Peace activists from several countries are setting out on a converted trawler to defy an Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
The “Handala” was visited in Malta by 78-year-old retired US Army Colonel and diplomat, Ann Wright, who was on board another coalition ship boarded by Israeli troops in 2010, in the incident in which nine activists died.
“These people are very brave, because we don’t know what’s going to happen. If the Israelis stop them, we know it’ll be brutal,” Wright said.
The brightly coloured “Handala” carries activists from Italy, France, Norway, Australia, the Netherlands, Syria and a number of Palestinians. It has made several port calls around Scandinavia and the Mediterranean to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza.
On May 31, 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla comprising of the Mavi Marmara, Sfendoni, Challenger I, Eleftheri Mesogios, Gazza I and Defne Y vessels, departed with the aim of delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza but were confronted with an illegal raid and intervention by Israeli military forces. The vessels were only carrying humanitarian aid and aid workers. During this attack and in its aftermath, 10 humanitarian aid workers lost their lives and 56 were severely injured. Nine of the 10 were brutally killed during the attack, and the 10th victim died after spending a prolonged period in a coma
https://ihh.org.tr/en/mavi-marmara
I hope the history doesnt repeat.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid this is so insane.