ISRAEL’S BLOCKADE OF GAZA CHALLENGED BY SEA BY PEACE ACTIVISTS

By Citizen Paul

“Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key.”

John Dugard, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights

Listen to Spokesperson in Cyprus below
Listen to Palestinian Fulbright Scholar in Gaza below

15 August 2008

The SS FREE GAZA - One of two boats being used by a group of more than 40 human rights activists from 17 countries attempting to break the seige of Gaza from the sea.

Two boats, Free Gaza and Liberty, have set sail today for Gaza. On board are are 44 peace activists from many countries including Israel. Among them is Tony Blair’s sister-in-law, Lauren Booth.

Tony Blair of course is the former Prime Minister of Great Britain who today serves as “The Quartet Representative”, headquartered in Jerusalem. He himself has said it is too dangerous for him to go to Gaza. I met briefly with his spokesperson, Ruti Winterstein, when I was in Jerusalem in May, as Blair himself, the floor above me at the American Colony Hotel, was not in the area and not doing his job!

The voyage of the Free Gaza and the Liberty is aimed at “breaking the siege of Gaza,” Greta Berlin, one of the spokespersons said in a report published yesterday in The Jerusalem Post.

Berlin added that the activists “do not intend to turn around” if they are confronted by the Israeli Navy. “Why should we turn around? Israel doesn’t own that property. We have been invited by the people of Gaza,” Berlin said, speaking from Cyprus, where the boats will dock en route to Gaza. “We will certainly talk to them [the Israeli Navy], but our intent is to break the siege of Gaza. We want to get all the way to Gaza,” Berlin said.

The second ship is named SS Liberty and commemorates the USS Liberty that was attacked and sunk by Israel during the 1967 War. The banner is from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Free Gaza Movement people also plan to lay 34 roses in the sea “in memory of the sailors of the USS Liberty,” according to Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, who holds dual Israeli and British citizenship. The USS Liberty, for those who may not remember, is the American intelligence ship attacked by Israeli in the 1967 war killing 34 Americans.

Preparations for this unusual voyage to dramatize the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza have been going on for many months.

We interviewed, Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, the spokeperson for the Free Gaza Movement, earlier this month by phone in Cyprus.

LISTEN BELOW TO THE INTERVIEW with FREE GAZA Spokesperson

We were told during the interview that there will be live satellite video broadcast that will be available of this attempt to symbolically bring relief supplies to the people of Gaza. We will provide a link to this here at our website as soon as it is available.

We were also told that if the boats succeed in reaching Gaza they will attempt to bring out the Palestinian students who have received Fulbright Scholarships to Universities in the United States but whom the Israelis refuse to let leave Gaza. We have since learned however that not only are three of the Palestinian Fulbright Scholars trapped in Gaza but that the Israelis have also pressured the U.S. to cancel the Visas they had received! How shameful!

LISTEN BELOW TO ONE OF THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS IN GAZA