It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
More than 30 Canadian activists are preparing to sail for the Gaza Strip as part of a controversial international flotilla protesting Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, a year after nine people were killed in a similar undertaking.
A group called The Canada Boat to Gaza says it's raised more than $300,000 and has purchased a ship -- dubbed the Tahrir, after the uprising in Egypt -- which is docked at an eastern Mediterranean port they will not disclose.
At least 10 such ships are planning to set sail for Gaza later this month, carrying aid supplies and around 1,500 protesters from dozens of countries, according to organizers.
Ehab Lotayef, a spokesman with the Canadian group, said that several protesters from Australia, Belgium and Denmark will also be onboard the Tahrir, along with between $30,000 and $50,000 worth of medical supplies they hope to deliver to Palestinian doctors.
"Our main objective is that Israel should not have jurisdiction over the waters of Gaza," Lotayef said from Montreal. "This is the least we can do to try peacefully to break the blockade they're living under."
Diplomatic pressure
The protesters have also drawn criticism from officials in Canada and abroad. In a statement last month Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called the flotilla "provocative" and "unhelpful." "I strongly urge those wishing to deliver humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip to do so through established channels," Baird said, citing "Israel's legitimate security concerns." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has indicated he would like governments to discourage activists from staging flotillas bound for Gaza because they could "escalate into violent conflict." The Canadian group is also reportedly the focus of a million-dollar lawsuit, filed by a dual Canadian-Israeli citizen in an Ontario court, which claims that it is providing material support to Hamas. Lotayef would not comment on the lawsuit. But he said medical supplies the Tahrir will transport, such as baby aspirin and blood pressure medicine, are intended for hospitals and clinics in Gaza that aren't associated with Hamas. Organizers will also provide non-violence training to those who will sail on the Tahrir, he said, and are seeking an independent organization to inspect the boat before it leaves port to show that it's carrying no weapons. Emanuel Adler, an expert on Israel at the University of Toronto, said the protesters' strategy is to court international support for Gazans on humanitarian grounds, by prompting Israel to confront the flotilla. He believes the best way for Israel to respond is by inspecting the ships for weapons and allowing them to proceed to Gaza's shore. "If the other side wants a response, the logical thing is not to respond," Adler said from Tel Aviv. But he's afraid that domestic pressures in Israel, including from the country's formidable military, may lead to a different outcome. "There's always an aspect of deterrence, that if we don't stop the flotilla this time, they'll send one three times as large."
Originally posted by 4Starlight2Decay0
I bet Israel wont touch the Canadians, in fear of being wiped off the map. They better not touch the Canadians or I may start killing Israelis. We'll have to keep a close eye on this one and not let it slip through the cracks in MSM.
Middle Eastern Jews, Christians and Muslims are crazy and have no place in the modern world untill they can stop killing eachother and attacking other countries over their story books.
As far as Isrealis being innocent with there govt. at fault, i have to add who voted them into power?
Originally posted by 4Starlight2Decay0
reply to post by Corruption Exposed
I too am sick of war thats why I am sick of those groups, if they ceased to exist we would have alot less war. We'd have almost no wars since Vietnam if the middle east was wiped away. The rest of the world is like ok fighting got us nowhere lets get along in relative peace and harmony and make the best of this. But then we have those rejects who revel in destruction and cant allow peace, some how the simplest of concepts has slipped past the worlds oldest civilizations.
Originally posted by macman
Originally posted by 4Starlight2Decay0
reply to post by Corruption Exposed
I too am sick of war thats why I am sick of those groups, if they ceased to exist we would have alot less war. We'd have almost no wars since Vietnam if the middle east was wiped away. The rest of the world is like ok fighting got us nowhere lets get along in relative peace and harmony and make the best of this. But then we have those rejects who revel in destruction and cant allow peace, some how the simplest of concepts has slipped past the worlds oldest civilizations.
You are sick of war, but want to kill Jews??
I hang my head in shame for you.edit on 11-6-2011 by macman because: (no reason given)
Have you ever met Israelis? I have, in my experience they we're the nastiest of the bunch. Israelis as a society have no respect for non Israelis. Its like who do you think feeds, pays for and protects your lame pathetic excuse of an existince?
Originally posted by 4Starlight2Decay0
reply to post by Corruption Exposed
Have you ever met Israelis? I have, in my experience they we're the nastiest of the bunch. Israelis as a society have no respect for non Israelis. Its like who do you think feeds, pays for and protects your lame pathetic excuse of an existince?