At crisis point in peace talks, Jews, Israelis call for lifting the siege on Gaza, ending the occupation.
At crisis point in peace talks, Jews, Israelis call for lifting the siege on Gaza, ending the occupation.
A boat carrying ten Jews from Israel, the UK, the US and Germany has set sail from Cyprus today, aiming to carry symbolic aid to the beleaguered Palestinian population in Gaza
The boat, the Irene, is traveling under a British flag and will attempt to reach Gaza within two days, but its organizers have stressed that no physical resistance will be employed and that any Israeli interception will be met by non-violent, non-confrontational protest.
Aboard the boat are, among others, an Israeli peace activist who lost his daughter to a suicide bombing thirteen years ago, two survivors of the Holocaust who have engaged in efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace for several decades, an ex-IDF pilot and European intellectuals. An Israeli news journalist is also on board.
One of the boat’s organizers, Richard Kuper of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said that the timing of the boat is significant. ‘World leaders and the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships must lift the political and physical siege of Gaza and commit to ending the occupation and settlement of the Palestinian territories, before coming to the negotiating table’, he said. ‘Otherwise, peace talks are doomed to failure.’
Rami Elhanan, the father of 13 year-old Smadar who was killed by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem and a member of the Bereaved Families Circle, a group of Israelis and Palestinians who have lost their loved ones in the conflict, said that his key message today is that ordinary Israelis and Palestinians must undermine segregation and insist on direct encounters. ‘It will never end if we don’t talk,’ he said.
The boat’s website is www.jewishboattogaza.org
JNews will continue to report on the progress of the Jewish Boat to Gaza in real time via JNews and Twitter. Follow us at @JNewsLondon.
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Photo by Vish Vishvanath / Impartial
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