ISRAEL: Libyan aid ship sets hopeful course for Gaza

Six weeks after the deadly takeover of the Mavi Marmara, Israel's naval blockade of Gaza faces its next challenge as another aid ship has set off with its sights on reaching the Palestinian port.

The Amalthea, sailing under a Moldovan flag, left Greece on Saturday carrying 2,000 tons of food, medicine and other supplies in a mission organized by the Gaddafi International Development Foundation, a charity headed by Seif Islam, son of Libyan ruler Moammar Kadafi.

Youssef Sawani, executive director of the organization that earned U.N. accreditation as an NGO two years ago, said Sunday they sought no provocation. Before leaving port the day before, he told Al Jazeera they were just fulfilling their international responsibility under the "legal and humanitarian approach adopted everywhere." If everyone refrains from action because Israel says it won't allow it, nothing will change and "the people of Gaza will starve," Sawani said. 

Israel says indeed it will not allow 'it', meaning direct access to the Gaza port, and that no one is starving in Gaza. Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the act a "needless provocation" and said cargo could be transfered to Gaza following inspection at the Israeli port of Ashdod.

 At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in all his recent meetings abroad he found broad support for Israel's decision to lift the civilian blockade on Gaza while "strictly maintaining the security blockade," as well as the understanding that Israel was doing this to keep weapons out and its citizens safe.

Traffic on diplomatic channels has been busy in recent days as Israel has made efforts to prevent the ship from sailing. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman discussed the matter with his Greek, Egyptian and Molodovan counterparts. Israeli ambassador to the U.N., Gabriela Shalev, sent a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon seeking help in prevent the ship from setting off while asserting Israel's right to keep ships from violating the naval blockade.

Sunday saw conflicting reports as to the ship's final destination. Reports that the ship had agreed to head for the Egyptian port of El Arish, including from official Greek sources, were denied later as the captain said Gaza as a destination remained unchanged. Israel suggested the ship continue to Egypt or dock at Ashdod for inspection; Gaza is not an option.

A repeat of the Marmara isn't likely. The Amalthea is a smaller cargo ship, with around 30 people on board; of these, only about a dozen are activists. One of them, Abdel Raof Jaziri, told Al Jazeera -- which has a reporter on board -- that they had no weapons, guns or even small knives. "We come for peace and to help," he said (in the video above). Among other aid, the ship is carrying medicine based on a list provided by Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Israeli legislator and physician. Tibi told Israeli radio over the weekend that he supports such flotillas as an act of passive resistance, far better than any alternative. Besides, he says, the political pressure works. 

And it does. Israel is still smarting all over from the previous maritime misadventure.

Under heavy international pressure, it announced a new policy on goods into Gaza, liberalizing entry of civilian goods while continuing to bar weapons and war materiel as well as dual-use goods and technology including fertilizer and fireworks. The government appointed a committee to examine the flotilla incident (officially "the maritime incident of 31.5.10") headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge and including two international observers and has since expanded its authority, but some pressure for an international investigation remains.

Israel says it will not allow direct access to Gaza's port. Besides the obvious issue of smuggling weapons, Israel warns that allowing Iran a port in the Mediterranean is a matter of strategic danger. Egypt doesn't want Iran this close either, say Israeli sources. Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday. The Libyan-chartered ship sailed from the Greek port of Lavrio Saturday.

Reports midday Sunday spoke of a 70-hour voyage. Taking the slow boat to Gaza could give leaders time to work it out Tuesday.

Before the Amalthea docks in Ashdod or El Arish, another shipping headache is landing in Israeli officials' lap. The committee appointed by the Israeli Defense Force to investigate the army's handling of the flotilla takeover, headed by retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, will submit its report to Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Monday, but advance drafts have already been reported in the press. The army will make the report available to the Turkel committee that will not be questioning soldiers.

-- Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem.

Video: The Amalthea, sailing from Greece under a Moldovan flag and with aid from Libya, from the Al Jazeera report. Credit: Al Jazeera, on Youtube.

