Today the ‘Irish Ship to Gaza’ group have announced that their vessel MV Saoirse will again be sailing to break the ILLEGAL blockade of the coastal enclave.
MV Saoirse was set to sail as part of this years ‘Freedom Flotilla 2′ but was sabotaged with a damaged prop shaft in port whilst in Turkey. Dr Fintan Lane, national coordinator of Irish Ship to Gaza, who own the vessel, said on the sabotage : “This is an appalling attack and should be condemned by all right-thinking people. It is an act of violence against Irish citizens and could have caused death and injury. If we had not spotted the damage as a result of a short trip in the bay, we would have gone to sea with a dangerously damaged propeller shaft and the boat would have sunk if the hull had been breached. Imagine the scene if this had happened at nighttime.”
He continued: “One of the most shocking aspects is the delayed nature of the sabotage. It wasn’t designed to stop the ship from leaving its berth; instead, it was intended that the fatal damage to the ship would occur while she was at sea and this could have resulted in the deaths of several of those on board. This was a potentially murderous act.”
Dr Lane, who was on board Challenger 1 in last year’s flotilla, said: “The Freedom Flotilla is a non-violent act of practical and humanitarian solidarity with the people of Gaza, yet Israel continues to use threats and violence to delay its sailing. They attacked us in international waters last year; now they are attacking us in Turkish and Greek ports. There is no line that Israel won’t cross.”
“We will not be intimidated by attacks like this — it simply highlights the aggression that the Palestinian people of Gaza have to put up with on a daily basis. It strengthens our determination to continue until this illegal and immoral blockade is lifted.”
The first session of a trial to sentence the murderers of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni is due to start on Thursday in a Gaza court, a Ma’an correspondent reported.
The Italian activist and journalist was murdered after being kidnapped by a group that identified itself as Salafist, on April 15, 2011.
He was found hanged in a house northwest of Gaza City.
Hamas security forces were able to find the group responsible for the murder in An-Nuseirat refugee camp, three days after the murder.
Clashes erupted between the group and Hamas forces, killing two of the accused murderers. A third was injured and a fourth detained.
President Abbas condemned the murder of Arrigoni as a “grotesque and disgraceful crime.”
News of the Italian activist’s murder was greeted with widespread condemnation, and demonstrations and vigils were held across the West Bank in his memory.
I know many of the people who were on this boat, and my family’s letter was part of their cargo. In 2003 my daughter Rachel Corrie made her journey to Gaza and was run down and killed by a US-made Israeli military Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer. She was trying to protect a Gazan family and their home, one of thousands illegally destroyed in Israeli military clearing operations.
Now my family is on a parallel journey with those activists as we return this week to Israeli court to confront Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, the commanding officer of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade in 2003. His testimony should shed light not only on actions of troops responsible for Rachel’s killing but also on the Israeli military’s broad failures as an occupying power to protect civilian life and property.
This week’s flotilla was travelling to Gaza, as Rachel did, to stand with Palestinians against oppression and illegal occupation and for a just, enduring peace.
Some liken the action to those of “freedom riders” who 50 years ago journeyed bravely to the American south to oppose racist laws that kept blacks and whites from sitting together on buses. The flotilla participants are pursuing Israeli and US policy that provides access and egress for Gazans commensurate with what other peoples enjoy in their homelands. They demand freedoms for Gazans that we in the US celebrate for ourselves but are complicit in denying to Palestinians.
A senior administration official in 2010 told our family that the blockade of Gaza was a “failed policy”. He emphasised that the attack on the first flotilla that claimed nine lives (including a US citizen) was tragic, but had created movement for lessening restrictions for Gaza.
Some members of Congress have declared the “imprisonment” of Gazans a greater threat to Israeli security than rockets from Gaza. Nevertheless, a year after the Israeli commando attack on the Mavi Marmara, the US has been unwilling or unable to influence Israel to make many of the changes still needed.
In 2003 Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon promised President Bush a “thorough, credible, and transparent” investigation into my daughter’s killing. The US government’s position continues to be that the promise has gone unfulfilled. In 2008 the Department of State wrote: “We have consistently requested that the government of Israel conduct a full and transparent investigation into Rachel’s death. Our requests have gone unanswered or ignored.”
