Tag: maan news agency

“Welcome to Palestine” deportee ready to try again

by adminin Writing

dsc05630Maan News Agency, July 21, 2011

Laura Durkay spent 100 hours in an Israeli prison simply for declaring her intention to visit Bethlehem and its neighboring Aida refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

But the 29-year-old activist and filmmaker says, if she had the money, she’d gladly do it again. And she’s quick to add that her ordeal is “nowhere close to what happens to Palestinians” who resist the Israeli occupation.

Durkay participated in the July 8 fly-in, a protest organized to call attention to freedom of movement restrictions that affect both West Bank Palestinians and those who dare to sympathize with them. As Durkay did, participants were to openly declare their intention to visit Palestine at Israeli passport control — a small, peaceful action that could lead to deportation.

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Second flotilla ends as Israel seizes boat

by adminin Writing

dsc06758Maan News Agency, July 21, 2011

Early Tuesday morning, the Israeli navy overtook the Dignite Al Karame. A French-flagged boat, it was the only vessel of the flotilla that managed to reach international waters.

The Dignite Al Karame’s attempt to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip came a month after the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, withdrew from the flotilla.

The organizers cited “technical problems which were caused by Israeli attacks last year,” referring to the 2010 raid, during which Israeli soldiers killed nine activists.

Eight of the dead were Turkish nationals. One was a Turkish-American.

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Organizers: Gaza flotilla era may be over

by adminin Lead Story, Writing

dsc06724Maan News Agency, July 2, 2011

A Greek decision to block ships from sailing to the Gaza Strip has prompted some organizers to rethink the flotilla movement that for years challenged Israel’s blockade of the coastal enclave.

But US activists remained upbeat Friday as they discussed alternative ways to get to Gaza.

The activists said they felt that they had accomplished their goal of bringing attention to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has been in full effect for five years after previous restrictions under a policy of closure.

Passengers said the bureaucratic delays, physical blockages and threat of violence were “just a little taste” of the restrictions on freedom of movement faced by the 1.6 million Palestinians who live in Gaza.

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Greece halts flotilla bound for Gaza

by adminin Lead Story, Writing

dsc06807Maan News Agency, July 1, 2011

The US Boat to Gaza left the Athens Port at 4:50 p.m. on Friday, expecting to be stopped by Greek authorities in the country’s coastal waters on its way to meet a French ship that had already left port.

Shortly after it sailed the US boat was intercepted by Greek officials, at the same time organizers of the Canadian boat to Gaza said the coastguard surrounded their vessel and prevented it from leaving.

At sea, the US ship attempted to secure passage through coastguard ships – one with armed soldiers aboard – which demanded it return, following the passage of a decision by the Greek Cabinet that afternoon, which according to organizers mandated that “no boat will sail for the Gaza Strip from Greece.”

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Gaza goes mainstream

by adminin Writing

dsc06459Maan News Agency, June 28, 2011

At 33, Megan Horan is one of the younger passengers on the US Boat to Gaza. She admits that she is also a newcomer to the issues surrounding Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Speaking to Maan News Agency, Horan explains that she attended an interfaith conference last summer, soon after the Israeli raid on the flotilla that left nine activists on the Mavi Marmara dead. A Palestinian speaker who mentioned the recent attempt to break the blockade piqued her interest, as did Ann Wright who spoke of her experience on last year’s US boat, the Challenger 1.

“When I returned to Seattle, I started to really dig,” says Horan, who works in hi-tech.

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Flotilla organizers shake off threats

by adminin Writing

dsc06482Maan News Agency, June 28, 2011

At a spirited press conference in Athens today, organizers and participants of the Second Freedom Flotilla announced that recent events have not weakened their resolve to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The group also called into question American foreign policy.

While organizers remain reluctant to give an exact exit date—saying only that the flotilla will set sail for Gaza in the next few days—a departure seems imminent.

Members of European Parliament and a number of European politicians were present. The nine organizers and participants who spoke at the press conference sat before a white, red, black, and green banner that read, “We are breaking the blockade” in Greek.

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Complaint against US boat threatens Gaza voyage

by adminin Writing

dsc06273Maan News Agency, June 25, 2011

Organizers of the second Freedom Flotilla say that an administrative complaint has been filed against the US Boat to Gaza, the Audacity of Hope, claiming that the vessel is not seaworthy. This could delay or altogether prevent the ship from leaving Athens.

The harbor master received notification of the complaint Thursday afternoon, two days after suspected Mossad agents showed up at the ship.

The complainant is unknown. As of time of writing, a Greek lawyer representing the second Freedom Flotilla was working to obtain more details.

Israel has been open about its intentions to stop the flotilla using any means possible—including diplomatic avenues, lawsuits, and a media smear campaign.

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Flotilla organizers say Israel pressuring Greek government

by adminin Politics, Writing

flotilla_palestinian_flag1Maan News Agency, June 25, 2011

Organizers of the US Boat to Gaza say that the Greek government has come under intense pressure from Israel. The Israeli government is allegedly using trade agreements with the Greeks as leverage.

Spokesman of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gregory Delavekouras confirmed that Israel had contacted Greece about the US Boat to Gaza, which organizers have leased from Greek owners, as well as the flotilla in general.

“We’ve been in touch with Israel, we know their position, they’ve made it very clear,” he said.

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Savvy flotilla prep in full swing at Athens port

by adminin Lead Story, Writing

dsc06290Maan News Agency, June 25, 2011

Non-violence training and anti-sabotage measures are in place for the volunteers, activists and media arriving in Athens as the Freedom Flotilla II prepares to sail to Gaza.

In hopes of preventing sabotage which organizers said docked two boats from the 2010 flotilla, the ships for the June voyage have been moored in undisclosed locations, and press members have been asked not to release photographs of the vessels.

Upon arrival, those registered to sail to Gaza and attempt to break the Israeli blockade will participate in seminars designed by flotilla organizers on how to handle expected confrontations with Israeli forces when the boats approach the Gaza shore.

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Israel quashes West Bank protests

by adminin Israel, Writing

naksa_day_mya_guarnieri1Maan News Agency, June 5, 2011

An estimated 300 Palestinians who gathered at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem were met with tear gas and rubber coated bullets on Sunday, as they marked the 44th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

“To Jerusalem we go,” read signs held by protesters, who marched to the checkpoint separating the central West Bank from Jerusalem, located on the route of the separation wall, built some 5 kilometers on the Palestinian side of the 1967 border.

“Freedom is a human right,” another sign said, held by one of the few men who were able to bypass a heavy Israeli military cordon outside the checkpoint, which severed the crowd in two.

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