Date:25/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/25/stories/2008082560151600.htm

International

Arrival of boats highlights Gaza siege

Atul Aneja

— Photo: AP

Hope floats: Boats led by the U.S.-based Free Gaza group are greeted by Palestinians upon their arrival to the Gaza Strip.

DUBAI: The leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has welcomed the arrival in Gaza of two boats carrying human rights activists, who are calling for an end of the Israeli siege around the coastal strip.

The arrival of the boats is another “nail in the coffin of the blockade,” said Mr. Haniyeh in an interview with the Al Jazeera TV network. Under a June truce deal, Israel had agreed to ease the Gaza blockade that had been imposed, if Palestinian militant groups ceased rocket attacks on Israel. However, Palestinians say there has since been little improvement in the situation.

Mr. Haniyeh urged Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing, which it closed in 2007 after Hamas established control over the Gaza Strip. Forty-six activists belonging to the U.S.-based group, Free Gaza, are onboard the boats, one of which also goes by the same name. Another vessel, the 18-metre-long Liberty, has also made the 30-hour voyage from Larnaca in Cyprus to Gaza.

The activists include an 81-year-old Catholic nun and the sister-in-law of the West Asian envoy and the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. A correspondent of the Al Jazeera network, Ayash Daraj, has also been onboard one of the boats, which have brought with them 200 hearing aids for a Palestinian charity working with children. “Nobody thinks that these boats will break the siege in a practical way, but this is a moral message — what is happening [in Gaza] is illegal and inhumane, and must be halted,” said Raji Sourani, a prominent human rights activist. Earlier, Israel had indicated it would prevent the vessels from reaching Gaza.

Keeping close watch

But late on Saturday, Israel said it would permit the boats to dock in Gaza after concluding that the activists did not pose a security threat. However, a spokesperson for Free Gaza accused the Israelis of jamming the boats’ telecommunication equipment during the course of the journey. In a statement, the activists said they had become victims of Israeli electronic piracy.

On Friday, the boats set sail from Larnaca following inspection of the vessel by the Cyprus marine police. Group members sang a peace song in Arabic and formed the peace sign with their fingers before boarding the boats.

Israel has decided to permit the Free Gaza boats to sail into the strip as a one-time measure. It announced that those similar visits in the future would be examined individually.