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Lavario
(Greece): A ship commissioned by a Libyan charity
organization made preparations Friday to set sail to Gaza loaded
with aid.
It comes over a month after Israel raided Gaza-bound ships, killing
eight Turks and a Turkish-American on one of them. The flotilla was
trying to break Israel's blockade on Gaza.
The Moldova-flagged cargo ship Amalthea will leave by Saturday from
the port of Lavrio, south of Athens, carrying 2,000 tons of food and
medical supplies, officials from the organization told The
Associated Press. There will be 27 people on board.
Amalthea's journey to Gaza is expected to take up to 80 hours. Aid
on the Amalthea includes sacks of rice and sugar, and corn oil and
olive paste — all mostly donated from Greek companies and charities,
organizers said. The aid was loaded into the hull of the aging
vessel by crane.
"I am scared, but our lives are in God's hands," head volunteer
Adburaufel Jaziri said. "Our job is to help anyone who needs it. We
don't care if they are Catholics or Muslims or whatever. Now we are
helping the people of Gaza who are suffering." Israel "can check our
cargo and certificates, of course they are free to do this," Jaziri
said. "If we cannot deliver the aid, we will let (Israel) deliver
it." The Israeli military would not comment on the Libyan ship.
Israel's policy has been to offer ships of this type the option of
docking at an Israeli port, after which Israel will screen the goods
aboard and transfer them into Gaza by land.
Humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza through land crossings and the
Israeli government had increased the flow of goods into the
Palestinian territory last week, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman
Andy David said.
"All humanitarian aid goes in freely, therefore the Libyan intention
is nothing more than a cheap provocation," he said.
In addition to 15 volunteers — all from Libyan except for a Nigerian
and one Moroccan — the ship has a crew of 12 from Cuba, Haiti,
India, and Syria.
The head of the Gadhafi International Charity and Development
Foundation said the people of Gaza are facing a "humanitarian
catastrophe" unless they receive urgent aid.
"We call on the international community to support this initiative,"
Youssef Rawani said. "If swift and urgent help is not given there
will be tragic consequences for the people of Gaza." In Gaza,
activists and officials involved in previous Gaza-bound sails said
they were not contacted by the organizers of the voyage of the
Libyan vessel.
"There will be communication, starting in the next 24 hours," said
Riyad Al-Bitar, a member of a Hamas government committee for ending
the blockade. "They didn't inform us of anything. We only learned
about it indirectly." Israel's deadly raid on May 31 provoked
international outrage. Israel says its naval commandos were acting
in self-defense after being attacked by pro-Palestinian activists.
Five ships were commandeered without incident, but some of the 600
activists on board the Mavi Marmara, owned by a Turkish Islamic
charity, actively resisted, and the soldiers opened fire.
The soldiers, seven of whom were wounded, said their lives were in
danger. Activists called their actions self-defense.
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