Twelve European countries participate in the “Freedom Flotilla 2”

Palestine Information Center – 27/05/2011

BRUSSELS — The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, said Thursday that ships from 12 European countries have expressed willingness to participate in the “Freedom Flotilla 2” mission next month to break the Israeli siege on Gaza.

Rami Abdo, the spokesman of the campaign, said in a written statement on Thursday that ships from France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland announced they would participate in the humanitarian mission in addition to eight other ships from eight European countries.

In this regard, Abdo urged the international community and countries of the participating vessels to provide the necessary protection for those ships to achieve their mission, adding that European legislators and MPs in addition to hundreds of activists and supporters of the Palestinian cause would go with the ships.

He added that more ships were joining the Flotilla despite Israeli threats that the Israeli navy would assault them if they approached the besieged coastal Strip where nearly 1.7 million Palestinians had been under siege for five years now. “The participants are determined to achieve their noble mission at any cost,” Abdo said.

He also described the Egyptian decision of opening the Rafah crossing point permanently for Palestinian citizens as “positive,” saying it was a step in the right direction but he noted that opening of the crossing was limited for individuals and not for goods.

“Goods are still forced to pass through Israeli-controlled checkpoints, and thus, it would take long time before it could reach Gaza, yet, there are a lot of basic humanitarian needs that couldn’t be delayed and must reach the needy people in Gaza very fast”, Abdo underlined.