A Trip to Gaza: Lauren to Tony – “Are we there yet?”

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UPDATE – 27th Aug: Israeli Police arrest ‘Free Gaza’ activist

• Blair insists on $19M cash being allowed into Gaza, following Israeli closure of crossings
• Relief for Gaza? Tony Blair or Lauren Booth – place your bets now
• Hamas supporters of ‘Free Gaza’ stunt – to claim control of Gaza coast
• UPDATE, 25th Aug: Report says – ‘Students to be allowed to leave‘ on board the Free Gaza ‘ferry’

ISRAEL HAS ALLOWED THE BOATS INTO THEIR WATERS: COMPLAINTS  from Gazans – “Not enough provisions, too many activists!” There’s just no pleasing some people, is there Lauren?

Read the BBC report here “They wanted provocation at sea, but they won’t get it,” foreign ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron told the AFP news agency.

Ms Booth said she was pleased that the Israelis did not block the boats, and hoped that signalled an end of the siege. Awww … isn’t she sweet?

Comment at end

23rd August, 2008

A RELATIVE ETHICAL PROBLEM – RELATIVELY SPEAKING

We're there now ... and they haven't sunk us!

"Are we there yet?"

I started to write this post a fortnight ago and decided to hang fire until there was enough to write about. The 44 “Free Gaza” activists were delayed a few times in their departure it seems due to weather conditions.

I have no particular gripe with activists much of the time, unless they are violent and loud. I DO worry at other times, such as when their grasp on reality is a little flaky. This is one such time, in my humble opinion. To mess a bit with metaphors – holding the ‘higher’ ground on a wet boat can be a slippery slope to nowhere fast.

Having listened today to Lauren Booth’s interview on Democracy Now, as reported at the UN Truth site, (plenty of other useful links here too), I thought it was time I picked it up again.

Excerpt from her interview:

‘QUESTION: I’m sure that the former prime minister, your brother-in-law, has his own opinions of your actions.
LAUREN BOOTH: It’s his duty as Middle East envoy to be aware of movements like this who want to help the people that he’s supposed to be partially representing. And unfortunately, Tony Blair has not been to Gaza in his role as Middle East envoy. So it’s unclear how he can represent the Middle East, when this important question of people being besieged in this almost-Medieval-style way is not addressed.
AMY GOODMAN: Is he supporting you in your effort to call attention, to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza?
LAUREN BOOTH: Can you say again? I missed that.
AMY GOODMAN: Is Tony Blair, your brother-in-law, supporting you in your effort to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza?
LAUREN BOOTH: Well, you’d think that Tony Blair would support the Free Gaza movement in its peaceful mission. Well, likely, I can’t say that there’s been any direct contact. What we do know is that Israel has been using a lot of diplomatic pressure to stop the mission from leaving Cyprus, from starting out in the Greek waters. But the Greek and the Cypriot governments and their local authorities were brilliant and very supportive.”

It’s interesting that she “missed” this question first time round:

AMY GOODMAN: Is he supporting you in your effort to call attention, to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza?
LAUREN BOOTH: Can you say again? I missed that.

Can we take that as a “no” then?

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Gas to Gaza? In more ways than one …

IT’S A GAS 1

Go here for Gas 2

‘ALL ABOARD WHO’S GOING ABOARD – FOR GAZA’

SIEGE BREAKER -- The SS Liberty, shown here, is one of two vessels that the U.S. based The Free Gaza Movement hopes will successfully carry a number of international personalities and other activists to the Palestinian Gaza Strip, breaking through an Israeli sea blockade in the process. (Photo www.freegaza.org)

Or, due to the dangers of bad weather (in the Med!) – ‘All ashore who’s going ashore”

It seems the great rescue journey of The Intrepids has been delayed due to weather conditions.

ARE WE THERE YET?

In the car the other day with a tiny person, I kept hearing the perennial question – “are we there yet?”

I was reminded of this frustrated cry of the innocent as the two  boats’ imminent … er … eventual departure from Crete to Cyprus then on to Gaza got to those on board. It must be tough when you’re out to save Gaza from the rest of us to be flummoxed by the weather.  After all, they are such brave people, are they not? And THEY don’t want to die!

