UN-Truth

The Free Gaza expedition of two ships that left Cyprus Friday morning heading for the Gaza Strip is now reporting that electronic jamming measures have started, directed apparently against them.

A statement reports that “At 10am this morning, the Cyprus team of the Free Gaza Movement was able to briefly speak with our people on board the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty. They are all fine, and they asked us to release the following statement: ‘The electronic systems which guarantee our safety aboard the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty have been jammed and scrambled. Both ships are flying Greek flags, and are in international waters. We are the victims of electronic piracy. We are currently in GMS P area A2 and we are relying on our satellite communications equipment to make a distress call, if needed … We are currently experiencing rough sea conditions…’ ” The full statement can be seen on the website here .

UPDATE: a scrolling Haaretz headline at 12:12 Jerusalem time says that AP has reported that “Organizers of Gaza boat protest say they have lost contact with the vessels” — but it’s probably based on the same information reported by Free Gaza, as shown above.

UPDATE: Another AP story published now on the Haaretz website says that a Free Gaza spokesperson had said that she expected the vessels to reach Gaza at around 11 a.m. Jerusalem time — which would have been an hour and a half ago.

This same AP story also reports that “In Gaza City, a small boat zoomed off the coast waving a Palestinian flag as a crowd of activists and journalists gathered in the tiny fishing port hoping to glimpse the vessels. ‘I brought the kids so if they (the activists) arrive, I can tell them welcome – and thank you for not forgetting us, said Jamila Hassan, a 42-year-old Gaza resident who brought along her 14-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter to the port … In Gaza, dozens of community activists gathered at the local fishing port, holding English and Arabic banners to welcome the two boats. Some 20 small fishing boats decked in Palestinian flags were on standby to take a delegation of reporters and activists to greet the Free Gaza activists at sea. Hamas policemen controlled traffic in and out of the port. Youths leaped off high rocks into deep water nearby. Two large tents were set up for people to watch the scene. ‘Nobody thinks that these boats will break the siege in a practical way, but this is a moral message – what is happening (in Gaza) is illegal and inhumane, and must be halted’, said Raji Sourani, a prominent human rights activist … Israel has allowed little more than basic humanitarian supplies into Gaza, causing widespread shortages of fuel, electricity and basic goods. Only some people are allowed to leave Gaza for medical care, jobs abroad and the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia [n.b., over 200 sick people have died because of reported delays or refusals by the IDF to issue permits for them to leave Gaza. Last year, at least two pilgrims died in chaos at the border when returning from the annual Muslim pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca, and thousands were stranded for days]. Under a June truce deal which halted a deadly cycle of bruising Palestinian rocket attacks and deadly Israel airstrikes, Israel has pledged to ease the blockade, but Palestinians say the flow of goods into Gaza remains insufficient and there has been little improvement in the quality of life. Israel has periodically closed the cargo crossings in response to sporadic Palestinian rocket fire that violated the truce”. This AP report can be read on Haaretz’s website here .

Filed under: Gaza, Human Rights, International Law, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Law of the Sea Convention, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General