A boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Europe and the United States on Sunday set sail from Cyprus bound for Gaza, in a bid to run Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, an AFP reporter said.
The boat, named ‘Irene,' left the port of Famagusta in the Turkish-held north of the divided eastern Mediterranean island in the early afternoon carrying eight activists, three of whom are crew members, and two journalists.
Reuven Moskovitz, an 82-year-old passenger who survived the Nazi Holocaust, told AFP he felt duty-bound to attempt the voyage, which is expected to take around 36 hours. “It is a sacred duty for me, as a [Holocaust] survivor, to protest against the persecution, the oppression and the imprisonment of so many people in Gaza, including more than 800,000 children,” Mr. Moskovitz said.
Yonatan Shapira, a former Israeli soldier and crew member on the British-flagged sailing boat, said they were not looking for a confrontation. “We have a policy of non-violence and non-confrontation,” he said.
“But if the Israeli army stops the boat, we will not help them to take it to Ashdod,” he said, referring to a port in southern Israel where other blockade runners have been taken after being stopped by the navy. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has repeatedly warned that Israel will intercept any ship nearing Gaza, which is run by Hamas.
“The boat's cargo includes symbolic aid in the form of children's toys and musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets for Gaza's fishing communities and prosthetic limbs for orthopaedic medical care in Gaza's hospitals,” said a statement from the organisers, Jews for Justice for Palestinians.
It quoted Richard Kuper, a member of the organising group, as saying that “the Jewish Boat to Gaza is a symbolic act of protest against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the siege of Gaza, and a message of solidarity to Palestinians and Israelis who seek peace and justice ... We call on all governments and people around the world to speak and act against the occupation and the siege.”
In May, Israeli forces tried to stop a six-ship flotilla heading for Gaza but the raid went badly wrong, and nine Turkish activists were killed, prompting a wave of international condemnation. Last week, a report by the U.N. Human Rights Council found there was clear evidence to back prosecutions against Israel for killing and torture when its troops stormed the lead ship, the Mavi Marmara .
