tagged: dignite al-karame, flotilla2, Greece, intercepted, Israel, kastelorizo, off Israel, ship to gaza

Israeli Commandos Intercepted ‘Dignite Al-Karame’, Ship to Gaza (videos)

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Ship to Gaza

Israeli commandos intercepted the French yacht Dignite-Al Karame that was aiming to symbolically break the Gaza Strip blockade on Tuesday. According to latest information the vessel is been escorted to the port of Ashdod. Isreali defense Forces gave order for the interception of the vessel after the activists on board refused to change route.

Video by IDFdesk

Dignite-Al Karama, part of the Gaza Flotilla 2, left the Greek island of Kastelorizo on Sunday evening with official destination the port of Alexandria in Egypt. However the vessel changed its route and headed to Gaza strip.

Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement said the Dignite-Al Karame had declared Alexandria, Egypt, as its destination so it could slip out of Greece. You can change destinations legally in the middle of the Mediterranean, she said, according to Iraeli Haaretz.

It has not been cleared whether the vessel was intercepted on Israel territorial waters. All 10 ctivists form several European countries and the 3 crew members are well and according to Israeli media, the interception lasted only a couple of minutes.

The other 20 ships of the anti-blockade flotilla were grounded in Greece and later transferred to other tasks after Minister of Citizens’ Protection banned them from leaving Greece to Gaza Strip after pressure of  Israel.

Greece, a former advocate of the Palestian cause and the PLO,  hindered the sail of ships to Gaza in fact coming to the aid of Israel, after the bloody assault of the Turkish vessels in May 2010.

Etienne Augé, professor of international communication at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, has an explanation for Greece’s behaviour and Israel’s media strategy:

“I think actually the Greek government accepted the pressures of Israel, but also knows that activists seek to have violent repression, which they seek to prevent. To be honest, since the question of avoiding civilian casualties, Israel will remember in future to “thank” the Greek government with one or another way” Augé told Greek newspaper Ethnos on Sunday and added:

“It seems that Israel took the lesson last year preventing the control of information, rather than having to suffer damage from suppression. The news in the international press for the new flotilla is minimal, because the states have undertaken to prevent the vessels before having to deal the Israeli army. Israel has managed to secure the cooperation of the several states in this direction, by sending the message “if you do not like the way we treat this case, then do it yourself”.

Debt-ridden Greece tried to take advantage and boost Greek-Israeli relations after the relations between Turkey and Israel cooled off after the Mavi Marmara assault that ended with 9 dead Turkish nationals. Relations between Greece and Israel saw an unprecedented spring nonetheless due to common interests in the energy resources of the East Mediterranean Sea.