Activists sail to Gaza with medical aid from Cyprus
LARNACA, Cyprus (Reuters) - Aid workers, doctors and a former U.S. Congresswoman sailed for battered Gaza with medical aid from Cyprus on Monday, defying Israeli air attacks on the Palestinian territory for the third successive day.
The organizers of the shipment, the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement, said they would ferry three tonnes of urgently needed medical supplies, donated by Cyprus, to the Gaza Palestinians.
"This is an active protest and a direct response to the killing going on at the moment," Renee Boyer, a spokeswoman for the organizers, told Reuters.
A small cabin cruiser, heavily laden with boxes of medical supplies and 16 people, left the Cyprus port of Larnaca on Monday evening on the 12 to 15 hour voyage.
One passenger, American Cynthia McKinney, said she wanted to highlight what she said was a trail of devastation left by U.S. weapons sold to Israel.
"There is a need for the people of the United States to understand that every piece of rubble that is on that strip of land is caused by U.S. weapons," said McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate for the Green Party in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Three doctors among the passengers planned to remain in Gaza.
"We are trying to materialize a humanitarian and medical mission and to send a message to the people of Gaza that they are not alone," said Eleni Theocharous, a doctor and member of the Cyprus parliament.
Israel has not stopped activists from the Free Gaza Movement from sailing to the coastal territory in the past, though the territory was declared a closed military zone on Monday. The Israeli navy patrols Gazan coastal waters.
Aid workers said they were aware they could be intercepted. "That doesn't stop or deter us," McKinney said.
(Writing by Michele Kambas; editing by Tim Pearce)
