Gaza-bound aid flotilla grounded in Greece

Video of the Audacity of Hope stopped at sea by Greek commandos

This is how the Papandreou regime executes Israeli orders:

To say that I am absolutely disgusted would be an understatement.

Urging the U.N. Security Council to Establish a "No Fly Zone" Over Gaza under the Principle of "Responsibility to Protect"

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The Egyptian Blockade of Gaza – February 26, 2011 March to Gaza

by Ken O'Keefe

To join the March to Gaza click here

There is much talk about who and what is behind the popular revolts in the Arab world and I find such talk as interesting as anyone. But more than talk I am interested in action. Indeed that is why tears of joy streamed down my face as I watched the Egyptian people cleansing themselves of the shame brought upon them by Mubarak and his fellow thieves and traitors. Clearly however, the job is far from complete.

The Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions are not actually Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions as much as they are part of a Global Revolution. For no matter how much effort is exerted by the powers that be to divide the masses, we are all connected. And within the Western nations lie the very same justifications for revolution. The truth is we are hard pressed to find a government that honours its people; the real question is to what degree does a government disrespect and violate it’s people? And does it confine it’s crimes to it’s own population? Or does it export these crimes as well? I am obliged to mention that in this latter category the world champion of global oppression is of course, my birth nation, the United States of America.

And they have junior partners in the global tyranny business, and Egypt has been, and remains at this moment, one of them. Ever since the so-called peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, Egypt has become a key partner in America’s greatest export, terror. For more than 30 years Mubarak was little more than a pimp and a prostitute, ordering the people of Egypt to bend over while the American imperialist machine penetrated the Egyptian people as a rapist does his victim.

Meanwhile Mubarak mocked the people of Egypt, his henchmen (Omar Suleiman) tortured and terrorized them while he and his family plundered the nation and swallowed American bribe money by the billions; all the while the comatose American taxpayer paid this pimp and his family those billions.

For a little comic relief, listen to what you, the American taxpayer are being told about how you’re hard earned tax dollars go to work in Egypt;

“For over three decades, the United States has worked to improve the quality of life of all Egyptians through programs supporting economic development and regional stability. USAID assistance has totaled $28.6 billion since 1975. Current programs focus on economic growth; education; healthier, planned families; and democracy and governance.” – USAID website

And so, for the bargain basement price of $28.6 billion the American people managed to buy Egyptians a lifestyle of deep poverty in which 40% of the 80 million plus of them live on less than $2 a day. Way to go America!

I am curious to know how many reading this are like me; tell me, when you see Obama or Hillary Clinton dare to talk of Egyptian “democracy” and solidarity with “the people”, do you wish as well that someone would walk up, stare them square in their eyes and slap them with a thundering clap right in the face? I sure do. And I damn sure wish that famous and heroic Iraqi shoe thrower hit George Bush right in his mouth. One can dream.

Ah but we can do better than wish for things that will likely never happen, we can act, we can create our own reality; just as the Egyptians and Tunisians and many others are showing us right now. We can do anything we set our minds to, ANYTHING!

And that leads me to the people of Palestine. As I sit here in Gaza I can tell you that these people are as deserving of real support as any people on Earth. For decades our actions (or lack thereof) have translated to a brutal existence with perpetual trauma and violence. Despite this the people of Palestine have not become the monsters that imprison and slaughter them. They remain Palestinian; among the most generous and hospitable people you will ever meet. And so I say to the world, now is the time to begin acting as brothers and sisters and commence to the liberation of the people of Palestine.

To everybody who knows injustice, everybody who knows tyranny, we are all brothers and sisters with the people of Palestine. Let us act like it and let us march on Gaza on February 26th, 2011. Let us amass in the greatest numbers possible, and let us march week after week if necessary, to make Rafah Crossing and open border. To achieve this would be to render the Israeli/American lead blockade useless. That would signal another mortal blow to American Imperialism and Israeli Zionism. If that isn’t worth fighting for then I have no idea what is.

I realize this was not the primary objective of the peoples revolt in Egypt, but it can become a primary result of it. Why not? Is it not possible? Of course it is. Egyptians have just shed their puppet dictator; they rendered his weapons and henchmen impotent. We can now remove one of the most shameful policies of this dictator; I say again, we can do whatever we desire, if we are serious that is.

