Women’s Boat Set to Break Gaza Blockade Today

Gaza, 4 Muharram 1437/5 October 2016 (MINA) – Female activists sailing to Gaza to break the decade long Israeli siege on the Strip are set to arrive late this evening, updates on their website said.

Stressing their commitment to nonviolence, the activists said how they hoped to reach the Palestinian enclave peacefully, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported.

“We are fully committed to reaching Gaza,” Marama Davidson, a New Zealand lawmaker who is one of 13 women on the Zaytouna-Oliva, said.

“We have women sending us messages and waiting to meet us. I can’t wait to cuddle some of the babies I’ve seen in photos on the beach.”

“There is no reason to be nervous. We present no threat and are committed to non-violence.”

In 2010, a similar protest ended in tragedy when six ships carrying aid to Gaza were raided by Israeli troops. During that raid, commandos killed 10 Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara.

“It was a horrific, unnecessarily brutal attack on unarmed civilians,” Ann Wright, a retired US diplomat who was aboard the flotilla, said. Wright is leading the Women’s Boat to Gaza mission and is hopeful a similar situation will not be repeated.

“There was such a public outcry after the attack on the Turkish ship that Israel hasn’t dared to do something like that again,” she said.

In the case of being detained by Israeli forces, Wright, who has been on eight Gaza missions, said the women would most likely be brought ashore, registered and deported.

Other activists aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva, which set sail from Barcelona last month, include Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, lawmakers from Sweden and Algeria, an Olympic athlete from South Africa and a Malaysian doctor. (T/P008/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)