Saturday, June 05, 2010

Rachel Corrie

Why isn't there a memorial day for people who die for peace, justice and truth?

Israeli navy soldiers boarded the Gaza-bound Rachel Corrie aid ship by sea, Israeli military confirmed on Saturday noon.

The boarding was permitted by the vessel crews, and no incident took place in the action, said the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's office.

The Rachel Corrie will be directed by Israeli navy to dock at southern Israel's Ashdod port.

  Xinhuanet

Background:

An Irish-owned aid ship headed for Gaza is delaying its voyage for a while to get equipped with video capabilities and satellite transmission to record what is happening at any given moment on the vessel, a Free Gaza Movement activist told CNN.

The MV Rachel Corrie, named for an American activist killed in Gaza several years ago, was expected to arrive late Friday or early Saturday off the coast of Gaza. Israel was offering to unload it in its Ashdod port, screen the material and then deliver it to Gaza, but fears of another high-seas confrontation were in the offing.

  CNN

The MV Rachel Corrie is currently waiting in the Mediterranean for the passenger ship Challenger II also delayed by similar mechanical problems. The two ships will take aboard additional activists and journalists making a second attempt to cross the blockade. They are expected to arrive in Gaza sometime before Monday.

Israel has pledged to intercept the vessels if they do not change their course, or submit to an inspection, although the cargo was already inspected for contraband before leaving Ireland. According to an Israeli Naval Commander speaking to the Jerusalem Post, “Next time we’ll use more force.”

  Examiner

And by the way…

Relations between Ireland and Israel are already strained after it came to light that Israel had forged Irish passports in order to assassinate members of Hamas in Dubai last January.

Free Gaza organizer Greta Berlin told the Times that a small ship, Challenger II ,was being fixed so it was fit for the voyage.

In addition to Berlin, aboard the ships will be Nobel Prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday.

[...]

A statement from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said the Rachel Corrie was carrying 1,000 tons of educational and rebuilding supplies.

[...]

Israeli media reports, however, said the ship may have already agreed to dock in Ashdod. The daily newspaper Haaretz cited European diplomats and senior Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem, as saying a "diplomatic" solution had been found to impending second challenge to Israel's siege on Gaza.

[...]

[In addition to Turkey,] Nicaragua, Ecuador and South Africa - have called in their ambassadors over the attack.

  Ma'an

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