Flotilla Aims to Break Israel's Grip on Gaza

[Mark Stapleton]

According to the tweeters, the Israeli Navy has boarded the ship.

Israel has jammed satellite communications so reports are confusing.


http://twitter.com/beforeitsnews


http://twitter.com/freegazaorg

[Myra Bronstein]

I hope Rachel Corrie has satellite communications like Mavi Marmara had. And a reporter or two from Al Jazeera. And a shit ton of video cameras.

[Myra Bronstein]

http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/press-re...ent-jammed

Rachel Corrie boarded, equipment jammed

Written by Free Gaza team
05 June 2010

Press Release - Wed 5th June, 3.30am

The IPSC has been contacted by the MV Rachel Corrie in the past few minutes. Jenny Graham reported that they had been followed by Israeli ships for about 2 hours, and that in the last few minutes 2 ships were approaching from the port side. Ms Graham said that equipment on board had been jammed by the Israeli navy, and that they expected their satellite phone (number below) to be jammed soon as well. The line was bad, and we were unable to determine the exact location of the Rachel Corrie relative to their destination.

On hearing of the news, Freda Hughes of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) said: "We all hope that those on board the Rachel Corrie will remain safe and that there will be no repeat of Monday's terrible attack on the Freedom Flotilla. Our hearts are with you."

The Rachel Corrie is flying their Irish, Malaysian and Filipino flags at half mark as a mark of respect for their murdered comrades from the Mavi Marmama which was hijacked on Monday by Israeli commandos in an attack that left at least 9 people dead.

Speaking about Minister Micheal Martin's statement earlier in which he said that those on board the Rachel Corrie had rejected a so-called deal that would involve them docking in the ISraeli port of Ashdod, Jenny Graham said: "We will have no part in a deal that involves us legitimising the siege of Gaza. We intend to continue on our mission to deliver our cargo of aid and supplies to the people of Gaza. This has always been our intention.

[Myra Bronstein]

http://witnessgaza.com/

Also videos and protest info.

[Myra Bronstein]

http://witnessgaza.com/

Also videos and protest info.

On edit: Yep, they have bulletins on the left side of the page. Then they refer people to twitter at the address Mark listed: http://twitter.com/freegazaorg

[Myra Bronstein]

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/blinding-t...esses.html

by Naomi Klein on June 4, 2010

There is something way too literal about Israel shooting out the eye of a witness to its crimes.

This photograph of Emily Henochowicz's bandaged face needs to be seen by the world.



Like many of us around the world, Henochowicz, a 21-year-old Cooper Union art student, joined protests on Monday against Israel’s outrageous attack on the humanitarian flotilla. But unfortunately, the protest Emily attended was in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and like so many protests in the West Bank, it was violently attacked by the IDF.

According to a report from the International Solidarity Movement, Emily was “hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired directly at her by an Israeli soldier during the demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today.”

Sören Johanssen, a Swedish activist standing beside Henochowicz, reported that, “They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”

This courageous young woman is now the wrenching embodiment of a policy that systematically targets witnesses and human rights advocates -- from Stop the Wall's Mohammad Othman, arrested on his way back from a European speaking tour, to the vicious smear campaign waged against Justice Richard Goldstone.



Visiting Emily's homepage, I was struck that eyeballs are a recurring theme in her work. Not surprising, I suppose, for a visual artist. But an eyeball was how she chose to present herself to the world.

And there are eyeballs all over this beautiful piece:


That Mood (By Emily Henochowicz)

She devoted her life to seeing, to witnessing. And for this she lost her left eye.

We owe it to Emily to look at her tragedy -- both its physical and its metaphorical implications -- as hard as we possibly can.

[Myra Bronstein]

http://twitter.com/freegazaorg

"The Rachel Corrie has been forcibly seized by the Israeli navy and is being towed to Ashdod. All on board are reported safe. From Perdana"

"Eyewitnesses in Gaza say they can see the boat."

[Keith Millea]

Published on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 by Al Jazeera English Gaza Aid Ship 'Diverted to Egypt'


A Libyan aid ship originally bound for the Gaza Strip has been diverted to a port in Egypt after the Israeli navy warned the vessel against trying to break an Israeli blockade on the Palestinian coastal territory.


Workers load supplies on to a cargo ship 'Amalthea' at the Lavrio port, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Athens on July 9. The Libyan aid ship resumed its voyage on Wednesday after stalling overnight, with the organisers insisting it was on course for Gaza and defying calls by the Israeli navy to dock in Egypt.… Read more »(AFP/File/Louisa Gouliamaki)


Israeli warships were shadowing the Moldovan-flagged Amalthea, carrying 2,000 tonnes of food and medicine, to its diverted destination of El Arish port on the Egyptian Sinai coast.
"Eight Israeli warships are surrounding the Libyan aid ship for Gaza and preventing the continuation of its journey," Yousseuf Sawani, executive director of the Gaddafi Foundation which charteredthe vessel, said early on Wednesday.

Sawani said earlier that the warships were "threatening" the Amalthea, also known as Al Amal, which he said was still headed for Gaza. But he made it clear that those on board would not violently resist any efforts to stop them.
"First and foremost, we want to arrive to Gaza. If this is impossible, we don't want to subject anyone to danger," he told Al Jazeera.
Sawani said that communications with the boat had been jammed and the vessel was moving at a slow pace because of the Israeli warships that were trailing it.

An Egyptian official confirmed that the ship sought and received permissionto sail to El Arish, where authorities would unload its humanitarian aid cargo and transfer it by land to Gaza.
But he said that there was "no co-ordination at the moment with the ship and we do not know where its final destination is".

Possible disputes
An Israeli official hinted at possible disputes between the chartered crew and passengers over the destination.
"It's far from clear that there is agreement about where the ship is headed," said the official, who had been briefed on the navy's radio exchanges with the Amalthea since contact was made with it some 160km from Gaza Strip's shores.

Just before midnight, the ship's crew said they were stuck because of engine trouble.
In a recording played on Israel radio, a crew member said he did not know how long it would take to repair the main engine and resume the journey.
Amalthea was still around 90km from land but is not expected to dock for another day. It is carrying 12 crew members and at least nine passengers, including six Libyans and one each from Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.

Overland convoy
A separate attempt to deliver aid relief and medical supplies to Gaza is also currently under way.
A convoy of 150 people, including "unionists, journalists and academics", is travelling overland in 25 vehicles from Jordan to the Egyptian Rafah crossing.

These challenges to the blockade come a day after Israel's military admitted mistakes in the May 31 attack on a flotilla of aid vessels trying to breach the blockade.
Nine pro-Palestinian activists, eight Turks and a dual US-Turkish citizen, were killed after Israeli soldiers boarded the lead ship Mavi Marmara.

Following an international outcry over the raid, Israel recently eased restrictions on the Gaza Strip, allowing some previously banned items into the territory.
But construction materials remain heavily restricted, Gazans have very limited freedom of movement, and Israel still enforces a naval blockade of the territory.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies © 2010 Aljazeera.net

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/14