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Jewish Activists Set Sail for Gaza from Cyprus
FAMAGUSTA, Cyprus -- A boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Germany, the U.S. and Britain set sail on Sunday for Gaza, hoping to breach Israel's naval blockade there.
A boat with 9 Jewish activists aboard sets sail from Famagusta harbor in the Turkish-occupied north of ethnically divided Cyprus in a bid to breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) Richard Kuper, an organizer with the British group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians. Kuper said the boat, which set sail from northern Cyprus flying a British flag, won't resist if Israeli authorities try to stop it.
The voyage by the 33-foot (10-meter) catamaran Irene came nearly four months after Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships, including the Mavi Marmara, killing eight pro-Palestinian Turkish activists and a Turkish American.
Irene passenger Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose daughter Smadar was killed in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Jerusalem in 1997, said it was his "moral duty" to act in support of Palestinians in Gaza because reconciliation was the surest path to peace.
"Those 1.5 million people in Gaza are victims exactly as I am," Elhanan, 60, said in an interview.
Alison Prager, another Jews for Justice for Palestinians organizer, said many Jews have been on previous "blockade-busting trips" to Gaza, but this was the first time Jewish groups have banded together to send a boat of their own.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David called the latest protest boat "a provocative joke that isn't funny."
"It's unfortunate that there are all kids of organizations involved in provocations that contribute nothing and certainly don't contribute to any kind of agreement," David said.
Yousef Rizka, an official with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, said: "The government has received Jewish activists arriving to Gaza before. The government positively views all attempts to break the siege on Gaza."
The voyage came as Israelis, Palestinians and U.S. mediators sought a compromise that would allow Mideast talks to continue after an Israeli settlement slowdown expires at midnight.
Israel maintains a strict naval blockade on Gaza Strip that bars ships from entering the coastal territory. It is a part of the Jewish state's wider blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, imposed when the militant group seized power.
After the international backlash over the Mavi Marmara attack, Israel eased its blockade on commercial goods, but it maintains tight restrictions on construction materials, exports and on the movement of Gazans.
The three-year blockade, which is supported by neighboring Egypt, has badly impoverished already needy Gaza residents, penned them into the territory and caused one of the world's highest unemployment rates.
The Iranian-backed militant group Hamas has called for Israel's destruction. Hamas officials have angrily denied that the Holocaust ever happened, and their literature is replete with anti-Semitic references.
Kuper said the activists were not seeking to support Hamas, but to send a message that Gaza civilians shouldn't be punished for the actions of their rulers.
The Irene catamaran, carrying a total of nine passengers and crew members, set sail from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the island because the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south imposed a ban on all-Gaza-bound vessels in May, citing "vital interests." Prior to the ban, international activists had used south Cyprus to launch eight boat trips to Gaza over a two-year span.
Cyprus was ethnically split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a short-lived coup by supporters of union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared an independent republic in 1983, but only Turkey recognizes it and maintains 35,000 troops there.
Kuper said the activists did not seek to stir controversy by leaving from north Cyprus, but that "practicalities" necessitated the choice.
The Irene vessel planned to deliver children's toys, medical equipment, outboard motors for fishing boats and books to Gaza residents.
Kuper said the voyage is a "symbolic statement" intended to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians and to underscore what he called Israel's "illegal, unnecessary and inhumane" blockade of Gaza.
"Jewish communities around the world are not united in support of Israel," Kuper said in a telephone interview from London. "Israel's future peace is coming to terms quickly with the Palestinians."
Kuper said the trip was funded entirely by supporters' donations.
Associated Press Writers Matti Friedman from Jerusalem and Ibrahim Barzak from Gaza City contributed to this report.
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22 Comments so far
Show AllGood luck.
Assuming the malevolent Israeli government isn't disposed to mount another atrocious orgy of violence to teach pro-Palestinian activists another bloody lesson, this ship will probably be "quietly" intercepted and diverted from its destination.
It pains me to express this, but I'm not sure that single ships, few and far between, will have a cumulative impact on the status quo.
I still root for them on principle, though.
everyone has the moral duty to do one's best to send Israel the message that Israeli policies toward the palestinians are unacceptable
through boycotting anything and everything that prop up the current state of israel.
This article claims that "It is a part of the Jewish state's wider blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, imposed when the militant group seized power."
