CAIRO: Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human initiative faced further obstacles Tuesday as Greek security forces arrested two activists on the Canadian ship Tahrir. The Tahrir has been “slammed against the dock by Greek Port Police,” the Freedom Flotilla II official Twitter account said early Tuesday, hours before they reported that activists were arrested then …
ATHENS: Pro-Palestinian activists on a French boat protested Monday by symbolically "setting sail" on the flotilla for Gaza, revving up their engines in an Athens port in defiance of a Greek ban. French activists were joined by Americans from the US Audacity of Hope boat, keen to show support after their own attempt to sail …
ATHENS: Organizers of a Gaza-bound flotilla said they have not abandoned their plans to breach Israel’s sea blockade of the territory despite a Greek government ban on their vessels leaving the country’s ports. The campaign experienced a major setback when Greece announced its restrictions Friday, and authorities arrested the captain of a boat carrying American …
NEW YORK: The Middle East diplomatic Quartet on Saturday discouraged new flotillas from sailing to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid, it said in a statement. "The Quartet recognizes that Israel has legitimate security concerns that must continue to be safeguarded," said the group, representing the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. …
ATHENS: The captain of a US vessel intercepted after it tried to defy a ban and sail for Gaza from Greece was being held in "shocking conditions" Sunday and had not received consular assistance, a lawyer said. Captain John Klusmer was arrested when the US boat Audacity of Hope — the flagship in a flotilla …
NEW YORK: The Middle East diplomatic Quartet on Saturday discouraged new flotillas from sailing to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid, it said in a statement. "The Quartet recognizes that Israel has legitimate security concerns that must continue to be safeguarded," said the group, representing the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. …
JERUSALEM: They’re all a Twitter about the flotilla. It may still be anyone’s guess when a small international convoy of vessels carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid will set sail from Greece to the Gaza Strip in a challenge to Israel’s naval blockade of the territory run by Hamas Islamists. But, mindful of the bloodshed at …
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday participants in an aid flotilla planning to challenge an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip were seeking "confrontation and blood.” Pro-Palestinian activists have said around a dozen ships carrying aid to Gaza, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists, could depart from European ports in the coming days. …
JERUSALEM: Israel is threatening to bar international journalists from the country for years if they board ships attempting to breach the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. A flotilla of Gaza-bound ships is due to set sail soon, perhaps this week. On Sunday, Israel’s Government Press Office issued a statement calling the flotilla "a dangerous …
AL-ARISH/CAIRO: Al-Arish sea port is currently preparing to receive an aid flotilla that’s about to sail to Gaza this month should it reroute to dock in Egypt and send the aid on land. The flotilla is on a mission to break the “illegal” Israeli blockade on the Strip. In case the Freedom Flotilla II –Stay …
ISTANBUL: A new international flotilla is determined to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip despite Egypt’s decision to re-open its border with the Palestinian enclave, organizers said Monday. "While we wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Egyptian government to regularly operate the Rafah crossing… Israel’s unlawful blockade remains in effect," Vangelis Pisias, the Greek …
ISTANBUL: A flotilla of 15 ships will sail in the last week of June, seeking to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip, a year after a deadly Israeli raid on a similar fleet, a Turkish co-organizer NGO said Friday. "Our vessels will embark in the last week of June. Currently we have 15 ships. …
ISTANBUL: A new aid flotilla aiming to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip threatens to deal a fresh blow to Turkish-Israeli ties, a year after a bloody Israeli seizure of a Turkish activist ship. Bilateral relations remain stuck in crisis after several meetings over the past year aimed at mending fences between the one-time …
JERUSALEM: An Israeli inquiry commission defended the actions of the country’s troops during last year’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound protest flotilla sailing from Turkey, finding in a report released Sunday that Israel had not violated international law. While offering some criticism of the way the takeover was planned, the commission’s conclusions exonerated the government, …
CAIRO: Asia 1, the ship carrying medical and humanitarian aid as part of the convoy Asia to Gaza, arrived at Al-Arish Port on Tuesday. Supplies were unloaded and set to make way for Gaza through the Rafah border after fees were paid to Egyptian authorities. Over 100 activists affiliated with the Asia to Gaza aid …
CAIRO: Over 100 activists affiliated with the “Asia to Gaza” aid convoy crossed to Gaza through the Rafah border in the early hours of Monday. The boat carrying the aid is still waiting for permission to dock at Al-Arish port. An Egyptian security official told AFP that around 20 Iranians and some, though not all, …
