Pro-Palestinian activists vowed yesterday to send a convoy of aid ships to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, despite warnings it will be stopped and a sail ban from normally sympathetic Cyprus.
Eight ships, including four cargo vessels and a Turkish passenger ferry carrying 600 people, were heading towards Gaza in defiance of a three-year Israeli closure on the sliver of desert territory, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.
“We are planning on going. This is not going to stop us. The boats are already on their way,” said Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement.
Israel criticised the activists for what it described as a propaganda stunt, while Turkey urged Israeli authorities to treat the convoy as humanitarian aid. A Turkish human rights group is one of the organisers.
Cyprus, which activists have used as a launch pad for shipping missions before, said it would not allow any vessels to sail from its ports to Gaza. The activists said they would press ahead regardless of the ban, and that the flotilla had never planned to dock at any of Cyprus’ ports.
The boats would converge at a meeting point in international waters east of Cyprus, probably late on Friday, and then head across the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea towards Gaza, Berlin told Reuters.
Israel has urged the convoy to turn back, saying its navy was prepared to intercept it. Israel says relief aid is already flowing into Gaza though approved channels.
“If they were really interested in the wellbeing of the people of Gaza, they would have accepted the offers of Egypt or Israel to transfer humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.
“Instead they have chosen a cheap political stunt,” he said, referring to the activists.
Israeli naval commandos have held drills in preparation for boarding and searching the convoy. Activists faced arrest and deportation and their cargo would be confiscated for possible transfer by Israel to Gaza, Israeli military officials said.
Israel has urged the activists to sail to the coastal city of Ashdod, where it has set up a temporary holding camp with tents for passengers of the flotilla, and hand over their cargos for screening. A Turkish human rights organisation has chartered one passenger ferry. The Turkish government was not involved in the mission, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
“We don’t want new tensions in the region…Problems can be avoided if this aid package is seen as humanitarian aid,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said.
Muslim Turkey is one of Israel’s closest allies in the Middle East but relations have soured in part due to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s frequent criticism of the Jewish state’s policies toward the Palestinians.
Israel and neighbouring Egypt closed Gaza’s borders after Islamist Hamas, which rejects the Jewish state, took over the territory in 2007. Tensions have run especially high since the December 2008-January 2009 war between Hamas and Israel.
Gaza’s people, many of them United Nations aid recipients, suffer shortages of water and medicine.
The Free Gaza Movement first started sending aid directly into Gaza in August 2008. They have been intercepted on three occasions, but had problems with their last mission from Cyprus last year.
“We have taken a decision to ban this operation of outbound vessels heading to Gaza in the interests of Cyprus,” Makis Constantinides, the director-general of the Cypriot Ministry of Communications and Works told Reuters.
The convoys would be taking in 10,000 tonnes of supplies, including cement — a material Israel bans, citing fears Hamas could use it to construct bunkers — as well as water purification kits, pre-fabricated homes and medical equipment.
In recent weeks Israel has allowed some goods it used to ban, such as clothes, shoes, wood and aluminium, to enter the strip through land border crossings. It continues to allow a steady flow of humanitarian aid into the coastal territory. (Reuters)
CYPRUS will not allow any vessels participating in the aid flotilla to Gaza to dock at Cypriot ports of call.
Officials from the ministries of Justice and Communications confirmed the ban last night. The decision was taken a ‘few days ago’ jointly by the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Communications and Finance.
“The decision was made to safeguard the Republic’s interests,” a senior government official told the Cyprus Mail.
Under the ban, any ships headed for Gaza will be forbidden to set sail from Cyprus or dock at the island on their way back. This applies to all vessels, whether they carry the Cyprus flag or the flag of any other country.
In addition, any ships headed to Gaza will be prohibited from being laden with goods at Cypriot ports, and both customs and ports authorities have been instructed not to clear any such vessels.
What’s more, vessels attempting to violate the above prohibitions would be stricken off the ship registry, and would be subject to penalties arising from ‘criminal offenses.’
The official said the ministerial decision had the full force of law.
Another official, who wished to remain anonymous, denied that the government had been pressured by the Israelis.
“To my knowledge, there has been no such pressure. We took the decision ourselves,” he said.
“Gaza has been declared a closed port by Israel. Imagine what would happen if we allowed these ships to use Cyprus as a staging point for Gaza. There are closed ports in Cyprus too [in the north], and our government is opposed to their use. How could we continue to use this argument when we ourselves facilitate travel to a closed port in another country? It’s not that simple; it’s a very delicate issue,” the source said.
Asked why Cyprus had enforced the ban given that it had allowed the activists to use ports here during previous missions to Gaza, the source said that the activists had misled the government.
“In the past, they told us they were heading to Port Said [Egypt], but then they went to Gaza,” he said.
So far Cyprus is the only nation to have agreed on the ban. Israeli online news site Ynetnews reported that Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the foreign ministers of Greece, Ireland, and Cyprus Wednesday that the sail is “a political and press-related provocation, and not a humanitarian mission”. According to the same website, Barak explained that “there is no humanitarian crisis in the Strip and that thousands of tons of various products are brought in every day.”
The Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment last night to confirm whether discussions had taken place with the Israeli government. The government spokesman was abroad and also could not be reached.
