BRUSSELS, (PIC)– The Brussels-based European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza said that there has been a large turnout for Freedom Flotilla 2, in terms of activists requesting to participate, and in terms of the number of ships.
The campaign, which was one of the founders of the Freedom Flotilla coalition, in a press statement on Monday, boasted that the new flotilla has a few surprises in store for Israeli authorities, one of which is that seven of the ships scheduled to participate in the flotilla are from European counties.
The European campaign added that it received around nine thousand requests forms from sympathizers from around the world since opening registration to participate in the second Freedom Flotilla, which is expected to set sail into the Gaza Strip within a few weeks, despite Israel’s May 31st raid against the first Freedom Flotilla, which left nine dead, others injured, and properties confiscated and damaged.
The first Freedom Flotilla carried 750 activists from more than 40 countries, including 44 Arab and European government and political officials, including ten Algerian MPs, more than 10,000 tons of medical supplies, building materials, and timber, and 100 ready-made houses in support of the tens of thousands of people who lost their homes in the Israeli war on Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. The ships also carried 500 electric vehicles for the use of the disabled, especially since the recent war left nearly 600 disabled in Gaza.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, independent MP Jamal al-Khudari, Chairman of the Popular Committee against the Siege, has confirmed that Israel has publically announced that it will ease the aggravated siege on Gaza, without any mention of ending the root of the crisis.
Khudari, in a press release on Monday, noted that ending the blockade would require a series of measures on the ground, the most important of which would be to completely open commercial crossings to allow the flow of goods, and to put an end to the “restricted lists” policy, underlining that Gaza is need of all the supplies it was deprived of since the institution of the blockade four years ago.
He noted that Israel was still closing all Gaza commercial crossings except the crossing point at Kerem Abu Salem, the absorptive capacity of which is small when compared to the Strip’s needs, the biggest proof that the broadcasted ease of the siege is merely an attempt to ease international pressure.
Preparations by European, Arab, and Islamic parties for new ships headed for the Gaza Strip are well underway, Khudari confirmed, adding that scheduled departures will soon be announced.