One postponement, another and another until, little by little, most of the activists became discouraged. Without firing a shot, without grandiose statements or high-sounding threats, Israel has managed to deflate the Freedom Flotilla that was scheduled to set sail this Friday from Turkey to Gaza with more than 5,500 tons of food. The organizers, a dozen associations from 30 countries around the world, insist that this is a temporary break and that they will try to leave as soon as they resolve the last bureaucratic obstacles.
The fact is that the Freedom Flotilla, made up of the freighter Anadolu and two old ferries from the seventies – the Akdeniz, which means Mediterranean in Turkish and which once linked Albania with Italy, and the Conscience, which sailed through German waters -, He had to postpone his departure from Istanbul again due to the “administrative blockade” that prevents ships from leaving port. Supporters of the Palestinian cause who are promoting the initiative said that the ships were already loaded and that the documentation required by the port authorities was presented. But that is not enough. “Israel is pressuring Guinea-Bissau to remove its flag from our lead ship: the Akdeniz,” the organizers denounced, “triggering a request for an additional inspection that delays our departure.” “This is another example of Israel obstructing the delivery of vital aid to the people of Gaza, who are facing a deliberately created famine,” they added.
This Friday’s postponement is the third suffered by the flotilla and the 500 supporters who have been in an obstacle course for two weeks. The activists – who came to Istanbul from countries such as Malaysia, Tunisia, Jordan, Spain and Colombia – have been encountering a new obstacle every day that prevented the Akdeniz from setting sail. First it was a mechanical problem; then, a logistical one; and later, another administrator. When everything seemed resolved, a surprise inspection of the boat arrived. Guinea-Bissau, as the flag state flying on the ship, has the power to require these types of inspections, but it is something that rarely happens. The Spanish NGO Rumbo a Gaza denounces that these practices, which include diplomatic pressure, demands for inspections and complaints filed by law firms, have already been used by Israel to try to block previous flotillas in port, such as those of 2011 and 2012. .
Israel has pulled strings to make it difficult for ships to leave port and reach international waters. The objective was to prevent the “terrorist” flotilla, as Israel considers the Turkish NGO IHH (of an Islamist nature) that charters the boats, from approaching Gaza waters and repeating the 2010 incident, when the Israeli army boarded a similar flotilla and killed 10 crew members in international waters.
Spanish delegation
A large part of the Spanish delegation, including the former mayor and current councilor of Barcelona Ada Colau, Sumar’s number two for the Europeans, Jaume Asens, and the general secretary of Podemos Andalucía and deputy, Martina Velarde, denounced the pressures from Israel while They packed their bags back waiting for a new opportunity. “What a coincidence that just the day before departure, Guinea-Bissau does something it never does and inspects a ship at the last minute,” criticized Colau: “These are those strange things that can only be explained by the level of pressures that Israel is exercising against several countries, including Turkey and Guinea-Bissau, and also many others.” Interestingly, the president of Guinea-Bissau, Sissoco Embaló, visited Israel in March; His Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, defined him as “a true friend of Israel.”
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Among those who remain in Istanbul waiting for a new opportunity are a grandson of Nelson Mandela or the veteran colonel and former American diplomat Anne Wright. The organizers plan to solve the bureaucratic obstacles “in days” if there is no more “political interference.” Israel, meanwhile, temporarily puts aside a problem for which it was also preparing militarily. Israeli media had announced that Shayetet 13, the army’s elite unit, had intensified its boarding training. Shayetet 13 is not just anything, it is the unit that recently entered the Al Shifa hospital in a siege that, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, in the hands of Hamas, ended the lives of some 400 people.
For its part, Turkey, from where the ships leave, is also postponing a problem that could complicate its role in the crisis. On the one hand, she receives pressure from Israel and the United States to prevent the departure of the flotilla and on the other, she resists internal pressure that demands more forceful gestures in favor of Palestine.
At the moment, Türkiye is working with Qatar and Egypt to achieve a ceasefire. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with several members of his Cabinet, received a Hamas delegation led by its leader, Ismail Haniya, to discuss the conditions of an eventual ceasefire. An incident like the one that occurred in 2010 could increase tension between both countries and negatively influence mediation attempts.
At the same time, there is some pressure on Erdogan from Islamist sectors ―of which IHH is a part―, which demand that the Turkish president’s public criticism of Israeli crimes be accompanied by more decisive actions. Not in vain, in the last local elections, another Islamist party that defends breaking commercial relations with Israel stole a significant percentage of votes from Erdogan’s AKP.
Several sources from IHH and Mavi Marmara, another Turkish association that is part of the flotilla, have confirmed to Morning Express during the last week that permission to set sail has been negotiated with the Turkish Government. The curious thing is that in no public statement or to the local media has IHH publicly asked the Turkish Executive to clearly position itself in favor of the flotilla’s right to leave. Furthermore, in the demonstrations called to protest the situation in Gaza in the last week, and in which the international members of the flotilla were invited to participate, there was no reference or public request for the ships to be allowed to lift. anchors.
Founded during the Bosnian war, IHH has increased its role as a humanitarian organization in the last decade, acting in some cases as an extension of Turkish foreign action. Especially in Syria, where it is key in the distribution of humanitarian aid in the territories under the control of the Turkish army and related rebel groups and even in mediating the release of hostages. IHH also operates in several African countries – such as Somalia – with which the Turkish Government has increased ties in recent years.
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