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<h1><b>Aid Ship Sets Sail From Iran Bound For
Gaza</b></h1>
<img src="http://www.imemc.org/graphics/date.gif" width=12 height=10 alt="author">
</b></h1><font size=3> Thursday June 17, 2010
12:50<img src="http://www.imemc.org/graphics/person.gif" width=14 height=12 alt="author">
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
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<a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/58948" eudora="autourl">
http://www.imemc.org/article/58948<br><br>
</a></font>One cargo ship full of humanitarian aid has departed from Iran
bound for Gaza, with another ship planning to join it by the weekend. The
Iranian flotilla, organized by the International Red Crescent Society and
funded by private donations, follows an international aid convoy that was
attacked by the Israeli navy on its way to Gaza two weeks ago, killing 9
aid workers.<br><br>
This is not the first time that a ship from Iran has tried to break the
Israeli siege on Gaza. Last year, in the midst of a 3-week long Israeli
assault on Gaza during which 1,400 people were killed, an Iranian ship
attempted to enter Gaza from the Mediterranean Sea, but was turned back
by the Israeli military while still in international waters.<br><br>
The Israeli military did not attack the Iranian ship at that time, but
has threatened to engage the ship that is currently on its way while the
ship is in international waters. This is the same tactic that Israel used
against the international aid flotilla of six ships two weeks ago, in
which the Israeli navy sent in one quarter of the Israeli navy and
boarded the ships using commandos from helicopters.<br><br>
Despite the fact that this action was in direct violation of the law of
the seas, the Israeli government has continued to receive the full
support of its strongest ally, the US government. US President Barack
Obama has not condemned the attack, and said that he would trust the
Israeli government's internal investigation of the incident, in spite of
that government's poor record of investigating itself.<br><br>
The U.S. State Department spokesperson for the region, P.J. Crowley, told
reporters that the US government is extremely concerned about the
international aid ships on their way from the Iranian people to the
people of Gaza. He claimed that the Israelis “have, in fact, in the past,
intercepted ships that were carrying, you know, weapons and armaments
that have been used to threaten the Israeli people.” But Crowley failed
to back this claim with evidence, and the Israeli government has not ever
presented a case in which it captured ships with weapons bound for
Gaza.<br><br>
Palestinians fear that such statements on the part of the US could be
setting the stage for an unnecessary confrontation on the Mediterranean
Sea. The Red Crescent Society is an international aid organization
similar to the Red Cross in the Muslim world. The ship's contents have
been fully inspected, and the manifest verified. Passengers and crew say
that any attempts by the Israeli government to claim that the ship might
have weapons on board would be a complete fabrication. <br><br>
<br><br>
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