CYPRUS: Jewish boat to Gaza leaves port of Famagusta in the latest attempt to breach Gaza blockade

Record ID: 1547975

  • Title: CYPRUS: Jewish boat to Gaza leaves port of Famagusta in the latest attempt to breach Gaza blockade
  • Date: 27th September 2010
  • Summary: FAMAGUSTA, CYPRUS (SEPTEMBER 26, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF FAMAGUSTA PORT CLOSE OF "JEWISH BOAT TO GAZA" ANCHORED AT PORT VARIOUS OF FAMAGUSTA PORT ACTIVISTS WALKING TO BOAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRO-PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVIST RAMI ELHANAN SAYING: "In order to raise my voice against evil and to make a point and draw public attention to the fact that 1.5 million people under siege. This is inhuman," VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS ON BOAT ACTIVISTS HOLDING A BANNER READING EUROPEAN JEWS FOR A JUST PEACE more of activists VARIOUS OF HUMANITARIAN/MEDICAL AID, AND TOYS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRO-PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVIST TAMAR SHAPIRA SAYING: "Israeli propaganda is always self-defensive. Israel tries to be the victim to put itself as a victim, this is what I received as a child all the way through out growing until I went to the army to fight in order to be this victim that protect himself," VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS WAVING VARIOUS OF JEWISH BOAT TO GAZA SAILING VARIOUS OF FLAGS ON BOAT BANNER READING IN ARABIC "For a just peace for Palestinians" CLOSE OF BANNER READING AMERICAN JEWS FOR A JUST PEACE MORE OF JEWISH BOAT SAILING
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2010 10:40
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cyprus
  • Country: Cyprus
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAB12A8UGH1T6M6R5N9LF2V57G4
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A group of Jewish activists set sail for Gaza on Sunday (September 26) in defiance of an Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory and an attempt to highlight the humanitarian crisis on the enclave strip.
    Nine activists from Israel, Britain, Germany and the U.S. departed from the coastal town of Famagusta in northern Cyprus with a small quantity of aid to Palestinians in Gaza. They said the trip to Gaza, without interception, could take about 24 hours.
    "In order to raise my voice against evil and to make a point and draw public attention to the fact that 1.5 million people under siege. This is inhuman," said Israeli peace activist Rami Elhanan, 60. who lost his 14 year old daughter Smadar in a suicide bomber in September 1997.
    Nine pro-Palestinian Turks were killed on May 31 when Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of aid vessels heading to Gaza, putting serious strain on relations between Israel and Turkey, once close allies.
    "Israeli propaganda is always self-defensive. Israel tries to be the victim to put itself as a victim, this is what I received as a child all the way through out growing until I went to the army to fight in order to be this victim that protect himself," Pro-Palestinian activist Tamar Shapira said.
    The territory has been blockaded by Israel since 2007, but Israel eased its blockade in an angry international backlash after the flotilla deaths.
    The group, on a small catamaran, said they were taking a symbolic load of medicine, a water purifying kit and educational toys to Gaza.
    Cyprus lies about 220 nautical miles away from the shores of Gaza and has been used as a springboard for aid before.
    Famagusta itself has resonance for many Jews; hundreds of them were interred in camps there by Cyprus's then British colonial administration as they attempted to head to what was then Palestine between 1946 and 1948.
    Ports in the southern Greek Cypriot controlled areas of Cyprus were used as a launch pad for activists to reach Gaza by sea from 2008 to mid-2009. Greek Cypriot authorities have since banned the sailing and activists went on Sunday from an enclave controlled by Turkish Cypriots, where they run a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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