French protest boat heads for Gaza blockade

A French motor yacht slipped out of Greek waters yesterday in an attempt to break Israeli’s naval blockade on Gaza, reviving an international campaign that appeared to have ground to a halt.

The Dignite al Karama is so far the only boat in a planned flotilla organised by pro-Palestinian activists to set sail from Greece, after the authorities there blocked other vessels from leaving the port of Athens, Piraeus.

The 19-metre yacht had eight passengers aboard and expected to be “off Gaza within a day or two”, said a spokesman for the French Boat to Gaza campaign, Jean-Claude Lefort.

Mr Lefort said the Dignite had managed to slip past the Greek authorities because “it wasn’t spotted. It wasn’t in Piraeus, it was somewhere else.”

While the Dignite celebrated its departure, frustrated activists from the Spanish boat in the flotilla occupied the Spanish Embassy in Athens yesterday, a diplomatic source said.

Thirty mainly Spanish activists had met with their ambassador to ask Madrid to put pressure on Greece to allow them to sail, according to one of the protesters. They then “decided to occupy the rooms,” he said.

“It’s somewhat of a symbolic occupation. There are only four activists currently in the embassy, all of whom are Spanish,” the source from the embassy said, adding that a dozen supporters were gathered in the street.

Another small boat, the Juliana, was preparing to leave the Alimos marina south of Piraeus yesterday, a spokesman for the boat’s Greek, Norwegian and Swedish crew said.

Meanwhile Captain John Klusmer of the US boat Audacity of Hope was released yesterday without charge by a prosecutor in Piraeus, according to Jane Hirschmann, speaking on behalf of his group.

Capt. Klusmer was detained after the US boat was intercepted by coastguards on Friday while attempting to break Greece’s ban.

Greek authorities said they imposed a ban on the flotilla’s departure for the “safety” of the activists on board, but pro-Palestinian supporters have accused Athens of merely extending Israel’s blockade.

An attempt by the Canadian Tahrir to set sail was thwarted on Monday just minutes after it left port on the island of Crete.

The Tahrir, which was carrying activists from Canada, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey, was boarded by more than a dozen armed special forces, according to passengers on the boat, and was forced to turn back to port.

The Freedom Flotilla II had orginally intended to set sail from Greece with 12 boats and over 350 activists from 22 countries, but has come up against a stream of obstacles, including two vessels they claimed were sabotaged.

Organisers have blamed Israel for sabotaging the propellers on the Irish and Swedish-owned boats and for blackmailing Greece into imposing the ban on all Gaza-bound vessels leaving its ports.