Two boats with a total of forty peace activists from the Free Gaza Movement will be setting sail from Cyprus for Gaza later in the week, with an aim to break the Israeli siege and tell the people there that the world has not forgotten them.
The boats are on their way to Cyprus to pick up the activists, including Israelis, and are carrying nothing more dangerous than 5,000 balloons that say ''Free Palestine'' on them.
Speaking at a press conference in Nicosia, cofounder of the Free Gaza Movement Greta Berlin said the initiative began two years ago with an aim to cultivate awareness about the situation in Gaza and that this was the first attempt to approach Gaza.
''The best idea was to buy our own boats, sail from Cyprus, break the siege of Gaza and try to tell the Palestinians of Gaza that the world has not forgotten them,'' she said, adding that the group comprised about forty volunteers from around the world, aged between 22 and 83.
Berlin said all funds came from donations. ''So it is not just the forty of us who are on board. It is thousands and thousands of people who saw that this was something unique and wanted to participate,'' she added.
She furthermore noted that the boats are on their way. ''There are two boats. We are ready, as ready as we can be, and we encourage anyone who has a boat to come with us. The more boats we have, the safe we will be,'' Berlin said.
''We chose Cyprus for a variety of reasons,'' Berlin pointed out, noting that Cyprus is also occupied and very sympathetic to the Palestinians.
Israeli professor of anthropology and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Jeff Halper, who said he would be liable for imprisonment by the Israeli government for visiting Gaza, noted ''it is very important that Israelis participate in this as well, after all we are the occupiers and we have the responsibility for what is happening.''
He said his message to the Israelis is that ''we are in solidarity with the Palestinians,'' that ''the Palestinians are not our enemies'' and that ''there is a political solution'' to the problem. ''Do not listen to our leaders that tell you there is no solution, which is the end of the occupation, the recognition that the Palestinians are the indigenous people,'' he added.
Halper noted that the message of the Free Gaza Movement is that ''we are the people and we are taking responsibility where governments are refusing to take responsibility.''
Palestinian President of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee Monir Deeb said every human being with a conscience ''has an obligation to stand up and speak out to tell the world that this is wrong.''
He referred to the daily misery 1.5 million Palestinians are subjected to, noting that these people are not a threat to the state of Israel but that ''Israel itself is a threat to the state of Israel.''
Monir noted that ''the Jewish people in general should be the most sensitive to the situation and plight of any other nation because of the history they went through and the suffering they were subjected to.''
Asked if there had been any pressure on the Cypriot government to stop the boats from setting sail, Berlin said ''we have not seen any pressure.''
''I believe that the Israeli government said something to them about is there any way they can stop the boat and the Cyprus government said no,'' she added, noting that this happened about ''two or three weeks ago.''
Referring to the cost of the expedition, Berlin said about 230,000 dollars have been raised so far and that the cost was expected to reach at least 330,000 dollars. ''We are broke but that is perfectly OK, because people are donating and donations are coming in at around 2,000 dollars a day,'' she added.
Replying to questions, Berlin clarified that there have been no funds from Iran and that there were certainly no weapons on the boats. ''The boats are going to be inspected by the Authorities in Cyprus. All of the passengers getting on board are also going to be inspected. We don't leave unless there is a clean bill of health from the Cyprus government,'' she pointed out.
She furthermore said that ''there is no way that we would go as non-violent activists and have anything on board that was more dangerous than 5,000 balloons that say 'Free Palestine' on them, that we are going to have to inflate'' for the children of Gaza.
Asked what the group would do if Israel stops the boats, Berlin said there were enough supplies on board to last a week and then they would return to Cyprus, stock up again and return to Gaza to try again.
To other questions, Berlin said not much information would be given out about the whereabouts of the boats for their own protection, adding that it would take about 24 hours to reach Gaza from Cyprus. ''We have learned from the Israelis how to not exactly tell the truth so we have never told anybody where the boats really are,'' she added.
''The boats have left and it will take about four or five days to get here. They are quite far away and I think we will probably leave either Friday or Saturday,'' Berlin said.
Monir said the people of Gaza were preparing a warm welcome for the boats on the beach and some would sail out to meet them in small vessels.
Replying to questions, Berlin said the boats were also carrying about 200 hearing aids for children. She explained that about 9,000 children were in need of hearing aids due to the Israeli sonic booms and sound bombs which are causing deafness.
Cypriot MEP Kyriacos Triantafyllides, who was present at the press conference, expressed support to the endeavour and wished the group ''good luck.''
