Jigs
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Sunday, December 26, 2010
İPEK EMEKSİZ
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The vessel Mavi Marmara will make another attempt to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip a year following its ill-fated first journey, one of the main activists who organized the trip said Sunday.
Seven months after nine people were killed onboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the ship returned to Istanbul on Sunday, where it was welcomed in the Sarayburnu neighborhood with commemorations for those who died in Israeli commandos May 31 attack as well as past victims of the Gaza blockade.
The fate of the Mavi Marmara will be determined by its owners conscience. We will organize another trip to Gaza on May 31, the same date the raid happened this year, with a larger crew to draw interest to the embargo one more time, Ümit Sönmez, the production branch coordinator of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or İHH, which organized the flotilla, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
An additional 50 ships will accompany the Mavi Marmara on its next journey, Sönmez said, adding that the İHH has been receiving a lot of international support for its campaign. Asked whether the activists are afraid of experiencing another deadly incident, Sönmez said they only had to undergo that fear once, while the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank experience it every day and should be liberated from their hardships.
Children should be able to go their schools without the fear of bombs. Of course, we have fear, but we think Israel will not demonstrate the same cruelty toward unarmed human-rights activists, he said. If they attack, there is nothing to do. Its their choice.
The welcome for the Mavi Marmara came on the two-year anniversary of the start of Israels Operation Cast Lead against Gaza, something Sönmez said the İHH wanted the crowd gathered to see the ship to remember. Many civilians lost their lives and suffered financial losses. This was an opportunity to remember them along with the Mavi Marmara, he said.
The area set aside for the welcome in Sarayburnu was full of people carrying Palestinian and Turkish flags, chanting slogans as the aid flotilla approached and commemorating the dead.
Noting that the İHHs aim is not only to liberate people in Gaza, but also to support victims in the rest of the world regardless of their religion, race or ethnicity, Sönmez said the Mavi Marmara could travel to Africa, the Philippines and Thailand in the future.
The İHH has initiated a project called Nine Martyrs, Nine Monuments, under which it will construct schools, cultural centers or sport complexes in the hometowns of those who died to remind people of the risks they took, Chairman Bülent Yıldırım said.
Noting that Israel-born Swedish human-rights activist Dror Feiler and Greek human activist Dimitris Plionis appeared onstage during the Mavi Marmara welcome, Yıldırım said the Israel government would draw reactions from Jews, Christians and Muslims if it engaged in another attack on Gaza.
The Mavi Marmara will anchor for a week in Istanbul, where it will be open to group tours led by guides who experienced the May 31 incident. Following this, the vessel will be taken to a shipyard to undergo maintenance before next years journey. The bullet and blood traces are still left on the walls and seats, Sönmez said.
Relatives of the victims and accredited press members wanted to board the ship in the northwestern province of Çanakkale on Saturday and sail with it to Istanbul, but were prohibited from doing so at the last minute, according to Cihat Gökdemir, chairman of the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples, or Mazlum-Der. The undersecretariat of maritime affairs didnt allow it due to technical problems, he said.
İPEK EMEKSİZ
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The vessel Mavi Marmara will make another attempt to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip a year following its ill-fated first journey, one of the main activists who organized the trip said Sunday.
Seven months after nine people were killed onboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the ship returned to Istanbul on Sunday, where it was welcomed in the Sarayburnu neighborhood with commemorations for those who died in Israeli commandos May 31 attack as well as past victims of the Gaza blockade.
The fate of the Mavi Marmara will be determined by its owners conscience. We will organize another trip to Gaza on May 31, the same date the raid happened this year, with a larger crew to draw interest to the embargo one more time, Ümit Sönmez, the production branch coordinator of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or İHH, which organized the flotilla, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
An additional 50 ships will accompany the Mavi Marmara on its next journey, Sönmez said, adding that the İHH has been receiving a lot of international support for its campaign. Asked whether the activists are afraid of experiencing another deadly incident, Sönmez said they only had to undergo that fear once, while the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank experience it every day and should be liberated from their hardships.
Children should be able to go their schools without the fear of bombs. Of course, we have fear, but we think Israel will not demonstrate the same cruelty toward unarmed human-rights activists, he said. If they attack, there is nothing to do. Its their choice.
The welcome for the Mavi Marmara came on the two-year anniversary of the start of Israels Operation Cast Lead against Gaza, something Sönmez said the İHH wanted the crowd gathered to see the ship to remember. Many civilians lost their lives and suffered financial losses. This was an opportunity to remember them along with the Mavi Marmara, he said.
The area set aside for the welcome in Sarayburnu was full of people carrying Palestinian and Turkish flags, chanting slogans as the aid flotilla approached and commemorating the dead.
Noting that the İHHs aim is not only to liberate people in Gaza, but also to support victims in the rest of the world regardless of their religion, race or ethnicity, Sönmez said the Mavi Marmara could travel to Africa, the Philippines and Thailand in the future.
The İHH has initiated a project called Nine Martyrs, Nine Monuments, under which it will construct schools, cultural centers or sport complexes in the hometowns of those who died to remind people of the risks they took, Chairman Bülent Yıldırım said.
Noting that Israel-born Swedish human-rights activist Dror Feiler and Greek human activist Dimitris Plionis appeared onstage during the Mavi Marmara welcome, Yıldırım said the Israel government would draw reactions from Jews, Christians and Muslims if it engaged in another attack on Gaza.
The Mavi Marmara will anchor for a week in Istanbul, where it will be open to group tours led by guides who experienced the May 31 incident. Following this, the vessel will be taken to a shipyard to undergo maintenance before next years journey. The bullet and blood traces are still left on the walls and seats, Sönmez said.
Relatives of the victims and accredited press members wanted to board the ship in the northwestern province of Çanakkale on Saturday and sail with it to Istanbul, but were prohibited from doing so at the last minute, according to Cihat Gökdemir, chairman of the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples, or Mazlum-Der. The undersecretariat of maritime affairs didnt allow it due to technical problems, he said.
