THE LATEST effort by human rights activists to breach the blockade of Gaza by sea got off to a faulty start yesterday when the boat suffered mechanical failure at sea.
The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) launched the SS Spirit of Humanity from Larnaca port yesterday, carrying boxes of medical aid for the besieged Palestinians in Gaza. With 36 passengers and crew from 17 countries on board, including five MPs, six doctors and 16 journalists, the boat encountered mechanical failure three nautical miles off the coast of Cyprus.
According to reports, the planned mercy mission to Gaza had to be postponed and the boat returned to port for repairs.
The faulty start will be seen with some relief from the Israeli authorities who announced before its departure that the waters off the coast of Gaza were closed off to all vessels and declared a military zone.
According to a parliamentary source, the Israeli Ambassador to Nicosia also told House President Marios Garoyian yesterday that the boat would not be allowed to reach Gaza. He did not go into details as to how it would be stopped.
On December 30, the SS Dignity carrying doctors and three tonnes of medical aid to Gaza was repeatedly rammed by the Israeli navy in international waters, causing severe structural damage to the vessel and forcing the mission to divert to Lebanon. The FGM described the action as “piracy” and accused Israel of putting lives at risk.
Before the SS Spirit left yesterday, the FGM said it had been informed by Cypriot authorities that Israel had tried to get Cyprus to stop the boat from leaving Larnaca.
According to a statement, the Israeli government had officially contacted the Cypriot embassy in Tel Aviv, and warned them that they felt “justified” in using “any means available” to forcibly prevent the mercy boat from arriving in Gaza.
To pre-empt potential claims that the boat was a threat to Israel, the organisers got the Cypriot authorities to search the boat and cargo before leaving.
Fouad Ahidar, a member of the Belgian Parliament sailing to Gaza aboard the SS Spirit responded to concerns that Israel may attack the unarmed ship.
“I have five children that are very worried about me, but I told them, ‘you can sit on your couch and watch these atrocities on the television, or you can choose to take action to make them stop’,” he said.
While Israel insists that all humanitarian aid can reach Gaza through Israeli ports and airports, Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou raised concern that aid transport from UN warehouses into Gaza was not as effective as it could be. He suggested an official sea route be opened with the consent of all parties.
Aid only a trickle of what Gaza needs
REPORTS from the Red Cross paint a different picture than that offered by the Israeli authorities. Last week, the Red Cross suspended the delivery of aid for a period after one of its drivers was shot. The aid organisation argued that its personnel was not safe from the Israeli aerial and ground attack that has overwhelmed the tiny strip since December 27, killing over 900 people, mostly unarmed civilians.
According to a World Bank news release on January 7, the current water and sanitation situation in Gaza indicated a severe public health threat to the population. Apart from having no running water and broken sewage systems, Gaza’s main sewage lake is on the verge of collapse, due to the lack of spare parts for pumps and fuel for generators as a result of the Israeli blockade before the military operations began. The World Bank warns that should the sewage lake structure fail or get shot at, around 10,000 residents are in danger of drowning, sparking a wider environmental and public health disaster.
On their part, the Israeli authorities maintain that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that all the necessary aid is channelled to the battered tract of land.
Before leaving for Gaza, one FGM co-ordinator, Huwaida Arraf, said: “We cannot just sit by and wait for Israel to decide to stop the killing and open the borders for relief workers to pick up the pieces. We are coming in.
“When states and the international bodies responsible for taking action to stop such atrocities choose to be impotent, then we – the citizens of the world – must act. Our common humanity demands nothing less.”
The Shacolas Group announced yesterday that it will be sending €50,000 worth of humanitarian aid to the region in solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza. The supplies include first aid equipment, cleaning and sanitation materials, blankets, sheets and other items.
