Israel clamped down on land and sea access to Gaza after the radical, anti-Israeli party Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave there three years ago. Since then, activists have made multiple unsuccessful attempts to break the blockade, including one that ended in nine deaths after Israeli troops boarded and seized a six-boat flotilla in May.
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship announced today (July 7) that the new nonviolent attempt it is supporting marks the first time that Jewish groups have initiated an attempt to break the blockade.
Rick Ufford-Chase, the fellowship’s executive director, said two groups based in Germany and one based in the United Kingdom are preparing a single boat at an undisclosed Mediterranean port. He said they are loading the vessel with medicine, baby food, children’s clothing, outboard motors for fishermen, school and art supplies, and musical instruments.
Speaking at a “peace breakfast” during the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly here, Ufford-Chase called nonviolent direct action “a critical tool that must be used by both secular and faith-based organizations” to break the Israeli blockade and support the people of Gaza.
“We will stand with our Jewish sisters and brothers as they call for a just peace in Israel Palestine,” he said. They see the blockade as “destroying the soul of Israel” and standing in moral conflict with the religion of Judaism, according to Ufford-Chase.
Ufford-Chase said the German groups, European Jews for a Just Peace in the Middle East and Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, and the British group Jews for Justice for the Palestinians will announce the date and location of their launch once their vessel is under way sometime in the next few weeks.
Len Bjorkman, a Peace Fellowship spokesman, said confidentiality about preparations makes sense because of the risk of Israeli sabotage.
He said the boat has space for about 14 people, and he understands two Lutheran ministers will be on board. If a second boat can be readied to join the mission, the Peace Fellowship is seeking a place on board for a Presbyterian Peace Fellowship member, he said.
Bjorkman said the outboard motors in the boat’s cargo are intended for Palestinian fishermen whose motors were confiscated by Israelis enforcing the blockade. Fishermen risk losing their motors if they venture beyond three miles of the coast to fish in non-polluted waters, he said.
In an effort to be “thoroughly transparent,” Bjorkman said, the mission’s sponsors have invited the Israelis to inspect their cargo, but they have received no response, he said.
He said the Israelis will inevitably try to block the ship’s communications once it embarks. That means it needs sophisticated communication and recording equipment, and that adds to the expense of outfitting, he said.
Walter Owensby of the Peace Fellowship, a former specialist in international relations with the PCUSA’s Washington, D.C., office, said the planned mission serves as a reminder that divisions over the Israel-Palestine conflict are not religious at their base.
“There are Jews who are taking a completely different approach to seeking peace with Palestine than the government of Israel does,” he said.
They are willing to take “risks within their own religious community by doing what they feel is the just thing,” he said. “And we wanted to associate ourselves with that kind of moral heroism.”
