The organizers of the Gaza Flotillas have announced a May 31st departure, bafflingly describing it as "the first anniversary of Tel Aviv's deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla" (Since when does Tel Aviv have its own attack force?)
As reported on Press TV, the 15-ship flotilla will be twice as big as last year's convoy and carry a total of 1,500 people, including activists from Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Canada and the United States.
They go on to claim that "Tel Aviv laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after the democratically-elected government of Hamas took control of the enclave", yet have not provided any evidence that this city of 400,000 has its own foreign policy.
The leader of the Turkish organization IHH, Bülent Yildirim, which participated in the last flotilla, announced earlier this month: “We are not afraid to die as shaheeds [martyrs]” and that the use of force and violence may occur.
The flotilla is scheduled in spite of the International Red Cross's statement "there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza"
Israel delivers more than a ton of aid per person to Gaza. About 50,000 tons of goods and humanitarian aid are transferred to Gaza biweekly. Currently, 250 trucks cross from Israel into Gaza daily.
However, other sources indicate that the flotilla is having trouble recruiting volunteers and raising funds.
From Ynet:
"IHH officials, an Islamic aid group that operates the Mavi Marmara, announced they plan to postpone the flotilla until after the June 12 parliamentary elections.
IHH, which says it plans to send 100 to 150 people on the flotilla, is inclined to launch its ship after the vote for fear controversy could disrupt the election debate. The group communicates closely with the Turkish government, but says it does not need "permission" to send its boat to Gaza.
However recent reports claimed there is another reason for the delay: Many of the activists who signed up for the mission canceled after learning the flotilla is illegal and might lead to their arrest by Israel.
It also turns out the Turkish organizers have been largely unsuccessful in raising donations to fund the operation. Many ship owners refused to loan their vessels for the cause, fearing they might be confiscated by Israel. Now the activists are forced to buy the ships themselves."
Perhaps the recent death of ISM operative Vittorio Arrigoni, and the apparent inability of Hamas to guarantee the safety of international activists has had a chilling affect on recruitment
7 comments:
oh i so hope something very unfortunate would happen to that flotilla if they ever get it going. and were it to launch and have another encounter with the IDF i have very little doubt the world would turn on Israel again even as the arab world around it implodes upon it's self.
Pray for Israel!!
The people behind the flotilla are
against Israel and the US,They want to start a war,They are doing this on purpose ,I hope the people
behind this #@%*
and #^*@<
And the Fools include:
Ex-Congresswomen Cynthia McKinney (surprised they let her back after she twittered "We are bringing an olive tree and a symbolic bag of cement" on a previous flotilla, after the press release had claimed 3 tons of humanitarian aid.)
And Rabbi Steven Jacobs is going (he's best known for eulogizing a congregant in such erotic terms that the audience began squirming uncomfortably. And yes, it turned out the rabbi was THAT close to his deceased congregant)
And throw in a couple of aged Black panthers (Emory Douglas, Richard Brown) and a handful of others, and there you have it.
Ship of Fools.
I would like to have a t-shirt that says 'Tel Aviv Attack Force'.
It would have a picture of strolling people in shorts and sundresses drinking lattes on it.
New flotilla date: third week in June
Cynthia McKinney dropped out, btw... Even she is tired of being strung along. There is so much infighting (blame the Zionists) and incompetance (blame the Zionists) that there may be another postponement... I guess we'll just need to wait and see.
I think it's becoming extremely obvious this flotilla never had "peaceful" intentions, and Israel has every right to defend themselves. I would like to invite you to check out my page, Prevent the IHH Flotilla Towards Gaza http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prevent-the-IHH-Flotilla-Towards-Gaza/117646254988615
I appreciate your support.
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