'Spirit of Humanity' Mercy Boat Sets Sail for Gaza

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Spirit of Humanity Boat

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Cyprus, 11 January 2009 - The Free Gaza Movement ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, left Larnaca Port at 3:00 pm, Monday, 12 January, on an emergency mission to besieged Gaza. It is expected to arrive in Gaza at approximately 11am (UST) Tuesday morning. Aboard the ship are 36 passengers and crew, representing 17 different nations. They are doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and five European parliamentarians representing Belgium, Greece, Italy, and Spain (see below for a complete passenger list). The mercy ship also carries desperately needed medical supplies meant for hospitals in the Gaza Strip. 

Shortly before the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY left Cyprus yesterday, the Cypriot authorities informed the Free Gaza Movement that the Israeli government had officially contacted their embassy in Tel Aviv, and warned them that they felt "justified" in using "any means available" to forcibly prevent the mercy ship from arriving in Gaza. At the request of the ship's organizers, the Cypriot authorities searched the ship prior to its departure to certify that it only carried medical supplies.

Huwaida Arraf, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that, "We cannot just sit by and wait for Israel to decide to stop the killing and open the borders for relief workers to pick up the pieces. We are coming in. There is an urgent need for this mission as Palestinian civilians in Gaza are being terrorized and slaughtered by Israel, and access to humanitarian relief denied to them. When states and the international bodies responsible for taking action to stop such atrocities chose to be impotent, then we--the citizens of the world--must act. Our common humanity demands nothing less."

Sources: Freegaza.org; Munich Blogspot

TV News Video here.

PASSENGERS & CREW OF THE SPIRIT OF HUMANITY:
Abufalah, Othman Mohammad, Journalist with Al Jazeera Television (Jordan)
Ahidar, Fouad, Member of Parliament (Belgium)
Arraf, Huwaida, human rights lawyer and Delegation Leader (Palestine/USA)
Bitsanis, Konstantinos, human rights worker and crew (Greece)
Bolos, Nikolas, human rights worker and crew (Greece)
Bowden, David, Journalist with SKY TV (UK)
Caruso, Francesco, former Member of Parliament (Italy)
Dabbagh, Ali, Doctor (UK)
Dritsas, Theodoros, Member of Parliament (Greece)
Gentile, Alessandro, Journalist with CNN (Italy)
Gezelius, Mats, Journalist (Sweden/Finland)
Giannopolis, Nikolaos, human rights worker (Greece)
Jacquier, Gilles, Journalist with France Channel 2 (France)
Kampani, Chalent, Orthopedic Surgeon (Greece)
Kanellakis, Yiannis, Journalist with Greek Mega TV (Greece)
Karatzias, Petros, Journalist with the Associated Press (Cyprus)
Kawkuby, Jasir, Doctor and Pediatric Intensive Care specialist (Germany)
Klontzas, George, Ship's Captain (Greece)
Muncie, Andrew, human rights worker and crew (Scotland)
McLuckie, Garwen, Journalist with SKY TV (UK)
Mourad, Maimouni (Belgium)
Muir, Alistair, Journalist with the BBC (UK)
Nuet, Joan Josef, Member of Parliament (Spain)
Papachristopoulos, Athanasios, Surgeon (Greece)
Pissias, Vangelis, University Professor (Greece)
Pratt, David, Journalist with the Sunday Herald (UK)
Prieto, Monica, Journalist with El Mundo (Spain)
Rahali, Hassan, Journalist (Belgium)
Robbins, Sonia, Surgeon (UK)
Sakorafa, Sofia, Member of Parliament (Greece)
Shakir, Thair, Journalist with Al Jazeera television (Iraq)
Synodynou, Melina, Journalist with Ethnos (Greece)
Tsatsis, Angelos, Journalist with MEGA TV (Greece)
Vinci, Alessio, Journalist with CNN (Italy)
Yvon, Xavier, Journalist with RTL Radio (France)
Zdoukos, Theodoros, Doctor (Greece)

A Letter of Intent was sent by SPIRIT OF HUMANITY organizers to the Israeli offices and agencies responsible:
Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office: +972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264 mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence: +972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148 mediasar@mod.gov.il
Major Liebovitz from the Israeli Navy: + 972 5 781 86248
The Israeli Ministry of Defense, Fax: 972-3-697-6717
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fax 972-2-5303367