I am serious, and I know many more who are serious as well.

Let us take note, lower ranking Egyptian commanders disobeyed direct orders by Mubarak and his generals to murder the people in Tahrir Square. So the Army did not slaughter the people as ordered, so clearly there is honour within the Egyptian military. But it cannot be ignored, there are still higher-ranking officials who followed Mubarak’s orders and themselves ordered the lower ranks to commit mass-murder.

Let us remember that it is such people that were punished by death as a result of the Nuremberg Trials. And let us realize that for the moment such people still hold positions of power and influence in Egypt. And let us not be fools, they remain of course the servile minions of their Zionist and American imperialist masters. Let us not ignore the fact that the American bribe money is still flowing.

To rest, to allow them to corrupt the will of the people into a new dictatorship is to abandon our role in the Global Revolution.

As I have said, this is not an Egyptian/Tunisian Revolution, their battle is ours and vice versa, and it intertwines with Palestine directly.

I know this for sure; there is not one Egyptian in their right mind that would endorse a continuation of the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza. To the contrary, it has shamed the people of Egypt for far too long. Why not end it now?

Is there any sane, right-minded person who supports the blatant and brutal collective punishment of the people of Gaza? So why would it carry on? There is only one reason, because we allow it. I say we carry on with what the people of Egypt started, they got rid of the dictator, let us, people of conscience, once and for all smash to pieces the abominable Egyptian blockade of Gaza.

Why not?

Let us commence to exposing anyone intent on subjecting the 800,000 plus children of Gaza to this cruel and inhuman blockade.

I say shame on us all if we do not march on Gaza with significant numbers and soon. I see no reason why sufficient numbers cannot be mobilized for February 26th. If our lives or the lives of our loved ones depended on it, we would mobilize by the thousands.

As I write this there are people in Gaza who will likely die soon if they cannot access medical treatment outside of Gaza. Among them is a 14 year-old boy who needs a kidney transplant, which his father is ready to provide. Shall this boy be left to die?

There are students being denied access to education abroad. There are building materials needed yet denied, and thus the rebuilding of Gaza remains impossible. All of this preventable suffering and death continues, day-by-day, a human caused catastrophe, due to the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza. But there is no Mubarak, so there is no excuse.

Having met children all over Gaza I can tell you that virtually every one of them has been and continues to be traumatized by the ongoing blockade and terrorism of Israel. All of this is compounded massively by the blockade. If this were your child you would not rest until there was justice. But if you see them as I do, you would see them as your children, and with that comes a duty. Let us not fail. We cannot do too much for the children of Gaza; to do less then everything within our power is the continuation of collectively dishonouring ourselves and degrading our humanity.

Enough.

It seems at this stage in human development the only way to make sure that governments serve the people, is to ensure that they fear the people. If indeed that be the case, let them fear us. Let them feel the wrath of our will and let them know that the Egyptian blockade of Gaza is in its dying days. If this inevitability requires bloodshed then it will be because those entrusted to serve the people have instead chosen to serve the Israeli/American tyranny under which Mubarak ruled. If that be the case then there shall be an absolute need for Nuremberg Trials of today.

But I think none of that is necessary. I think the Egyptian Military can honour the people rather than the paymaster. We shall see.

Here is what I propose: People of conscience, supporters of Palestine and Egypt, wherever you come from, come to Egypt in the days leading up to February 26th. Travel to the port city of Al Arish and prepare to march on “The Day of Liberation” for the people of Palestine in Gaza. From the Egyptian side we shall march from Al Arish to Rafah Crossing (about 35 km/22 miles). On the Gazan side we shall demonstrate in support of this peoples liberation and we shall greet the marchers when they arrive.

Transportation via taxis can easily be arranged for those unable to walk such a distance. The goal will be to enter Gaza with the full cooperation of the Egyptian Military/officials. We seek no confrontation, but we demand the end of the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza.

If the marchers are blocked, attacked or arrested, we will do as the people of Egypt have done, a Tahrir style camp will be created as close to Rafah Crossing as possible. We will maximize exposure of the march via social media such as Twitter and Facebook and the world will surely be watching if we do what we are clearly capable of doing. People will camp out and more marchers will come, if we do as we are capable of doing our numbers will swell and our power increase. Each and every day will bring us closer to the end of the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza.

