USTOGAZA confirms that their ship, "The Audacity of Hope," is returning to port in Greece, having been blocked by the Greek Coast Guard from participating in the flotilla to Gaza. The Greek Government issued a statement earlier today prohibiting departures to Gaza:
Pursuant to a decision by the Minister of Citizen Protection Mr. C. Papoutsis, the departure of ships with Greek and foreign flags from Greek ports to the maritime area of Gaza has been prohibited today. By orders of the Hellenic Coast Guard Head Quarters to all local Hellenic Coast Guard Authorities, all appropriate measures are taken for the implementation of the said decision.
Yediot Ahronot (crediting Aviel Magnezi) reports that the Greek Coast Guard stopped the U.S. vessel " some 25 minutes after its unauthorized departure."
Haaretz reports (crediting Amira Hass, Barak Ravid, and Reuters) that Greek authorities have blocked a Canadian ship, named Tahrir, as well. "[P]ort authority officials boarded the ship demanding its license. Activists handed over the documentation[.]"
[I]n light of Greece's decision to block all ships heading to the strip, the flotilla has been delayed further.
Tweets from passengers on the U.S. ship report a confrontation with the Greek Coast Guard; the Captain's refusal to return to report; threats of nonviolent resistance, followed by a decision to turn back when Greek commandos threatened to board.
Passengers on the U.S. ship are protesting Greek cooperation in enforcement of what they call an illegal blockade. According to Haaretz, however, (crediting Barak Ravid), a draft of the report of the UN investigation into last year's Gaza flotilla
determined that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is in keeping with international law, and therefore its actions to stop the flotilla were also legal.
Turkish officials are said to be "'very worried' about the harsh criticism of Turkey they expect the report to contain, and want Israel to agree to a softened version as part of a package deal to end the crisis between the two countries over the flotilla, which took place in May 2010."
Israel does come in for some criticism:
The report also states that, while Israel Defense Forces soldiers acted in self-defense, they used disproportionate force that led to the death of nine Turkish citizens. The report recommends that Israel pay compensation to the families of the dead and injured Turkish citizens, which Israel has already said it is willing to do.
My own view of the current flotilla, previously expressed, "is that it is unwise of Israel to bar all ships from reaching Gaza.
IMHO, if they [those operating the ships] do not want to unload in El-Arish for inspection and transhipment to Gaza, an arrangement should be made available for them to be inspected, either at sea or in an Israeli port, and, if no contraband is found, allowed to proceed to Gaza."
The reference to El-Arish is to an earlier report in Haaretz that "Israel and Egypt have reached an understanding that the ships taking part in the Gaza flotilla will be allowed to unload their cargo in the Egyptian port of El-Arish, where it will be checked and then transferred to the Gaza Strip via land[.]"
The point is that the blockade's justification relates not to Israel keeping innocent civilians out of the Gaza Strip but rather to keeping out contraband and detainable persons.
Of course, pasengers on the U.S. ship, who maintain that their only cargo is letters to people in the Gaza Strip, could have offered to submit to inspection at sea.
I do have a particular problem with USTOGAZA, however, and that is its willingness to fund participation in the flotilla, in part, with funds obtained from a benefit with the notorious antisemite Gilad Atzmon. IMHO, any funds raised from the Atzmon benefit should be returned and an apology should be made. Until then, the choice to associate politically with Atzmon will continue to dog The Audacity to Hope.