Rachel Williams, The Guardian, 5 August 2008
A group of activists including Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth plans to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip by sailing into the Palestinian territory.
Some 46 campaigners, among them several Britons, a Holocaust survivor and an 81-year-old retired Catholic nun from the US, will make the 241-mile crossing from Cyprus in two wooden vessels at the end of the week, carrying medical supplies. The journey takes about 20 hours.
The California-based Free Gaza movement wants to open unrestricted international access to Gaza while delivering a “symbolic” shipment of 200 hearing aids and batteries for a society for deaf children and other supplies such as painkillers. Organisers say they will not pass through Israeli waters and have therefore not notified Israeli authorities of their plans.
But they are prepared for the 21-metre (70ft) Free Gaza and 18-metre Liberty to encounter resistance. The Gaza Strip’s waters are patrolled by the Israeli navy. The boats’ crews will cover as much of the journey as possible under sail to conserve fuel, so they can stay at sea as long as possible if their progress is blocked, British campaigner Hilary Smith said.
“The passengers are prepared to remain on board for weeks or longer if their passage is impeded,” she told a press conference in London. “Gaza is a virtual prison for well over a million Palestinians. It’s been under siege almost continuously for two years. Israel says it no longer occupies the Gaza Strip so the boat will not be asking permission from Israel and will not allow Israel to board the boats.”
I’m sure these activists will enjoy a brief vacation in Haifa, courtesy of the IDF. I don’t hold out much hope that they will return to Cyprus via sailboat.
But perhaps they’d like to visit Sderot when the Qassams start flying a few weeks hence.