Despite repeated threats from the Israeli government to use force against them and statements from the Lebanese government regarding the legality, the “Julia,” the first of two Gaza-bound aid ships, is set to depart Lebanon.
The announcement comes just a day after officials in the Lebanese government insisted the ship wouldn’t be allowed to sail to the Gaza Strip, claiming it amounted to an illegal attempt to send a ship to an “Israeli-controlled port.”
The Julia will apparently get around this law by not heading to Gaza directly. Instead the aid ship will head north to Cyprus first, will be searched again in a Cypriot port, and then will head to Gaza from there. It is expected the ship will arrive sometime this weekend.
A second Lebanese ship, the all-female “Mariam” is also expected to depart sometime soon on a similar attempt to deliver aid. It is unclear if the two ships will attempt to make the trip together or separately, and both have kept the specifics of their timing secret in the face of potential Israeli attack.
Israel, for its part, says it will use the same commandos that attacked the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish aid ship that attempted to voyage to Gaza three weeks ago. The commandos killed nine aid workers on board the ship.
This is slap on the face of free world to deprive the people from basic needs and it will continue it,s worsse that apartheid Govt. in South Africa. They are challenging Allah to punish through natural desasters.
Evidently, norms of decency is alien to the Israeli psyche. To prevent supply of desperately needed aid to Palestinians held hostage in Gaza is really the height of oppression. How much more blood do these zionists need? Is Obama listening?
So has Turkey dropped the idea of sending a Navy escort, or just not this time?
The number drops back to 9… wonder where antiwar got the 19 figure, maybe from terrorist sympathzing al Jazerra.
Hey. shmuck
So, 9 dead is okay for you? And if it had been 19 would that have meant anything to you? al jazeera reportedthe figures as best they could while the isrealis were clamping down frantically on the news. And when the the truth leakedout they corrected their figures pretty quickly.
There has to be bloodshed to break this Blockade. Israel has no sense of diplomacy…it never did. They kill and enjoy killing. Women will be killed and will be called "terrorists" by the amoral Israelis.
Israel is a place filled with homicidal maniacs.
The Blockade will end but it will cost lives of good people.
The all-female "Mariam"? Let's see the American Congress and President praise Israel after they kill a shipload of women!!
The drama continues! I friggin' love it. Someone like to help out with airfare to Europe, so I can join the fun? Being Jewish, maybe I can get the Israelis to pay my way. I could put it down as "making aliyah". Hehehe.
Also, you gotta know that each new attempt will build on the last in terms of tactics. For instance, if the ships swing west and then south to hug the Egyptian coast. Then the Egyptians will either have to deal with the blockade-runners themselves, or allow the Israeli military to freely enter and conduct military operations in Egyptian territory (ie Egyptian territorial waters). Either way, Mubarak, Israeli-flunky-in-full-view-of-the-world, would have to deal with the fury of the Egyptian "street".
Meanwhile, all such blockade-running activities should be bulked up with cameras everywhere, so that the world can get full, live, HD, spin-resistant coverage.
Also what's this business about Israeli spies among the activists? Isn't that an opportunity to identify, out, capture, and hold those Mossad agents as human shields? There are new high-technology ways fMRI –to identify spies.
Anyway, it's all quite interesting.
They should wait for the jews from germany and the us, who say they are going to float over to gaza, to join them. The excuse of being attacked with stoneage weapons, is utter nonsense when you look at the socalled settlers using the same weapons against the most moral.
Will the Israeli commandos shoot the women on the next flotilla from Lebanon?