After eight years, our family remains engaged in prolonged court proceedings seeking accountability that the US government has been unable to secure – though it has no difficulty sending Israel $3bn annually in weapons that do the damage.
The US government has failed repeatedly to obtain accountability for its own citizens and Palestinian civilians harmed by Israel. Now, it is an accomplice in manipulating policing of the Mediterranean and maintaining Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. It has thwarted and threatened citizens acting in the nonviolent tradition of our most revered champions of human rights. Much of the world is watching, disgusted with US abandonment of its own and with its collusion in the imprisonment of the people of Gaza.
Gaza flotillas reflect the world’s embrace of the Palestinian cry for freedom – and most immediately their cry for an end to the blockade and siege of Gaza. Israel and the US may slow or stop the boats, but in doing so, will only find themselves increasingly isolated. Civil society is acting and will continue to until the US government and others catch up. Only when we apply to Israel/Palestine a framework of international law, human rights, and a belief in freedom and equality for every human being, is there realistic hope for a sustainable resolution and peace.
During the course of our lawsuit those not on the witness stand often figure most in my thinking. Palestinian and Jewish Israelis have supported our family’s needs for legal assistance, housing, translation, medical care and companionship. I treasure memorable conversations over meals in homes and Haifa neighbourhood cafes, and the friends who come to be with us at court. Whatever the eventual judgment from the legal system, Israeli supporters have made clear that what happened to Rachel, and to many others in this poisonous conflict, should not have occurred and should not continue.
Rachel did the right thing going to Gaza – taking all of us with her. Her example is best served by supporting those who journey there in the same brave spirit, acting upon values articulated in our own Declaration of Independence, rather than circumventing them as our government seems bound to do. Guardian
Campaigners including MP Caroline Lucas and charities yesterday signalled a call for British politicians to support a new Gaza aid flotilla amid growing pressure for Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestine.
As the flotilla gathered in the Mediterranean, activists took their own boat across the Thames to display a banner outside the Houses of Parliament demanding “Freedom for Palestine”, the title of a hit song poised for official release on Sunday.
Aboard the Westminster boat were Lucas and representatives from the charities War on Want and A Just Peace for Palestine. Other groups joined the river crossing, such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al Aqsa, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions UK, Stop the War Coalition and Trust Greenbelt.
Caroline Lucas is among a number of MPs who have endorsed the flotilla. The others are Sir Gerald Kaufman, Jim Dowd, Joan Ruddock, Bob Russell, Alex Cunningham, Jeremy Corbyn, Karen Buck, John Leech, Cathy Jamieson, Ian Lavery, Emily Thornberry and Marsha Singh.
Caroline Lucas said: “Gaza remains under a siege which impacts on everything from vital health care to the economy. Freedom Flotilla 2 is a reminder to the Israeli authorities that some of us will continue to challenge this and other human rights violations. It is also an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people. I support the flotilla’s peaceful actions to break the illegal siege and to fight for justice and freedom.”
Freedom Flotilla 2, dubbed “Stay Human”, is sailing to the Gaza Strip this weekend in defiance of the illegal Israeli blockade of the coastal fragment of Palestine. At least 10 ships, with others to follow later, intend to set sail from the rendezvous in Greece.
Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip has been ongoing for years, aided by Egyptian and Western governments. A US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks in January showed that Israel’s siege upon Gaza aimed to keep Gaza’s economy functioning “at its lowest possible level without getting a humanitarian crisis”.
MP Lucas went on to question the government, during prime ministers questions, over what they will do to protect british citizens on board, only to receive an answer from William Hague that amounted to “nothing” adding that he hoped Israels attack on the flotilla will be “proportionate”: see transcript below
Earlier today, Palestine solidarity groups, politicians, teachers and others marked the anniversary of the attacks on the Free Gaza flotilla last year by sailing down the river outside Parliament and marking the launch of a new Free Gaza flotilla. As the Foreign Secretary has previously said that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable and unsustainable, will he tell us what further action he is taking to help get the siege lifted, and will he do everything that he can to get guarantees that this new flotilla will be safe from attack?
