KAPAL FLOTILA KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN DI SABOTAJ DI GAZA ???

its day 6 for Team Malaysia of the Freedom Flotilla 2 mission to Gaza. For the last four days we've been stuck on the sun-kissed Greek island of Corfu, once the summer playground for England's aspirational middle class.

We have by now met most of the other activists that will board the Stefano Chiarini, the vessel that will join nine other boats somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean before we move as a united convey to break the illegal Israeli bloackade of Gaza.

The reason for our limbo on Corfu centers around Israel's robust and bullying diplomacy over the last few weeks. While our host nation has a natural sympathy towards the Palestinian cause, what more it's powerful unions that have brought Athens to it's knees over the last couple of days with mass protests yet granted it's port workers exemption from the strike to assist any of the flotilla boats wanting to leave, Greece's dire economic problems make it more vulnerable to pressure from Israel and the United States.

While port workers may be in solidarity with us, their political masters are clearly doing someone else's bidding.

What began as chatter from the flotilla activists that there have been active attempts by Israel and it's security services to strike pre-emptively at the flotilla vessels and rope in Greece to prevent boats from leaving its ports has now been confirmed by their own prime minister. In a speech yesterday, Benjamin Netanyahu openly thanked his "friend," Greek prime minister George Papandreou who has "acted against the provocation flotilla."



Until today, two ships have been sabotaged, one damaged enough to prevent it from setting sail. Both the Irish vessel Saoirse and the Giuliano carrying teams from Sweden, Norway and Greece had the same injury – the rods connecting the propeller shaft to the engine were bent or damaged. In the case of the Irish ship, the attack was calculated not to have an immediate impact on the ship when departing the port but rather would deteriorate further at sea risking the lives of the crew and activists on board.

Apart from these provocative acts of sabotage (presumably courtesy of Mossad's long reach and influence in the region), we have also been delayed by the port authorities. Suspicion is running high that these bureaucratic hurdles are exactly what Netanyahu meant when he thanked his Greek counterpart for acting against the flotilla.

Although, the papers for our ship are all in order and have been submitted, we fully expect to be held up for a few more days as Israel and it's allies fight a war of attrition against the activists designed to wear us down into abandoning our mission by not allowing most of the vessels to depart from Greece.

While details of the other boats remain sketchy, from news reports it appears that only the French ship has set sail. The most high-profile vessel, the US boat ironically named the Audacity of Hope is still harboured at Piraeus, near Athens. The delays are starting to have the effect Israel wants. Journalists are starting to pull out, unhappy with the wait and lack of information and assurances from the flotilla steering committee.



To be fair, none of this is the committee's fault. The massive counter offensive, both diplomatic and covert, by the Israelis have frustrated much of our efforts to get the flotilla going.

And even once we've set off, there is no guarantee we will be able to get anywhere near Gaza. Apart from the near certainty of an illegal Israeli military intercept somewhere in international waters like that which greeted activists on the first flotilla last year, we may end up continuing our state of limbo out at sea waiting for other ships to join us. Because this is a flotilla of ships, we cannot go it alone and will have to wait for most of the other vessels to leave Greek ports and join us at the international meeting point.

Evidence to date, however, indicates that many boats will have problems even getting to the meeting point. Apart from the cases mentioned earlier, we've now found out that the French boat that has already set sail has been denied a stop to refuel at one of the Greek islands and has run out of steam. The Spanish vessel was ready to depart only to be denied permission by Greek port authorities.

Meanwhile, Israel has stepped up it's propaganda campaign calling flotilla activists terrorists who are trained to and will physically harm Israeli soldiers. They have even claimed that some boats are carrying sulphuric acid to be used against Israeli commandos. Having been with fellow activists for almost a week and gotten to know them well, this deliberate disinformation can't be further from the truth.

Take our vessel. Known as the Italian-Dutch boat because they make up the majority of activists, many of our participants are in retirement age incapable of physically besting a trained Israeli commando carrying the most sophisticated and brutal military equipment. Most of our shipmates are European so the usual unfair profiling of Arabs as terrorists also doesn't apply. We bring an agenda of peace not violence.

Yes, we want to break the blockade and free Gaza, but we are not in the business of violence let alone bringing arms and bombs to Gaza. We believe in peaceful, humanitarian intervention to help the people of Gaza. Despite Israel's best efforts to portray the opening up of Gaza's land borders, everyone living there or who has been there recently will tell you that it's the world's biggest open air prison.

Whatever the obstacles and challenges, we are all committed to proceeding with this mission. Team Malaysia has been playing an active leadership role on our vessel. One of our members, Dr Wee Tong Ming from the Ministry of Health has been leading the medical team with his background in trauma medicine.

Haji Ismail Darus, a retired soldier and lately a prominent community leader in Kuala Lumpur, has been coordinating security to guard our ship against sabotage. Sightings of small boats coming close to our ship late at night have been increasing in frequency. The press boys from Astro Awani, Al Hijrah and Berita Harian have been pumping news regularly, playing our part in countering Israel's disinformation campaign.

Lifeline4Gaza chief and an original flotilla veteran Haji Noorazman Mohd Samsuddin and Datuk Zaki Zahid of Aman Malaysia have been coordinating efforts with the steering committee ensuring our active participation in strategic decision making.

Although thousands of miles from home, we are thankful for everyone's prayers and well wishes. We are thankful for the support – moral and financial – that help us continue with our mission. We are thankful to the marchers who descended on the US Embassy after Friday prayers protesting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments against the flotilla. We humbly ask that you continue to act and speak in solidarity with us until we achieve our mission.

Some countries have started to lobby Greek embassies in their countries with a "Let them go" campaign so that we will not continue to be paralyzed by bureaucratic obstacles with a hidden hand. There is a Greek embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Please pressure them to let us leave.

We will continue to fly the jalur gemilang on this mission. Many Malaysians played a vital role in last year's efforts. Hopefully, we will also set sail soon and break the blockade that is symbolic of one of our generation's most tragic and evil injustice and act of dispossession.

By: Khairy Jamaluddin
Source: http://www.facebook.com/Khairykj