AFTER REPEATED mishaps and delays a flotilla of six blockade-busting boats steamed toward Gaza yesterday, risking interception and boarding by the Israeli navy.
The vessels – two cargo ships, a cruise liner, and three yachts – are expected to reach "the 30-nautical mile line" around noon today, Greta Berlin, spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement told The Irish Times. She said the steering systems on two of the smaller boats "mysteriously" stopped functioning simultaneously, giving rise to suspicions that the boats had been "tampered with". One has been repaired and joined the others; the other is in port in Cyprus.
Irish participants Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, Chris Matthews TD and Senator Mark Daly and a Bulgarian lawmaker were compelled to jump ship due to delay. MPs from Germany, Belgium, Algeria and Israel remain on the ships.
Nobel laureate Mairéad Maguire, who made the journey in October 2008, and former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday are on the Rachel Corrie, a cargo ship named after a US activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza.
The ship set sail from Dundalk and is expected to try to make the passage midweek.
Commenting on Israel’s plans to prevent the flotilla from reaching the strip, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged all involved to exercise “restraint and responsibility”. She criticised Israel’s 1,000-day blockade and observed, “The EU remains gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counter-productive.” She called for an “immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza.”
Irish national John Ging, head of the UN agency which looks after Palestinian refugees in Gaza, expressed hope that the flotilla would reach Gaza, thereby demonstrating that “breaking the siege is possible”. The effort also received support from the Palestine Liberation Organisation, dominated by West Bank-based Fatah.
The secretary general of Fatah’s central committee, Jibril Rajoub, called upon supporters in Gaza to greet the flotilla.
He condemned Israel’s plan to redirect the ships to the port of Ashdod, detain the 700 passengers, and seize the cargo consisting of 10,000 tonnes of medical supplies, cement, and paper for school books.
The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation say that 61 per cent of the 1.5 million Gazans have become “food insecure” due to increasing poverty and growing unemployment.