A group of pro-Palestinian activists are determined to embark Thursday on an unpredictable voyage for the Gaza Strip, in a bid to challenge a year-long blockade Israel has imposed upon the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave.
Two converted fishing boats, respectively named the Free Gaza and the Liberty, which will carry the activists through the Mediterranean Sea, arrived at the southern Cypriot port of Larnaca on Wednesday for final preparations before setting sail Thursday afternoon for their destination, said the Free Gaza Movement, organizer of the campaign, in a statement.
"We... are so enthusiastic about setting out for Gaza. On the way today, we had the Cypriot authorities escorting us. Now, it's time for the world to escort us to Gaza," Paul Larudee, one of the organizers aboard the boats, was quoted as saying.
Forty-six human rights workers and peace activists from 17 countries will participate in the nonviolent campaign, Israeli Professor Jeff Halper, a strong opponent of his country's siege of the Gaza Strip, told Xinhua from Cyprus in a telephone interview.
Halper said he himself "unfortunately is the only Israeli Jew" on the mission.
Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 84, and Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also undertake the journey, through which the Free Gaza Movement hopes "to draw attention to the devastating consequences of the Israeli blockade" upon the 1.4 million Palestinians in the coastal strip.
The two vessels will also carry hearing aids for children in the poverty-stricken Palestinian territory who have lost some or all of their hearing due to Israeli sound bombs and sonic booms, said a statement released Monday by the California-based group, which was established about two years ago and comprises human rights activists, aid workers, journalists and peace activists.
According to a letter received by Xinhua from the organizers on Wednesday night, the passengers and crew of the two boats will also hold a memorial service at the northern end of the Larnaca port before their departure, to commemorate the 14 Gazan fishermen killed by the Israeli navy over the past four years when fishing off the Gazan coast, and the 34 American sailors killed by Israeli fighter jets and submarines on June 8, 1967.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian independent lawmaker Jamal al-Khodary, who is also head of the Gaza-based Popular Committee Against the Siege and has been planning a ceremony to welcome the activists, announced the latest schedule of the campaigning group, reiterating that the ships carry medical supplies for Gazan children.
Invited by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip and three other human rights and medical organizations, the activists also plan to provide medical assistance for Palestinian patients who are unable to leave the coastal strip for treatment due to the blockade, according to al-Khodary.
ISRAEL'S WARNING
The activists, however, are not sure whether they could attend al-Khodary's ceremony or not, as Israel has indicated that it will prevent the two boats from entering the Gazan waters.
Israeli foreign ministry on Monday tried to dissuade the activists from breaking the siege.
In a letter to the group, the ministry said the Israeli government "assumes that your intentions are good," but "the result of your action is that you are supporting the regime of a terrorist organization in Gaza."
Calling the Gaza Strip an area "all foreign vessels to remain clear of," the ministry suggested that the group deliver the aids through "agreed-upon channels" and assured that "the Israeli authorities will ensure that the shipment reaches its destination via the land crossing points."
The ministry warned if the campaigners do not intend to deliver the humanitarian aids via Israel, it proves their goal "is political and constitutes the legitimization of a terrorist organization."
On Monday, local media reported the Israeli navy had been ordered to turn back the two boats and that Israeli military may use force to block them. Israeli defense officials were quoted as saying that allowing the ships to reach the Gaza coastline would set a dangerous precedent.
Though Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Jewish state tightened its restrictions on the Palestinian enclave since Hamas, a group Israel blacklists as a terrorist organization, seized control of the area last year from the long-dominant Fatah faction.
The land border, sea and air of the strip are currently all under Israeli control. The Israeli navy forces have imposed a "fishing limit" on Gazan boats, which is 11.1 kilometers off the Gazan coast.
"WE ALWAYS WIN"
Yet the activists did not back away, though they admitted that they cannot predict what would happen to them on the way.
"The worst scenario would be that Israeli forces sink our boats and arrest us. But most likely, they will tow our boats to Israel and arrest us," said Halper, adding that they will arrive at the Gazan waters during daytime on Saturday, amid concerns that if their boats might be attacked by Israeli forces if approaching there at night.
Another possibility would be a stalemate where Israeli forces would neither allow the boats to enter the Gaza waters and meet the Gazans nor arrest the activists, said Halper, a veteran left-wing activist from Jerusalem who also chairs the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions, an organization dedicated to stop Israeli army from demolishing Palestinian homes.
Noting that the food supply aboard the boats can sustain them for about 10 days, the Jerusalem resident said jokingly that he would expect his government to provide food if the deadlock stretches any longer, as Israel would not like to see a group of international activists starve to death in front of their forces.
But the professor stressed that Israel actually has no right to take any of these actions.
He reasoned that since Israel has claimed that it has no longer been the occupying power of the Gaza Strip since the 2005 disengagement, then it has no legal right to prevent private individuals sailing solely in international and Palestinian waters from reaching the Palestinian area.
"The beauty of a nonviolent activity is that we always win. If we break the siege and reach Gaza, we win. And even if they arrest us, we also win, because this will expose the face of the occupation and prove that Israel is still an occupier in Gaza," said Halper.
Besides the public resistant voices, some activists have also received personal threats due to this trip.
Palestinian activist Osama Qashoo confirmed to Xinhua that he had got 17 death threats and his family in the West Bank also been threatened, making him feel "anxious," but he decided to continue this campaign.
"Ordinary people have often played key roles in history, particularly in situations like this where governments shirk their responsibilities," said Halper in a statement earlier this month.
He highlighted that his participation is a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian people who "are not our enemies but rather people seeking precisely what we sought and fought for, national self-determination."
(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)
