UPDATE: Sunday’s Gaza-bound flotilla “delayed”

By Roee Ruttenberg October 28, 2011 | Edit

Organizers of a flotilla destined to leave Turkey for Gaza on Sunday have postponed its departure, without citing reason.

As reported on +972 on Wednesday (click here), organizers of the flotilla had invited journalists to come to Turkey to cover the flotilla’s journey. Those journalists have now been asked to stand-by until further instructions, as the flotilla will not depart on Sunday as originally planned.

It is unclear if the journey was postponed due to internal logistical concerns, or perhaps frustrations over the leaked details of the somewhat secretive mission. There’s also speculation that the recent earthquake in Southeastern Turkey and the ongoing recovery efforts being made there may have called into question the possible timing of the voyage.

UPDATE: Sunday's Gaza-bound flotilla
Participants of the US boat on the 2011 Gaza-bound flotilla in Athens, June 2011 (photo: Mya Guarnieri)

Some of the groups involved in previous flotilla events denied +972’s reports that a flotilla was planned in the first place, despite confirmed accounts from selectively invited journalists. Among the groups is the Free Gaza Movement, an umbrella organizations for a number of other smaller groups. Writing on +972’s comment sections, it’s co-founder Greta Berlin defended the mission of the flotillas:

We’d like to make this very clear, and we’ve said it before. We do NOT sail to Gaza to deliver supplies. We go to bring the attention of the world to the fact that Israel locks the people of Gaza into an open air prison with no freedom of movement. We take in supplies that are forbidden by Israel to the occupied people of Gaza, supplies such as high end medical supplies, cement and PVC pipes. We are a humanitarian mission because the UN has designated that human rights workers are humanitarian workers.

Roee Ruttenberg is a freelance journalist, producer, and television news correspondent. He has worked for ABC News, CCTV (Chinese Television) News, Al Jazeera English and ZDF German Television, as well as several other international news outlets. His writings have been published in Ha’aretz and The Jerusalem Post. He divides his time between Israel and the United States.

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