Freedom Flotilla 2 to set sail from Crete on Thursday or Friday to break Gaza blockade

-

From Ahram Online
Pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries plan to set sail in an international flotilla for Gaza from the coast of Crete on Thursday or Friday, organisers said Monday.

¨Thursday or Friday, nine or 10 boats should meet up in the Libyan Gulf,¨ Vaguelis Pissias, one of the Greek organisers of the flotilla, said at a press conference with representatives from the international organisations involved.

¨We really hope that despite the pressure from Israel and other countries, the Greek authorities are not going to stop us leaving," he added.

Organisers of the ¨Freedom flotilla¨ complained that the Greek authorities were creating ¨administrative obstacles¨ amid pressure from Israel to stop the campaigners from attempting to defy the five-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The departure has also been complicated by local politics, with transport strikes planned for this week as frustrated Greeks protest against harsh austerity reforms being voted on by the government of the debt-ridden country.

Several of the boats taking part -- including two cargo ships carrying three thousand tonnes of aid such as medicines and cement -- will set off from Greek ports, while others plan to join them out at sea, organisers said. more

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Israeli warships open fire at Gaza fishermen

-
Image
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli warships opened fire at fishermen off the coast of Gaza City early Wednesday, a fisherman said. A fisherman told Ma'an Israeli ships fired gunshots at Palestinian fishing boats, and that a shell hit the water near the boats. No injuries were reported. An Israeli army spokeswoman said that "warning shots were fired in the air," without providing further details. Palestinian fishermen are only allowed to venture three nautical miles from Gaza's shore, though official Israeli-Palestinian agreements previously settled on 20 nautical miles. more
Read more

Egyptians continue to keep Gaza's only exit closed

-
Image
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The Gaza Strip’s only exit to the outside world, the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the enclave, was shut down for the second consecutive day on Saturday. Sources at the terminal confirmed to Ma’an that the crossing point was still closed. On Friday, Palestinian official Mahir Abu Sabha said that Egyptian officials at the site informed the Palestinian side it would remain closed until further notice. more
Read more

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

-
Image
On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of ...
Read more