'Jews for Justice' aid boat sets sail for Gaza
Reageer (0)Just wondering if a boat with Jews will be allowed into Israeli occupied territory. All Jews are supposed to be able to travel to Israel (H.)
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Ha'aretz
Jewish Gaza-bound activists: IDF used excessive force in naval raid
Activists aboard Gaza-bound ship 'Irene' counter IDF version that the vessel was taken over in a peaceful manner.
By Yanir Yagna
28-9-2010
Israel Defense Forces soldiers used excessive force while taking over a Gaza-bound aid ship organized by Jewish and Israeli activists, the boat's passengers said Tuesday, countering the military's official version claiming that the takeover had been uneventful.
Earlier Tuesday the IDF reported that Israeli naval commandos peacefully boarded the Jewish aid boat attempting to break a naval blockade on Gaza, saying "IDF naval forces recently boarded the yacht 'Irene', and it is currently being led to the Ashdod seaport along with its passengers."
However, testimonies by passengers who were released from police questioning later in the day seemed to counter the IDF's claims, with Israeli activist and former Israel Air Force pilot Yonatan Shapira saying that there were "no words to describe what we went through during the takeover."
Shapira said the activists, who he said displayed no violence, were met with extreme IDF brutality, adding that the soldiers "just jumped us, and hit us. I was hit with a taser gun."
"Some of the soldiers treated us atrociously," Shapira said, adding that he felt there was a "huge gap between what the IDF spokesman is saying happened and what really happened."
The former IAF pilot said he and his fellow activists were "proud of the mission," saying it was organized "for the sake of a statement – that the siege on Gaza is a crime, that it's immoral, un-Jewish, and we have a moral obligation to speak out. Anyone who stays silent as this crime is being committed is an accessory to a crime."
Eli Usharov, a reporter for Israel's Channel 10 affirmed Shapira's version of the events, telling Haaretz that the takeover was executed with unnecessary brutality.
"They used a taser gun against Yonatan. He screamed and was dragged to the military boat," Usharov said, adding that both Yonatan and his brother Itamar were handcuffed.
The Channel 10 reporter also said that the activists managed to have a serious heart-to-heart conversation with the troops once they were all placed on board the military vessel, and that "overall the atmosphere was good."
Reuben Moscowitz, a Holocaust survivor who took part in the mission, expressed his disbelief that "Israeli soldiers would treat nine Jews this way. They just hit people."
"I as a Holocaust survivor cannot live with the fact that the State of Israel is imprisoning an entire people behind fences," Moscowitz said, adding that "it's just immoral."
"What happened to me in the Holocaust wakes me up every night and I hope we don't do the same thing to our neighbors," Moscowitz said, adding that he was comparing "what I went through during the Holocaust to what the besieged Palestinian children are going through."
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HLN, Belgie
Israëlische commando's enteren boot met speelgoed
28-9-2010
Israëlische commando's hebben "op vreedzame wijze" de boot met activisten geënterd die op weg was naar de Gazastrook. De boot wordt naar de Israëlische stad Ashdod gesleept.
Kort voordat de commando's aan boord gingen, riep de Israëlische marine de boot op om terug te keren. Toen de boot niet wilde wijken, sneed een Israëlisch oorlogsschip de catamaran van de activisten de pas af en enterden enkele commando's het schip.
De activisten willen protesteren tegen de Israëlische blokkade van de Gazastrook. De boot is gevuld met speelgoed, schoolboeken en prothesen. In mei bestormde het Israëlische leger ook een boot met activisten. Negen opvarenden kwamen toen om.
(anp/mvl)
28/09/10 12u35
1 reactie
Jeffrey Van den Broeck, Gentbrugge
En gelijk hadden ze. Voor je het weet gooien palestijnen met boeken naar Israelische tanks, in plaats van stenen en dat is een onverantwoord risico
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Wel jammer dat bij de joodse activisten geen geweld gebruikt wordt en bij de andere schepen wel!
Sonja van den Ende
Nu.nl
Israëlische commando's enteren activistenboot
28-9-2010
AFP -- JERUZALEM - Israëlische commando's hebben dinsdag 'op vreedzame wijze' de boot met Joodse activisten geënterd die op weg was naar de Gazastrook.
