A group of Israeli boat owners from the expelled Jewish communities of Gaza plans to confront a pro-Palestinian flotilla claiming to bring humanitarian aid to the Strip.
As a left-wing, anti-Israel “Women’s Flotilla” departs this week from Barcelona to Gaza, allegedly on a humanitarian mission, a group of Israeli sailors is planning to confront them with their own flotilla, Arutz-7 reports.
The Barcelona flotilla, reminiscent of the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship that claimed to be on a humanitarian mission but, in fact, carried violent passengers carrying weapons, includes two boats packed with hundreds of kilograms of supplies. In 2010, the Israeli navy intercepted the Mavi Marmara, a Comoros-flagged Turkish ship, as it attempted to violate the blockade on Gaza. Passengers on board ambushed the IDF soldiers with knives and metal rods. In the ensuing scuffle, 10 Turkish “activists” were killed and several soldiers were seriously wounded.
Avi Farchan, organizer of the Israeli flotilla, was among the 8,000 residents of Gush Katif – thriving Jewish communities expelled from Gaza in August 2005. Urging all boat and ship owners to join him this week in confronting the Spanish flotilla, he says that if “they want to talk about humanitarianism, they should sail to Syria and not Gaza. Gaza is not lacking for anything.”
“We will recommend that the leftist women take the humanitarian aid that they brought and divert it to Syria via the Lattakia port, for the good of hundreds of thousands of refugees there,” he said.
The Israeli Navy, however, will likely divert the Spanish flotilla to the Ashdod port.
By: United with Israel Staff
(With files from Arutz-7)