On 15 May, boats of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla set out from Gothenburg, Sweden on a two-month journey to the besieged Palestinian territory. Three Swedish ships, the Mairead, the Falestine/Palestine and Freedom to Gaza, were joined by a converted Norwegian fishing boat, Al Awda/The Return. The Mairead is named after Mairead Maguire, the Peace People activist from Belfast, northern Ireland, who was joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.
The Swedish group, ‘Ship to Gaza’, was paid ‘million-dollar damages’ in 2017 by the Israeli government which illegally seized the Ship to Gaza vessel Estelle, in international waters in October 2012.
Since Israel imposed its siege on Gaza in 2007, international activists have sailed 31 boats in 16 attempts to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
Topics: Israel-Palestine