Pro-PLO organizations in Europe that have aligned themselves with Hamas are planning a flotilla of aid to the Gaza Strip. The coordinators of what some call the “ship intifada” want to avoid confrontation with Egypt, but appear to be seeking a confrontation with the Israeli navy, backed by media and diplomatic campaigns.
This past January, a senior Hamas operative in Britain named Muhammad Sawalha, who was involved in launching the previous flotilla, said the next convoy will avoid the type of confrontation that occurred the previous time with Egypt, and that next time, “the confrontation will be directly with the Zionist enemy itself on the high seas.”
Swiss MP Josef Zisyadis, one of several European MPs and UN personnel who will be on the ships, together with nearly 600 others, threatened that “if Israel tries to stop the ships, we will sue her in European courts.”
The major organizations and personalities involved in organizing the flotilla are IHH, an Islamic-oriented human rights organization in Turkey; a European organization named The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza; and the international “Free Gaza” organization that rails against the Israeli “blockade” of Gaza. In addition, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), based in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, states that pro-PLO activists from Sweden and Greece have purchased two ships for the flotilla, and Hamas supporters in Britain – including MP George Galloway – are also involved in organizing the upcoming flotilla and others.
Arutz-7’s Haggai Huberman reports that Turkish elements are helping to clean and deepen the port, in preparing for the arrival of the ships. “Free Gaza” and IHH are coordinating among the various organizations that are taking part in the flotilla and accompanying propaganda campaign.
The ships plan to deliver building materials, medical equipment, school briefcases and even caravans – mobile homes without wheels – for the Hamas-run entity in Gaza.
One of the ships, from Malaysia, will be loaded in Ireland with items donated by citizens in Ireland, Scotland, Britain and elsewhere. It will leave Ireland next week, and will meet up with the other ships in the Mediterranean, from where they will continue on towards Gaza. via israelnn.com
