Several of the 36 Americans who plan to sail on a US-flagged boat told a news conference that they are aware of the risks they’ll be taking when they join the flotilla on a still-undetermined date later this month.

The vessel, which will be called “The Audacity of Hope,” takes its name from one of President Barack Obama’s books.

Hundreds of people on as many as nine vessels from countries including Canada, Australia, Belgium, Denmark and Germany are expected to form the flotilla around the end of the month. The exact departure date will depend upon weather and other conditions. Last year, nine activists died in a botched Israeli commando raid on a Turkish ship during a similar flotilla. US activists said they worried there could be a similar incident this year.

“Yeah, I’m scared. It’s scary,” said one of the American activists, Gale Courey Toensing of Canaan, Connecticut. “But it’s not as scary as what the Palestinian people have to live with every day.” Ray McGovern, a former military intelligence officer and CIA analyst, said many friends have asked why he would join the group. “I don’t want to be a martyr,” acknowledged McGovern, adding that he hoped to draw attention to the people in Gaza.

The Israeli mission to the UN did not comment on the announcement.

Richard A. Levy, a Jewish attorney from New York, is among the American activists preparing for the journey. He said US State Department officials warned them that they could provoke Israel, but “I think it’s very important that Americans are on this boat, and that Jews are on this boat.”

Also among those on the US boat will be Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the women’s peace group CodePink and the San Francisco rights organization Global Exchange. She said the flotilla would focus new attention on US policy on Israel and the Palestinians.

“This is really going to force the US to reflect on its positions toward Israel,” Benjamin said, especially amid a push by the Palestinians to have the US declare Palestine a member of the world body in September.

“What will this say to the Arab world amid the ongoing Arab spring if the US votes against the creation of a Palestinian state?” Benjamin asked. “That will put the US in bind.”