Saed Bannoura

[Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر ‘Īdu l-Fiṭr‎), often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break the fast" and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It is celebrated starting on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal. Eid ul-Fitr is a three day celebration. WikiPedia]

The Israeli navy barred on Sunday morning a ship which was supposed to sail from Jaffa port to the Gaza Strip carrying medical and humanitarian supplies. The ship was organized by Arab leaders and leftist activists in Israel, the Arabs48 news website reported. The ship, was dubbed “the Eid Ship”, as the Muslims will be marking the Adha Eid (feast) on Monday. The Israeli navy took the ship to the Tel Aviv port, Arabs48 added.

The Israeli police said that the ship carried medical equipment and medicine, and that three activists were detained. The ship had on board seven tons of humanitarian and medical aid, food and toys for children.

The Israeli police also detained and interrogated three activists from northern Israel after they arrived in Jaffa with a truck filled with equipment to ship to Gaza.

Arab members of the Knesset (MK), Jamal Zahalka and Wasel Taha, said that barring the ship from sailing to the improvised and hungry Gaza Strip “is an act against humanity”, and added that “we will make our strongest efforts to send aid ships to the Gaza Strip from different parts of the world.

Arab member of the Knesset, Mohammad Barakeh, said that “it seems that Israel is giving the settlers a free hand in Hebron while besieging more than 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”.

He added that the ship was a symbolic and humanitarian act carried out by Arabs and Jews, “but it seems that the Israeli authorities insist to show their true ugly colors”, he added.

On Sunday morning at approximately 9:30, Arab leaders in Israel held a press conference condemning the Israeli violation. Barakeh, Arab MK Jamal Zahalka, Sheikh Raed Salah of the northern branch of the Islamic movement, MK Barakeh, and Archbishop Atallah Hanna, spoke at the conference and slammed the Israeli violation.

Zahalka said that “the person who steals the smile from children’s faces on the day of the feast is a criminal”. He voiced an appeal to the Arab world and to the international community to send hundreds of aid ships to Gaza in order to break the unjust Israeli siege.

“Israel is using tanks and war-jets in shelling Gaza, if there should be siege, it should be imposed on Israel”, Zahalaka stated, “what Israel is doing in Gaza is a war crime, and what we are doing is simply fighting crime”.

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Source: http://www.imemc.org/article/57931