By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East
TYRE, Lebanon – On December 30, a boat carrying international peace activists and medical supplies to Gaza sailed to the port city of Tyre, Lebanon after it was damaged in a collision involving Israeli patrol ships. The SS Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers – physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists from the Free Gaza Solidarity Movement. The SS Dignity was attempting to break the Israeli blockade to deliver humanitarian aid.
The Dignity’s crew and passengers claim that Israeli patrol ships intentionally rammed the boat three times. Denis Healey, Dignity’s captain, added that the Israeli action came “without any warning, or any provocation.”
The collision resulted in extensive damage to the Dignity and according to CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul, who was on board when the incident occurred, the boat was taking on water. Healey told Penhaul, “It could have ended with people drowning if they hit us more square on…It [the Dignity] could have gone down in minutes.”
Former US Representative Cynthia McKinney, who was also aboard the Dignity, recounted the incident: “We were prevented from entering Gaza… by Israeli patrol boats that tracked us for about 30 minutes. They shone their spotlight on us and then all of a sudden they rammed us approximately three times, twice in the front and once in the side.”
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied the activists’ claims that Israeli patrol ships intentionally rammed the Dignity, calling the allegations “absurd.” Palmor said the collision resulted after the Dignity tried to outmaneuver an Israeli navy ship and crashed into it. He added, “There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody.”
In addition, Palmor denied the activists’ claims that the collision occurred without prior warning. He said that the navy patrol boat had warned the Dignity not to proceed to Gaza because it was a closed military area. He added that the interception occurred after the Dignity ignored the radio warning.
Cypriot MP Eleni Theocharous condemned Israel and called it a “terrorist state.” Theocharous and two other Cypriots were aboard the Dignity, which had set sail from Cyprus the day before. She stated that the boat and the individuals on board were not violating any international laws. Rather, she claims that since the interception occurred in international waters, Israel violated international law.
The Dignity was carrying over three tons of Cyprus-donated medical supplies, including surgical equipment and antibiotics. Cyprus state radio reported that the government would seek explanations from Israel over the incident. Additionally, according to the Free Gaza group, the Lebanese government promised to provide a forensic analysis of what happened to the ship.
On December 31, Free Gaza promised to continue its attempts to bring humanitarian supplies to Gaza despite the Israeli blockade. The group’s spokesman, Vangelis Pissios, stated “We have decided to send the same vessel or another one back within the next few days. The route to Gaza must remain open.”
Pissios said that the group is planning three to four monthly trips throughout the winter. Since August, the Free Gaza group has made five successful trips to deliver aid to Gaza.
For more information, please see:
Financial Mirror – Cypriot MP Says Israel Behaving as a Terrorist State – 31 December 2008
International Herald Tribune – Activists Vow to Persist in Gaza Aid Effort – 31 December 2008
Ma’an News Agency – SS Dignity to Be Forensically Analyzed to Verify Israeli Attacks in International Waters – 31 December 2008
Associated Press – Gaza Protest Boat Sails into Lebanon – 30 December 2008
CNN – Gaza Relief Boat Damaged in Encounter with Israeli Vessel – 30 December 2008
Reuters – Gaza Aid Boat Damaged by Israelis Reaches Lebanon – 30 December 2008
Xinhua – Cyprus Regrets Israeli Blockage of Aid Boat for Gaza – 30 December 2008
