MV SaoirseI am proud as a citizen of Ireland that the Irish ship MV Saoirse is on course to arrive at the port of Gaza tomorrow accompanied by a Canadian ship, in an effort to break Israel’s Illegal naval blockade of the territory. The names of the ships “Saoirse” and “Tahrir” mean the same in Gaelic and Arabic “Freedom” and as Ireland as a nation knows what it is like to fight for its freedom there is great sympathy for the plight of the long suffering people of Gaza. Dr Fintan Lane, co-ordinator of the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign, this morning said the ships were in international waters south-west of Cyprus, some 400km from Gaza. “Everything is going well,” Dr Lane said from the ship this morning. “It’s still early to be contacted by the Israeli navy” he added.
Tonight the Irish Ship To Gaza shore team were informed that Israeli warships were seen 6 miles from the Irish (MV Saoirse) and Canadian (Tahrir) ships attempting to break the siege of Gaza. The ships are currently in international waters around 200 miles from Gaza. Israeli spotter planes were also observed flying overhead according to Dr Lane. Crew and passengers on the boats fear being boarded tonight.
Responding to an urgent call for international solidarity from 46 civil society organisations in Gaza, an Irish ship MV Saoirse and a Canadian ship Tahrir have successfully reached international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on a mission dubbed Freedom Waves to Gaza. The boats, two civilian vessels carrying 27 passengers from nine countries, are currently en route to Gaza, Palestine. They are sailing from international waters directly to Gaza, and will not pass through Israeli territorial waters.
This is the 11th attempt to break the siege of Gaza via the sea, with five missions arriving safely in Gaza between August and December 2008. The remaining six were violently intercepted by Israel. In May 2010, Israel attacked passengers participating in the first Freedom Flotilla in international waters, killing nine civilians and injuring over 50. Israel’s actions were widely condemned and led to protests around the world. Efforts to bring a second flotilla to Gaza were thwarted by the government of Greece last July following pressure by Israel and Western governments.
Palestinian girl in a protest on Nakba Day 2010 in Hebron, West Bank. Her sign says "Surely we will return, Palestine." There are 788,108 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in the West Bank, most of whom are the descendants of people whose families hail from areas incorporated into Israel in 1948.The Irish vessel, MV Saoirse, was sabotaged while in port in Turkey when its propeller shaft was gouged in a manner almost identical to damage suffered by a Swedish ship. The Irish ship has since been repaired, with funds raised via small donations from Irish people. In total, the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign has raised over €140,000 for its mission, a clear sign of the depth of support among ordinary Irish people for the beleaguered people of Gaza.
Israeli warships are on the move tonight, preparing to attack the pair of aid vessels from Ireland and Canada which are attempting to deliver medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, insisting they will “take whatever measures will be necessary” to prevent the ships from reaching Gaza. Israeli officials were quick to condemn the move as a “provocation” and claimed that an attempt to deliver aid amounted to a “deplorable propaganda exercise.” The ships left from the Turkish port of Fethiye today, and were supposed to sail to Rhodes, according to Turkish officials. Instead the ships are heading to Gaza, with 19 activists and five journalists between them.
Gaza University burning during the 2010 Israeli attackThe sail was something of a surprise and activists from the two ships said they deliberately kept a low profile until reaching international waters, fearing that they would be detained in port or sabotaged like previous ships.
Let us not forget in our PC world why Gaza exists is two words never used in Israel; Ethnic Cleansing. Gaza exists because the Palestinians who lived in Ashkelon and the fields around it – Askalaan in Arabic – were dispossessed from their lands in 1948 when Israel was created and ended up on the beaches of Gaza. They – or their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren – are among the one and a half million Palestinian refugees crammed into the cesspool of Gaza, 80 per cent of whose families once lived in what is now Israel. This, historically, is the real story: most of the people of Gaza don't come from Gaza.
http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/12/free-gaza-free-palestine-free.htmlAs I have pointed out before the democratically elected Hamas administration in Gaza has had a brilliant master stroke in appointing the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as its recruiting sergeant. Rarely has an organisation had a more effective recruiter in a territory which has been systematically destroyed by Israel (The Airport, Port, Hospitals, Factories, Government offices, power generators, etc ;) in flagrant breach of International Law including the Geneva Conventions on administration of occupied territories, protection of non-combatants and two UN Resolutions.
Here is the “Irish Ship to Gaza” website
http://irishshiptogaza.org/
Here is the history of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine
http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/nakba.html