Hams was elected. It did not seize power. Instead it resisted an American/Isreali backed attempt to topple the elected government.
The zionist lies just never stop.
Also, Emily Henochowicz who lost one eye in IDF firing at a checkpoint is back and could use some help with her medical bills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NYteYT-K2k
http://thirstypixels.blogspot.com
this boat brings ever closer the connection between...
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
same place
different time
while the world stands by
genocide
live
I like that they're bringing fishing nets. I have great sympathy, as a fisherman, for the palestinians who are prevented from fishing in their ancestral waters. And it's amazing that it's jews who are breaking the siege. Until now, I've been convinced that american jews implicitly supported the ethic cleansing of palestine, but now it's clear that jews are divided into two camps - those that support genocide, and those that support a palestinian state in historic palestine.
What will it take for Israel to remove the blockade?
1) Its neighbours to stop sending rockets across its border, and
2) Its neighbours to stop threatening it with total destruction, and
3) Brainwashed individuals to stop blowing themselves up in order to kill as many innocents as possible.
Just 3 little things - Simple as that.
But the Isrealis are doing most of the killing.
B'Tselem, The Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories reports that 4,908 Palestinians were killed by Israelis and 1,062 Israelis were killed by Palestinians between September 29, 2000 and December 26, 2008. (Visit their statistics page.) The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 1,440 Palestinians were killed during the Israel’s assault on the Gaza strip, between December 27, 2008 and February 5, 2009. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that 5 Israeli soldiers and 4 civilians were killed by Palestinians between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, and 1 soldier was killed on January 27, 2009.
Since the assassination of Rabin by an Isreali rightist, and Sharon's armed march on the Temple Mount, Isreal has been governed by a hateful succession of extreme right wing governments that have shown no interest in peace and every interest in pursuing a policy of apartheid and land theft.
So one little thing: you're telling zionist lies. Simple as that.
Even if Israel's neighbors honestly met these "Simple" requirements, the Zionist WILL continue to..
1. Import imposter Jews to settle on stolen land.
(Yes Stolen! It is colonization that is no different than what happened South Africa, the America's, Australia the Islands etc.)
2. Punish the entire population of Palestinians for resisting.
(And anyone anywhere that dares to criticize the beloved chosen people)
3. Manufacture and export the most deadly weapons technology in the history of mankind. (After testing them on "Goyim" men, women and children in Palestine)
4. Change the rules as they see fit in order to maintain supremacy.
(They're free to change the rules of the game because it’s their game and their ball.)
What will it take for Israel to get what it needs to remove the blockade?
1) Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (that is, to the 1967 borders, which are well beyond the UN mandate).
2) Israel to the allow the people criminally driven from their land and their homes to return to what was stolen from them by armed force (or to make full and adequate compensation for the theft).
3) Israel to stop acts of aggression and threats of aggression against its neighbors.
Just 3 little things that would comply with international law. Simple?
1. For all Zionist leaders to be thrown in prison and/or executed
2. For a delousing program to be undertaking to reverse all the years of brainwashing that people like you are victims of.
The AP article makes uncritical reference to the "...killing (of) eight pro-Palestinian Turkish activists and a Turkish American" aboard Mavi Marmara as though it were reporting rush-hour traffic conditions in Timbuctu.
It is at great pains, however, to point out (disingenuously) that "(t)he Iranian-backed militant group Hamas has called for Israel's destruction. Hamas officials have angrily denied that the Holocaust ever happened, and their literature is replete with anti-Semitic references."
Great reporting and great editing of the sort we've come to expect from the money media.
Michael F,
my eyes lingered over that interpretation as well (hamas calling for israels destruction). the israelis have not just used rhetorical words, they actually have been destroying the palestinian people (person by person - block by block - house by house) for over 60 years. actions speak louder than words - as the image of palestinians living in an open air prison in gaza speaks volumes as to how the zionists appreciate the meaning of human dignity (or lack there of) - the implication that hamas is incapable of formulating their own ideas w/out foriegn (iranian) support is insulting.
boycott everything israeli and apply pressure on your elected representatives to w/hold US aid until human rights are recognized, the land is returned and the refugees are allowed to return to their land.
...peace...
What will they carry in this sailboat? Toothbrushes and a Bible?