William Hague (Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Richmond (Yorks), Conservative)
We have continued to take the action that I set out in the House last year. We have urged Israel greatly to improve access to Gaza. It has taken some steps, but those steps have not been as fruitful as we had hoped when they were set out. Egypt has now opened an important crossing into Gaza, which may also provide some relief. The answer relies on the general lifting of a blockade of Gaza and on a negotiated two-state solution in the middle east. However, embarking on new flotillas is not the way in which to bring that about. We advise against all travel to Gaza by British nationals, which includes people who may be thinking of boarding a flotilla to go there. We hope that Israel will make only a proportionate response to any such flotilla, but it is, none the less, not the way in which to sort out the problems of the middle east. Such problems require negotiations in good faith by the parties concerned.
Social activist Stephan Corriveau warned all of us due to set sail on the Canadian ship dubbed the Tahrir – one of the boats participating in the upcoming Gaza flotilla – that we would have no opportunity to bathe during the three-day journey to Gaza but would have drinking water. There was no point in bringing a change of clothes, the Montreal-based Corriveau noted, because there would be nowhere to change, encouraging us to take as little as possible. In the best case scenario, we will make it to Gaza and can buy some clothing there, he said.
There are about 50 of us, men and women, due to sail on the Tahrir, whose name is a reference to the Cairo square where protests earlier this year led to the downfall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Several hundred other activists, from about 20 countries, and several dozen journalists are currently preparing to set sail for Gaza.
Flotilla participants getting ready for an encounter with the IDF.
Photo by: Amira Hass
At several Mediterranean ports, ships await their participants for the upcoming flotilla. The vessels were acquired in a transatlantic fund-raising effort which began about a year ago, immediately after the Israeli Navy killed nine partcipants aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla ship, the Mavi Marmara, last May. The new flotilla has been organized by a coalition of organizations, all of which refuse to accept the Israeli argument that the Gaza Strip is no longer besieged and that if there is a siege, it is only because of the arms Hamas has been smuggling into the territory. The activists’ participation is designed to apply popular pressure on their own governments to stop cooperating with the Israeli policy.
Canadian activists raised about $350,000 over the past year for the operation, setting up an account in the name of a group called Turtle Island Humanitarian Aid. The Canadian government has announced it does not support the flotilla, viewing it as a provocation against Israel. Other governments have had a similar reaction to the effort in response to the participation of their nationals. Only the Irish government has called on Israel to refrain from violence in response to the flotilla.
Last Thursday, the Greek port authority announced it had received a claim contending that the the Amercian boat, whose delegates are mostly from the U.S. but some are Israelis, was not seaworthy and the ship’s departure would be delayed until the claim was investigated. Flotilla organizers say they believe the claim to be politically motivated. Their lawyer is currently negotiating with authorities over the issue but the plan is to set sail with the rest of the flotilla.
Although the Tahrir has been generally referred to as Canadian, it was purchased for about $500,000 with contributions that also came from Australia, Denmark and Belgium; nationals of all of these countries will be on board when it joins the flotilla. The donations came primarily from individuals and non-governmental organizations, said David Heap, a Canadian professor of linguistics and French who has a history of activism against apartheid in South Africa and on behalf of native peoples in North America.
Heap said he was not surprised by the Canadian government’s opposition to the flotilla, and claimed Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had been a founder of a think tank that supported South Africa during the apartheid regime and that opposed sanctions against the regime and the release of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.
In advance of the departure of our ship, we – the particpants – sat in a Greek hotel, getting to know one another and rehearsing the prospect that the Israeli Navy would take control of the ships in the flotilla. In simulation drills over several hours, about 50 civilians – ranging in age from 20 to 69 – attempted to imagine themselves facing Israeli warships and M16 rifles with fighter helicopters hovering overhead, along with water cannon, tear gas and Taser stun guns. The participants also imagined verbal abuse along with physical blows, dogs, and masked commandos.
The activists concluded from the exercise that they should acknowledge their fears and learn as a group of people, mutually responsible for one anther, how to confront their fears.
ATHENS: Israeli diplomatic and economic pressure is looming large over preparations of the second Gaza aid flotilla, set to sail from a number Greek ports at the end of the month. Israel has clearly stated that it will use every diplomatic and military avenue to maintain its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The events of the past few days in Athens confirm that Israel is making good on its claim. Learning from last year’s botched military operation against the flotilla– which left eight Turkish civilians and one Turkish-American civilian dead– Israel is seemingly applying pressure directly on the Greek government to stop the flotilla boats from setting sail.
