Israel says aid ship Rachel Corrie will not be allowed into Gaza
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David told ABC News today that the MV Rachel Corrie, which may be off the coast of Gaza as early as Friday, will be prevented from entering the blockade area.
“The Rachel Corrie will not be allowed into Gaza," David said. "We are watching it and waiting to see what will happen. Hopefully, the people on board will direct to the port in Ashdod. The naval blockade is still in effect and the ship will not be allowed to enter into the naval blockade area."
On Monday elite Israeli military commandos stormed six humanitarian aid ships taking part in the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ to Gaza, killing at least 9 civilian passengers and injuring dozens more while the ships were in international waters. The Rachel Corrie had been part of the flotilla but had to stay behind in Malta for repairs.
Passengers on the Rachel Corrie, which embarked from Ireland, include Northern Irish Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976. (Photo via Nobel Women's Initiative)
According to organizers of the aid effort, the Freedom Flotilla was an effort by a coalition of human rights and humanitarian organizations to nonviolently break through Israel's illegal blockade, and deliver much needed humanitarian and developmental aid to the Palestinians of Gaza.
The United Nations and activists who have recently visited Gaza say the Israeli blockade, in place since 2007, denies residents of Gaza the basic needs of life: a variety of foods, building materials, electricity, fuel, medicines and school supplies.
Former U.N. assistant secretary-general Denis Halliday, who is on board the Rachel Corrie, told ABC News that they do not intend to stop their mission or head to the Israeli port of Ashdod instead.
"It's a totally unacceptable embargo. There's no justification for it, there's no legality for it, it's not endorsed by the U.N., it's not endorsed by anybody else. It's an Israeli military zone which is without legal status," he said from the ship today in a phone interview with ABC.
"When they tell they are about to board we will cooperate because it's too dangerous not to do so, particularly as you say it may be at night which is the usual tactic. We're not fools, we're not about to throw away our lives," Halliday said, according to ABC.
He said the Rachel Corrie expects to be boarded by the Israelis Friday when they are approximately 80 miles off coast. Some organizers of the aid ships are still saying that the Rachel Corrie may wait until Monday or Tuesday to try to run the blockade. There have been reports that Turkey may send a warship to accompany the aid ships.
The Rachel Corrie is a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after the 23-year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003, set off Monday from Malta. The ship carrying medical equipment, wheelchairs, school supplies and cement, a material Israel has banned in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Passengers on the Rachel Corrie, which embarked from Ireland, include Northern Irish Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and several other Irish citizens. Corrigan-Maguire is a Northern Irish peace activist who co-founded, with Betty Williams, the Community of Peace People, an organization that worked for a peaceful resolution to the fighting in Northern Ireland. The two women received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.
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