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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Free Gaza ships to set sail Thursday

Free Gaza ships to set sail Thursday
Date: 23 / 06 / 2009 Time: 15:28
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38755

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Free Gaza movement will sail two ships from Cyprus
to Gaza on Thursday, carrying, according to organizers, " tons of cement,
and suitcases full of toys, crayons and coloring books for the children, all
items banned by Israel's government."

Last summer and fall the group sailed three successful voyages to Gaza, but
a fourth and fifth were thwarted by the Israeli navy. Organizers said they
hope to buy a cargo boat to ship in more supplies, as the small ships used
by the movement can only carry symbolic amounts of goods given their small
size.

The group emphasized that what they are taking is only a token of what the
people of Gaza need. They are hoping to buy a cargo boat , to bring in
larger amounts of building supplies via the sea route they aim to open. They
ask for the financial support of people around the world to purchase this
ship.

"International donors pledged over 4 billion [US dollars] to rebuild Gaza,
yet none of them are doing a thing about the fact that Israel allows no
building supplies into the territory. So 36 of us from 16 countries are
leaving on Thursday to tell the world to do something," organizer Huwaida
Arraf told reporters Monday.

The group has not sought permission to dock in Gaza from Israeli military
personnel, in the past they alerted government and army officials to their
presence, and announced their mission as a humanitarian one.

The movement plans on sailing three ships into the besieged Strip this
summer.

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