Dat meldde een woordvoerder van het Israëlische leger. Volgens de zegsman wordt de boot naar de Israëlische stad Ashdod gesleept.
Kort voordat de commando's aan boord gingen, riep de Israëlische marine de boot op om terug te keren. Toen de boot niet wilde wijken, sneed een Israëlisch oorlogsschip de catamaran van de activisten de pas af en enterden enkele commando's het schip.
De Joodse activisten willen protesteren tegen de Israëlische blokkade van de Gazastrook. De boot is gevuld met speelgoed, schoolboeken en prothesen. In mei bestormde het Israëlische leger ook een boot met activisten. Negen opvarenden kwamen toen om.
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Mondoweiss
Jewish passengers to Gaza said to be detained in Ashdod, shaken but OK
by Philip Weiss
28-9-2010
Update: We just got word that Lillian Rosengarten and other passengers on the Jewish boat to Gaza are being held in Ashdod, Israel. "Shaken but OK."
Various sources are reporting that the "Irene," the catamaran carrying seven Jews to Gaza from Cyprus, was intercepted this morning by several boats in the Israeli navy, apparently in international waters, and forced to make course for Ashdod, in Israel. Reuters has an Israeli gov't spokesman complaining about the "surreal" mission to which Israeli forces were assigned today and noting the presence on the boat of a former uniformed Israeli officer, Yonatan Shapira.
The press release from the boat organizers:
Last contact with the boat's captain, Glyn Secker, was at 0937 GMT, when their path had been cut off by a Destroyer. Recent reports from other news sources indicated that the boat has been surrounded and boarded.
At this point they were less than 20 miles from Gaza's shore. Since then all phones went dead. The occupied Gaza Strip's territorial waters end 12 nautical miles from shore, but the Israeli blockade is enforced at 20 miles from shore. Israeli attorney Smadar Ben Natan who is representing the passengers has asked to see her clients immediately. Local group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has asked for permission to send an independent doctor to visit the passengers immediately, after hearing from organizers that at least one passenger suffers from serious chronic health problems and is in need of medical care.
Speaking from London, a member of the organizing group, Richard Kuper of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, has condemned the Israeli army's apparent action and said that this boat and its fate are a symbol of the chances for peace in the region. The way it is being treated by Israeli authorities indicates that they have no real intentions of reaching peace, he said. He called for worldwide support for the boat and its message of protest against the siege of Gaza and the occupation.
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Gush Shalom
Peace Activists Demonstrating at Ashdod Port to Protest Capture of Ship
28-9-2010
Dozens of peace activists gathered on the beach near Ashdod port, to which the Jewish Peace Ship is being towed by the Israeli Navy, to protest the capture of the ship and the continued blockade of Gaza, which has turned it into a huge prison with no entry or exit.
The activists held signs with the captions: "Medicines – A Security Risk?", "Let Gaza Live," The blockade and the construction on settlements destroy us all," "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies." Later the demonstrators moved to the gates of Ashdod Port where they currently remain.
The government does not miss any opportunity to present to the world the ugly, aggressive and brutal face of Israel. Israel's security would not have been damaged in the least – quite the contrary – if the peace activists on the ship had been allowed to reach Gaza as the respected guests of its Palestinian residents. The sailors who are now shackled and led to detention for their support for peace, save a small measure of the dignity of the State of Israel and of Judaism, whose name Binyamin Netanyahu bears in vain.
Phone numbers for contact at Ashdod Port:
Nurit Peled-Elhanan (wife of Rami Elhanan who sailed on the ship and is now in detention): 054-757 8703
Zvia Shapira (mother of Yonatan and Itamar Shapira who were on the ship and are now detained): 054-747 4994
Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesperson): 054-234 9750
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Abu Pessoptimist
Israelische marine brengt de 'Irene' op
28-9-2010
De Israelische marine is aan boord gegaan van het Joodse hulpscheepje Irene dat op weg was naar Gaza. Schip en bemanning zijn opgebracht naar de haven van Ashdod.