Power to the people – Global Revolution 2011 – TJP

To join the March to Gaza click here

Why Israel's blockade of Gaza is still here (UPDATED!)

Almost half a year has passed since the historical events surrounding the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara in international waters off the coast of Gaza. This crazed Israeli act of high-water piracy, the vicious violence, the cold blooded execution of wounded peace activists outraged the entire world community and many very impressive statements were made in reaction. Turkey would sever all its diplomatic relations, huge armadas of volunteers would be formed to break the blockade and even planes would be used.

What has actually happened since?

Well, a couple of ships did attempt to break the blockade. They were seized by the Israeli stormtroopers and that's it. There is something wrong with that picture, is there not?

This reminds me of another colossal success against the Israeli which was also followed by, well, by nothing at all: in 2008 Hamas blew up big sections of the infamous wall separating Gaza from Egypt and tens of thousands of Gazans crossed into Egypt. At that moment, which reminded me of the fall of the equally infamous wall in Berlin, it appeared that this was the end of the attempts to turn Gaza into the biggest concentration camp on the planet. And yet, the wall was rebuilt and all of this was practically forgotten.

In the case of the Gaza Wall debacle, the fault for it falls totally on the rather clueless Hamas leadership which allowed the wall to be rebuilt. All it would have taken to keep the wall down would have been a couple of thousands of Gaza sitting on it back by a couple of hundred Hamas sharpshooters to cover them and Mubarak would never had the political means to put the wall up again. In fact, any open confrontation between Mubarak's police and the Palestinians at this point would have threatened the Mubarak regime with an insurrection. But Hamas did nothing and so the wall went right back up.

The question now is who is to blame for the almost lack of "political capitalization" for the truly heroic sacrifices of the people who were killed, maimed and wounded in the Mavi Marmara expedition. Even more importantly, it is time to ask what should be done to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The answer, as it turns out, is rather simple.

Let's look again at what exactly the Mavi Marmara "flotilla" (wrong term, really, as a flotilla is presumed to be an armed, military, naval expeditionary force) did right. Simply put, it did two things:

a) it resisted with non-lethal but determined *force*

b) it documented its resistance

That's it. And this exactly what the ships which tried to break the blockade of Gaza have failed to do so far. First, non of the ships have attempted any serious resistance, at least as far as I know, and second the attempts to break the blockade were poorly documented. In, I don't even know how many real attempts there have been. First, there was the "Rachel Corrie" attempt, then one from Egypt I think, then another one from Beirut with only women and then one organized by European Jews, that's all I can recall (am I missing any?).

Frankly, the sole purpose of any such expedition can only be political. Gaza is not Berlin and it would take a major naval power to actually re-supply Gaza in any significant amount by sea or, even more so, by air. So what is the political purpose of these expedition? To tell the Israelis that the world does not agree with their policies? The Israelis already know that. To show the Gazans that the world supports them? They already know that too.

Look back at the Mavi Marmara is ask yourself, why was this expedition such a stunning defeat for Israel and the answer will become obvious to you: what the peace flotilla did is show the true face of the Israeli regime. That is its only real political success, but it was a stunning success and a comprehensive disaster for Israel. And such a victory over the last racist state on the planet can be achieved over and over again if two basic condition are met. The resistance must be violent (though not necessarily lethal) and it must be documented.

Contrast this with the way the the other expeditions to break the blockade where organized: all of them were absolutely and totally non-violent (that was openly declared) and they were individual affairs, involving one ship and no solid media coverage. What needs to be done is just exactly the opposite:

First, the next peace flotilla needs to be large, in particular in terms of number of vessels. Second, it needs to be escorted while it is in international waters. Third, the participants should immediately declare that they will violently resist any attempt to board their ships. In international waters this violence defense could even involve the use of firearms (perfectly legal in case of defense) while inside Gazan waters it probably should not include lethal weapons. The last leg of the journey to Gaza should ONLY be undertaken during the day and during clear weather conditions. Every single ship should have redundant communications systems including satellite phones, radios in different frequencies. Some ships should remain in international waters as 're-brodcasters' of all the communications of the flotilla. Airplanes in international airspace could serve the same function. "Outdated" methods of communications, including the use of Morse code and light signals, should be implemented (Morse is hard to jam) alongside modern means such as laser (also very hard to jam). The ships need to deliberately support each other in case of an attempt to seize them.

