CYPRUS: Activists will attempt boat journey to Gaza from Cyprus to deliver doctors and aid

Record ID: 349351

  • Title: CYPRUS: Activists will attempt boat journey to Gaza from Cyprus to deliver doctors and aid
  • Date: 30th December 2008
  • Summary: VIEW OF SHIP BEING LOADED PEOPLE LOADING SHIP CYPRIOT AND AUSTRALIAN FLAGS ON SHIP INTERIOR OF SHIP, ACTIVISTS WAVING FROM SHIP AS IT DEPARTS VARIOUS OF SHIP IN WATER VARIOUS OF SHIP LEAVING THE PORT
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cyprus
  • Country: Cyprus
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVA4J2ULUN3B4FHRT1E0966OA7GI
  • Story Text: Human rights activists attempt to sail to Gaza strip from Cyprus to deliver doctors and medical supplies.
    Aid workers, doctors and a former U.S. Congresswoman sailed for battered Gaza with medical aid from Cyprus on Monday (Dec 29), defying Israeli air attacks on the Palestinian territory for the third successive day.
    The organisers of the shipment, the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement, said they would ferry three tonnes of urgently needed medical supplies, donated by Cyprus, to the Gaza Palestinians.

    "We aware that it could happen so certainly we are not taking it lightly. Not that we expect it to be easy, straight to Gaza, however we also feel that while Israelis may wish may stop us, they have very little grounds to stop us. And we are quite confident that with the people on the boat and the medicines here and with also a determination to reach the people in Gaza we will be able to push our way through," Renee Boyer, a spokeswoman for the organisers, told Reuters.
    A small cabin cruiser, heavily laden with boxes of medical supplies and 16 people, left the Cyprus port of Larnaca on Monday evening on the 12 to 15 hour voyage.
    One passenger, American Cynthia McKinney, said she wanted to highlight what she said was a trail of devastation left by U.S. weapons sold to Israel.

    "There is a need for the people of the United States to understand that every piece of rubble that is on that strip of land is caused by U.S.
    weapons," said McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate for the Green Party in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
    Three volunteer doctors among the passengers planned to remain in Gaza and be posted immediately to hospitals.
    Eleni Theocharous, a doctor and member of the Cyprus parliament said the group was trying to realise a humanitarian and medical mission and show the people of Gaza that they are not alone.
    Israel has not stopped activists from the Free Gaza Movement from sailing to the coastal territory in the past, though the territory was declared a closed military zone on Monday. The Israeli navy patrols Gazan coastal waters.
    Aid workers said they were aware they could be intercepted but Cynthia McKinney said that would not stop or deter the group.
    The three tons of medical supplies on the ship,
    "Dignity"
    were donated by Cyprus. Organizers said the doctors will be immediately posted to hospitals and clinics upon their arrival.
    Besides the doctors, passengers include international humanitarian and human rights workers from Cyprus, Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, Tunisia, and the United States, as well as journalists.
    The Free Gaza Movement first sent two boats to Gaza in August 2008, followed by four more voyages to deliver medical supplies to the region, the first international boats to land in Gaza port in 41 years.
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