Dat heeft de Israelische militaire woordvoerder dinsdag aan het eind van de morgen bekendgemaakt. Hij voegde eraan toe dat zich geen incidenten hadden voorgedaan en dat er geen gebruik was gemaakt van geweld. Voorafgaande aan het enteren van de boot waren waarschuwingen geuit dat de de Irene weten overtrad, maar daar had het scheepje zich niets van aangetrokken, aldus de IDF-woordvoerder.
Vervolgens sloot de woordvoerder het bericht af met de volgende prachtige zin: The IDF regrets that it must divert the Israel Navy’s attention from its regular operational activity defending Israel and its citizens because of acts of provocation such as this.
Oftwel: het leger betreurt het dat het de zich moet laten afleiden van zijn gebruikelijke taak, het beschermen van Israel en zijn burgers, door provocerende daden zoals deze. Nee, dan de blokkade van Gaza. Die dient inderdaad de bescherming van Israel en zijn burgers. Of de bezetting van de Westoever.....
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Ma'an
Group: Sane government won't hinder Jewish boat
27-9-2010
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli peace groups on Monday applauded Jewish activists on board an aid ship sailing to Gaza.
In a statement, Gush Shalom applauded the courage of activists on board the Jewish Peace Boat who were "working to end the Gaza Siege and get for its inhabitants the natural right to come and go, like everywhere else in the world."
The boat was "a reminder of the isolation which we in Israel bring upon ourselves," the group said, adding that Israel was "increasingly losing the support of world Jewry."
A "sane Israeli government" would not hinder the boat's passage, as "Nobody could possibly argue that the arrival of ten peace activists in Gaza could in any way endanger Israel's security," the statement continued.
A raid on a Turkish-flagged aid boat on 31 May became the subject of a UN investigation, after Israeli forces killed nine civilians on board as the boat approached Gaza.
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions wished activists "safe sailing," and said the boat would attempt to unload its cargo at a port in Gaza as "a non-violent, symbolic act of solidarity and protest."
Cargo would include "symbolic aid," including children's toys, text books, and prosthetic limbs, ICAHD said, and the boat would fly multicolored peace flags carrying the names of dozens of Jews worldwide who expressed support for the initiative.
Richard Kuper of organizing group Jews for Justice for Palestinians told ICAHD that passengers would not engage in any physical confrontation with Israeli forces, and "will not present the Israelis with any reason or excuse to use physical force."
Passenger Reuven Moskovitz, 82, said turning enemies into friends had been his life's mission, adding "We are two peoples, but we have one future."
The boat, named Irene, left Cyprus at 13.32 local time on Monday and is carrying 10 passengers including Jews from the US, UK, Germany and Israel under a British flag, ICHAD said.
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PressTV
Israel warships intercept Gaza aid boat
28-9-2010
Israeli warships have intercepted a Jewish aid boat heading for the Gaza Strip to break the crippling blockade of the impoverished territory.
"Ten Israeli warships forced the boat to head for (the Israeli port) of Ashdod by force, but without raiding the ship," Amjad al-Shawa, a Gaza-based organiser, told AFP.
"They surrendered because they were surrounded. They had no choice," he further explained.
On May 31, Israeli navy commandos killed nine Turkish activists onboard a civilian aid convoy while it was in international waters.
A report by the UN Human Rights Council said the attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla "constituted grave violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law."
The UN probe also termed as 'unlawful' the continuation of the blockade that has caused great physical and mental harm to the Gaza residents.
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Huffington Post
By Ben Hubbard
27-9-2010
JERUSALEM — A small boat carrying Jewish activists is on course to arrive in the blockaded Gaza Strip late Tuesday morning, though they consider it likely the Israeli navy will stop them, an activist on board told The Associated Press Monday.
"We know that they stopped all the other boats, so there is probably a good chance that they will try" to stop this one, activist Yonatan Shapira said by phone from the 33-foot (10-meter) catamaran Irene.
In May, Israeli commandos stopped a Turkish-led flotilla of six Gaza-bound ships, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists. Both sides said they were acting in self defense in the bloody confrontation.
That clash set off an uproar and turned a spotlight on Israel's three-year blockade of Gaza, which targets the territory's Hamas rulers. As a result, Israel significantly eased the restrictions, allowing many consumer products in but still banning most exports and maintaining its sea blockade, saying it is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching the radical Hamas regime.
