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MIDEAST: Nobel Laureate 'Abducted' by Israeli Navy
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH, Jul 1 (IPS) - Twenty-one international peace activists were seized by Israeli naval frigates in
international waters Tuesday as their boat 'The Spirit of Humanity' tried to carry
humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The activists, including former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and
Irish Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire, and nationals from 11 other
countries were part of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) efforts to break Israel's
naval and border blockade of Gaza.
The activists were taken to Israel's Ashdod port and from there to detention
cells at Ben Gurion international airport in Tel Aviv where they await
deportation.
"They simply kidnapped the passengers," said FGM founding member Greta
Berlin. "I call on the Israeli occupation forces to release our people
immediately. It's funny. What are they going to do? Deport us? The last place
we wanted to reach was Israel."
The Spirit of Humanity left Cyprus Monday after receiving security clearance
from the Cypriot authorities. It was carrying three tonnes of medical supplies
and some toys.
The boat was intercepted by naval gun vessels in the early hours of Tuesday
morning. The crew was warned that if they did not return to Cyprus they
would be fired on. The boat refused to follow the Israeli order, and continued
to make its way to Gaza.
The Israeli navy then jammed the boat's instrumentation, blocking its GPS,
radar and navigation systems. The aid boat was surrounded by several naval
gunboats until armed naval commandos forcibly boarded it and towed it back
to Ashdod port.
"We didn't come with guns and weapons, but just with humanitarian aid, in an
attempt to break the siege of Gaza and to tell the apathetic world about what
is happening in the Strip, especially after the last war," FGM chairperson
Huwaida Araf said in an interview with the Nazareth-based radio station Al-
Shams.
"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was
not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza
Strip," said former presidential candidate McKinney.
"President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction
supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do," she added.
"The aid we were carrying is a symbol of hope for the people of Gaza, hope
that the sea route would open for them, and they would be able to transport
their own materials to begin to reconstruct the schools, hospitals and
thousands of homes destroyed during the onslaught of Operation Cast Lead,"
said Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Northern
Ireland.
"Our mission is a gesture to the people of Gaza that we stand by them and
that they are not alone," she added.
The U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement has sent a number of siege-breaking
vessels to Gaza with aid supplies in an endeavour to not only deliver
desperately needed goods but also to draw international attention to the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released
Monday, Palestinians living in Gaza are "trapped in despair".
Thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed during Israel's
December-January war are still without shelter despite pledges of almost 4.5
billion dollars in aid, because Israel refuses to allow cement and other
building material into the Gaza Strip, the Red Cross report says.
The report says hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients
due to Israel's disruption of medical supplies.
Israel allows only a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Items such
as chocolate, cigarettes, fruit juice, pumpkin, schoolbooks, clothes, toys,
seedlings and musical instruments are amongst the many items banned.
Several of FGM's vessels have managed to reach the stricken coastal territory
with supplies, but others have been forcibly stopped.
The last vessel, also with McKinney on board, was rammed by an Israeli naval
vessel several times. The badly damaged boat was forced to limp to Beirut
port as it began to take water.
While most of the activists aboard Spirit were due be deported, several of the
activists hold Israeli passports, including Huwaida Arraf.
Arraf, a law lecturer, was born in the U.S. to a Palestinian family from within
Israel's Green Line, or internationally recognised borders. She is also a U.S.
citizen.
Deporting her could be problematic, and she may face court for attempting to
enter Gaza. Israeli law bans Israeli citizens from entering the coastal territory.
Several attempts by IPS to contact Arraf in detention were unsuccessful. FGM
reported that it had also been unable to contact activists on their cell phones
in detention.
Meanwhile, Berlin vows to continue trying to break Israel's siege on Gaza.
"It isn't over till the fat lady sings. They took our boat, so we'll get a freighter.
Israel has no right to keep 1.5 million residents under siege, to occupy Gaza,
and to turn it into one big refugee camp." (END/2009)
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