Early this morning, I discovered that a ‘private compliant’ had been filed against the US boat to Gaza. The compliant, it is still unclear who filed it, stated that the US boat to Gaza is not ’sea worthy’ and requires a detailed inspection.The harbor master where the boat is in port has declared that until the compliant is resolved the boat is not permitted to leave. Currently, lawyers representing the US boat are looking into the origins of the compliant and weather it was filed as a result of Israeli economic or diplomatic pressure on the Greek government. The boat is US flagged and registered in the United States.
The government of Greece has been on the edge of collapse due to expected European Union austerity measures which are overwhelmingly unpopular among the majority of the population. Demonstrations and riots have been rocking Athens for the past two weeks. Greek officials have confirmed that Israel and Greece have met in recent days to discuss various issues including the flotilla.
Given the fact that the Greek government is fighting for its political survival, it is unlikely that Greece would bend to Israeli diplomatic pressure. However, it is more probable that Greece would bend to direct Israeli economic pressure. Israel and Greece have a strong economic relationship which includes a joint gas pipeline project in the Eastern Mediterranean.
If substantiated, rumors that Israel is threatening the Israeli-Greek trade relationship could have profound effects on the economy of Greece which, in turn, would make implementing upcoming austerity measure much more difficult. Right now, these sentiments are merely rumors and the Greek government is maintaining silence on economic relations with Israel in connection with the Flotilla. What is clear is that Flotilla ships are being targeted in Greek ports and might not sail.
10 ships are expected to sail as part of the Gaza aid flotilla. Currently three ships, including the US boat, have had complaints levied against them. US boat organizers believe that Greece will attempt to delay the ships indefinitely by using a serious of bureaucratic measures such as endless safety checks and cargo inspections. Despite the setbacks, organizers are continuing with their nonviolence and safety training. They are hopeful that the Greek government will allow the ships to sail next week as initially planned.
Organizers of the Gaza flotilla said yesterday that they are determined to set sail even if the heads of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH ) do not participate. The flotilla is currently scheduled to depart in one week to mark the anniversary of last year’s raid of the Gaza-bound flotilla in which nine Turkish activists were killed.
“The Israeli attempt to link the flotilla to the desires of only the Turks is an intentional deception intended to influence public opinion,” said sources from the coalition behind the flotilla.
A boy helps IHH load humanitarian supplies onto a truck bound for Syrian refugees on June 15, 2011.
Photo by: Reuters
While Turkish participation is crucial, that does not mean the flotilla will be canceled if the Turks do not participate, the sources said. The IHH is considering whether to back out of the Gaza flotilla because of tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported yesterday. “We are reconsidering our plans,” IHH board member Huseyin Oruc told the newspaper. “We cannot close our eyes to the developments on our doorstep,” he said, referring to events in Syria.
It is growing more and more likely that the IHH will cancel or postpone the flotilla, according to a source in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. Oruc’s statements are the most recent in a series of indications that the IHH is interested in canceling or rescheduling the flotilla.
Minister of National infrastructures Dr. Uzi Landau has instructed Noble Energy to develop the Noa North gas reserve in the Noa license. Sources inform “Globes” that the final decision to develop the field came after operator Noble Energy convinced Ministry of National Infrastructures experts that he field did not spill over into other parts of the reserve, which is partly under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority in the economic zone of the Gaza Strip.
Up to now, Landau has refrained from ordering development of the Noa field, fearing that this would lead to diplomatic problems vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority. “Globes” reported in the past that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the matter with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.
Many people learnt about Israel’s brutal blockade on Gaza for the first time with the attack on the Freedom Flotilla.
Iara Lee, based in the United States, is a Korean Brazilian activist, film producer and founder of the Caipirinha Foundation that advocates global solidarity and peace. Having directed a number of short and long documentaries such as “Synthetic Pleasures”, “Modulations”, “Architettura” and “Beneath the Borqa” among others, Iara Lee took part in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The footage of the attack on the flotilla that was captured by a cameraman in Lee’s crew had major repercussions worldwide. Among many individuals who recorded the attack time onboard the Mavi Marmara boat was Srdan Stojilkkovi? from Lee’s crew. Stojilkkovi? managed to hide most of the footage of the attack successfully and later Lee shared it with the world. Iara Lee’s account of the attack was made public in the book “Freedom Flotilla through Language of Global Conscience: Interviews with Passengers,” authored by Zahide Tuba Kor and published by IHH Book. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Pre-dawn on May 31, we were expecting to confront Israeli forces somehow. When it became obvious that Israeli commandos were going to board the boat, most of the passengers were told to go downstairs. I did so too. A while ago we heard gunshots. Since I know every part of the boat was searched tediously before sailing, I realized it was our friends who were being shot at. I first thought they were using rubber bullets or were firing into the air. But I later saw many bloody bodies, some of whom were shot in the head, being carried into the lower deck.
