THE INTERNATIONAL peace activists that broke the Israeli blockade of Gaza on the weekend yesterday escorted five fishing boats beyond the Israeli-imposed six mile fishing limit.
The group of 40-plus activists successfully sailed in two boats from Cyprus to Gaza on Saturday, becoming the first to sail directly into Gaza in 41 years. They were greeted by thousands of flag-waiving Palestinians and a flotilla of fishing boats.
After defying world opinion that they would never make it to Gaza, the citizens’ movement sought to continue breaking boundaries by helping Gazan fishermen exercise their right to fish.
In the last 10 years, fishing revenue in the populated Gazan Strip has halved due to the fishing restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities and pollution caused by Israeli bombs.
Yesterday, the SS Free Gaza and 18 peace activists joined six Gazan fishing boats on a nine-hour fishing expedition into waters usually considered off-limits by the Israeli navy.
According to one activist that made it to Gaza, Huwaida Arraf, the 1993 Oslo Accords allow Palestinian Gazans a 20-mile fishing limit off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
“The Israelis brought it down to six miles, but the fishermen here tell us the navy usually starts shooting from beyond four miles,” said the Palestinian with Israeli citizenship.
“Today, we made it out to nine miles and did a lot of good fishing. There were two Israeli navy vessels following us the whole time but they did not make contact or shoot. The fishermen told us if ‘you weren’t with us we’d be dead by now’,” said Arraf.
The human rights activist said reaching Gaza was “the most beautiful and sad thing I have ever seen. It was indescribable.”
“Thousands of people were so happy, calling us ‘heroes’, which goes to show how imprisoned they are, how something so simple can mean so much to them” she said.
Arraf noted that “two humble boats” had defied the odds and broke the blockade, showing that “average people from around the world can mobilise to create change. We do not have to stay silent in the face of injustice. We are not powerless.”
One of the organisers, Greta Berlin, said winning the right to enter Gaza was an emotional experience for all, and a PR victory.
“All of us were crying. We could barely catch our breath in the crowd of well-wishers. Mushier Al Fara had tears streaming down his face. He said, ‘I can finally go visit the grave of my mother’. Nothing that any of us will ever do again in our lives will live up to what we saw [on Saturday],” said Berlin.
“That small hole in the wall is now too large to put a PR finger in to stop the flow of outrage against Israel’s policies,” she added.
“What we’ve done shows that people can do what governments should have done. If people stand up against injustice, we can truly be the conscience of the world,” said another peace activist, Jeff Halper.
Halper, who faces possible arrest on his return to Israel, got the loudest applause of all at a news conference in Gaza yesterday when he introduced himself as an Israeli Jew from Jerusalem.
One of the boats will leave Gaza for Cyprus tomorrow, taking half the activists with it. There is talk that Palestinian Gazans will join them.
“There is a woman whose husband is in the UK. She has a visa but the Israelis won’t let her through. Also, some students with visas and scholarships have the same problem,” said Arraf.
The activists hope their symbolic voyage will open a new channel of communication between Gaza and the rest of the world, which will lift travel restrictions imposed on them and allow their economy to flourish.
“The Israelis let us though because it was obvious we were not a security threat, so it’s common sense that others who are not a security threat, who are inspected by the Cypriot authorities as we were, can do the same,” said Arraf.
Asked what her plans were while in Gaza, she replied: “I’ve been fishing all day. I plan to take a shower.”
