EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, May 29, (KUNA): Kuwaiti MP Walid Al-Tabtabaei urged on Saturday more Kuwaiti popular interaction with the “Freedom Fleet”, including a Kuwaiti ship carrying relief aid worth USD 1.1 million.
Speaking to KUNA aboard the Kuwaiti relief ship “Marmara”, the Kuwaiti member of parliament said: “We wish that there would be Kuwaiti popular interaction for pressuring the international community to expose Israeli intentions to prevent relief supplies from reaching Gaza.” Defying Israeli threats, he said: “I believe that Israeli moves and threats cannot scare us, given that this relief campaign is the key media event in the world at present. There are several international and Arab media networks partaking in the campaign and covering the events step by step.” He admonished that should Israel take any action against the “Freedom Fleet” ships, then it would be internationally monitored.
However, the Kuwaiti parliamentarian did a hatchet job on Kuwaiti local media for failing to properly cover this campaign to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip “in spite of the participation of a Kuwaiti delegation”.
The “Freedom Fleet” consists of a cargo ship funded by Kuwait raising the flags of Turkey and Kuwait, a cargo ship funded by Algeria, and a cargo ship funded by Europe from Sweden and Greece, and five vessels to transport passengers.
One of the boats is named “boat 8,000” taking after the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The fleet is carrying 750 participants from more than 60 countries, although it had received dozens of requests for participation.
The ships of the fleet also carry more than 10,000 tons of medical supplies, building materials, timber, 100 prefabricated houses to shelter tens of thousands of people who lost their homes during the Israeli war on Gaza in early 2009.
They also carry 500 wheelchairs for handicapped Palestinians in Gaza.
The Freedom Fleet mainly aims to defy the three-year blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.
Early in 2009, Israel launched an all-out war on the enclave, leaving 600 Gazans disabled.
Meanwhile, Hamas-led dismissed government in Gaza welcomed here Saturday a Kuwaiti ship’s participation in the Gaza-destined “Freedom Fleet” as a “praiseworthy move”.
Speaking to reporters, Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the dismissed government in Gaza, said: “The presence of the (Kuwaiti) ship shows that the great Kuwaiti people stand beside Gaza and the people of Gaza.” “We greet Kuwait’s Amir, people and government.”
We wish that the Kuwaiti and Algerian ships, together with other ships, could safely reach Gaza.” Earlier in the day, Haniya joined a rally at Gaza harbor as part of underway preparations for receiving the “Freedom Fleet”, which is hoped to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
He urged the international community, mainly the UN and the EU, to pressure Israel to allow the ships to enter the Palestinian territory.
The “Freedom Fleet” consists of a cargo ship funded by Kuwait raising the flags of Turkey and Kuwait, a cargo ship funded by Algeria, and a cargo ship funded by Europe from Sweden and Greece, and five vessels to transport passengers.