While searching for news on the often-postponed voyage of the Lebanese all-women’s aid ship to Gaza, I stumbled upon a notice that yesterday, August 23rd, was the second anniversary of the landing of the first two boats to break the decades-long Israeli naval blockade of that beleaguered Palestinian enclave, which many describe as the largest open-air prison in the world.
Those two small decrepit fishing vessels carrying 44 activists and a symbolic cargo of aid started an international movement. Future ships promise to continue to defy the Israeli navy by sending additional assistance and bringing increased attention to the illegal and immoral Israeli siege. The interception of the Mavi Marmara flotilla and the killing of the nine Turkish activists by Israeli commandos in May has given additional impetus for groups from all over the world to carry on the work of sending aid boats to Gaza.
Voyages are being planned by activists from Western countries, including the United States, England, Greece, Ireland and Belgium. The Gaza boat movement has also taken hold in Muslim countries where well-financed flotillas are being organized in Turkey, Iran, Lebanon and Algeria. A Libyan government-sponsored ship delivered tons of aid to Gazans via Egypt this summer, after tense negotiations with both Israeli and Egyptian authorities who were not keen on permitting the vessel entry. Shortly before the Libyan ship’s voyage, two Iranian boats sponsored by the Iranian Red Crescent were denied entry into the Suez Canal just prior to their departure. The organizers say they will send the ships in the near future.
The original Free Gaza Movement was started by a small group of Californians co-founded by Paul Larudee and Greta Berlin. They collected donations over a number of years at local events in order to fund that first voyage which cost $300,000. The group has definitely grown in the last two years. It was involved in the organization of the Mavi Marmara flotilla and Mr. Larudee was aboard one of the ships.
Those first two boats that broke the Israeli siege were mostly ignored. The press coverage outside Israel/Palestine was negligible. Despite this, the organizers proclaimed then that they had started a significant movement: time has proved them correct. My hope is that next year, after the Israelis are forced to permit many boats and activists to deliver aid and their messages of hope and support to the people of Gaza, August 23rd will be noted by far more people than it was this year.
