Israeli navy diverts Gaza-bound yacht

Jewish activists leaving Cyprus yesterday on their Gaza-bound yacht which was forcibly diverted by the Israeli navy today. Photograph: Reuters The Israeli navy today boarded a yacht carrying 10 Jewish activists who were attempting to break the sea blockade around Gaza, forcibly diverting the vessel to the nearby port of Ashdod.
“There was no resistance, no violence,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said. “Before we boarded, we twice asked the captain not to cross the international line into Gaza waters but he refused.”
Contact with the passengers and crew via satellite phone was cut off.
The boat, the Irene, sailing under a British flag, was carrying 10 Jewish passengers and crew from Israel, Britain, the US and Germany.
It was also carrying cargo, including medical supplies, fishing equipment, textbooks and children’s toys, which the Israeli authorities said they would transfer to Gaza by land from Ashdod.
Shortly before the takeover, Miri Weingarten, media adviser to the Irene, spoke to the British captain, Glynn Secker. He reported that the boat was flanked by a small military boat bearing machine guns and a naval frigate, with which he was in contact.
The crew and passengers were warned that they were close to restricted waters and would not be allowed to proceed. They were told the Israeli passengers would be held legally liable.
Secker reported that the mood on board the Irene was high-spirited. All on board had pledged to resist the Israeli troops passively rather than physically.
Among the passengers are an Israeli Holocaust survivor, an Israeli whose daughter was killed in a suicide bombing in 1997, and a former Israeli air force pilot.
The boat’s sponsors include the UK organisation Jews for Justice for Palestinians, which is supported by Marion Kozak, the mother of the Labour leader, Ed Miliband.
The interception comes almost four months after Israeli naval commandos boarded a flotilla of ships to prevent it reaching the Gaza Strip, which has been under blockade by Israel for over three years. Nine Turkish activists were killed in the bloody assault, on 31 May.
The Irene is the first boat to get close to Gaza since the May flotilla despite a number of pledges to send aid by sea to the besieged territory. The Free Gaza Movement, which helped organise the flotilla, is planning a further attempt this autumn.
Since the assault on the flotilla, Israel has agreed, under international pressure, to ease the blockade of Gaza, allowing in a wide range of food and goods. However, badly needed construction materials are still limited, exports are still banned, and there is no free movement of people from Gaza into Israel.