Freedom Flotilla Mission to Gaza Forced Pulls Guinea-Bissau Flag
Istanbul, MINA – The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) cruise mission to Gaza was forced to withdraw the flag of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau from two ships that would sail through the Gaza blockade, due to Israeli pressure.
In a press conference at the Sultan Ahmed Istanbul Turkiye field on Saturday afternoon Istanbul time, the FFC High Committee, Huwaida Arraf, said that the raising of the flag had an impact on the Freedom Flotilla’s sailing departure schedule which had been determined, and had to be postponed indefinitely. .
Huwaida also said that this step was a blatant political action by Israel against a ship containing more than 5,000 tons of life-saving aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
“On Thursday afternoon, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was contacted by the Guinea-Bissau International Ship Registry, requesting an inspection of the lead ship, Akdeniz. This is a very unusual request as our vessel has passed all the necessary checks. However, we agree,” said Huwaida at the conference which was attended by demonstrations by Freedom Flotilla participants from various countries.
Huwaida further said, on Friday afternoon, before the inspection was completed, the Guinea-Bissau International Ship Registry (GBISR), notified the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that they had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two Freedom Flotilla ships.
In its communication to the FFC regarding this cancellation, GBISR specifically referred to the planned Freedom Flotilla humanitarian mission to Gaza.
“They also made several extraordinary requests for information, including confirmation of the ship’s destination, possible additional port visits, and ports receiving humanitarian assistance as well as estimated arrival dates and times,” Huwaida said.
They further demanded an official letter explicitly approving the transportation of humanitarian aid and a complete list of its cargo. This was a highly unusual move by the ship’s flag-holding authority.
“Typically, national shipping flag authorities are concerned only with the safety and relevant standards of the ships carrying their flag, and are not concerned with the destination, route, cargo manifest or nature of the particular voyage. Just like when you register your car, authorities do not require you to detail where you are going,” he said.
Huwaida regrets Guinea-Bissau’s attitude of allowing itself to be involved in deliberate starvation, illegal sieges, and Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
“Israel showed the world the lengths it will go to deny Palestinians the assistance they need to stay alive, in direct violation of International Humanitarian Law, UN Security Council resolutions and two orders of the International Court of Justice,” he stressed.
Israel gets away with this, said Huwaida, because the world has an international order where laws do not apply equally, people are not respected equally, even though they have equal rights to each other.
“But, this is not the end. Israel cannot and will not stop our determination to lift the illegal blockade. We want to reach the people of Gaza. “The people of Gaza and all of Palestine continue to endure the most horrific and unimaginable conditions,” he stressed.
FFC emphasized that even though they had to postpone the cruise, further preparations were still being made.
“We appreciate the power of the extraordinary and inexplicable ability of Gazans to defend their humanity, dignity and hope when the world has given them no reason to do so. It is our responsibility to keep that hope alive. “We will keep sailing,” she said.
After the press conference, hundreds of Freedom Flotilla participants held a long march around Sultan Ahmed Square, shouting support for Gaza and strongly condemning Israel.
According to shipping regulations, ships that will sail must complete shipping documents, including permission to fly the flag of the country of origin and legal status for the ship. With this nationality certificate, the ship concerned is entitled to legal protection.
According to Ann Wright, a retired US Army colonel and US State Department official who took part in the FFC mission, it was “an Israeli political game” to stop or delay the departure of a convoy of three ships carrying 5,000 tons of aid and more than 500 participants from 40 country in it.
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa, a member of the African Union. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