Since I predicted Israeli navy would confiscate our belongings, hard drives, memory cards, etc. I asked my cameraman (Srdan Stojilkkovi?) to replace existing ones with smaller (SD) memory cards. He did so and to prevent SD cards being confiscated he hid them in his underwear. In case Israelis found the cards, I directed him to tell them I had requested him to hide the cards and he was just doing his job. Israeli officials frisked hundreds of people but since they focused mostly on long-bearded Muslims, they did not frisk my white-tanned cameraman thoroughly and therefore could not find hidden SD cards.
*
When I returned to the United States, I faced expected insults from fervent supporters of the Israeli government. However, there was incredible interest to the footage we sneaked out of the boat not only from solidarity movements but also from fully independent organizations. The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) invited me to present the footage to public at a press conference to be held at the United Nations. The Israeli delegation leveled groundless accusations against the association for showing the raw footage and holding a question and answer session with attending correspondents.
*
The Freedom Flotilla, owing to Israel’s deadly attack that claimed lives of nine beloved fellow activists, brought about an unprecedented wave of condemnation by the international community against the Israeli government. Despite all evidence put forward by respectable organizations, many people learnt about Israel’s brutal blockade on Gaza for the first time with the attack on the Freedom Flotilla.
A year after Israeli Defence Force personnel massacred nine humanitarian aid volunteers on the Mavi Marmara in international waters, preparations are well underway for another 1500 to take their place, to confront the root cause of Gazan’s dependence on humanitarian aid – the illegal naval blockade of Gaza. (1)
Like Hydra’s heads, for every boat that Israel attacked in 2010,(2) at least another two have appeared, to take up the challenge to bring justice to Gaza, and hold Israel accountable for its breaches of international law.
2010’s six boats carrying over 600 people from 37 countries, have swelled to an expected 15 boats carrying 1500 passengers from 100 countries. To give an idea of the magnitude of international civil support for the 2011 flotilla, Turkish relief agency The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) reports it has already had some 300,000 applications for the 500 places available on its repaired Mavi Marmara.
First to leave for Gaza will be Freedom Flotilla II, a German ship departing Hamburg on June 19, with journalist Peter Wolter and Swiss writer Henning Mankell aboard.
They plan to meet up in the Mediterranean in late June with boats from Britain, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland (Saoirse), Italy (Stefano Chiarini), Norway, Scotland (Discovery II), Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Turkey (Mavi Marmara), the U.S.A. (The Audacity of Hope) and Canada (Tahrir). All are then expected to sail to Gaza with their cargoes of humanitarian aid, including medicines, educational materials, and even letters and cards with messages of solidarity and hope for Gaza’s beleaguered population.
Parliamentarians from several countries are preparing to join the peaceful activists from all walks of life – professionals, labourers, even sportspeople such as recently-retired Irish rugby star Trevor Hogan – setting sail for Gaza, despite threats by the Israeli armed forces to use attack dogs and snipers against them. Threats of physical violence have been accompanied by diplomatic pressure from the Israeli government on the governments of flotilla participants, and an Israeli law centre is even threatening the satellite navigation company providing services to the boats.(3)
The greatest peril facing those taking up the Herculean task of breaking Israel’s illegal blockade is not the stench of Hydra’s breath, but that of Israel’s brutality and mendacity.
As the flotilla participants prepare for their hazardous journey in the coming weeks, I will be talking to Gazans about their perceptions of this dangerous trip – and why is so important, and so necessary for civil society to take the lead, when international organs have failed them so miserably.
