Gaza aid flotilla heads towards Israeli warships

A flotilla of ships carrying aid for the blockaded Gaza Strip is poised just outside Gaza's territorial water despite reports that Israeli warships are massing off the Gaza coast. It is planning to move at 8pm Sunday to arrive on Monday morning because the Israelis are more likely to attack at night, according to organisers.

Reuters

The six ships with more than 700 passengers on board are carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid to Gaza which has been blockaded by Israel since 2007.
 

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Greta Berlin, Free Gaza Movement

Judith Prescott

Israel has made it clear that it intends to prevent the convoy from reaching its destination. But Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the convoy, pointed out that aid ships have got into Gaza five times since August 2008.

“As a Free Gaza movement this is our ninth voyage,” she said. “We got in successfully five times. Every one of those times Israel threatened us. Five times they had enough common sense to stop their bluster and we went into Gaza.

She said Cyprus had been causing problems for the ships.

“The Cypriots have been so awful in the last couple days that they had their navy going up and down the coast of Cyprus making sure that nobody came in to Cyprus,” said Berlin. “The flotilla moved for its own safety closer towards Lebanon where it felt a little safer.”

The flotilla is bringing in building supplies as well as sports equipment and 20 tonnes of paper.

“It’s not about how much we bring in,” said Berlin. “It’s about saying to the world that Israel has no right to deny these kinds of supplies to the people of Gaza. It is obscene that they are doing this.”