Israel may stop it, but Freedom Flotilla III will still succeed, says Zoabi

An Arab-Israeli member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, said on Friday that the political-humanitarian message of Freedom Flotilla III would still succeed even if Israel intercepts it in international waters using “aggressive” tactics, as it did in 2010, Al-Resalah has reported.

Haneen Zoabi MK said that the flotilla has put the issue of the Gaza blockade back to the top of the agenda of international diplomacy and reactivated it among stakeholders in Israel. This has caused the Israeli leadership’s plans to remove the blockade from the political mindset to fail.

“Whether the occupation allows the flotilla to get through or not,” she said, “it will have reminded the world and international community that Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Freedom Flotilla III reminds the world that the 8-year Israeli siege on Gaza is a violation of international law, added the MK.

Although she expects Israel to intercept the flotilla, Israeli still thinks that the policy of threatening others is successful. “Israeli political terrorism will not, however, succeed in dealing with the flotilla.”

Zoabi took part in the 2010 Freedom Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli commandos who killed 9 humanitarians on board in an act of piracy on the high seas. She called on the Palestinian Authority to stop security cooperation with the occupation authorities. She also said that the Israeli government’s threats against the Arab-Israel MK on board Freedom Flotilla III would not affect him and his colleagues.

Freedom Flotilla III has set sail for the Gaza Strip and is expected to arrive this week, in the face of Israeli threats to intercept the ships.