Remember how the Israelis used speedboats to come close to the Mavi Marmara?  Such speedboats are easy to target and flip. If the Israelis use helicopter, evasive maneuvers can make it impossible to drop commandos on deck. If such measures are implemented the Israelis will have to open fire with 30mm or 50mm guns the ship engines, so the rear section of the ships should be evacuated as soon as this risk becomes real. If a ship is so disabled, smoke grenades can be used to make a landing of commandos difficult. Other basic means would be to cover the deck with tarp making it hard for the Israelis to see what is going on on the ships. Protecting the ship can be done with either barbed or concertina wire and by dropping rubber speed-boats in the water to create chaos and complicated the planning and execution of Israeli operations.

There are literally hundreds of ways to defend a ship and the organizers of such an expedition would have to take a long look at the highly effective operations of the Greenpeace organization in disrupting whaling and other naval operations.

There is, by the way, also a good chance that Israeli communications could be disrupted. I don't want to go into details here, but suffice it to say that basic principle of jamming radio communications is that if your signal is more powerful than their signal, then you jam them. How hard would it be to put sufficiently powerful transmitters on the boats if all that is required from them is to have more power than the portable radios used by the Israeli commandos?

A basic rule of warfare is that you have to maximize your advantages and make use of the enemy's weaknesses. The Israelis are phenomenal cowards. While their propaganda says otherwise, all those who have actually fought them will unanimously confirm to you that they are truly terrified of "the Arabs" and that they loathe to actually take a real risk. Beating Palestinian kids, shooting unarmed civilians is just fine by them, but God forbid that  an "Arab" has something to shoot back with, and then the call in the Golani Brigade (also formed of cowards, but at least they have lots of firepower). My point here is that even if the Israelis bring in lots of commando units, they will be scared to death and very infective in their operations. This is the real reason why the Israelis always resort to absolutely grotesque amounts of violence: to hide their own cowardice and try to scare their opponents.

And this brings me to the most controversial part of my idea. Yes, resisting the Israelis with violence will inevitably elicit the usual "mad dog" response from them. But this is where the importance of documenting that reaction come into play. As soon as the Israelis go berserk, it becomes imperative to show their reaction to the rest of the planet.

Of course, one could very legitimately report that is is all fine and well for me to speak about how others must risk their lives while I sit at home and make grand statements about what others should do. And that would be a perfectly valid criticism. No, for a long list of reasons, I personally cannot take part in any such expedition, but my personal circumstances are hardly the point. The point is that the risks taken, and courage shown, by those who ARE willing to confront the Israelis must be focused on tactics which work rather than on "feel good" symbolical operations which are only a very minor nuisance to Israel. Innocent people are killed by the Israelis every day anyway. Many these lives are, I say, wasted (throwing stones at a Merkava tank is not my idea of a sound tactic).

Mind you, I am not advocating suicide operations. I would recommend that every person on these ships should wear tactical body armor, a Kevlar helmet, a first aid pack and, of course, a high-quality life jacket. Medics and nurses must be on-board ready to immediately put an IV line into any injured person and to do whatever is possible to stabilize him/her. As I mentioned earlier, the rear area of the ship needs to be evacuated before the Israelis open up with high-caliber guns. Ideally, an makeshift hospital ship should be part of the flotilla, clearly marked by signs; that is the only ship which should not have any means of defense at all.  But yes, this approach does involve a serious risk of injury or death.  I am not denying that.  But has we have seen with the Mavi Marmara, that risk is always present when dealing with racist thugs, and Palestinians suffer that throughout their lives.  What matters here is not to make any useless sacrifices and to make Israel pay, dearly, for every murder it commits.

