Free Gaza boats to leave on Thursday, vowing to challenge Israeli blockade again

Date: 27 / 08 / 2008 Time: 18:15
Gaza – Ma'an –

The siege-breaking ships that arrived in Gaza on Saturday will depart for Cyprus tomorrow, but has vowed to return quickly to challenge the Israeli blockade again.

"We have made all arrangements for the activists, and they chose to leave us tomorrow at 9am heading to Cyprus," said Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, during a press conference in Gaza City.

The international human rights advocates plan to bring with them 12 to 14 Palestinians who have been denied exit permits by Israel, including students with valid visas or dual citizenship, who have been accepted to universities abroad. They will also bring one Palestinian professor who will return to teaching in Europe and a Palestinian woman who will be reunited with her husband.

The 44 activists have spent the last three days bearing witness to the effects of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, visiting hospitals, private homes and refugee camps, and meeting with Palestinian officials. Several of the activists plan to stay in Gaza in order to monitor the human rights situation.

On Monday the boats accompanied Gazan fishing vessels 13km off shore, passing a 6-mile limit usually enforced by the Israeli military.

The group's two boats, the Free Gaza and the Liberty, landed in Gaza after the Israeli government decided that a high-seas standoff would be bad public relations. The Israeli military has blockaded the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air since June 2007, trapping 1.5 million Palestinians inside and causing shortages of vital goods.

As they do not plan to enter Israel's territorial waters, the activists say they do not expect any interference from the Israeli Navy on their return voyage.

Dr. Vaggelis Pissias, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, said, “We do not accept that Israel can stop these boats. Palestinians have
the same rights as all other peoples. Why is it that the only people in the
Mediterranean without access to their own waters are the Palestinians?”

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.