The Irene set sail from Cyprus on Sunday, carrying nine Jewish activists from Israel and other countries. They said they are trying to draw attention to Israel's blockade of Gaza and will not resist if they are stopped.
Organizers have said they expect the Israeli navy to overtake the boat as it gets closer to Gaza, possibly as early at Monday evening.
The Israeli military declined to comment.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David called the activists' claim to be bringing aid to Gaza "ridiculous" and labeled the voyage "a politically motivated provocation."
The activists behind the convoy involved in May's deadly raid say they will send a new flotilla of at least eight ships to try to break the blockade by the end of this year. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an umbrella group of pro-Palestinian activists, said no date has been set.
Spokesman Vangelis Pissias said the group of European activists is expected to include some who were on board the ship boarded by Israeli forces in May.
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Abu Pessoptimist
De 'Irene' op weg naar Gaza
27-9-2010De Irene, uitgerust door de European Jews for a Just Peace en andere Joodse organisaties, is met 10 passagiers en symbolische hulpgoederen zoals speelgoed, studieboeken, muziekinstrumenten en kunstledematen, sinds zondagmiddag vanuit Noord-Cyprus op weg naar Gaza.
Onder de passagiers bevinden zich Rami Elhanan, vader van een dochter die 9in 1997 werd gedood bij een bomaanslag in Jeruzalem, Jonathan Shapira, ex-piloot die dienst weigerde in de bezette gebieden, en Reuven Moskovitz (foto) een 82-jarige holocaust-overlevende. De tocht is te volgen op twitter @jewishboat2gaza en hier via de website www.jewishboattogaza.org
Het scheepje maakt de overtocht in ongeveer 36 uur.
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Ha'aretz
'Jews for Justice' aid boat sets sail for Gaza
Organizer says goal of boat which left from Cyprus on Sunday is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
By Nir Hasson , AP
26-9-2010
A boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Germany, the U.S. and Britain set sail on Sunday for Gaza, hoping to breach Israel's blockade there and deliver aid.
Richard Kuper, an organizer with the U.K. group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Kuper said the boat, which set sail from northern Cyprus flying a British flag, won't resist if Israeli authorities try to stop it.
The trip came nearly four months after Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships. Nine activists were killed in the ensuing clashes. The voyage also came as Israelis, Palestinians and U.S. mediators sought a compromise that would allow Mideast talks to continue after an Israeli settlement slowdown expires at midnight.
Boat passenger Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose daughter Smadar was killed in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Jerusalem in 1997, said it was his moral duty to act in support of Palestinians in Gaza because reconciliation was the surest path to peace.
"Those 1.5 million people in Gaza are victims exactly as I am," Elhanan, 60, said in an interview.
Other voyage organizers included the group European Jews for a Just Peace and the U.S.-based Jewish Voice for Peace.
Refusnik Israel Air Force pilot Jonathan Shapira, another passenger aboard the ship, told Haaretz that "we hope that the soldiers and officers of the Israeli navy will think twice before they obey orders to stop us."
"Let them remember the history of our people, and those who followed orders and later said 'we were only following orders.' We do not pose any kind of security threat to Israel's citizens. We intend to continue forward with our crew and our cargo to the port in Gaza, where we are expected."
The ship's cargo includes toys, textbooks, musical instruments, fishing gear as well as prosthetic limbs for orthopedic treatments.
The organizers admit that they are a bringing "symbolic" amount of aid. "The ship will try to reach the Gaza shore in order to unload the supplies within the framework of a non-violent symbolic act of solidarity and protest, aimed at calling for the lifting of the siege and the free passage of supplies and people to and from Gaza," the organizers said in a statement.
Shapira said that "I believe that the navy won't want us to pass, but on the other hand, there has never before been a Jewish aid ship, manned by determined people including a Holocaust survivor, trying to reach Gaza. This may prevent them from shooting at us, like they did in the Turkish flotilla."
The 33-foot catamaran Irene, carrying a total of nine passengers and crew members, set sail from the Turkish Cypriot north of the island because the Greek Cypriot south imposed a ban on all-Gaza-bound vessels in May, citing vital interests.