The fact is that the Israeli Navy is neither trained nor equipped to deal with such a situation. Furthermore, good tactics can make things even harder for them. Imagine such a feet of vessels sailing towards Gaza and fully stopping in international waters without making any move towards Gaza. How easy it would be to force the Israelis into a costly cycle of false alarms which would frustrate them and frazzle their nerves? What if some ships decided to quietly leave and then come back? The Israelis would have a hell of a time trying to track all that activity. Mixing big ships with small but very fast speedboats is another way of driving the Israelis crazy; using ultra-light aircraft is yet another one. Even jet skis are an option. The possibilities are infinite, really.

The key to all of the above is training, training and more training. Each participant should have his/her own role and mission clearly defined and he/she would need to practice this mission until it becomes as automated as possible. For most participants, such a level of proficiency could be achieved in 5 days or less, as long as the tasks are simple and clear. More specialized participants, such as medics or radio operators, would, of course, already bring the skills set needed to their specific area of responsibility.

No less important is to explain to each participants the one and only purpose of the expedition: to totally end the blockade of Gaza by creating the circumstances which would force the racist regime of Israel to show its true face.  Not to express some nebulous "disapproval" of the blockade of Gaza, not to "show" our "solidarity" and most definitely not to re-supply Gaza.  The total end of the blockade of Gaza should be the only goal.  Without such a clarity of purpose these naval expeditions will meet the same end as the blowing up of the Wall in 2008.

One of the main problems in the past expeditions is that they are organized by civilians who never had to think tactically. Its folks like Ken O'Keefe which should be put in charge of the organization of future actions. Being a former Marine, he knows exactly the kind of tactics which can truly disorganize or even cripple a seemingly all-powerful military force and Ken clearly has the courage, determination and charisma to explain them to all the well-meaning but mostly clueless civilians who would inevitably form the bulk of the participants. 

The Gazans themselves also can play an important role in ending the blockade but for that the seemingly clueless Hamas leadership would need to seriously listen at Norman Finkelstein and his idea that Palestinians act on the World Court decision that the Wall is illegal and simply begin dismantling it.  

Israel is not the kind of foe which can be defeated with only good intentions and personal courage.  Keeping in mind that Fatah is little more than a corrupt subsidiary of the Israeli Shit Bet and that Hamas has a record of totally lacking any kind of strategic vision it becomes painfully obvious that an external force needs to trigger a change in the current situation.

The martyrs on the Mavi Marmara showed the world that this can be done.  Now it is incumbent upon the international civil society (forget governments, they are useless) to make their sacrifice worthwhile.

The Saker

PS: I just did a little google search to see who picked up this piece and guess what?  It is posted on, I am not kidding you, Anti-Semitism.net the Jewish-American Heritage month website!  Well, I am not surprised one bit that these folks would mistake my unambiguous anti-racism with a form of anti-Semitism.  As I always say - there ain't such thing as an intelligent racist, and that is also very true about Zionists.  But I am grateful for the free advertisement of my blog :-)

Details about the Rachel Corrie

“Introducing the MV Rachel Corrie”

Written by Free Gaza Team

(Dundalk, Ireland, April 20, 2010) The 1200-ton cargo ship had been abandoned in July 2009, off the coast of Ireland. She was then impounded after an inspection by the International Transport Federation (ITF) discovered her owners had exploited their Lithuanian crewmembers - not paying their wages and subjecting them to humiliating treatment, and they had been left with just one day of food. The 42-year-old MV Linda languished for nine months, waiting in the port of Dundalk for just the right buyer to rescue her. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

On March 31, 2010, the Free Gaza Movement bought her at auction for €70,000 and will send her to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza loaded with cement, paper, and medical equipment, all banned by Israel from this battered and bruised slice of the Mediterranean.

ITF Inspector and Union organizer Ken Fleming was ecstatic: “We are pleased to announce that this vessel which was used to subject workers to modern day slavery, will now be used to promote human rights for the people of Palestine”.

Added Derek Graham the bidder for Free Gaza and one of the organizers of the flotilla, "We are doing this to show the people of Gaza that they are not alone. There's nothing going into Gaza, no aid. We are prepared to run the blockade to try and get aid in. We have done it before. Out of eight previous attempts, five were successful.”

The Free Gaza Movement along with the Turkish humanitarian organization, IHH, the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza and the Greek and Swedish Boat to Gaza organizations will sail 8 boats loaded with building supplies as well as taking 600 passengers and journalists at the end of May.

