Passengers and crew from five different countries were on board of the ship named Rachel Corrie – in honor to the US activist who was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer when she was trying to prevent a Palestinian house form being demolished- mostly from Ireland and Malaysia.

On board of the ship was Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire and former UN Assistant Secretary General Dennis Halliday.
Shortly before the new Israeli assault – which adds up to the one happened last week where at least nine activists were killed- Maguire made reference to the effort that they were making to break the blockade on Gaza.

Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire summed up the hopes of this joint Irish-Malaysian effort to overcome Israel’s cruel blockade by saying:
"We are inspired by the people of Gaza whose courage, love and joy in welcoming us, even in the midst of such suffering gives us all hope. They represent the very best of humanity, and we are all privileged to be given the opportunity to support them in their nonviolent struggle for human dignity, and freedom. This trip will again highlight Israel’s criminal blockade and illegal occupation. In a demonstration of the power of global citizen action, we hope to awaken the conscience of all."

Maguire was later interviewed by the movement, this time she spoke from the prison where she had been taken by the Israeli forces. She reassured that the only thing they were demanding was the right to freedom of the Palestinian people, and to put an end to the Israeli blockade. “They want to determine their own future”, she said, in reference to the Palestinian people.

DemocracyNow reported that former UN Assistant Secretary General Dennis Halliday also spoke about what happened. “The outrage of taking Irish citizens prisoner in the international waters, that is an outrage of a huge dimension. Armed men, heavily weaponed, threatening Irish citizens and Malaysian citizens, who have bought this boat for us, and the crew, excellent Filipino guys, and the captain is from Scotland—you know, we were all rounded up and treated like animals. I mean, it was not acceptable.”

Meanwhile, and amid growing criticism from the international community, Israel refuses to allow an independent international investigation into what happened with the flotilla.

For this reason, human rights organizations like Amnesty International are collecting signatures to pressure the Israeli authorities to change their position. In a week, Amnesty’s campaign has managed to collect over 40,300 signatures.

Also, the raid on the Rachel Corrie ship could cause diplomatic conflict between Ireland and Israel because the Irish government had made a formal request to the Israeli authorities to let the ship get to Gaza.

Besides, the Irish parliament had condemned the attack perpetrated by Israel earlier last week, and had demanded “the end of the Israeli blockade on Gaza”.

Photo: freegaza.org