Prior to the ban, international activists had used south Cyprus to launch eight boat trips to Gaza, a coastal strip seized by the Islamic militant group Hamas three years ago.
On May 31, eight pro-Palestinian Turkish activists and a Turkish American died when Israeli naval commandos boarded a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships.
The Irene boat planned to deliver children's toys, medical equipment, outboard motors for fishing boats and books to Gaza residents.
Kuper said the voyage intended to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians and to underscore what he called Israel's illegal, unnecessary and inhumane blockade of Gaza.
"Jewish communities around the world are not united in support of Israel," Kuper said in a telephone interview from London. "Israel's future peace is coming to terms quickly with the Palestinians."
Organizer Alison Prager said from the boat before it left Cyprus that although many Jews have been on previous blockade-busting trips to Gaza, this was the first time Jewish groups have banded together to send a boat of their own.
Kuper said the trip was funded entirely by supporters' donations.
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Jewish Boat to Gaza
Jewish Boat to Gaza sets sail from Cyprus
At crisis point in peace talks, Jews, Israelis call to lift the siege on Gaza, end the occupation.
26-9-2010
A boat carrying aid for Gaza’s population and organized by Jewish groups worldwide has set sail from Cyprus today at 13:32 local time
The boat, Irene, is sailing under a British flag and is carrying ten passengers and crew, including Jews from the US, the UK, Germany and Israel as well as an Israeli journalist.
Passengers on the Jewish Boat to Gaza gather for a group photograph before their departure. Photo by Vish Vishvanath/Metro
The boat’s cargo includes symbolic aid in the form of children’s toys and musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets for Gaza’s fishing communities and prosthetic limbs for orthopaedic medical care in Gaza’s hospitals.
The receiving organization in Gaza is The Palestinian International Campaign to end the siege on Gaza, directed by Dr. Eyad Sarraj and Amjad Shawa, Director of PNGO
The boat will attempt to reach the coast of Gaza and unload its aid cargo in a nonviolent, symbolic act of solidarity and protest – and call for the siege to be lifted to enable free passage of goods and people to and from the Gaza Strip.
The boat sets sail. Photos by Vish Vishvanath/Metro
The boat will fly multicolored peace flags carrying the names of dozens of Jews who have expressed their support for this action, as a symbol of the widespread support for the boat by Jews worldwide.
Speaking from London, a member of the organizing group, Richard Kuper of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said today that the Jewish Boat to Gaza is a symbolic act of protest against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the siege of Gaza, and a message of solidarity to Palestinians and Israelis who seek peace and justice.
‘Israeli government policies are not supported by all Jews,’ said Kuper. ‘We call on all governments and people around the world to speak and act against the occupation and the siege.’
Regarding the threat of interception by the Israeli navy, Kuper said ‘This is a nonviolent action. We aim to reach Gaza, but our activists will not engage in any physical confrontation and will therefore not present the Israelis with any reason or excuse to use physical force or assault them.’
Passenger Reuven Moskovitz. Photo by Vish Vishvanath
Passenger Reuven Moskovitz, 82, said that his life’s mission has been to turn foes into friends. “We are two peoples, but we have one future”, he said.
Passengers aboard the boat
Reuven Moskovitz, from Israel, is a founding member of the Jewish-Arab village Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace) and a holocaust survivor. Speaks German, Hebrew and English.
Rami Elhanan, from Israel, lost his daughter Smadar to a suicide bombing in 1997 and is a founding member of the Bereaved Families Circle of Israelis and Palestinians who lost their loved ones to the conflict. Speaks Hebrew and English.
Lilian Rosengarten, from the US, is a peace activist and psychotherapist. She was a refugee from Nazi Germany. Speaks English and German.
Yonatan Shapira, from Israel, is an ex-IDF pilot and now an activist for Combatants for Peace. Speaks Hebrew and English.
Carole Angier, from the UK, is the biographer of the renowned author, Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi. Speaks English, French, Italian and German.
Glyn Secker, from the UK, is the boat’s captain and a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians. Speaks English.
Dr. Edith Lutz, from Germany, is a peace activist and a nurse. She was on the first boat to Gaza in 2008. Speaks German and English.
