Jewish Boat To Gaza Captured

Tuesday September 28, 2010 14:43 by Circarre Parrhesia - IMEMC & Agencies

The Irene, known as the Jewish Boat to Gaza, has been intercepted by the Israeli navy, on Tuesday, and has been forced to go to the port of Isdood, which Israelis refer to as Ashdod.

The Irene, known as the Jewish Boat to Gaza, has been intercepted by the Israeli occupation forces navy, on Tuesday, and is currently in transit to the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

The 10 foot catamaran, bearing the British flag, left Cyprus on Monday with the desire to reach the coastline of Gaza, and was taking passengers from the U.S., U.K., Germany and Israel, all of whom are Jewish, including two journalists.

Included in the delegation are Reuven Moskovitz, an Israeli Holocaust survivor, and Lilian Rosengarten, an U.S. citizen and refugee from Nazi Germany.

The boat was initially contacted by the Israeli Navy and 0700 GMT, who requested that the boat identified the nationalities of those on board and their intended destination. At this point the boat was between 20 - 25 miles from Gaza’s coast.

The ship suffered from repeated blockages to their communication system, but during a brief interlude where their equipment was not jammed, one of those on board, Rami Elhanan, spoke with Israel’s Ynet News. He stated,

“We are surrounded by at least 10 Navy ships... They are demanding that we stop and threatening that if we fail to do so, it may end with casualties.”

Mr. Elhanan, an Israeli citizen whose daughter was killed in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Jerusalem in 1997, had previously said that it was his "moral duty" to support of Palestinians in Gaza as reconciliation was the surest path to peace.

The last contact came with the ship’s captain at 0937 GMT, who said that the boat’s path had been cut off by an Israeli Destroyer ship, a warship that generally measures approximately 510 feet, when the boat was inside of 20 miles to the coastline, the established limit for Israel’s naval blockade.

Since then contact cannot be made with the Irene, but several news outlets have reported that she has been boarded and captured, and is subsequently being towed to Ashdod.

According to a press release from the boat’s organizing group, Jews For Justice For Palestine, Smadar Ben Natan, the Israeli attorney representing the passengers, has requested immediate access to her clients, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel have requested that an independent doctor is allowed to visit with the passengers as one of those on board suffers from a chronic issue to their health.

The release also contains a statement from Richard Kuper, of the organizing group speaking in London, condemning the capture of the boat and saying that, “[t]he way [The Irene] is being treated by Israeli authorities indicates that they have no real intentions of reaching peace.”

This boat sailed in the week following the U.N. releasing it’s findings into to the Israeli Navy’s capturing of a group of vessels, on May 31st 2010, on their way to deliver humanitarian aid known as the Freedom Flotilla.

The report established that the Israeli Navy was guilty of carrying out extra-judicial killing, some of which were classified as executions, along with the practice of torture in the restraining of other non-violent activists.

The report found that the boardings were illegal, due to said ships being in international waters, that excessive force was used in the taking of the vessels, and that the Israeli soldiers were not under any significant threat of harm to their lives.

The Israeli Navy has kept the coastline of Gaza blockaded since 2007, claiming that they must prevent the transfer of arms to the Hamas movement. Their actions have included the firing at, and destruction of fishing vessels outward bound from Gaza up to 2 miles form the sea shore.

The Gaza Strip has sovereignty over it’s water up to twelve miles, and their fishermen the right to work in these waters. The actions of the Israeli military has cut off one of the major sources of the coastal enclave’s economy.

For more information on the Irene, please visit jewishboattogaza.org

Israeli navy storms ship Irene, takes it to Isdood port

[ 28/09/2010 - 03:07 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

 Israeli occupation naval forces on Tuesday boarded and took control of the Gaza-bound aid ship "Irene", operated by Jewish human rights activists, forcing it to dock at the port of Isdood, according to Palestinian sources.

The ship is carrying symbolic aid for Gaza composed of toys, books, fishing equipment, and medicines.
The popular committee against the siege held Israel fully responsible for the lives of the activists and called on the international community to intervene to protect the ship and the passengers aboard and secure their safe arrival to Gaza.

The aid ship voyage was organized and financed by a coalition of Jewish peace organizations from nine European countries called: "European Jews for a Just Peace".

There are ten Jewish peace activists and two journalists on board the aid ship.

Israel boards boat carrying Jewish activists

Published today (updated) 28/09/2010 14:18

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) --

Israeli occupation forces commandos boarded a Gaza-bound aid ship crewed by Jewish activists Tuesday, Israel's army said.

The Israeli occupation forces spokesperson said the "provocation yacht" had been boarded without incident and was  routed to the port of Isdood (which is referred to by Israelis as Ashdod).

Organizers called the "boat and its fate a [..] symbol of the chances for peace in the region," and condemned the take over, and the enforcement of the Gaza blockade 8 miles outside of the fishing limit agreed to under the Oslo accords.

A statement from the army said "no violence of any kind was used by neither the passengers onboard nor the Israel naval forces," adding that two warnings had been issued to the ship ahead of its interception.

According to the website of the organization which launched the boat, European Jews for a Just Peace, the last known location of the vessel was less than 20 miles from the Gaza shore.

Organizers quoted crew members who said Israeli naval officers asked the captain: "Where are you going? Where did you come from? What nationalities are on board?"

According to the Israeli media, the navy ordered the ship to stop its course for Gaza and threatening a takeover.

The crew reportedly replied to the hail that the ship sailed from Farmagusta, holding British, American, German and Israeli nationals, and concluded, "We are going to Gaza."

The small catamaran, Irene, was being tailed by Israeli naval vessels hours earlier.

The Israeli military statement on the incident said naval officers had "transmitted two warnings to its captain, making him aware that they are breaking both Israeli and international law."

A UN report on the last Gaza flotilla, in which Israeli commandos took over a Turkish-flagged ship killing nine on board in the process, found that Israel's blockade of Gaza was illegal and a form of collective punishment.

The latest ship carried 10 passengers and crew.

"The boat's cargo includes symbolic aid in the form of children's toys and musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets for Gaza;s fishing communities and prosthetic limbs for orthopedic medical care in Gaza's hospitals," a statement from the group said Monday.

British organizer Richard Kuper said in the statement that the voyage was a "symbolic act of protest" and a "symbol of the widespread support for the boat by Jews worldwide."