(See excerpt from article here)

How brave; how honourable! And they are not talking about the weather killing them, but the nasty people who might try to stop them landing in Gaza.

TONY CAN DIE THOUGH

Of course at least one of those on board would prefer, presumably, that her sister be widowed than that her famous brother-in-law should be delayed by threats to his safety from HIS entry into Gaza.

So what’s a stormy Mediterranean compared to a terrorist attack? You might well ask.

To all sweet innocents, emptying the heads or scrubbing the decks, or otherwise passing the time until Israel turns you back – (Lauren Booth in particular):

On your quest to save Gaza – Tony will tell you when we get there.

Meanwhile keep gassing amongst yourselves. (Definition:2. Slang To talk excessively.) A grown-up is doing the driving.

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FOOLISH DO-GOODERS or FREEDOM FIGHTERS?

Cherie Blair’s sister Lauren Booth is out to tell us what we already know. While she’s there perhaps she’ll finally learn what she evidently doesn’t yet know. There are two sides to every story.

You know what irritates me about people who commit to this kind of stunt? It’s their earnest self-confidence that THEY and ONLY they have good intentions in this wicked and less than perfect world. That’s probably why I have never felt the urge to join any such organisation. I DO actually believe that those we pay to sort out political problems mean well and have ALL the information to hand to help them to DO well in as far as is possible. I can’t help feeling that people like this just do not trust others. What an in-law problem for Mr (& Mrs) Blair.

It really irritated me when Ms Booth complained that her brother-in-law, Tony Blair, has not yet visited Gaza. He should “show some guts”, says she. What? On Hamas News after an atrocity! He was advised by his security following a warning by Israel over threats to his safety at the Gaza border a few weeks ago. Is Lauren Booth really saying the world would be wiser and Gazans better fed and watered if Blair had been killed?!

Has she ever considered what her niece and nephews by the name of Blair must think of her approach to their Dad?

The woman is behaving atrociously. I am not at all surprised if she and Mr Blair have little to discuss. I just wonder how Cherie manages civil conversation with her half-sister.

The Foolish Do-Gooders argument:

This article from Fresno Zionism might help the Blair outlaw … in-law understand a little better. It did make me smile, I must admit; I almost, sort of, well, all right … DID empathise with the last sentence.

‘What is interesting in an abnormal-psychology way is why people like Cherie Blair’s sister think that they are working for a worthy cause when Hamas has made it 100% clear by word and deed that they aim to kill Jews, eliminate the democratic nation of Israel and set up a fundamentalist Islamic state. Surely they can’t think that helping them in this enterprise will somehow improve the world.

The Israeli security establishment has had some time to think about this latest employment of the Useful Idiot brigade, so I hope they have a creative solution. Possibly just let them land in Gaza (one assumes that the women are prepared to don appropriate Islamic attire so they won’t get beaten up). They can make their statements about racist apartheid Israel and then get on their boats and go back to Cyprus.

Personally I’d say “sink the bastards”, but this is why I’m not in charge of anything more lethal than this blog.’

The ‘Freedom Fighters’ argument – from Middle East Times – Excerpt:

‘Those on board will clearly aim for a confrontation with the Israeli authorities in order to bring international attention to the plight of Gazans.

The Israelis are considering several options. One is to simply allow the vessels to reach Gaza thereby foiling the organizers’ apparent desire for a clash. The other is to stop the boats and arrest those on board, risking a nasty confrontation and more unwelcome negative publicity.

The Palestinians in Gaza, however, are looking forward to their successful arrival and have prepared a victory welcoming committee’

GAZA CITY, Gaza — A dramatic confrontation in the Mediterranean Sea could break out within hours between the Israeli navy and two vessels sailing toward the Gaza coastline – the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty – in an endeavor to break through the Israeli blockade of the poverty-stricken Palestinian Strip.The exact location of the boats as they approach the Gaza coastline will be kept a secret by those aboard, which will include European parliamentarians and the sister-in-law of ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to lessen the chances of their being intercepted, shot at, and possibly arrested by Israeli authorities.

On Tuesday 45 members, comprising 15 nationalities, of the California-based Free Gaza Movement, will leave a port in Cyprus and sail 230 miles south to Gaza.

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I DON’T WANT TO DIE … AND OTHER MARTYRDOM STUFF

This article from convert to Islam, Yvonne Ridley, should give pause for thought.

