Saturday, June 5, 2010

Pirates Strike Again!


Israeli troops board Gaza aid ship

Al-Jazeera

(Left: Nobel Laureate, the Irish Mairead Maguire.)

"Israeli soldiers have boarded a Malaysian-funded Irish aid ship headed towards Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.

The Israeli military in a statement said troops boarded MV Rachel Corrie on Saturday after activists aboard the ship ignored warnings to divert to the port of Ashdod.

"There was no violence or injuries amongst the soldiers or crew...and no shots were fired," the statement added, saying the ship was now being led to Ashdod.

Activists on board the ship were attempting to break the siege of Gaza imposed by Israel, five days after Israeli troops violently intercepted a flotilla of aid ships carrying humanitarian aid for the territory, killing nine activists.

Israeli naval vessels had been trailing the ship for several hours before storming it. Rachel Corrie's radar had also been jammed, cutting off all radio communiation.
Pro-Palestinian activists had earlier said they were determined to press ahead towards the Gaza coast, despite the Israeli warnings.

"We are not afraid and we are all advocating non-violence… and we will just sit here and go if they insist on commandeering our boat and forcing us into Ashdod," [Nobel Laureate]Mairead Maguire, an activist aboard Rachel Corrie, said before radio contact with the ship was lost....."

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