Bombarded by bombs

We were overjoyed when our boat, SS DIGNITY, landed safely at the port of Gaza this week.  Yesterday some of our passengers accompanied five Gazan fishing boats as they ventured out within their own territorial water in Gaza hopes of making a good catch to provide food and income for their families.  

While the Oslo agreement gave Gaza a 20 mile limit, the people of Gaza have never asked for more than the 12 miles which are standard under international law. After the elections in Palestine,  Israel arbitrarily announced, as part of its blockade to punish Palestinians for democratically electing the wrong party, that it was cutting the limit to 6 miles.  

Since our first Free Gaza boat landed in late August, internationals have often accompanied fishermen within their own territorial waters,  Every day Israeli gunboats with nothing better to do, menace and attack at will, using live ammunition and high-powered cannons to damage or destroy these humble boats.  One of our human rights observers and several Palestinians have been injured.

Yesterday we in Cyprus received repeated distress signals saying ‘help, help, help, help"  from one of the boats which was under attack.  When one of our colleagues in Israel called the Israeli military to protest, the response was "They have plenty of food; why do they need to go fishing?"  

Thankfully the damaged fishing  boat made it safely back to shore, and we have good audio and video coverage of the hours-long attack.

We are hoping to send the SS DIGNITY back to Gaza within the next two weeks.<p></p>