Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 I hope they make it, it is a shame that non-Muslims feel the need to challenge injustice while we Muslims sleep walk with our negativity. :mad: Hopefully the Israel’s won't shoot them all like they shoot journalists and run tanks over activists . A group of activists including Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth plans to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip by sailing into the Palestinian territory. Some 46 campaigners, among them several Britons, a Holocaust survivor and an 81-year-old retired Catholic nun from the US, will make the 241-mile crossing from Cyprus in two wooden vessels at the end of the week, carrying medical supplies. The journey takes about 20 hours. The California-based Free Gaza movement wants to open unrestricted international access to Gaza while delivering a "symbolic" shipment of 200 hearing aids and batteries for a society for deaf children and other supplies such as painkillers. Organisers say they will not pass through Israeli waters and have therefore not notified Israeli authorities of their plans. But they are prepared for the 21-metre (70ft) Free Gaza and 18-metre Liberty to encounter resistance. The Gaza Strip's waters are patrolled by the Israeli navy. The boats' crews will cover as much of the journey as possible under sail to conserve fuel, so they can stay at sea as long as possible if their progress is blocked, British campaigner Hilary Smith said. "The passengers are prepared to remain on board for weeks or longer if their passage is impeded," she told a press conference in London. "Gaza is a virtual prison for well over a million Palestinians. It's been under siege almost continuously for two years. Israel says it no longer occupies the Gaza Strip so the boat will not be asking permission from Israel and will not allow Israel to board the boats." Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza last year after Hamas took control, and allows limited supplies of food, fuel and aid into the territory. In March a coalition of eight UK human rights groups said Gazans were living through their worst humanitarian crisis since the 1967 war. Source: www.guardian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 Also today, Israeli settlers attack UK envoys A car carrying visiting UK diplomats has been attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank town of Hebron. The armoured car, also carrying a driver and guide, was briefly attacked and kicked, although no-one was hurt. Israeli police intervened and, according to the guide, the vehicle had been kept in the area for an hour. Hebron is a flashpoint in the occupied West Bank, having a substantial settler presence living among a larger Palestinian population. The British Consulate General is now assisting Israeli police investigators. Hebron is the scene of tensions between Jewish settlers and peace group tours. A consulate spokesman said three diplomats had been being shown around Hebron by a former Israeli soldier now working for a peace group, Breaking the Silence. The attack happened in a part of the town considered off-limits to Palestinians. Increasing tension A consulate statement said: "The Israeli police intervened and we are assisting them with their investigation of the incident." The BBC's Wyre Davies says Hebron, in the south of the West Bank, has seen "increasing tension between peace groups and settlers who live in the central, historic part of the town". "The peace groups say they're trying to show the negative impact of the Israeli occupation on local Palestinian residents," he said. "For the settlers, Hebron, and its ancient sites, is inherently Jewish and is somewhere they have vowed to remain." About 500 mostly hardline Israeli settlers live in an enclave in the city of about 150,000 Arabs. Israel occupied the West Bank along with East Jerusalem during the 1967 war and has since settled more than 400,000 of its citizens there. The area is also home to about 2.5 million Palestinians. Source: BBC Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 Israeles hate the Europeans, i would't be suprised if they put them in that big jail and keep them there with the palestenians. may Allah reward them for their dids, whatever their intentions. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 ^^^They don't get any "Reward", May allah guide them. I doubt they will lock them up Sayid. they can only get away with that if they are Muslims. These are America with few British, not sure about any other Europeans. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 Allah's guidance is good enought reward for them Ibti. they would love to killed them, if they think there would be no outcry from the americans. in 2005 i went with a teachers group, they kept me at the airport for over 3 hours, although i was not the only muslim, they signalled me out because i didn't have my teachers qualifications. they only let me go after the group was with wouldn't leave without me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 Did you go via Israel or Jordan?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 Occupied Jerusalem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 ^^Is your review online somewhere? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 review?? - never did one. nor do i want to do one - i still have the images of what i saw in my head and the personal stories. it is heart wrenching Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 ^^^hmmm. I see. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 have you been or ever thought about going there and taking the protest to them? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 I don't think protest of a poor Somali women would make a difference. I can do more for them here than there. I have some friends there and I want to see the mosque and everything else. One of the charities I work with sends researchers over each summer. If I can get my family off my back long enough I'm hoping to escape there inshallah, next summer or so. I just need to either convince them or lie to them or not tell them where I'm going But then if I do and something happens to me, they will kill me again just for good measure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 be prepared to cry a lot!!! when they start telling your about their lives. i don't want to go back there unless i have something to give to people this time. i felt some bad walaalahi, they were offering us everything even though they didn't have much and when you refuse they looked at you weirdly and then you even feel more worse for making their face turn like that. Gaza must be hell hole to live in under these conditions. the only way i could consolidate myself with what i saw was to say to myself they are go Janah, insha'Allah. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted August 8, 2008 The most humble people tent to be the most oppressed and poor. The humility and kindness is over whelming. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted August 8, 2008 The humility and kindness is over whelming. tell me about it!! you have thought that the yahuudis would have been humbled by their so called experience. but it is like it turn them into a merciless creatures of the night. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
