Sailing

New flotilla 'headed toward Gaza'
Published today (updated) 02/11/2011 19:43

Fishermen are seen working near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea,
near Gaza City (MaanImages/Wissam Nassar, File)
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A flotilla carrying medication is bound for the Gaza Strip after quietly departing a Mediterranean port, activists announced on Wednesday.

The Canadian Tahrir and the Irish Saoirse are carrying 27 people from nine countries, organizers said. The ships are carrying a symbolic cargo of $30,000 in medication.

The ships were in international waters Wednesday and hoping to reach Gaza by Friday. They set sail from Fethiye, Turkey, according to activists on board the two ships.

The "Freedom Waves to Gaza" kept the voyage secret until now due to accusations in July that Israel tried to sabotage a previous effort, the activists said in a statement Wednesday.

"Israel's actions in extending its illegal blockade all the way to shores of Greece required that we organize this new effort quietly," the Canadian Boat to Gaza wrote on its Twitter account.

US-based news channel Democracy Now posted footage of activists on board the Tahrir.

"Israel has caged Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, prohibiting physical contact between us. We want to break the siege Israel has imposed on our people," said Majd Kayyal, a student from Haifa.

"The fact that we’re in international waters is already a victory for the movement. Israel's siege of Gaza is untenable and it's a moral responsibility to put an end to this injustice."

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