As the people from the town of Dundalk work on her every day, painting her, guarding her and collecting cargo, they have a vested interest in what was once a lonely and abandoned vessel, now slowly coming to life under their care. The ship has been renamed the MV Rachel Corrie, in memory of the 23-year-old solidarity activist crushed to death in 2003 by an Israeli military bulldozer as she attempted to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza.

On May Day weekend, a mini convoy of vans loaded with medical supplies from eight different cities in Ireland and England will be delivering and loading these badly-needed supplies on the ship. The people of Norway have donated more than 6 tons of paper and school supplies with a goal of 25 tons to be loaded as cargo. Israel refuses to allow paper and supplies in for the children.

One of Free Gaza’s organizers, Caoimhe Butterly, stated, " The public response to the cargo ship has been immense, and we hope that in the remaining three weeks before we set sail, communities across Ireland will continue to mobilize and gather supplies. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a symptom of Israel’s siege and Occupation, and this flotilla will spot-light the devastating collective punishment that is being imposed on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

With everyone’s help, the MV Rachel Corrie will be painted, outfitted, then filled with cargo and ready to leave shortly after May Day, a testimony to civil society doing what governments have refused to do…alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza. Your donations for supplies are still vitally needed. You can earmark your donation for cement or school books and send through our donate page at http://www.freegaza.org/en/donate.

Contact: Caoimhe Butterly, Ireland +353 876 114 553, sahara78@hotmail.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Niamh Moloughney, Ireland, 00353 85 774 7257, freegazaireland@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Greta Berlin, France, 0033 63 142 7577, Iristulip@gmail.com

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Israel navy braced to intercept next Gaza aid ship

(Reuters) - Activists vowed on Tuesday to try to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza with another ship, and an Israeli officer pledged to halt it, setting the stage for a fresh confrontation after Monday's deadly clash.

The MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, set off Monday from Malta, organizers said. "We are an initiative to break Israel's blockade of 1.5 million people in Gaza. Our mission has not changed and this is not going to be the last flotilla," Free Gaza Movement activist Greta Berlin, based in Cyprus, told Reuters.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen described the vessel as Irish-owned and said it should be allowed to finish its mission. The ship was carrying 15 activists including a northern Irish Nobel Peace laureate.

"The government has formally requested the Israeli government to allow the Irish-owned ship ... to be allowed to complete its journey unimpeded and discharge its humanitarian cargo in Gaza," Cowen told parliament in Dublin.

An Israeli marine lieutenant, who was not identified, told Israel's Army Radio his unit was prepared to block the ship.

"We as a unit are studying, and we will carry out professional investigations to reach conclusions," the lieutenant said, referring to Monday's confrontation in which his unit shot nine activists aboard a Turkish ferry.

"And we will also be ready for the Rachel Corrie," he added.

Passengers include Northern Irish Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and Denis Halliday, an Irish former senior UN diplomat, and several other Irish citizens.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin told parliament he had spoken with Halliday Tuesday afternoon.

"We will be watching this situation very closely -- as indeed will the world -- and it is imperative that Israel avoid any action which leads to further bloodshed," Martin said.

Israel's Army Radio reported that the ship would reach Gazan waters by Wednesday, but activist Berlin said it might not attempt to reach Gaza until early next week.

"We will probably not send her till (next) Monday or Tuesday," she said of the 1,200 ton cargo ship. The Israeli navy stormed aboard a Turkish ferry leading a six-ship convoy Monday, killing nine people in what authorities said was self-defense but sparking a world outcry, a crisis in diplomatic relations with Turkey and condemnation from the United Nations Security Council.

The Rachel Corrie was carrying medical equipment, wheelchairs, school supplies and cement, a material Israel has banned in Hamas-ruled Gaza, organizers said.

Mark Daly, a member of Ireland's upper house of parliament who had been due to join the convoy but was refused permission to leave Cyprus, told Reuters in Dublin that the ship had fallen behind the rest of the convoy because it was slower.

Passengers aboard it had heard about the attacks but decided not to turn back, he said.

"After having a discussion among themselves about what to do, they decided to keep going," Daly said.