CAIRO/GAZA CITY: Arab League chief Amr Moussa yesterday praised the “daring step” taken by pro-Palestinian activists whose boats docked in the Gaza Strip despite a tight Israeli blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. “The act of protest against the Gaza blockade and the solidarity shown by these pro-Palestinian activists sends a strong message highlighting the suffering endured by the people of Gaza,” Moussa said in a statement.
The head of the pan-Arab body said he hoped this was the beginning of a wider movement by campaigners from around the world to express their rejection of a blockade he said violated international humanitarian law.
Two boats from Cyprus carrying 44 pro-Palestinian activists from 17 countries, including Israel, docked in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The boats, Liberty and Free Gaza, had embarked on the 370-km voyage from Larnaca port on Cyprus’s south coast and carried 200 hearing aids for Gaza children and 5,000 balloons.
Meanwhile, dozens of activists from 17 countries toured the Gaza Strip yesterday. The group also said it plans to bring 10 Palestinian students to Cyprus on the return voyage in another bid to highlight Israel’s strict restriction of movement into and out of the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people.
“We are thrilled to be here,” said Greta Berlin, 67, an American activist and a founder of the California-based Free Gaza movement, which organized the trip.
“We could not believe it when we saw the shore,” she told reporters in Gaza City. “(It) was one small step for humankind and one giant step for Palestine.”
“This is a symbolic mission, and the idea is to break the siege,” Jeff Halper, the only Jewish Israeli member of the group, said. “Israel should have no right to control the movement of Palestinians.” The group also met Ismail Haniyeh, who has led the Hamas-run government in Gaza since he was dismissed as prime minister by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Halper said he did not attend the meeting with Haniyeh for fear his presence would detract from the overall mission of the voyage. “I don’t have any problem meeting with any Palestinian,” he said. “But I’m in Israeli society and I have to choose my battles,” he said, adding that the decision was based on “keeping the focus on breaking the siege.”