It's an AP article, so it's buried pretty far down in the article under all the anti-Hamas clap-trap, but it's there, if you'd bother to read the article.
"The Irene vessel planned to deliver children's toys, medical equipment, outboard motors for fishing boats and books to Gaza residents."
I guess if that's what they plan to deliver, that's what they will carry.
Perhaps the concept of a sailboat carrying cargo is unfamiliar to you?
Wait a minute! Oh, I see. This is an AP piece, which explains the 11th paragraph: "...part of the Jewish state's wider blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, imposed when the militant group seized power."
"seized power"? Funny. I seem to remember the U.S./Israeli Siamese twins initiating and meddling with "democratic" elections and then getting pissed off when Palestinians didn't vote the right way. Seized power? Oh well, what can one expect from AP?
Oh, and BTW, my thoughts and hopes go with these brave people. My "collective guilt" at helping to fund, via my taxes, Israel's implements of destruction, oppression, and murder shames me; I only hope the world survives to the day when it will look back in horror on these 60+ years of Israeli-perpetuated holocausts and wonder how so many people did nothing to stop it.
"no gods, no masters" --m. sanger
Possibly "seized power" refers to the violence and pressure put upon the Palestinians by Hamas to ... "vote correctly".
I somehow doubt that these protesters will be shot in the back of the head 'execution style'...
Well, I wish them luck. They'll probably at least get quite the welcome from the IDF, if not bullets it'll be the butts of rifles.
comment deleted by its author
The Jewish flotilla activists are a "provacative joke?" No, they are humantarians and heroes.
Israel, you've now opened up the settlements again, just in time to torpedo the peace talks.
YOU, zionists, refuse to see the inhumanity of your treatment of the Palestinians.
As awful as the Holocaust was, you cannot continue to use that as your reason for all of your actions, whikle imposding this same treatment on Gaza.
I so distrust the zionist government, that when I heard that a worm had found its way into the Iranian nuclear computers, my first thought was Mossad. My second thought was the hawks in the U,S who want WW III ,and Mossad.
Zionists refuse to join any kind of nuclear treaty, and yet, if WW III comes, it will probably because someone has nuked your nuclear plant. The entire area would become a " no -man's land."
It would be much more human and civilized and reponsible to the rest of the world, if you realized that there must be a division of the 2 nations, including Palestine's right to East Jerusalem.
I do fear for these activists ' lives, as we now know that the zionist government believes that there are "no civilans during war."
Life is no longer sacred to you, but property seems to be. Oh how far you have traveled from the beginning, but how very little you have learned.
stardust I'm going to criticize your comment. Constructively?
stardust: YOU, Zionists, refuse to see the inhumanity of your treatment of the Palestinians.
truetoo: YOU, Zionists, see clearly the inhumanity of your treatment of the Palestinians. YOU know that you have turned to the dark side and YOU also see that your time is short...
stardust: Zionists refuse to join any kind of nuclear treaty, and yet, if WW III comes, it will probably because someone has nuked your nuclear plant. The entire area would become a " no -man's land.
truetoo: Zionist monitor the implications of nuclear treaties and position themselves accordingly. When WW III comes, you will recognize your self as the Masters of Death, Destruction, Agony and Suffering. With your most advanced weaponry and reptilian brain, Everyone will witness YOU as the premier agent causing the "gnawing of the tongue and gnashing of teeth" it will be the likes of YOU that turn 3/4ths of the planet into a no -man's land.
startdust: It would be much more human and civilized and responsible to the rest of the world, if you realized that there must be a division of the 2 nations, including Palestine's right to East Jerusalem.
truetoo: I disagree stardust. I think Jerusalem should be shared by all three major groups with responsible Jews, Christians and Muslims demonstrating the best of what each tradition has to offer. Nevertheless, the one state solution might be the way too go.
startdust: Life is no longer sacred to you, but property seems to be. Oh how far you have traveled from the beginning, but how very little you have learned.
truetoo: Your life is the only one sacred to you. Property and the world banking system have served you well. You have traveled far but the end is in sight. How very little and petty it is to gain the world but lose your soul...
'It is a part of the Jewish state's wider blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, imposed when the militant group seized power.'
Anyone who can write about the Hamas 'militant group seizing power' is half witted or propagandist.
Or both.
Seems more and more obvious AP is both.
So what is news?