Sunday, August 24, 2008

Hooray!! Free Gaza and Liberty Arrive in Gaza!

Well it seems that Israel changed her mind and allowed the boats to enter Palestinian waters and continue on to dock at the tiny port of Gaza City!

This is very good news!

This quote says it all:

“We recognize that we’re two, humble boats, but what we’ve accomplished is to show that average people from around the world can mobilize to create change. We do not have to stay silent in the face of injustice. Reaching Gaza today, there is such a sense of hope, and hope is what mobilizes people everywhere.”


Wonderful, now I hope that the Israelis will allow them to leave as well.

Here is an excerpt from the PNN:

Fadi Yacoub / PNN – According to the Free Gaza Movement there are now an estimated 200,000 Palestinians on the shores of Gaza waiting to greet the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty. Their estimated arrival time is now between 5 and 7 pm, as relayed from Jeff Halper on one of the boats.

Rami Abdo, Spokesperson of the People's Committee to Address the Siege on the Gaza Strip told PNN this afternoon that Israeli gunboats opened fire on the Palestinians who had sailed boats into the sea to receive the two “Break the Siege” boats, which had almost reached Palestinian territorial waters. They were forced to change course due to the presence of Israeli warships.


I guess they just can't help themselves.. sigh.

Anyway, good on the brave men and women in achieving their goal to break the siege of Gaza - let's hope this will be the first of many voyages and that perhaps finally the Palestinians can have some soveriegnty over the waters of their own lands.

3 comments:

Penny said...

hey maggie: that is great news. The aid is so badly needed. I saw that Israel shot at the Palestinians.

I thought that was so interesting, how they would feel ok to shoot at them and yet let the two ships threw their blockade.

I guess it is indicative of the disdain they regularily demonstrate for the Palestinians they keep imprisoned and impoverished.

nobody said...

And not forgetting that we've all been trained to not give a shit about Palestinians. Everyone knows that they can be shot for no reason. But the boats, you see, had white people on board. And it's so much more difficult to get away with shooting white people. The Israelis of course would loooove to have shot them.

Keeping in mind, that had that boat been an all Palestinian affair they'd have sunk it for sure.

Magdelena said...

The saddest thing is Pen and Nobody: Is that you're right.