UPDATE - 3 hours into the journey, the boat appears to be turning back to Cyprus. According to the Jerusalem Post, "Karin Pally told The Associated Press that a generator blew three hours into the 24-hour trip, forcing the 66-foot (20-meter), Greek-flagged vessel to return to port in Larnaca.
The Free Gaza Movement's new boat the Spirit of Humanity, left Larnaca Port at 3pm (local time) this afternoon - bound for Gaza port, where it is due to arrive at 11am tomorrow. The boat has been acquired at short notice, to stand in for the Dignity, which was rammed three times and fired on in international waters on 29th December,2008. On board the Spirit are several tons of medical supplies, and a number of doctors, surgeons, parliamentarians, journalists and activists, all intent on showing solidarity with the people of Gaza in the face of the crippling siege that has been visited upon them for the past eighteen months.
Whilst attacking a boat that has not entered Israeli territorial waters, and which is carrying medical supplies, medical personnel, journalists and parliamentarians would surely be a serious own goal for the self-appointed 'only democracy in the Middle East', some fear that it will risk alienating international opinion even further by doing exactly that.
The Islington Friends of Yibna (IFY) is one of the groups that fears such an attack. Today it issued an alert claiming that Israel intends to attack the Spitit of Humanity, and urging people to contact their MPs and MEPs "to demand that ISRAEL MUST NOT ATTACK THIS BOAT!"
Earlier in the day, Paul Larudee from the Free Gaza Movement contacted Israeli spokesman Mark Regev, who assured him that "that Israel will respect international law". Those who have watched the decimation of Gaza on their televisions in the last three weeks are likely to take little comfort from such a statement from a mealy-mouthed liar.
Meanwhile, activists from the Free Gaza Movement who arrived in Gaza on previous trips on the Dignity have been working flat out accompanying ambulance crews, and getting the stories out. Recent reports can be seen on the Free Gaza Movement website.
They have attracted the attentions of a scurrilous zionist website run by a deranged ideologue called Lee Kaplan. Kaplan has called for zionists to track down the whereabouts of the Gaza based activists and to send the co-ordinates to the IDF so that they can be killed. The site, which may be vulnerable as it running windows, is hosted by a Canadian service provider Koi Media, and designed by a Toronto firm Quantam Media
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