we love and care for them. What less can we do whilst our governments remain silent and inactive in face of such preventable suffering of the women and children of Gaza and Palestine.”
Also on board is Mustafa Barghouthi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset. Both Palestinians are determined to forge alliances with their countrymen in Gaza, something they have not been able to do, because Israel has closed all land borders to this besieged people.
On this occasion the siege-breakers will deliver 6 cubic metres of medicine as a gift from the European Campaign to End the on Siege on Gaza. Dr Arafat Shoukri, head of the campaign stated, “This is just the first consignment of medical supplies we hope to deliver. Our choice of medicines has been in response to a specific request from the health authorities in Gaza. Many basic items such as cough syrup for children are non-existent in the territory and we are happy to make them available. Our campaign will also dispatch a number of medical specialists to Gaza to assist in the worsening humanitarian crisis brought on by the siege.”
(Aside, Israel has opted to let Palestinians with severe medical disorder die rather than to allow them passage to hospitals outside of Gaza. The US has not protested this practice.)
Greta Berlin, one of the organizers, reiterated the goals of the Free Gaza Movement: “We intend to break Israel’s blockade as often as we can. This second trip is just one of many we intend to organize over the next year. We have lawyers, members of Parliament and other professionals already on our passenger lists for upcoming voyages.
This news was also reported by Ynet.Com, an Israeli web site.
Another ‘Free Gaza’ boat to set sail
Activist group announces it will hold voyage to Strip in one week similar to the one held in August, this time with MK Zahalka and a ‘special package’ in tow
By Yael Levy
International protesters say they are making a repeat voyage to Gaza to bring aid to Palestinians in defiance of Israel’s blockade. Free Gaza organizer Greta Berlin said 29 protesters will sail from Cyprus on October 28 for the estimated 24-hour trip to the Strip. Berlin said Wednesday the group has converted a fishing boat to safely ferry the protesters and a symbolic shipment of medical aid to Gaza.
Passengers will include Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead McGuire, Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Barghouti and MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad). Following the movement’s announcement, Zahalka said, “I have received an offer to participate in the voyage. It’s something I am seriously considering, but my final decision will only be ready tomorrow or the day after.”
Berlin said the protestors would be sailing in a fishing boat equipped with a “symbolic package” containing medical equipment and other aid for Palestinians living under siege, similarly to the previous voyages. The organizer added that the voyage had been scheduled for September, but was postponed because the protestors did not want to arrive during the Ramadan.
However even if no trouble is forthcoming upon their entrance into Gaza, activists can expect certain problems to arise on their way out of the territory. Following the previous sail, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law remained trapped in Gaza when both Israel and Egypt prevented her from crossing the borders.
That’s an incredible turn of events: the EU’s representative to the Middle East, Tony Blair’s sister-in-law is now a prisoner inside of Gaza like most of its citizens.
Blair sister-in-law denied land exit from Gaza
Lauren Booth, who was on activist ship that broke naval blockade, denied entry into both Israel and Egypt .
Reuters
Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair’s sister-in-law, who arrived in Gaza with a boatload of activists protesting an Israeli blockade, said on Tuesday she was stuck there because both Israel and Egypt had denied her entry.
Lauren Booth, sister of the former British prime minister’s wife Cherie, revealed her predicament as Blair visited the region to further Western-backed efforts to achieve a limited Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Whatever gets this peace effort publicity is probably not undesirable. But it does emphasize the inconsequential nature of Tony Blair’s role in the Middle East. One really has to feel sorry for this guy.
Lastly, a cartoon depicting the Free Gaza Movement’s first voyage.
