We remember the American piano tuner Paul Laurudee from a brief encounter in a Tel-Aviv courtroom. An ISMer who had been active on the West Bank, he was deported in 2006 and placed on the list of 'undesirables'. The authorities, who thought they got rid of him, got him back in Gaza.
The idea appealed to diverse people and groups in sixteen countries: taking a boat and sailing to Gaza, in defiance of the Israeli naval blockade; letting Gazans have at least a bit of free contact with the outside world.
The only way of being sure that boats would go where and when you want them is to own them yourself -- which takes a lot of money even for small, old boats. As "The Free Gaza Movement", Paul Larudee and companions embarked on the long and grueling work of fund-raising and preparations.
Among those who made it happen can be mentioned: Greta Berlin, businesswoman whose leg is still scarred by a wound from an Israeli rubber-coated steel bullet; the retired 81-year-old nun Anne Montgomery; Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former British PM Tony Blair; British journalist Yvonne Ridley; well-known activist Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American residing in Ramallah; Prof. Norman Finkelstein, known for campaigning against Israel's abuse of the Holocaust for political purposes; the 84-year old Hedy Epstein, herself a Holocaust survivor; Prof. Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
It took nearly two years for 225,000 Dollars to be collected, and for two boats to be purchased, provisioned and prepared. The siege of Gaza, unfortunately, was still very much there.
The original deadline was August 5, but on that date the "Free Gaza" and "Liberty" were still in Crete, from where they were to sail to Cyprus and only then to Gaza.
The Israeli press, which showed increasing interest, interpreted the delay and conflicting rumors as a deliberate ploy of obfuscation by the organizers, aimed at the Mossad. (In 1988, Israeli secret agents had indeed blown up a boat in which the PLO intended to have Palestinian refugees sail towards the shores of Israel...).
In fact, the delay had been due to last-moment technical problems that needed to be ironed out and taken care of before the boats could sail. But as it later turned out, this delay also had the effect of giving the Israeli political and military establishment more time to think of their possible response.
The government first tried to pressure the Cypriotes into refusing permission for the ships to sail -- but to no avail. And the security check that the Cypriotes did, certifying that there were no weapons, explosives or other contraband on the boats, actually deprived the naval gunboats off Gaza of any handy pretext to stop them.
And so, at last, on August 22 the "Free Gaza" and "Liberty" rounded the last cape of the Cypriot shore and headed southwards in the direction of Gaza.
Carrying a humanitarian cargo -- especially, thousands of hearing aids urgently needed by deaf children in Gaza -- the forty-six activists had to contend with rather crowded conditions. It was needed, for example, to sleep in rotation, since there were not bunks enough to accommodate everybody at once.
Supporters ashore and the media were kept informed by the constant flow of press releases and updates from ICAHD's Angela Godfrey in Jerusalem and from Ramzi Kysia at Cyprus.
There were many hours of growing anxiety, with the two boats drawing nearer to the Gaza coast. Soon after they reported rough sea conditions, especially difficult for old people aboard, contact with the boats was suddenly and almost completely cut off due to what seemed a systematic jamming of the airwaves.
Shlomo Dror, a Defence Ministry spokesman, had told The Independent: "From my point of view these are some kind of pirate ships. They are part of the propaganda effort by the Hamas terrorists in Gaza. We don't exclude any option in dealing with them". A special media boat, chartered by the tireless Godfrey, set out from the Israeli port of Ashdod but failed to locate the two boats at sea, to the considerable chagrin of correspondents and TV crews.
And then, a collective sign of relief, on board and ashore, with an official announcement from the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that the boats would not be stopped, but would be allowed to get unmolested to Gaza.
Soon, the jamming stopped and an excited message came through from Yvonne Ridley aboard the "Liberty":
"We have entered Gazan waters. We're flying the Palestinian flag, and we now believe that we're going to reach the shores of Gaza very soon. Now I know how people felt when they tore down the first few bricks of the Berlin Wall!
Soon information came out on the intensive discussions held at the highest echelons of the Israeli establishment, preceding their decision. The Armed Forces had been very much in favor of using force -- but for once they were overcome by the diplomats.
These, headed by Foreign Minister (and designated PM) Tzipi Livni, pointed out the potential "grave damage to Israel's international image" from scenes of brutal Israeli sailors broadcast all over the world. All the more so as comparisons were bound to be made with "Exodus" -- the 1947 boat whose rough treatment by the British Navy had done so much to bolster Zionist propaganda.
Anyway, normally a warship can easily stop a civilian boat by threatening to shoot -- but when the boat refuses to stop and the warship dare not risk harming anyone on it, what can they do?
The government cut its losses by loudly proclaiming that the people on the boats were "provocateurs who wanted a confrontation" and that by letting them get to Gaza, "the wind was taken out of their sails". Much of the mainstream Israeli media took the same line. However, the hostile commentary attached to the photos from Gaza could not hide the happy smiles on the faces of the young Palestinians who gathered to greet the boats on their arrival at the port of Gaza.
Jamila Hassan told international journalists that she had waited for many hours in the port until the boats arrived:
"I brought the kids, my son who is 14 years old and my daughter who is nine, and they waited with me, waited so we could tell these people 'Welcome and thank you for not forgetting us'".
The activists had a very intensive three days in the Strip, being taken around everywhere as honored guests, meeting with officials including Prime Minister Haniya of Hamas and with various grassroots NGO's. Some also went on board the fisher boats. With "human shields" aboard, the fishermen could be a bit more daring. Several activists decided to remain in Gaza after the boats' departure, as apparently gunboats turn back upon hearing an American voice from among the fishers.
The boats themselves set off back to Cyprus, carrying also seven Palestinians who until now were stuck in Gaza. The Israeli authorities again deliberated on whether or not to stop them for "smuggling unauthorized Palestinians" and again decided not to interfere.
As we go into print, the boats are about to leave Cyprus for Gaza again, with the full intention of starting a regular "Free Ferry Service, not subject to Israeli control." According to press reports, Israeli generals are crying out that "This is getting out of hand."
For its part, the Free Gaza Movement published a call upon "members of the international community, governments, NGOs, and others dedicated to protecting human rights" to join in, "provide their own ships, humanitarian goods, and human capital to throw open wide the sea link to Gaza" -- so as "to put an end to the man-made humanitarian catastrophe which we have seen unfolding in Gaza".
Prof. Jeff Halper had chosen not to go back by sea, but present himself at the Erez Border crossing. After some consternation he was let through -- and immediately arrested for "having broken the military order forbidding Israelis entry into Gaza."
"The night in detention was very bad," he says. "I had been warned that going to Gaza was dangerous, but the only place where I really was in danger was back in Israel -- when I was put in a big cell where the criminals had been told, in a very tendentious way, who I was and what I had done. They were quite nasty, and it was a very long night. Fortunately, there were also three Palestinians with me in that cell. The four of us had a lot in common. They were there for entering Israel illegally, I -- for entering Palestine."
It happened, as several columnists noticed, that Halper's imprisonment coincided with the funeral of Abie Nathan (see p.28). In his lifetime Nathan, nicknamed "The Peace Sailor", had broken the law more than once, but in death the establishment extended him a loving embrace. At his graveside, none other than President Shimon Peres delivered a touching eulogy:
"We were annoyed with Abie for not acting like everybody else, for crossing borders, breaking laws -- why wasn't he obedient? But woe to us had he listened to us."
Contact: friendsofgaza@gmail.com
The Other Israel, September-October issue
