NICOSIA, CYPRUS (5 August 2008) - An international group of peace activists planning to sail from Cyprus to Gaza have invited Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to join their campaign to “break the Siege of Gaza.”
The Free Gaza Movement is preparing to sail two ships carrying 40 human rights activists from 17 different countries into the Gaza Strip in violation of the ongoing Israeli blockade. The activists will also be carrying hearing aids for children who have lost some or all of their hearing due to the use of Israeli sound bombs in their neighborhoods.
In their invitation to Foreign Minister Livni, the non-violent activists stated that they “believe that it would be extremely helpful for [Foreign Minister Livni] to see firsthand the horrific effects of Israeli policies on the people of the Gaza Strip,” and expressed the hope that she would take their offer seriously.
The activists’ ships have been named the SS Free Gaza, and the SS Liberty - in recognition of the USS Liberty, a U.S. Navy ship that was attacked by Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats on 8 June 1967, killing 34 American crew members.
The exact date of the ships’ departure has been kept secret by the Free Gaza Movement. A 1988 attempt by the PLO to sail a ship of refugees from Cyprus to Gaza was sabotaged when Israeli forces bombed that ship’s engines and later assassinated three of the Palestinian organizers in Cyprus.
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For More Information, please contact:
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, Media Liaison, Cyprus
Tel. +357 99 075 194
Tel. +972 547 366 393
angela@icahd.org
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