(Image Source: Palestinenote.com )

BY NICK ADAMS

ANCHOR ERICA COGHILL

An Irish and a Canadian ship, both of which set sail earlier this week for the Gaza Strip did not reach their destination. Euronews reports they were stopped about 50 miles from the shore.

“Israeli Marines have reportedly boarded an Irish Canadian Flotilla bound for Hamas-ruled Gaza. According to the pro-Palestinian international solidarity movement, the vessels were carrying aid and medical supplies. Last year, nine Turkish activists were killed in an Israeli raid on a similar convoy -- an incident that damaged ties between Turkey and Israel.”

Israel has enforced a blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2006, after Hamas won the general election. Democracy Now explains, there have been several attempts to slip aid past the Israeli navy in recent years.

“The Freedom Waves to Gaza flotilla marks the latest attempt by international activists to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. Earlier this year, Greece blocked the departure of several ships from another flotilla heading to the region.”

Activists accuse Israel of collectively punishing the entire Gaza population.

But the Israeli military says the measures are necessary to keep weapons from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip and used against Israeli citizens. The blockade is considered a legitimate security action by the U.N.

With Palestinian statehood bids and a possible Israeli attack on Iran making headlines, a writer for The Christian Science Monitor says this flotilla is getting relatively little press. He sums it up in an article titled, “What if they had a Gaza flotilla and no one noticed?”

“This effort is tiny compared to the last one, which originally had 9 boats signed up, over 500 activists, and participants included novelist Alice Walker and a Holocaust survivor. A repeat of the violence of 2010 is vanishingly unlikely, and such symbolic efforts lose force over time, as the public grows used to them.”

According to Ynetnews, the IDF says the media exposure - not humanitarian aid - is the point of the flotillas.

“While the IDF believes ‘Freedom Waves’ does not harbor terrorists on board, the military does believe the activists [wish] to create a maritime provocation for the media's sake – much more than they are interested in delivering aid to the Palestinians.”

Although neither of the two ships were American, Voice of America points out the U.S. government disapproves of its citizens taking part in freedom flotillas.  

“On Thursday, the U.S. State Department renewed a call for Americans to avoid participating in the flotilla, saying they could face legal consequences. At least two Americans are on board.”

But despite the warning, the flotilla organizers say these won’t be the last ships sent to Gaza.