Pro-Palestinian blockade-busters reach Gaza

GAZA: A boat carrying 27 pro-Palestinian activists from 13 countries was allowed to dock in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday despite a strict Israeli blockade, in the second such voyage in less than three months. The 20-metre (65-foot) ship "Dignity" arrived in Gaza at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) after departing from Cyprus on Tuesday afternoon to protest against the Israeli sanctions imposed after the Islamist Hamas movement seized Gaza in June 2007.

The group includes Mairead Corrigan Maguire - who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for peace efforts in Northern Ireland - Palestinian parliamentarian Mustafa Barghuti and left-wing Israeli activist Gideon Spiro.

At an outdoor press conference after their arrival Barghuti hailed what he called "an historic day in the life of the Palestinian people."

"We have arrived here without having to apply for permission from the Israelis," Barghuti added. The lawmaker resides in the West Bank town of Ramallah and under normal circumstances would require a permit to enter Gaza. "Today the embargo has been broken. It is a message to the people of Gaza that we have not been abandoned," he said.

Gaza-based MP Jamal al-Khudari, who heads a popular committee dedicated to ending the sanctions, said the next step was for activists to break the blockade "by air, through sending a plane." Mohammed Awad, a senior official in Gaza's Hamas-run government, welcomed the activists and called on Arab leaders to make the same voyage.

GAZA CITY, Wednesday, AFP