WEARING flip-flops and a baseball cap, with a basketball tucked under his arm that he hopes to give to a Palestinian child, Andrew Muncie boarded a wooden boat at Larnaca in Cyprus yesterday in determined mood.
The softly spoken, bespectacled 34-year-old from Spean Bridge is one of seven Britons among 44 activists hoping to break Israel's "illegal" blockade of the poverty-stricken Gaza Strip.
"We intend to push forward to Gaza in the face of any illeg
itimate or belligerent demands to stop," he told The Scotsman. "We believe we have a moral and a legal right to go to Gaza."
Other passengers on the two Greek-flagged boats include an 81-year-old nun – one of ten Americans – and Lauren Booth, Tony Blair's sister-in-law. The activists come from 14 countries and include teachers, journalists, doctors, students and musicians. The US-based Free Gaza Movement raised most of the £162,000 needed to pay for the voyage from private donations.
Mr Muncie has philosophy degrees from Edinburgh and Aberdeen universities and plays on-line poker for a living. There are also three Palestinians and an Israeli Jewish peace activist.
They hope to publicise the plight of Gaza's isolated and impoverished 1.5 million Palestinians and set a precedent that will establish a permanent sea link to the territory. It is a precedent Israel regards as dangerous and is determined to prevent. Israel accepts the activists are not a security threat, but has warned them to stay clear of Gaza – without specifying what action its navy might take – as the territory is controlled by Hamas.
Yet Israel is likely to find itself in a bind today when the boats, the Free Gaza and the Liberty, are due to approach an Israeli- imposed special security zone in Gazan waters. Any heavy-handed measures to board, turn back or impound the boats, which are equipped with live video-streaming facilities, could be a public relations disaster.
Paul Larudee, an American co-founder of the group, said: "If we are stopped or seized, we intend to pursue legal action against Israel for violating our rights."
The activists insist they pose no threat. "The Israelis have cannon, machine-guns, warships, helicopters and jets. All we have are hearing aids and biodegradable balloons for Palestinian children," said Greta Berlin, one of the American organisers.
The boats were thoroughly vetted by Cypriot authorities to confirm they were carrying nothing illicit. In turn, with the activists nervous of a possible sabotage attempt by Israeli agents, Cypriot police frogmen checked underneath the boats.
The passengers sang a peace song in Arabic, flashed peace signs and hugged each other as they boarded the boats.
Theresa McDermott, 41, a postal logistics worker from Edinburgh and the only other Scot in the group, said it was good to be finally setting off on the 240-mile voyage, which has been in the planning for two years.
"I'm tired, but not nervous," she said. Referring to Mr Muncie, who has been deported twice from the West Bank by the Israeli authorities, she added: "We have both dealt with the Israelis before. They can be a bit rough, but they won't kill us." She was "appalled" by what she saw on a 2004 visit to the West Bank. "But Gaza is so much worse – it's a big, open-air prison that's under siege. We're going to try to give hope to the Gazan people. The Israelis claim the occupation is over, but that's utter lies."
The activists say their primary aim is a human rights' one, not to deliver aid. "The most important thing we bring are our voices," said Ms Booth. Wearing a "Free Gaza" charm and standing barefoot in the heat of Larnaca, she added: "These boats should be loaded with diplomats from around the world wanting to pursue the rights they supposedly represent."
The campaigners argue that as the boats will not pass through Israeli waters, Israel has no right to stop their mission. "Israel can't say we no longer occupy Gaza but at the same time control its borders," Ms Booth said.
The Israeli ministry of foreign affairs has offered to deliver any aid the Free Gaza Movement has through official Israeli channels and border crossings. But the campaigners countered that a prime reason for their mission is "Israel's deplorable track record of delivering supplies".
They added: "Your offer also slights our human rights mission which is to break the siege of Gaza … where Israel collectively punishes 1.5 million Palestinians."
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but imposed an economic blockade on the territory last year after Hamas seized control from Fatah, and in response to rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The full article contains 796 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
