OneWorld.net (U.S.)

OneWorld.net note: Human rights activists from over a dozen countries sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip last weekend, breaking the Israeli blockade for the first time in 41 years, reports an international alliance of grassroots development groups.

• Women in Palestine. © Advocacy Project / Iain Guest"The tightening of the Israeli blockade since June 2007 has left the population, 1.5 million Palestinians, trapped and with few resources. They are surviving, but only just. Some 80 per cent depend on the trickle of international aid that the Israeli government allows in," says human rights watchdog Amnesty International. Click here to read more about the blockade's impact on health care, education, the economy, and daily life in Palestine.

• The Free Gaza Movement, one of the organizations involved in breaking the blockade, is a coalition of human rights observers, aid workers, and journalists raising awareness about the closure of the Gaza Strip. The group also supports Palestine's right to freely welcome humanitarian aid workers, human rights observers, and others onto their land. Although Free Gaza has volunteered in the area for several years, increasing restrictions on movement between the Palestinian territories and Israel is complicating their mission.

• For more background on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and human rights in Palestine, visit OneWorld UK's Palestine country guide.

Two if by Sea: Activists Sail to Gaza, Break Siege

From: Grassroots International

Posted on August 26th, 2008 by Salena Tramel

In a part of the world where hope is scarce, this past weekend has been one of those rare moments that have defied testing times in Gaza. More than 40 civilians from more than a dozen countries arrived on Gazan shores after a long sail from Cyprus on Saturday evening August 23, breaking the siege and bringing with them a powerful message of commitment to human rights for the Palestinian people.

Those on board the two vessels included Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions; Lauren Booth, British journalist and sister-in-law of Tony Blair; and Anne Montgomery, an American nun. When the boats approached the shore, several thousand Palestinians sang in celebration of their arrival, some of them setting out in fishing boats or swimming to meet them.

This action has received significant press, a small but meaningful step in the direction of ending the siege on Gaza.

Following are quotes from those on board:

We recognize that we're two, humble boats, but what we've accomplished is to show that average people from around the world can mobilize to create change. We do not have to stay silent in the face of injustice. Reaching Gaza today, there is such a sense of hope, and hope is what mobilizes people everywhere.
– Huwaida Arraf

Huwaida is Palestinian-American, and also a citizen of Israel. She's a human rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. In 2007 she received her Juris Doctor from American University in Washington D.C. Currently she teaches Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Al Quds University in Jerusalem. Huwaida sailed to Gaza aboard the SS Liberty.

We're the first ones in 41 years to enter Gaza freely - but we won't be the last. We welcome the world to join us and see what we're seeing.
– Paul Larudee, Ph.D

Paul is a cofounder of the Free Gaza Movement and a San Francisco Bay Area activist on the issue of justice in Palestine. He sailed to Gaza aboard the SS Liberty. 

What we've done shows that people can do what governments should have done. If people stand up against injustice, we can truly be the conscience of the world.
– Jeff Halper, Ph.D

Jeff is an Israeli professor of anthropology and coordinator of the Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions (ICAHD), an Israeli peace and human rights organization that resists the Israeli occupation on the ground. In 2006, the American Friends Service Committee nominated Jeff to receive the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian intellectual and activist Ghassan Andoni. Jeff sailed to Gaza aboard the SS Free Gaza.

For more information and pictures of this groundbreaking development, visit The Free Gaza Movement.

To read more about activism and human rights in Palestine, visit Grassroots International.