- Title: ISRAEL: Jewish boat to Gaza reaches Israeli port after interception
- Date: 29th September 2010
- Summary: ASHDOD PORT, ISRAEL (SEPTEMBER 28, 2010) (REUTERS) 'IRENE' AID BOAT SAILING TOWARDS ASHDOD PORT, ESCORTED BY ISRAELI NAVY VESSELS ASHDOD PORT FROM DISTANCE VARIOUS OF BOAT ESCORTED TO PORT BY ISRAELI NAVY VESSELS ISRAELI NAVY BOAT ENTERING PORT FAMILIES OF BOAT PASSENGERS PROTESTING AGAINST THE INTERCEPTION OF THE BOAT (SOUNDBITE) GUY ELHANAN, SON OF BOAT PASSENGER R
- Embargoed: 14th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVABA64EF8V8LE63JD77XPLJ1P3H
- Story Text: A boat carrying Jewish activists sailing to Gaza to protest against Israel's blockade of the Palestinian enclave was intercepted on Tuesday (September 28) and escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod by the Israeli navy.
Israel's Gaza policies have come under scrutiny in May after its marines killed nine Turkish activists on board a ship in a flotilla of six vessels trying to reach the Palestinian territory.
A military statement on Tuesday said the catamaran Irene, flying the Union Jack, was taken over without any incident well off the Gaza Strip, within the 20-mile nautical zone that Israel defines as Gaza waters.
A Navy video shot from above showed two Navy speedboats closing in on the catamaran and marines clambering aboard.
Reuters Television filmed the yacht sailing for Ashdod port under its own power, led by a small naval escort vessel. But it was docked out of sight of journalists.
The group of ten activists -- from Israel, Britain, Germany and the United States -- set sail from Cyprus on Sunday, intent on defying the Israeli blockade of Gaza and highlighting the suffering of 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the territory.
The Irene's campaign attracted relatively little international attention. Israel dismissed it as a provocative stunt wasteful of time and resources.
A handful of supporters waited outside the gates of Ashdod port for news of the campaigners, whose mobile phones had apparently been confiscated. They carried signs saying "Stop the Siege" and "No More Occupation".
Guy Elahan, son of one of the activists on board the ship, said that Israel could not claim to be a democratic state until the occupation was over.
"We will not have a state here, a democratic state until this occupation is done, until the siege over Gaza is withdrawn until there's a Palestinian state in the occupied territory," he told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the group said the boat had docked and the activists -- including foreign nationals -- were being taken off one by one for processing by Israeli authorities. Their lawyer and representatives of their embassies were also seeking access.
Smadar Ben Natan, the activists' lawyer said that she had sought to meet with her clients but was not allowed.
"The ship was taken over by the Israeli marines, and was brought to the Ashdod port where we are standing now. As far as we know the people are in the custody of the Israeli army and are being questioned or processed in a way that is not totally clear for us. I asked as their lawyer to meet them, I was not allowed to do that yet," Ben Natan told Reuters.
International condemnation of the May action persuaded the government to relax restrictions on what Gaza can import. But Israel maintains the naval blockade in what it says is an effort to stop arms being smuggled to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Activists said the Irene was carrying a symbolic load of medicine, a water purifying kit and toys. The IDF said it would be screened and later turned over to Gaza.
Israeli activist Rami Elhanan told Israel radio before the yacht was boarded that they had no intention of resisting.
Elhanan's daughter was killed in a suicide attack in 1997. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None