Preparations were under way on Wednesday for the so-called Freedom Flotilla III, a convoy of ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists, at least one European Parliament member and an Arab-Israeli MP.
Al Jazeera has learned that the activists could set sail to Gaza as early as Friday.
Their campaign comes as Israel faces international pressure over its actions in Gaza, with a UN report released on Monday saying both Israel and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes during last year's conflict in the besieged coastal enclave.
Israel's blockade of the territory dates to 2006, after Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections, and was tightened a year later when Hamas consolidated control of Gaza.
"We're not alone in considering the blockade to be inhumane and illegal," Staffan Graner, an activist who is sailing aboard Swedish trawler, the Marianne of Gothenburg, told AFP news agency.
The Marianne of Gothenburg, which set sail from Sicily on Friday, will join four other vessels carrying some 70 people en route to Gaza, according to a statement from the Platform of French NGOs for Palestine, an advocacy group supporting the effort.
Among those aboard will be former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Spanish MEP Ana Maria Miranda Paza and Arab-Israeli politician Basel Ghattas, organisers said.
Ghattas' decision to join the flotilla caused outrage in Israel.
On Sunday, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said the flotilla was "the work of provocateurs whose aim is to blacken Israel's face".
In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ghattas wrote that "any form of takeover to prevent this will only involve Israel in yet another difficult international crisis or scandal", he warned.
'Violence would be stupid'
Ghattas was referring to the killing of 10 Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara after Israeli commandos staged a botched pre-dawn raid on a six-ship flotilla seeking to break the Gaza blockade in May 2010.
Since then, several ships manned by pro-Palestinian activists have tried to reach the shores of Gaza, but they have all been repelled by the Israeli navy...................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/flotilla-activists-set-sail-bid-break-gaza-blockade-150624045535989.html
24/6/15
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The ship leading a Gaza-bound flotilla that aims to break the naval blockade reportedly left the Greek isle of Crete early Friday morning, after unspecified delays...
ReplyDeleteAn Israeli-born, pro-Palestinian activist on board the boat confirmed to the Walla news website that the Swedish Marianne of Gothenburg had departed, adding that the additional four vessels that make up the flotilla were expected to follow suit shortly. Dror Feiler said the flotilla would reach the Gaza Strip by Sunday or Monday.
According to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, the flotilla set sail on Friday carrying 70 people, including Arab MK Basel Ghattas and a former Tunisian president, as well as humanitarian supplies and solar panels.
“At long last, we are on the Marianne. After hardships that will yet be discussed, we are sailing to Gaza,” wrote Ghattas on his Facebook page in Hebrew early Friday.
“Here we go, the Marrianne [sic] with us on it is in it’s final sailing part toward Gaza. Our strong determination is to get to our destination despite the high aggressive sea waves and Nathanihu [sic] threats to stop us. So long Gaza, we are coming,” he added in English.
On Thursday, Feiler claimed that anonymous individuals had sabotaged one of the boats trying to break Israel’s naval blockade. He told a Nazareth-based radio station that “unknown hands” had tampered with one of the boats making its way to the Strip, damaging it..............http://www.timesofisrael.com/first-ship-in-gaza-bound-flotilla-sets-sail-from-crete/
26/6/15