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Last update - 18:22 23/12/2008
Activists to sail from Lebanon in new bid to break Gaza blockade
By The Associated Press
Tags: gaza blockade, Lebanon 

Organizers say a cargo ship carrying Lebanese activists and supplies will set sail for the besieged Gaza Strip early next year to defy an Israeli blockade.

The European-flagged ship carrying supplies including power generators and food will sail from southern Lebanon on January 3rd to the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus before heading to Gaza.

Hani Sleiman, a lawyer and university professor, said the indirect route is designed to deprive Israel of any excuse not to allow the ship into Gaza.
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Authorities at Larnaca port are expected to inspect the cargo and passengers before it proceeds to Gaza.

Passengers include activists from civil society groups and journalists.
Five ships carrying activists and goods have run the blockade since the
summer, but it will be the first time a ship carrying people and goods from Lebanon, a neighboring country officially at war with Israel, will attempt the trip.

Sleiman expressed hope the ship will succeed in making it to Gaza.
"The aim is to break the blockade and show solidarity and make the Palestinians feel they are not alone," he told The Associated Press.
"What are they (the Israelis) going to do? Sink it? This is a peace ship, a commercial, civilian one."

The last boat to make the trip on December 20th carried a Qatari delegation, Lebanese activists and journalists from Israel and Lebanon.
Qatar, an Arab Gulf state, has warm relations with both Israel and Hamas.

Israel and Egypt closed Gaza's borders after Hamas seized control of the
territory in June 2007. Since November, Israel has tightened the blockade to pressure Gaza militants to halt their rocket fire on Israeli border towns.

Jerusalem`s Latin Patriarch blasts siege in pre-Christmas message

Meanwhile, the Holy Land's top Roman Catholic cleric has lashed out at Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and is calling on Palestinians to heal their political rift in his first pre-Christmas message.

Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal has also expressed concern about the Holy Land's Christian communities, saying their presence is threatened by emigration and political instability.

The Archbishop is the second Palestinian to hold this position following predecessor Michel Sabbah, who was an outspoken critic of violence.

Twal said Tuesday "We are awaiting a manifestation of the Savior's grace that will put an end to the occupation and the injustice, delivering us from those fears, hardships and internal divisions that beset this land."

The Palestinian Christian population in the Holy Land is less than 2 percent of the people in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. That's down from an estimated 15 percent in 1950.



Related articles:
  • Israeli Arab leaders vow to sail to Gaza to break blockade
  • Israeli prof. joins 40 activists sailing to Gaza
  • Cyprus lets activists sail to Gaza, despite Israeli siege
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      2.   What is this "break"? 16:53  |  steve from raleigh 23/12/08
      3.   How many times can one "break a blocade"? 17:26  |  Sean 23/12/08
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      6.   Power generators and sugar for Hamas rocket factories. 18:09  |  Dr.L. Brnd 23/12/08
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