August, 22 2008, 04:30pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020;
or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Gaza Siege Challenged by Sea
WASHINGTON
Reuters reports today: "International activists departed from Cyprus by boat on Friday in an attempt to run an Israeli sea blockade on 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza. The 44 activists sailed from the port of Larnaca in two wooden boats ... Hailing from 14 countries, they said they expected to reach the shores of Gaza, patrolled by the Israeli navy, on Saturday."
A recent article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz was headlined "Israel may use force to halt boat trying to break Gaza siege."
Photos, web streams from the boats, profiles of the passengers and other information is available at FreeGaza.org; some of the activists are blogging.
Passengers on the boats are available for interviews via satellite phones.
Among the activists:
HUWAIDA ARRAF, a human rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, teaches human rights law at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. Arraf said today: "Israel claims Gaza is free, but it controls Gaza by air, sea and land, prevents the people of Gaza from traveling and trading and forces them to try to exist on handouts. Israel is preventing the Palestinians from getting crucial things like upkeep of the sewage system, so there's a threat of waterborne diseases. Two hundred Palestinians in Gaza have died because they could not leave Gaza to get the medical care they needed."
LAUREN BOOTH, a journalist and broadcaster, is a sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
JEFF HALPER, an Israeli professor of anthropology, is coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Arraf, Booth and Halper were interviewed while en route to Gaza this morning on the program "Democracy Now."
Also available for interviews are:
RAMZI KYSIA
ANGELA GODFREY-GOLDSTEIN
Kysia and Godfrey-Goldstein are organizers with the Free Gaza movement.
JAMAL EL-KHOUDARY
Chairman of the , El-Khoudary is an independent member of the Palestinian parliament.
MONA EL-FARRA
El-Farra is director of the Red Crescent Society in Gaza and of the International Campaign Against the Siege of Gaza.
More Information
HEDY EPSTEIN
Epstein, an 84-year-old survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, was unable for medical reasons to go on the boats as she had planned. She is returning to the U.S. from Cyprus. Epstein is author of Remembering Is Not Enough: The Autobiography of Hedy Epstein.
More Information
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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