Contact lost with Rachell Corrie as of 10:25 GMT+2 hrs

by Bazooka Joe Fri Jun 04, 2010 20:54

Minister Michael Martin said he had reached agreement with the Israeli government to allow the vessel dock in the Israeli port of Ashdod however The Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign said the offer 'was unacceptable to those on the Rachel Corrie who intend to continue on course for Gaza. They are slowing during the night so as not to cross the exclusion zone in darkness.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire on the News at One, RTE Radio 1, June 4 2010
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0604/mideast_av.html?276574...l,209

by Bazooka Joe Fri Jun 04, 2010 14:22

Mairead Corrigan Maguire spoke on RTE Radio 1 News at One today live from the MV Rachel Corrie. She said they were proceeding towards Gaza. Their position was given as appoximately 150 miles from Gaza.

RTE TV News at One. Friday, 4 June 2010 13:53
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0604/mideast_av.html?276570...l,230

Some movement on the diplomatic front with possibility of UN inspections of aid in return for Israeli's lowering level of siege.

by - Fri Jun 04, 2010 13:47

doesn't that break some law?
what kind of technology could a state use to isolate a ship in the mediterranean?
what kind of technology could a state use to locate a ship so it could be blocked leaving other merchant shipping free to send SOS messages should they flounder on WW2 mines or dead green turtles?

who has that kind of know-how?

by RAGE - now shut down the embassy in ireland Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:26

Gaza flotilla: Israel accused of ‘sabotaging’ Irish aid ship Rachel Corrie(Telegraph UK)
Israel has been accused of sabotaging communication systems on the Irish registered aid ship MV Rachel Corrie which is bound for Gaza.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/is....html

Pro-Palestinian campaigners behind the latest seaborne attempt to break the blockade on the Hamas-controlled enclave said that they had lost all contact with the vessel.

The Free Gaza Movement said that it assumed Israel must have sabotaged systems on board the ship, whose passengers include a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a former UN assistant secretary-general.

The Gaza flotilla organisers lost contact with the Gaza-bound MV Rachel Corrie today. Although the Free Gaza movement decided to pull the aid-laden cargo ship into a port to add more high profile people and journalists, the organisers said they couldn’t communicate the decision to those aboard the vessel.

“The situation is we lost contact with the boat. We assume this was sabotage by the Israelis, “ said Audrey Bomse of the Free Gaza Movement.

Around 30 people are blockading the Israeli embassy in Dublin this morning in protest at Israel’s policies on Gaza.

Members of the Irish Anti-war Movement gathered outside the embassy on Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge last night and have remained there in an attempt to keep the building closed for the day.

Richard Boyd Barrett, chair of the movement, said they had undertaken the protest to highlight the “continued inhuman blockade of Gaza”.

“The international community must act now and impose sanctions on Israel. We are calling on the Irish government to break diplomatic ties with Israel now and expel the Israeli ambassador until the siege of Gaza is lifted,” he said.

by dunk Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:10

Keep updated via TWITTER´s #Rachelcorrie tag @ http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23Rachelcorrie
and via FACEBOOK at "Sail to Gaza, Rachel Corrie!" @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sail-to-Gaza-Rachel-Corri...ef=ts

LATEST -

Rachel Corrie: We will reach Gaza Saturday morning 8am. (Guardian report as of Friday 4 June 2010 10.17 BST report)
TWEET @ http://twitter.com/climatecaravan/status/15405106682

PM may let more goods into Strip (jerusalem post 06/04/2010 01:25 )
Navy ready to block protest ship ‘Rachel Corrie’.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177429
via TWEET - http://twitter.com/abeer_dabbas/status/15405090037

The navy is gearing up for the possible interception over the weekend of the MV Rachel Corrie protest ship, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday he was considering letting more goods into Gaza.

In a meeting with Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair, Netanyahu said Israel had an obligation to defend its citizens, but that it was important that non-military supplies reached the people of Gaza.

But under pressure from the US, Netanyahu is now willing to reconsider his policy of closing the Gaza land passages to all but humanitarian supplies.

MV Rachel Corrie: We will reach Gaza Saturday morning 8am