I was sitting in the hotel lobby talking to some of the new passengers who are leaving for Gaza sometime in the next few days, when my Cyprus phone rang. “There is a bomb on the boat.” The caller said. “There are two bombs on the boat, and the boat will blow up when you leave.” Then he started to laugh. If I’d had the presence of mind to answer, I would have asked him how he knew which boat we were taking since WE don’t know, but, like most obscene phone calls, the caller catches you off-guard, and the only answers seen to be after the fact.
 
We are getting ready to leave again for the second trip to Gaza. This time, we have two Palestinian parliamentarians on board and four physicians who are going to assess the state of the healthcare system in Gaza. As the first trip, there are glitches and stumbles and promises that have been broken unintentially. We are, after all, not seasoned boat buyers, boat passengers or even boat attorneys. But, we have learned much over the past few months.
 
We have become seasoned bargainers, looking at boats with a careful eye to how much they cost and how much the fuel will cost and how much the crew will cost. We knew none of that six months ago. One of us has become a better attorney than many attorneys,as she travels the complex maza of maritime law. Several of us now know the difference between fore and aft, between port and starboard, but many still got seasick. We have learned that we have succeeded in spite of ourselves sometimes,and because of ourselves as well.
 
The naysayers said it couldn’t be done, but we paid little attention, because we were determined. This trip, carrying 22 people to Gaza is filled with Palestinians who want to go back to Palestine. They are doctors and lawyers and members of parliament and businessmen. And, of course, that is one of the primary objectives to breaking the back of the blockade. Palestinians should have the right to go home, to visit their relatives, to enjoy the same courtesy that is given to most of us.
 
The 35-mile coast of Gaza is the only piece of  the Mediterranean under occupation by a foreign military force except for the Northern coast of Cyrpus, which has been occupied by Turkey since 1974. It’s why the Cypriots are so helpful for this project, and it could never have been accommplished without them. They understand military occupation. On a hillside overlooking Nicosia is a huge sign that says, “Isn’t it great to be a Turk!” You can see the sign for miles, larger than the Hollywood sign.
 
Like the sickening sign on the checkpoint outside Bethlehem that says, “Peace be with you” in three languages, these  signs  are finger-in-your-eye jeers from an occupier. And so, like any occupier, the thugs that follow them decide to threaten the people who challenge. The phone call today will be one of many. We got them the last time, threatening to kill us, telling us that mines were planted outside of Gaza, saying that the boats would be sabotaged.
 
But, like the last tiem, we will still go. And we will put Israel on notice that any harm that comes to the 22 people who are on this boat, the boat itself, or the people waiting for us will be because Israel doesn’t know how to confront peaceful protest with anything except intimidation.

—
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 08 17 67
www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm