MEPE

[HBendor]

Activist ship to sail from Lebanon to Gaza

~The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/23/news/ML-Lebanon-Israel-Ship.php

BEIRUT, Lebanon: A cargo ship carrying Lebanese activists and supplies will
set sail for the besieged Gaza Strip early next year to defy an Israeli
blockade, the organizer said Tuesday.

The European-flagged ship carrying supplies including power generators and
food will sail from southern Lebanon on Jan. 3 to the eastern Mediterranean
island of Cyprus before heading to Gaza. Authorities at Larnaca port are
expected to inspect the cargo and passengers before it proceeds to Gaza.

Hani Sleiman, a lawyer and university professor, said the indirect route is
designed to deprive Israel of any excuse not to allow the ship into Gaza.
Passengers include activists from civil society groups and journalists.

Five ships carrying activists and goods have run the blockade since the
summer, but it will be the first time a ship carrying people and goods from
Lebanon, a neighboring country officially at war with Israel, will attempt
the trip.

A spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, Yigal Palmor, said Israel will
not comment prior to the event and "will react accordingly when it happens."
Sleiman expressed hope the ship will succeed in making it to Gaza.

"The aim is to break the blockade and show solidarity and make the
Palestinians feel they are not alone," he told The Associated Press. "What
are they (the Israelis) going to do? Sink it? This is a peace ship, a
commercial, civilian one."

The last boat to make the trip on Dec. 20 carried a Qatari delegation,
Lebanese activists and journalists from Israel and Lebanon. Qatar, an Arab
Gulf state, has warm relations with both Israel and Hamas.

Israel and Egypt closed Gaza's borders after Hamas seized control of the
territory in June 2007. Since November, Israel has tightened the blockade to
pressure Gaza militants to halt their rocket fire on Israeli border towns.


--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
_________________
JUDEA & SAMARIA are clear and unquestionably JEWISH!

MiddleEast Political Expressions