I haven’t a list of ALL the worthy seafarers on this quest, and I’m sure there are some. But – a captive of the Taleban who then converts to Islam, an American who has disowned his country, a sister of Cherie Booth-Blair who has made a video with George bl***y Galloway! THAT last escapade tells me all I need to know.

Cap’n Ken – (’The good captain describes himself as a citizen of the world and has no time for such a war-mongering, imperialistic entity as the United States, hence the change of nationality – lucky man has an Irish granny.’)

“I don’t want to die, but there comes a time when you have to take responsibility as a citizen of the world. I am not a violent man but I can not stand by and watch the sufferings of others and do nothing,” he told me.

And, of course, like all of us out here in Crete and Cyprus, he does not want to die. In fact, Captain Ken has a great deal to live for – his Palestinian wife is five months pregnant.

Well I might have blisters on my hands, housemaid’s knee and bleach stains on my clothes, but talking to the captain of our ship yesterday really cheered me up.

That and the news hundreds of people turned out to a press conference in Gaza earlier this week to discuss the arrival of the Free Gaza boats which will, Insh’allah, smash the Israeli blockade to break into the world’s largest open air prison.

We are not going to let high winds get us down too much – so please keep the faith and see you all soon in Gaza.

IT’S A GAS -2

You might just be persuaded that this kind of gas story from the UAE’s The National a few weeks ago might be worth more than the above.

Whatever we hear in the headlines about developing Gaza’s infrastructure and the Middle East envoy’s role in this, you can expect that we are seeing the iceberg tip only.

Israel and BG in talks over Gaza’s gas field

By Tamsin Carlisle, The National (UAE)

‘BG Group, the British gas producer, has resumed talks with Israel over developing a gas field off the coast of Gaza, reviving plans to exploit the territory’s only significant energy resource.

But while the stalled project may be inching closer to fruition, it still faces extraordinary obstacles because of mistrust between the two neighbours and disagreements over price.

“I expect it to be quite a long and drawn-out process,” said Frank Chapman, the chief executive of BG, during a conference call to discuss the company’s second-quarter results.

“The barriers relate to realism on the part of the Israelis regarding the value of gas today.”

The Gaza Marine Field in the eastern Mediterranean Sea lies about 30 kilometres off the coast and contains around 1.3 trillion cubic feet of reserves, worth an estimated US$4 billion (Dh14.7bn), making it a significant potential source of exports and foreign currency for the cash-starved Palestinian Authority. The project would take about four years to develop.

BG won a majority stake in a concession to develop the Gaza field in 2000 and five years later was pursuing plans to sell the gas to Egypt. Pressure from Tony Blair, then the prime minister of Britain, led the company to reopen earlier failed negotiations with Israel for a pipeline development that would land the gas at Ashqelon, a southern Israel coastal city with a petroleum refinery. Israel broke off discussions at a time of heightened tensions during the Palestinian Intifada.

But now Israel urgently needs gas to fuel an economy far bigger and more industrially advanced than ­that in the Palestinian territories. BG, which discovered the Gaza field, also struck gas off Israel’s coast in the 1990s but those fields are smaller and have already been producing for several years.

Israel recently began importing gas from Egypt to supplement its offshore supplies. But the gas trade with a traditional political enemy is highly controversial in Egypt, causing concerns in Israel about its vulnerability to interruptions.

This gives the Jewish state a strong incentive for seeking to develop alternative sources of gas. Stacked up against this is its political reluctance to provide a source of funds for ­Hamas, following the pro-Intifada movement’s 2006 election victory.

BG holds a 90 per cent interest in the project to develop the Gaza field. That could drop to 60 per cent if the Palestinian Authority, which controls project licensing, exercises its option to take a stake in the development. The Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), a financial holding company owned mainly by independent Palestinian shareholders, holds 10 per cent of the Gaza Marine project.

Under the terms of the proposed deal with Israel, the Gaza field would supply Israel with about 10 per cent of its annual energy requirements and would generate roughly $1bn of revenue for the PIF – currently the primary vehicle for private investment in Palestinian infrastructure. Other terms would need to include ­Israeli ­assurances of uninterrupted gas supplies to Gaza and the West Bank and an uninterrupted flow of funds to Palestinian stakeholders, but sceptics wonder just how ironclad such assurances would be.

