Israel battened down the hatches at its main airport on Thursday, awaiting hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters as Greece blocked the last boat in a scuppered campaign to ship aid to the Gaza Strip. Organisers of the “Welcome to Palestine” campaign, which some have described as the “flytilla,” say the 600 or so activists — more than half of them French nationals — are jetting in to spend a week visiting Palestinian families and have “totally peaceful intentions.”
But the Israeli authorities appear to be gearing up for a confrontation, with hundreds of police on standby around the airport as press reports warned of various disaster scenarios, such as activists setting themselves on fire or attacking Israelis on incoming flights. “There is a large police presence in and around the airport to prevent any disturbances,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP on Thursday, saying there were several hundred officers already in place should any of the activists arrive early.
Meanwhile, organisers of a 10-ship aid flotilla which activists were hoping to sail to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade said the lone boat to sneak out of a Greek port was caught Thursday by the coast guard in Crete. “The Dignite/Al Karama was taken to Sitia in Crete by the Greek coast guard after being stopped in a nearby port while it was refuelling,” Claude Leostic told AFP by telephone, saying the authorities were “stopping the boat from setting sail for various administrative reasons.” The French yacht had set out from a Greek port on Tuesday.