(1) Ceren Mutus, in An International Law Analysis Of The Flotilla Crisis Between Turkey And Israel, noted that Israel remains the occupier of Gaza, and because states are not allowed to impose a blockade on the territories they occupy, the naval blockade itself is illegal. Thus the subsequent interception of the flotilla based on the illegal blockade is also unlawful in itself. http://www.turkishweekly.net/article/401/an-international-law-analysis-of-the-flotilla-crisis-between-turkey-and-israel.html
A much-delayed U.N. panel set up to investigate last year’s Israeli attack on an aid convoy bound for Gaza is now due to report back next month, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.
“This panel is still discussing the incident,” Ban told reporters. “They will bring me their recommendations and their findings some time in July.”
In May of last year, Israeli marines intercepted a six-ship flotilla in international waters and killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American aboard one vessel, the Mavi Marmara, owned by a Turkish charity.
Last August, Ban appointed a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer to look into the incident. The panel also included former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as well as Turkish and Israeli representatives.
Ban never publicly set a deadline for it to complete its work, although U.N. officials had originally hoped it might do so first in February and then in April.
Diplomats and U.N. officials have said the panel has been held up by disputes between its Turkish and Israeli members. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky suggested last month the group might not be able to produce a consensus document.
Ban said there was still no exact date for the panel to report and that it was “still working very, very hard.”
Israel illegally blockades Gaza, a move it says is legal because ‘Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled territory fire rockets at the Jewish state’. Many states and the United Nations have called for the blockade to be lifted.
Israel says any aid for Gaza should go overland, which in practice has meant through Israel, who is responsible for the denial of vast amounts of previous aid and the siege in it’s entirety.
Pro-Palestinian groups have said they are planning a new flotilla for Gaza in late June, a move that led Ban to appeal last month for governments to try to dissuade them (A move with absolutely no legal basis).
A boat from Dundee carrying humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza could sail under the name Discovery II.
And Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick confirmed today that he hopes to be aboard.
Around £10,000 has already been raised in Dundee to fund the enterprise, but there is still a long way to go.
“Work is well under way to raise the necessary funds for the boat from Dundee,” said campaign leader Kevin Moore.
“The boat will cost in the region of half a million pounds and a further £150,000 will be needed for fuel”
Fundraising is being organised by Free Gaza Scotland (Dundee Group), which comprises representatives from organisations including the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Tayside for Justice in Palestine and Jews for a Just Peace in Palestine.
Kevin is confident the goal of launching a ship from Dundee will be achieved.
“Discovery II has been suggested as a possible name,” he said.
Mr Fitzpatick said, “I am looking forward to being part of the next aid flotilla to Gaza along with some of my constituents, he said.
“I hope that by taking part I can show my support for the people of Gaza and raise awareness of the conditions they are living under as a result of the Israeli blockade.”
AID SHIP APPEAL SET FOR LAUNCH
Plans for a ship to carry humanitarian aid from Dundee to the people of Gaza will come a step closer to being realised on Saturday when the fundraising appeal is launched officially in City Square.
Organisers hope to have the Discovery II ready to set sail as part of an aid flotilla in May.
Through the Dundee Aid Ship Fund appeal is not being launched officially until the weekend, almost half of the £500,000 needed has already been raised.
However, precious estimates have put the fuel costs alot at an additional £150,000 so there is still a fund-raising mountain to climb, as the campaigns Kevin Moore explained
“Once we get the ship we still have to stock it and get the medical and educational supplies we need,” he said. “But we’ll get there”
The appeal is already planning a benefit gig at the Doghouse in March and is looking to have the ship fully equipped and ready to set off two months later.
“There were plans for a worldwide flotilla to go but everybody was going to be ready at the same time so some are going in March and we hope to go in May”.
Among those speaking on Saturday will be Lord Provost John Letford and Councillor Fraser Macpherson, who have supported the move for a Dundee aid ship and played a part in allowing the Palestinian flag to be flown over the Caird Hall along side Dundee’s other twin city nations, said Kevin.
The rally is also expected to hear from Dundee activist Ali el-Awaisi, who was on the aid ship Mavi Marmara last May when nine aid workers died after it was stormed by Israeli troops.
His later, successful, attempt to reach Gaza involved in a two-month journey at the end of last year.
Today the ‘Irish Ship to Gaza’ group have announced that their vessel MV Saoirse will again be sailing to break the ILLEGAL blockade of the coastal enclave.
