[View the story "Freedom Flotilla 2 - Mavi Marmara No More?" on Storify ]Freedom Flotilla 2 - Mavi Marmara No More? As several international activists gear up to attempt to enter Gaza by sea, Turkey has opted out of participating in the Freedom Flotilla 2. Storified by The Stream · Wed, Oct 26 2011 21:59:44
The Stream - Freedom Flotilla 2 - Mavi Marmara No More?AJstream
Tweeting with #flotilla2 , and blogging as they depart, hundreds of activists are planning to set sail to Gaza in hopes of ending the Israeli blockade.
Follow @GFFAusGroup to receive real-time updates about the Australian contingent to Gaza #flotilla2norashalaby
Our destination is Gaza. Our means are non-violent. Our goal is to lift the illegal siege, completely & permanently. #flotilla2USBOATTOGAZA
Where are all the twitter idols who were mass tweeting about Egypt and Syria? #Palestine too volatile for you? #Flotilla2ELO_BORG
Imagine if S Africa Apartheid regime said "no need to end apartheid, blacks are well fed here." Oh. Wait. They DID say that. #flotilla2avinunu
Users are sharing the following video to rally support for the Freedom Flotilla 2: Stay Human.
Freedom Flotilla 2: Message in a Bottle.mp4adshap1
This event is a repeat of a flotilla that attempted to break the Israeli blockade a year ago, when a Turkish ship named the Mavi Marmara was stormed by Israeli commandos and nine Turkish activists were killed, sparking an international incident. This time around, however, the Mavi Marmara will not be participating in this flotilla. Officials claimed the ship has been facing technical difficulties.
There is no surprise in the news that the Mavi Marmara will not be part of the fleet expected to set sail soon to force the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The reason for this development is now being explained as the result of “technical difficulties.”hurriyetdailynews.com
IHH, the Islamic aid group in Turkey that refitted the Mavi Marmara after Israel returned it following the raid, said technical problems prevented it from joining 10 other ships that will head for Gaza from European ports on June 25. The original plan was to sail around the first anniversary of the Israeli raid before dawn on May 31, 2010.boston.com
In the end the fact the Mavi Marmara would be heading for Gaza and thus causing a new crisis for Turkey at a time when its regional responsibilities are increasing, is not something Ankara could have risked. An unnecessary and untimely crisis has thus been averted.hurriyetdailynews.com
However, Turkish activists will be participating in the movement.
According to the Turkish daily Gazeteport's report, and the IHH's official website, despite the fact that Mavi Marmara will not sail to Gaza in this year's flotilla, many of its activists will be placed in other participating vessels.thememriblog.org
U.S. activists are also headed to Gaza on the flotilla.
The US boat will sail from Athens to join around 10 ships carrying some 500 to 600 activists from 22 countries. The boats are expected to leave various Mediterranean ports around June 20 as part of the "Freedom Flotilla II" aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade. Activists said other countries taking part the flotilla include ships from Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Britain, France, Greece and Norway.worldbulletin.net
Several of the 36 Americans who plan to sail on a US-flagged boat told a news conference that they are aware of the risks they’ll be taking when they join the flotilla on a still-undetermined date later this month. The vessel, which will be called “The Audacity of Hope,” takes its name from one of President Barack Obama’s books.arabnews.com
Activists aboard the U.S. envoy have created videos expressing their desire to enter Gaza. The clips have been featured on the site www.ustogaza.org .
Medea Benjamin, US Boat to Gaza PassengerUSBOATTOGAZA
The U.S.'s involvement has been met with much criticism and is now in the center of a legal debate. Dr. Alan Bauer recently filed a lawsuit to seize ships headed to the Gaza Strip.
The suit, Bauer v. The Mavi Marmara, was filed in Manhattan federal court, seeking to confiscate 14 ships, which are scheduled to participate in the upcoming flotilla and which were outfitted with funds Bauer says were unlawfully raised in the United States by anti-Israel groups, including The Free Gaza Movement. Over the weekend, however, the Turkish IHH organization said the Mavi Marmara was still too damaged to sail for Gaza.jpost.com
The plaintiff, a biologist from the Chicago area, and his son Jonathan, then aged seven, were seriously wounded when Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a bomb, packed with metal spikes and nails, in the center of a crowd of shoppers on King George Street in Jerusalem on March 21, 2002.jpost.com
Several sources are speculating that the Freedom Flotilla 2 will be met with confrontation as the Israeli Army has been practicing drills ahead of the boats' arrival.
The Israeli military says it's holding a drill ahead of the next Gaza-bound flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists who could try to breach Israel's naval blockade of the territory.news.yahoo.com
Israel's Army Radio says commandoes were practicing the takeover of a ship and that troops have been trained to board vessels more quickly than they did last year to minimize any violent confrontations.news.yahoo.com
