{"id":4576,"date":"2008-08-22T13:56:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-22T10:56:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-03-21T13:43:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:43:53","slug":"epalestine-blogspot-com-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/2008\/08\/epalestine-blogspot-com-59\/","title":{"rendered":"[ePalestine] Activists sail to bust Israeli sea blockade on Gaza (ACTION ALERT)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends,   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Watch the news…   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The ships (names SS Free Gaza<\/em> and SS Liberty<\/em>) have left Cyprus and are now on the way to Gaza shores.  They are planned to arrive Saturday. A face off at sea with the Israeli Occupying Navy is expected.    <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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All the info about the trip and how to help is at:   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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http:\/\/www.freegaza.org<\/u> <\/span> <\/font> <\/a>   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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20 Gaza fisherman’s boats will be heading to sea to meet them.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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ACTION<\/strong>: I just made my donation as a expression of support, please consider making yours.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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ACTION<\/strong>: Ask your local media to make phone contact with the ships.  Satellite phone numbers available on the boats are: a) 00 870 773 160 151; b) 00 870 773 160 156  c) 00 881 651 442 553;  d) 00 881 651 427 948.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Free Gaza NOW,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Sam  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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—  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Reuters  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Activists sail to bust Israeli sea blockade on Gaza<\/strong><\/span><\/font>    <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Fri 22 Aug 2008, 7:16 GMT   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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By Michele Kambas   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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LARNACA, Cyprus (Reuters) – International activists departed from Cyprus by boat on Friday in an attempt to run an Israeli sea blockade on 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The 44 activists sailed from the port of Larnaca in two wooden boats at 9:50 a.m. (7:50 a.m. British time). Hailing from 14 countries, they said they expected to reach the shores of Gaza, patrolled by the Israeli navy, on Saturday.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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"It has been 41 years since any boat has travelled in those waters, and we plan to be the first," said U.S. citizen Paul Larudee, one of the organisers of the "Free Gaza" campaign.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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A previous attempt by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to sail to Haifa from Cyprus with Palestinian deportees failed in 1988, when a limpet bomb blew a hole in the hull of a ferry boat they had chartered.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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An Israeli army spokesman declined to say whether the navy had plans to intercept the ship before it reached Gaza.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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"We are following the developments," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The activists include an 81 year old Catholic nun, the sister in law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and a member of the Greek parliament. Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 84, initially scheduled to go, could not for medical reasons.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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They say they plan to deliver some aid to Palestinians in the Gaza strip, but that the main purpose is to highlight the living conditions of people suffering shortages of everything from food to fuel since an Israeli crackdown.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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"The siege that the Israelis have imposed on Gaza is not only illegal in terms of international law, it is also immoral," said Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian with Israeli and U.S. citizenship.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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"Global institutions and the governments of the world know what is happening and are not doing anything about it," she said.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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SET SAIL<\/strong>   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Cyprus, which lies some 240 nautical miles west of Gaza, could not legally stop the departure of the boats. A Cypriot official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there had been "soundings" by Israeli authorities on whether the vessels could be prevented from sailing from Cypriot shores.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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"Provided documentation was in order they could sail. That’s the law and we cannot break it," the Cypriot source said.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Israel pulled troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005 but has tightened security restrictions on the territory since the militant Islamic movement Hamas seized control there a year ago from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ security forces.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The Israelis completed a wall around the Gaza strip in 1996, and they credit the barrier with virtually halting suicide attacks from the coastal territory.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Activists say their mission is a peaceful one. "There is this slow genocide going on in Gaza and nobody is taking any notice," said Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist and author.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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"When the Holocaust happened the whole world looked the other way while this atrocity against humanity was unfolding and it was often said we cannot allow this to happen again."   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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(Additional reporting by Nassos Stylianou)   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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http:\/\/africa.reuters.com\/world\/news\/usnPIC225442.html<\/u> <\/span> <\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

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epalestine-subscribe@lists.riseup.net<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends,   Watch the news…   The ships (names SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty) have left Cyprus and are now on the way to Gaza shores.  They are planned to arrive Saturday. A face off at sea with the Israeli Occupying Navy is expected.    All the info about the trip and how to help is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1401],"ppma_author":[936],"class_list":["post-4576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-hamas"],"authors":[{"term_id":936,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sambahour","display_name":"Sam Bahour","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bca109c333bf6d8ae807746dd512adde46265d37c923f6cd0fc4aab437f8e9aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Bahour","user_url":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour","job_title":"","description":"

Sam Bahour<\/strong> is a Palestinian-American business consultant, writer, and commentator based in Al-Bireh\/Ramallah, Palestine. He is the principal of Applied Information Management (AIM)<\/a>, a consultancy specializing in business development and startup advisory services.<\/p>\r\n

Bahour played a foundational role in establishing two of Palestine\u2019s publicly traded companies: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He co-founded Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE), of which he is now an emeritus member, and served as an independent director on the board of Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. from 2004 to 2025. He currently serves on the board of Just Vision<\/a> and The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS)<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

He frequently gives talks to delegations visiting Palestine on the subjects of Palestine\u2019s political economy, Palestinian Politics 101, and a general orientation to the state of affairs under Israeli military occupation.<\/p>\r\n

A prolific writer on Palestinian affairs, Bahour has been published in major international outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera America, Le Monde diplomatique, Al-Monitor, +972 Magazine, The Hill, and Arab News. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR, CNN, BBC, and other broadcast media.<\/p>\r\n

Bahour is the co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians<\/a><\/em> (Olive Branch Press, 1993) and was profiled in the bestselling anthology Kingdom of Olives and Ash<\/a><\/em>, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in a chapter authored by Chabon titled \u201cThe Tallest Man in Ramallah<\/a>.\u201d He holds an Associate\u2019s and Bachelor\u2019s degree in Computer Technology from Youngstown State University, and a Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA \u2014 a joint program of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\r\n

He tweets at @SamBahour<\/a>, blogs at www.epalestine.ps<\/a>, and may be reached at sbahour[AT]gmail[DOT]com.<\/p>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7872,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4576\/revisions\/7872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4576"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}