CPTnet
2 July 2011
CPT INTERNATIONAL: CPTer and CPT colleagues waiting on Canadian and U.S. boats to Gaza; Greece refuses to let Gaza flotilla sail

Faced with increasing pressure from the U.S. and Israeli governments, the government of Greece has officially prohibited any ships in its harbors from leaving for Gaza.  This action was directed at the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla, the organizers of which intended to break the blockade that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip since June 2007. 

CPT reservist David Milne is among the passengers on the Canadian boat in the flotilla, the Tahrir, as well as Harmeet Singh Sooden, a member of the CPT delegation to Iraq kidnapped in 2005, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass, who has had extensive contact with CPT’s Hebron team.  On the U.S. ship along with luminaries such as Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, are CPT trainer and colleague, Kathy Kelly and former CPT reservist, Robert Naiman.

Last week, the Swedish and Irish ships, docked in Turkish territorial waters, sustained engine and propeller damage.  Organizers of the flotilla accused Israel of sending operatives to sabotage them, an allegation that Israeli denies.  The Irish ship has since withdrawn from the flotilla.

 Earlier, on 24 June, an anonymous complaint was filed against the Audacity of Hope over its “seaworthiness.”  Yonatan Shapira, a former Israeli Air Force pilot and anti-occupation conscientious objector, who is a crew member of the Audacity of Hope, argued, “It is clear that this complaint is not about seaworthiness but is an attempt to stop the boat from leaving port in Athens.”  David Smith, the boat’s engineer and a former Greenpeace activist said, “The boat is in top sea shape and is a perfect choice for this type of mission.”

The U.S. ship, The Audacity of Hope attempted to sail to Gaza on 1 July, and was turned back by the Greece coast guard, who arrested its captain.  Shapira said the captain’s actions were praiseworthy.  “The captain acted out of concern for the safety of the passengers and boat by taking us away from the Greek port where other flotilla boats are being sabotaged,” Shapira said.

 Israel initially said that it would ban journalists on the flotilla from entering Israel for the next ten years, but withdrew the threat after complaints from international journalists.

Robert Naiman told a journalist, “The fact of the matter is that we have already won.  The international press is talking about the blockade and Gaza.  The contradiction between the world of the Israeli military officials and the world in which the rest of us live is exposed for all to see.” 

The organizers of the flotilla say they still plan to set sail for Gaza on Monday.