The project’s other big stumbling block is Israel’s reluctance to pay anything close to market price for the Palestinian gas.

“We have not been able to agree on a suitable economic framework that would support development of the gas field and the cost of imports into Israel,” a BG spokesman said.

“Equally, there has not been very much engagement between the governments of Israel and Gaza on issues such as fund flow and ­assurances of gas supply to Gaza,” she said. “If BG is to develop the field, these issues have to be resolved.”

In January, frustrated over the lack of progress, BG threatened to close its Israeli office near Tel Aviv and to reopen negotiations with Egypt.

But BG said on Thursday it was not in talks with Cairo over alternative markets for the Palestinian gas, which could be liquefied at Egyptian facilities and shipped to Europe or North America.

That may be because Israel still exerts significant military control over Gaza’s coastal waters under “interim” measures introduced in the 1990s.’

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So do the boat people REALLY expect that they in their biased positioning know more and can change more than someone like Mr Blair? The other day he did a bit of persuading of his own:

ISRAEL SHUTS GAZA CROSSING BUT LETS IN CASH AFTER BLAIR INTERVENTION

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel closed border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to a cross-border rocket attack, but Palestinian officials said banks were able to bring in 68 million shekels ($19 million) to ease a cash shortage.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the partial closure ran counter to an Egyptian-brokered truce which calls on Israel to ease its blockade of the coastal enclave in exchange for a halt to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

A rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Monday struck near the centre of Sderot, a town in southern Israel often targeted by militants, causing no damage or injuries.

Such attacks have become rare since the truce took effect in June. Israel responded to the latest salvo by announcing that crossings with the Gaza Strip would be closed on Tuesday.

Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, Jihad al-Wazir, said the transfer of bank notes from the West Bank was allowed to enter Gaza only after Middle East envoy Tony Blair intervened and put pressure on Israel.

Israeli officials could not be reached to confirm the transfer.

The infusion of shekels will help replenish bank reserves, depleted last week when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s West Bank-based government paid salaries to its employees in the coastal territory.

Palestinian officials had warned that Gaza banks would not have enough cash on hand for payday, but banks managed by borrowing among themselves to cover the withdrawals.

Israel tightened its cordon of the Gaza Strip a year ago after Hamas Islamists routed Fatah forces loyal to Abbas and seized control of the territory.

Abbas’s government in the West Bank, headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, faces a budget crisis because many Arab states have not met their financial commitments.

Hamas, which receives support from Iran and other Islamist allies, has paid its own workers in the Gaza Strip despite an international embargo over its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel.

(Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem, Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Writing by Adam Entous; edited by Richard Meares)

Oh, the vanity of the perennial do-gooder.

The FREE GAZA Movement

If you’re REALLY interested in Ms Booth’s thoughts you can read them here

PRESS RELEASES AND COMMENTS ON THE GAZA BOAT PEOPLE

• Grief & two boats to Gaza – daughter killed by Sbarro attack Free Gaza sould get THE FACTS!

Excerpt: “Seven years ago this week, the bombing of Jerusalem’s Sbarro restaurant took the lives of fifteen innocent Jews. Among them was my daughter, Malki.“

• Israel news agency: Palestinian PR Stunt Fails As Israel Allows Gaza Protest
• ‘Free Gaza’ attempts to open American/Israeli battle scars
• Times: Lauren asks Tony to “show some guts”! WHAT!? On Hamas TV News after an atrocity? Ignorant comment, imho.
• ‘Sink ‘em’ say commenters here
• Allowed to land, but will they be allowed to leave? – We can but hope!

VIDEO – LAUREN BOOTH ON HER GREAT TASK

According to my stats very few people are actually searching for news about the Gaza boat people, as opposed to those interested in my recent Olympics pages and on the assassination efforts against Brown and Blair. (OK, I concede half of them were probably hoping these particular suspected terrorists had managed to do the business, and not just been arrested).

So, in the interests of free speech, I thought I’d post Lauren’s video here. Now don’t say I’m not helpful!

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Tags: 1. Tony Blair, Cherie Booth / Blair, free gaza boats, Gaza, lauren booth, sister in law