Comments

[Onboard skeptic]

From "Philogynist"........

. The cure, pick up a book and educate yourself about Eretz Yisrael and the mythical "Palestine", both in the contemporary and in antiquity.

Ah yes, spoken just like a true Fundamentalist Jewish settler!

[Michael]

The Israelis are trying to keep these bad guys under wraps. What else are they supposed to do?

[Michael]

This his hilarious,google has ten websites lined up and one is the LA times and the other is CNN and the rest are Israeli. "Besides the obvious issue of smuggling weapons" is a classic.

[MissMarple]

There you go; another provocation. Lybia just wants to stir the pot, as usual. They are the wonderful people that brought you the Lockerbie Scotland bombing of Flight 103, December 21, 1988, killing 243 people, mostly Americans. Muammar al-Gaddafi, then and current President of Lybia, ordered the bombing. That is the great humanitarian who is sending a ship to Gaza.

[Caryson]

Once again, the LA Times shows its bias and how out of touch it is.

The headline of this story: " Libyan aid ship sets hopeful course for Gaza"

This sounds like something that might have been printed in Pravda in 1962 except it would read " Soviet aid ship sets hopeful course to Havana"

Get over it LA Times. When are you going to stop putting your opinion into news items.

[Philogynist]

To RichardP,

LOL. How do you "openly smuggle" weapons? An oxymoron don't you think? Israel has military ties with numerous countries around the world, including the United States and this includes the purchase of weaponry which occurs between every sovereign country in the world. In terms of Israel being the "biggest killer" in that region, get back to me when you have evidence of the IDF holding parades saying that Iran, Syria, or Lebanon should be wiped off the map. Write when Israeli children are told that Arab children are inherently pigs and dogs. Show your evidence that Israel is teaching its young men that they should rape Arab women. Get back to me when Israel announces an unapologetic policy of firing thousands of rockets indiscriminately at Lebanon. Don't worry. I was once afflicted with "Israel Derangement Syndrome" just as you are. The cure, pick up a book and educate yourself about Eretz Yisrael and the mythical "Palestine", both in the contemporary and in antiquity.

[Supreme Leader]

What Khadaffi won't be on board with his 12 female bodyguards singing..."you might as well face it, we're addicted to HATE!"

other post had typo...

[Greg Maragos]

Oh goody. Another peace platform with crowbars and Molotov cocktails.

"...A repeat of the Marmara isn't likely. The Amalthea is a smaller cargo ship, with around 30 people on board; of these, only about a dozen are activists..."

Really? All it takes is one or two "activists." Look what 19 activists were able to pull off nine years ago.

I see improvement, though, and a glimmer of hope...at least the Times is acknowledging that whether or not something bad happens will be determined by the makeup and behavior of the people on the boat, not the people inspecting the boat.

[Jehudah Ben-Israel]

This is yet another attempt to break the lawful blockade on Gaza, a territory in armed conflict with Israel, and by so doing to de-legitimize Israel's right to defend itself in the face of Iran's front troops on Israel's souther border that the Islamists of Hamas have come to be.

There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza as has been testified by the Quartet - UN, EU, US and Russia - and clearly, Israel is in full right to prevent the incoming of weapons, ammunition, explosives and other materials that can be used in Hamas war effort against Israel.

Let us hope that this time the ship either goes to al-Arish in Egypt to unload its cargo, from which, after having been checked, it will be transported by land to Gaza. Alternatively, the ship may sail directly to the Israeli port of Ashdod where the cargo will be checked and transported from there to Gaza, a 20 minutes ride.

[Richard P]

The biggest killer in the area is Israel, and weapons are openly smuggled to them all the time, especially from the US. That is the real reason there is no peace: the Palestinians not only have Israel killing them to steal land and natural resources, the US is firmly committed to helping Israel, despite Israel's history of hostility to the US. Remember the Liberty, and remember Jonathan Pollard.