Alison Prager, from the UK, is a teacher and peace activist. She is media coordinator for the boat. Speaks English.
Itamar Shapira, from Israel, is Yonatan’s brother, and a member of the boat’s crew. Speaks Hebrew, Spanish and English.
Eli Osherov, Israeli reporter from Israel Channel 10 News.
Supporters: Jewish organizations and individuals from UK, Holland, Germany, US, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, Austria, Australia and Israel.
Organizers and sponsors: European Jews for a Just Peace, Jews for Justice for Palestinians (UK), Juedische Stimme fuer einen gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Germany), American Jews for a Just Peace (USA), Jewish Voice for Peace (USA), Jews Against the Occupation Sydney.
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CNN
Jewish boat sets sail to Gaza with aid
The Irene leaves Cyprus on Sunday carrying Jewish activists bound for Gaza.
26-9-2010
(CNN) -- An aid ship sponsored by Jewish organizations around the world set sail Sunday from Cyprus to Gaza, despite a blockade to the occupied territory.
The boat, named Irene, was carrying 10 passengers and crew, including Jews from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Israel.
"The boat will attempt to reach the coast of Gaza and unload its aid cargo in a nonviolent, symbolic act of solidarity and protest -- and call for the siege to be lifted to enable free passage of goods and people to and from the Gaza Strip," organizers said in a statement.
The captain of the boat, Glyn Secker, said that they left Cyprus at 1 p.m. and expect to arrive in Gaza in 36 hours.
The boat's cargo includes children's toys, musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets and prosthetic limbs, the organizers said.
They plan to deliver the goods to the Gaza Mental Health Program.
"Israeli government policies are not supported by all Jews," said Richard Kuper of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, one of the organizers. "We call on all governments and people around the world to speak and act against the occupation and the siege."
Police in Cyprus said they were not aware of the ship's departure, spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.
Cyprus has a ban on vessels leaving the southern part of the island for Gaza. It was unclear from what part of the island the boat departed.
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By Menelaos Hadjicostis
AP -- FAMAGUSTA, Cyprus — A boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Germany, the U.S. and Britain set sail on Sunday for Gaza, hoping to breach Israel's blockade there and deliver aid.
Richard Kuper, an organizer with the U.K. group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Kuper said the boat, which set sail from northern Cyprus flying a British flag, won't resist if Israeli authorities try to stop it.
The trip came nearly four months after Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships, killing nine activists. The voyage also came as Israelis, Palestinians and U.S. mediators sought a compromise that would allow Mideast talks to continue after an Israeli settlement slowdown expires at midnight.
Boat passenger Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose daughter Smadar was killed in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Jerusalem in 1997, said it was his "moral duty" to act in support of Palestinians in Gaza because reconciliation was the surest path to peace.
"Those 1.5 million people in Gaza are victims exactly as I am," Elhanan, 60, said in an interview.
Other voyage organizers included the group European Jews for a Just Peace and the U.S.-based Jewish Voice for Peace.
The 33-foot (10-meter) catamaran Irene, carrying a total of nine passengers and crew members, set sail from the Turkish Cypriot north of the island because the Greek Cypriot south imposed a ban on all-Gaza-bound vessels in May, citing "vital interests."
Prior to the ban, international activists had used south Cyprus to launch eight boat trips to Gaza, a coastal strip seized by the Islamic militant group Hamas three years ago.
On May 31, eight pro-Palestinian Turkish activists and a Turkish American died when Israeli naval commandos boarded a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships.
The Irene boat planned to deliver children's toys, medical equipment, outboard motors for fishing boats and books to Gaza residents.
Kuper said the voyage is a "symbolic statement" intended to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians and to underscore what he called Israel's "illegal, unnecessary and inhumane" blockade of Gaza.
"Jewish communities around the world are not united in support of Israel," Kuper said in a telephone interview from London. "Israel's future peace is coming to terms quickly with the Palestinians."
Organizer Alison Prager said from the boat before it left Cyprus that although many Jews have been on previous "blockade-busting trips" to Gaza, this was the first time Jewish groups have banded together to send a boat of their own.
Kuper said the trip was funded entirely by supporters' donations.
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