JERUSALEM: Late Friday afternoon news began to be reported that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were boarding the two ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists, who departed from Turkey en route to Gaza on Wednesday. “At 15:59 local time, msg from #Tahrir: “IDF about to board the Tahrir.” We hold Israeli military responsible 4 safety of all,” activist Huweida Arraf tweeted. The ships, Tahrir (mainly Canadian) and Saoirse (Irish) had lost all contact as radio channels had been jammed by the Israeli Navy. The IDF took the boats to Ashdod port. “Upon the arrival of the vessels to Ashdod, the activists will be transferred to the custody of police.#provocatilla,” Avital Leibovich, official Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson tweeted late Friday. The ships were approaching the Gaza coastal waters, and were expected to arrive late Friday afternoon. “The two boats are close to Israeli-controlled waters and those on board have been instructed not to put up any resistance to the Israeli navy when it tries to intercept them,” Denis Kosseim, a spokesman for the Canadian Boat to Gaza campaign, said prior to the boardings. “Everyone has signed a document in which they pledged not to put up any resistance should they be boarded by Israel,” he said. Demonstrators rallied in Gaza City and Ramallah on Thursday to demand protection for a the flotillas. “We organized this march in support of the Freedom Waves to Gaza because Israel has threatened to sabotage the boats. We are marching to show that we want them to come and to break the siege that Israel has imposed on a civilian population,” said Rana Baker, a 20-year-old student. Meanwhile, protesters in Ramallah marched from Manara square to a UN building, activists said. They called on UN officials and the world body to protect the ships, and critized the UN Secretary-General's statement last May that aid should be delivered to Gaza via “established channels.” The United States warned on Thursday that a new effort to send a flotilla to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was dangerous and urged US citizens not to take part. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was surprised to see the ships depart from Turkey, but was reassured by Turkish government officials that Turkish officials had no part in the flotilla. Nuland said that US citizens who take part in efforts to deliver material support or other resources to Hamas could face civil and criminal penalties. Hamas has been officially labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization. “Because Freedom Flotilla 1 was mostly an international effort, and because with the Mavi Marmara Turkish people were killed, it became mainly a Turkish thing … which detracted from the fact that it really was an international effort. So this time we want to show that it's not just Turkey, it's an international effort,” Organizer Huwaida Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza movement, stated. The ships were bringing considerable amounts of medicine to the isolated coastal enclave, the future use of which had been closely coordinated with medics and clinics in Gaza. Aboard these ships are 27 activists from 9 countries, including America, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Australia and Palestine. “By reaching Palestinians through their own port, the flotilla defies the dehumanization of a whole population and supports the continuing efforts of the people of Gaza to assert their dignity. The Palestinians will accept nothing less than a total end to the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and all forms of violence and discrimination against them,” Arraf explained on Wednesday. ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza' is the 11th attempt by international activists to deliver humanitarian aid through the Israeli blockade of Gaza since 2008. The last attempt, dubbed “Marmara Massacre”, resulted in a bloody clampdown by the Israeli government, as fighting erupted between activists and Israeli naval forces. In this attempt, six ships of the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla”, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), sailed out to Gaza carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials. When the boats were raided by Israeli naval commandos on May 31, 2010, nine activists were killed. BM
