Timmins: Boarding of Gaza aid ship 'plain wrong'

Fine Gael Foreign Affairs Spokesman Billy Timmins has said that boarding of the MV Rachel Corrie by Israeli troops "was plain wrong".

The Israeli military said its forces seized a Gaza-bound aid vessel today, preventing it from breaking a maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.

The military said its forces boarded the 1,200-tonne MV Rachel Corrie cargo ship from the sea.

They said that helicopters were not used to board the Irish boat, and no resistance was encountered.

Mr Timmins said: "This action should not have occurred and the ship should have been allowed to continue to Gaza.

Deputy Timmins said the any Irish people detained must be allowed to travel home immediately.

"It is plain wrong for the Israeli authroities to intercept and board the MV Rachel Corrie. I greatly regret the fact that the Israeli authorities didn't allow the ship to go directly to Gaza.

"At this point, the safety of all Irish people must be our top priority. I request that the Minister for Foreign Affairs ensures all Irish pople in detention are allowed to travel home immediately. Their detention is illegal, they must be allwed home without delay.

"I must also reiterate that the blockade is illegal. The international communty must continue effrts to have blockade lifted and if Israel is to have no regard for internation opinion, the international community must look at ways to increase the pressure."

The takeover stood in marked contrast to a violent confrontation at sea earlier this week when Israeli forces blocked a Turkish aid vessel trying to break the blockade. At the time, Israeli commandos rappelled from helicopters and a clash with passengers left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.

Army spokeswoman Lt Col Avital Leibovich said today’s takeover took only a few minutes and that the vessel was being taken to Israel’s Ashdod port.

Sinn Féin's Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Israel's step was unjustified and unacceptable.

“They know the Rachel Corrie and her cargo presents no threat to Israel. The human rights activists on board the boat had made it clear they had no issue with UN officials checking the cargo before they proceeded to Gaza,” he said.

“The Rachel Corrie should have been allowed to proceed to Gaza without Israeli aggression.”

Fine Gael Foreign Affairs Spokesman Billy Timmins said the action was wrong and said the Irish passengers should be allowed home without delay.

“I must also reiterate that the blockade is illegal. The international community must continue efforts to have blockade lifted and if Israel is to have no regard for international opinion, the international community must look at ways to increase the pressure,” he said.

The Irish ship – named for an American college student who was crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza – was carrying hundreds of tonnes of aid, including wheelchairs, medical supplies and cement.

The stand-off has raised international pressure on Israel to lift the three-year-old blockade that has plunged the territory’s 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty.

Activists on board the boat, including Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan, had said they would not resist if Israeli soldiers tried to take over their vessel.

This latest attempt to breach the blockade differs significantly from the flotilla the Israeli troops intercepted on Monday, killing eight Turks and a Turkish-American after being set upon by a group of activists.

Nearly 700 activists had joined that operation, most of them aboard the lead boat from Turkey, the Mavi Marmara, that was the scene of the violence.

That boat was sponsored by an Islamic aid group from Turkey, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief.

Israel outlawed the group, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, in 2008 because of alleged ties to Hamas. The group is not on the US State Department list of terror organisations, however.

By contrast, the MV Rachel Corrie was carrying just 11 passengers from Ireland and Malaysia, whose effort was mainly sponsored by the Free Gaza movement, a Cyprus-based group that has renounced violence. Nine crew were also on board.