{"id":9256,"date":"2009-06-29T08:27:48","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T13:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=9256"},"modified":"2009-06-29T08:27:48","modified_gmt":"2009-06-29T13:27:48","slug":"free-gaza-boat-spirit-of-humanity-departs-cyprus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=9256","title":{"rendered":"Free Gaza Boat “Spirit of Humanity” Departs Cyprus"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nFree Gaza Boat “Spirit of Humanity” Departs Cyprus<\/p>\n

For more information, please contact:
\nGreta Berlin (English\/French) or Caoimhe Butterly (Arabic\/English\/Spanish)
\ntel: +357 99 081 767 \/ email: friends@freegaza.org<\/p>\n

(LARNACA, 29 June 2009)<\/strong> – The Free Gaza boat the “Spirit of Humanity” departed Cyprus at 7:30am on Monday, 29 July. Twenty-one human rights and solidarity workers representing eleven different countries were aboard. The passengers include Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The ship also carries three tons of medical aid, children’s toys, and rehabilitation and reconstruction kits for twenty family homes.<\/p>\n

Over 2,400 homes were destroyed in Gaza during the Israeli massacre in December\/January, 490 of them by F-16 airstrikes, as well as 30 mosques, 29 educational institutions, 29 medical centers, 10 charitable organizations, and 5 cement factories.<\/p>\n

Each kit carries a small amount of supplies for a single family, representing sectors of civil society currently being blockaded by Israel: Agriculture, Building & Reconstruction, Education, Electricity, Health, and Water & Sanitation. Although over 4 billion dollars in aid was promised to Gaza in the aftermath of the Israeli onslaught, little humanitarian aid and no reconstruction supplies have been allowed in.
\n###<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Quotes:<\/p>\n

Mairead Maguire<\/strong>, co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Peace prize for her work in Northern Ireland:
\n“[The Palestinians of Gaza] must know that we have not and will not forget them.”<\/p>\n

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney<\/strong>:
\n“[T]he U.S. should send a message to Israel reiterating the reported White House position that the blockade of Gaza should be eased, and that medical supplies and building materials, including cement, should be allowed in … Will [President Obama] stand by his own words and allow us to provide relief for Gaza or will he back down?”<\/p>\n

Huwaida Arraf<\/strong>, Chairperson of the Free Gaza Movement:
\n“Israel’s closure policy is a blatant violation of international law. We call upon our governments to take action to uphold their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Conventions. Until they do, we will act.
\n###<\/strong><\/p>\n

Passengers aboard the Spirit of Humanity include:<\/p>\n

Khalad Abdelkader<\/strong>, Bahrain
\nKhalad is an engineer representing the Islamic Charitable Association of Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Othman Abufalah<\/strong>, Jordan
\nOthman is a world-renowned journalist with al-Jazeera TV.<\/p>\n

Khaled Al-Shenoo<\/strong>, Bahrain
\nKhaled is a lecturer with the University of Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Mansour Al-Abi<\/strong>, Yemen
\nMansour is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera TV.<\/p>\n

Fatima Al-Attawi<\/strong>, Bahrain
\nFatima is a relief worker and community activist from Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Juhaina Alqaed<\/strong>, Bahrain
\nJuhaina is a journalist & human rights activist.<\/p>\n

Huwaida Arraf<\/strong>, US
\nHuwaida is the Chair of the Free Gaza Movement and delegation co-coordinator for this voyage.<\/p>\n

Ishmahil Blagrove<\/strong>, UK
\nIshmahil is a Jamaican-born journalist, documentary film maker and founder of the Rice & Peas film production company. His documentaries focus on international struggles for social justice.<\/p>\n

Kaltham Ghloom<\/strong>, Bahrain
\nKaltham is a community activist.<\/p>\n

Derek Graham<\/strong>, Ireland
\nDerek Graham is an electrician, Free Gaza organizer, and first mate aboard the Spirit of Humanity.<\/p>\n

Alex Harrison<\/strong>, UK
\nAlex is a solidarity worker from Britain. She is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.<\/p>\n

Denis Healey<\/strong>, UK
\nDenis is Captain of the Spirit of Humanity. This will be his fifth voyage to Gaza.<\/p>\n

Fathi Jaouadi<\/strong>, UK\/Tunisia
\nFathi is a British journalist, Free Gaza organizer, and delegation co-coordinator for this voyage.<\/p>\n

Mairead Maguire<\/strong>, Ireland
\nMairead is a Nobel laureate and renowned peace activist.<\/p>\n

Lubna Masarwa<\/strong>, Palestine\/Israel
\nLubna is a Palestinian human rights activist and Free Gaza organizer.<\/p>\n

Theresa McDermott<\/strong>, Scotland
\nTheresa is a solidarity worker from Scotland. She is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.<\/p>\n

Cynthia McKinney<\/strong>, US
\nCynthia McKinney is an outspoken advocate for human rights and social justice issues, as well as a former U.S. congressperson and presidential candidate.<\/p>\n

Adnan Mormesh<\/strong>, UK
\nAdnan is a solidarity worker from Britain. He is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.<\/p>\n

Adam Qvist<\/strong>, Denmark
\nAdam is a solidarity worker from Denmark. He is traveling to Gaza to do human rights monitoring.<\/p>\n

Adam Shapiro<\/strong>, US
\nAdam is an American documentary film maker and human rights activist.<\/p>\n

Kathy Sheetz<\/strong>, US
\nKathy is a nurse and film maker, traveling to Gaza to do human rights monitoring.
\n###<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Free Gaza Boat “Spirit of Humanity” Departs Cyprus For more information, please contact: Greta Berlin (English\/French) or Caoimhe Butterly (Arabic\/English\/Spanish) tel: +357 99 081 767 \/ email: friends@freegaza.org (LARNACA, 29 June 2009) – The Free Gaza boat … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdXTf-2pi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9256"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9261,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9256\/revisions\/9261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}