A BOAT carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Europe and the US set sail from Cyprus bound for Gaza in a bid to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory.
The boat, named Irene, left the port of Famagusta in the Turkish-held north of the divided eastern Mediterranean island carrying eight activists, including three crew, and two journalists.
| So really, six European Jews out of a continent-wide population of 1.5 million? They must be rattling around that boat like dried peas in a pod. |
Holocaust survivor Reuven Moshkovitz, 82, said she felt duty-bound to attempt the voyage, which is expected to take around 36 hours.
"It is a holy duty for a survivor like me to protect against the persecuting and closing and oppressing of so many people, including 800,000 children in Gaza," she said.
Perhaps you could keep them out of the clutches of Hamas. Oh, that's not what you mean ...
Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak previously warned that Israel would intercept any ship nearing Gaza, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas.
| Israel should take the six on a guided tour of Gaza once they've settled into their hotels near the port. With cameras running to catch their expressions as they see the overfull markets, the new shopping mall, and the fat and energetic children. Quite unlike their own childhoods under the Nazis, I should think. |
Israel came under international censure after its May 31 seizure of a six-ship aid fleet bound for the Palestinian territory caused Israeli commandos to shoot dead nine Turkish activists in a clash on the lead boat. |