On Thursday of last week, as the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was preparing to leave Guinea Bissau with a humanitarian aid shipment for Gaza, the flotilla was contacted by the Guinea Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR), requesting an inspection of their lead ship – Akdenez. This was a very unusual request as the ship had already passed all required inspections. However, on Friday afternoon, before the inspection was completed, the GBISR, in a transparently political move, informed the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that it had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two of the Freedom Flotilla’s ships, one of which is a cargo ship already loaded with over 5,000 tons of life-saving aid for the people of Gaza.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said
“I participated in the flotilla to break the siege of Gaza in 2011. I saw for myself that Israel would stop at nothing to prevent the flotilla from sailing. Our boat was sabotaged, we were blocked from leaving by Greek authorities and then ultimately we were surrounded by Israeli warships and imprisoned. Unfortunately the Israeli authorities are engaged in the same tactics again.
“In its communication informing the flotilla of the cancellation, the GBISR made specific reference to the planned mission to Gaza. It also made several extraordinary requests for information, including confirmation of the ships’ destination, any potential additional port calls, and the discharge port for humanitarian aid and estimated arrival dates and times. It also demanded a formal letter explicitly approving the transportation of humanitarian aid to Gaza when they know this cannot be produced. This is undoubtedly as a result of pressure from Israel on the government of Guinea Bissau. The Israeli state will use every device available to it to prevent aid from the Freedom Flotilla reaching Gaza”.
Deputy Murphy said
“Tánaiste Micheál Martin has recently seen for himself the fact that Israel is blocking the vast majority of aid coming from Rafah. He has rightly described this as criminal.
The Irish government can help to overcome this criminal blockade by facilitating the Freedom Flotilla’s humanitarian mission. My understanding is that the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, as a Qualified person under The Mercantile Marine Act, 1955, as amended by the Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1998, and Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 2006, has the authority to register the Freedom Flotilla ships as Irish ships. This would enable the flotilla to sail to Gaza under the Irish Flag. I call on Minister Ryan to move quickly to make this happen and ensure the aid can begin its journey to Gaza”.