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Der Spiegel, Germany
June 9 2010
Bound for Gaza: German-Jewish Boat to Challenge Israeli Blockade
By Charles Hawley
A group of German Jews has stepped up efforts to send a humanitarian
mission to the Gaza Strip in defiance of the Israeli sea blockade.
Increasingly, it looks as though the group will have plenty of
competition. The waters off Gaza promise to be busy this summer.
For years, the waters just off the coast of the Gaza Strip have been
relatively quiet. Ever since Israel imposed an air, land and sea
blockade on the region following the ascent of Hamas to power in 2007,
fewer and fewer visitors have risked the trip. Even the local fishing
industry has suffered mightily.
Now, though, a little over a week after the Israeli raid on an aid
flotilla bound for Gaza City -- an operation which resulted in 9 dead
and global condemnation of Israel -- sea-going traffic looks as though
it might soon pick up. Several groups have threatened to send ships to
test the Israeli blockade, among them a group of Jewish activists
based in Germany.
"We want to break the Gaza occupation and end the occupation of the
West Bank as well," Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a member of the
executive committee of the European Jews for a Just Peace, which is
organizing the mission, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "We as Jews want to bring
the Palestinians something other than bombs."
Donations Flooding In
She says that between eight and 16 people will be on board the boat,
which plans to sail in mid-July. The ship, whose current location in
the Mediterranean is being kept secret, will be carrying school
supplies, musical instruments, children's clothing and "stuff for
children that Israel has forbidden, such as sweets and chocolates."
The idea for the project is not new. The group, made up of
pro-Palestinian Jews in Germany and around Europe, began collecting
funds for their mission in 2008. But the Israeli raid on a flotilla of
aid ships early last week has increased both interest in the project
and the likelihood that it will become a reality. Donations, says
Katzenstein-Leiterer, have been flooding in since the May 31 raid.
It has also, however, demonstrated that such a mission could be
dangerous. "Because of what happened, we are quite concerned," said
Katzenstein-Leiterer. "We are afraid that we too could become involved
in a clash, which we don't want. We will not use violence."
Still, by the time they arrive in the waters off the coast of the Gaza
Strip, there is reason to believe that Israeli patience toward
attempts at breaking the Gaza blockade may have worn thin. In addition
to the German-Jewish group, others have also indicated their interest
in sending ships to the Gaza Strip. The Iranian government announced
Monday it would send two ships, loaded with humanitarian goods from
the Iranian Red Crescent, to Gaza this summer. The head of Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the Iranian navy is
prepared to escort the ships. Turkey -- whose foreign minister Ahmet
Davutoglu recently called the Israeli operation "Turkey's September
11" -- has also indicated its interest in sending more ships to Gaza
in the near future.
Calming Frayed Nerves
Israel has vowed to continue its blockade of the Gaza Strip,
reiterating its concern that Iran, in particular, seeks to smuggle
weapons and munitions to the Islamist militants of Hamas. Still,
Israeli officials said on Wednesday that the country was expanding the
list of food items being allowed into the territory, the first small
sign that Israel wishes to calm global nerves frayed by the raid.
Additionally the National Union of Israeli Students is hoping to be
able to send 300 yachts and two ships toward Turkey with the aim of
intercepting any additional aid ships and engaging them in dialogue.
"We will tell them that if they want to help Gaza's residents, we will
be happy to deliver their aid," reads the group's press release. "We
would also like to (discuss) the Armenian issue and the problem of the
Kurdish minority in Turkey."
European Jews for a Just Peace, for their part, are also interested in
dialogue and have twice tried contacting the Israeli Embassy in Berlin
to discuss their impending aid shipment. So far, says
Katzenstein-Leiterer, they haven't received a response.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,699714,00.html
From: A. Papazian
June 9 2010
Bound for Gaza: German-Jewish Boat to Challenge Israeli Blockade
By Charles Hawley
A group of German Jews has stepped up efforts to send a humanitarian
mission to the Gaza Strip in defiance of the Israeli sea blockade.
Increasingly, it looks as though the group will have plenty of
competition. The waters off Gaza promise to be busy this summer.
For years, the waters just off the coast of the Gaza Strip have been
relatively quiet. Ever since Israel imposed an air, land and sea
blockade on the region following the ascent of Hamas to power in 2007,
fewer and fewer visitors have risked the trip. Even the local fishing
industry has suffered mightily.
Now, though, a little over a week after the Israeli raid on an aid
flotilla bound for Gaza City -- an operation which resulted in 9 dead
and global condemnation of Israel -- sea-going traffic looks as though
it might soon pick up. Several groups have threatened to send ships to
test the Israeli blockade, among them a group of Jewish activists
based in Germany.
"We want to break the Gaza occupation and end the occupation of the
West Bank as well," Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a member of the
executive committee of the European Jews for a Just Peace, which is
organizing the mission, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "We as Jews want to bring
the Palestinians something other than bombs."
Donations Flooding In
She says that between eight and 16 people will be on board the boat,
which plans to sail in mid-July. The ship, whose current location in
the Mediterranean is being kept secret, will be carrying school
supplies, musical instruments, children's clothing and "stuff for
children that Israel has forbidden, such as sweets and chocolates."
The idea for the project is not new. The group, made up of
pro-Palestinian Jews in Germany and around Europe, began collecting
funds for their mission in 2008. But the Israeli raid on a flotilla of
aid ships early last week has increased both interest in the project
and the likelihood that it will become a reality. Donations, says
Katzenstein-Leiterer, have been flooding in since the May 31 raid.
It has also, however, demonstrated that such a mission could be
dangerous. "Because of what happened, we are quite concerned," said
Katzenstein-Leiterer. "We are afraid that we too could become involved
in a clash, which we don't want. We will not use violence."
Still, by the time they arrive in the waters off the coast of the Gaza
Strip, there is reason to believe that Israeli patience toward
attempts at breaking the Gaza blockade may have worn thin. In addition
to the German-Jewish group, others have also indicated their interest
in sending ships to the Gaza Strip. The Iranian government announced
Monday it would send two ships, loaded with humanitarian goods from
the Iranian Red Crescent, to Gaza this summer. The head of Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the Iranian navy is
prepared to escort the ships. Turkey -- whose foreign minister Ahmet
Davutoglu recently called the Israeli operation "Turkey's September
11" -- has also indicated its interest in sending more ships to Gaza
in the near future.
Calming Frayed Nerves
Israel has vowed to continue its blockade of the Gaza Strip,
reiterating its concern that Iran, in particular, seeks to smuggle
weapons and munitions to the Islamist militants of Hamas. Still,
Israeli officials said on Wednesday that the country was expanding the
list of food items being allowed into the territory, the first small
sign that Israel wishes to calm global nerves frayed by the raid.
Additionally the National Union of Israeli Students is hoping to be
able to send 300 yachts and two ships toward Turkey with the aim of
intercepting any additional aid ships and engaging them in dialogue.
"We will tell them that if they want to help Gaza's residents, we will
be happy to deliver their aid," reads the group's press release. "We
would also like to (discuss) the Armenian issue and the problem of the
Kurdish minority in Turkey."
European Jews for a Just Peace, for their part, are also interested in
dialogue and have twice tried contacting the Israeli Embassy in Berlin
to discuss their impending aid shipment. So far, says
Katzenstein-Leiterer, they haven't received a response.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,699714,00.html
From: A. Papazian