Undeterred by Israeli blockade, aid flotilla headed to Gaza

Carrying 10,000 tons of aid, including construction materials and high-end medical equipment as well as basic daily needs, the flotilla set off from international waters off the coast of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) for the port of Gaza, 370 kilometers (230 miles) away.

The number of ships has dropped from nine to six due to mechanical problems, but a seventh aid vessel coming from Ireland was sailing to meet up with the flotilla before they reached Gaza by the time Today’s Zaman went to print.

The delay in the arrival of the aid convoy to Gaza is partly due to the Greek Cypriots’ refusal to allow a number of European lawmakers to board the ships on Saturday, citing their “vital economic interests” with Israel. The morale and motivation of hundreds of activists, however, were affected neither by Israeli threats nor by third parties’ obstructions and mechanical problems, officials representing organizations taking part in the aid convoy said. The vessels are expected to reach Gaza before noon on Monday if no major incident occurs.

Serkan Nergis from the İstanbul-based crisis management desk of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), established to follow, note and report developments regarding the fate of the flotilla, told Today’s Zaman that there are no negative sentiments on the vessels. “Volunteers are becoming even more willing to do their best to make this completely civilian initiative deliver the desired outcome after every statement Israel has made,” he said.

Onboard the ships are more than 750 volunteers of different cultural and religious backgrounds from around the world, among them nearly two dozen European parliamentarians, a former US congresswoman, a Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate and an elderly Holocaust survivor.

Israeli diplomatic and military authorities have already announced several times that they would not allow the convoy to reach Gaza and would dock the ships in Israel’s Port of Ashdot, where the passengers are expected to be forced to make a choice between being deported or arrested. In the past week, Israeli naval commandos held drills to practice boarding and searching the ships. The confiscated aid will undergo a security check and later be delivered to United Nations agencies, Israeli officials said. Volunteers, on the other hand, are planning to passively resist any Israeli attempt to board and haul the vessels to Ashdot. At a press conference onboard the Mavi Marmara, one of the three Turkish ships in the convoy, İHH President Bülent Yıldırım said they would not let Israeli soldiers onto the vessel. “We have passengers ranging in age from 1 to 80. If Israel really can risk attacking these people, let it be. We will passively resist them. We don’t have even a penknife, but we will not let Israeli soldiers on,” he said.

Greta Berlin, a French activist onboard one of the ships, said Israel risked a public relations disaster if it tried to intercept the activists. “The only scenario which makes any sense is for them to stop being the bully of the Middle East and let us go through,” she noted.

Speaking at another press conference on Sunday onboard the ships, German MPs Annette Groth and Inge Höger said it would be a “grave mistake” and an international crisis if Israel attacks the aid ships. Both have voiced criticism against the blockade on Gaza that plagued the city for three years and Western governments which have not made enough efforts to end it. “Israel should certainly be put in a tight spot so that the blockade is lifted,” Höger said.

Currently, Gazans largely rely on UN aid while suffering shortages of water and medicine, facing the impossibility of reviving their economy. Israel denies that there is a humanitarian situation in Gaza, an allegation denied by the UN, the European Parliament, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Amnesty International, all of whom pointed to the ongoing tragedy in the Palestinian territory that has been under Israeli and Egyptian siege for three years.