ISTANBUL, April 18, 2010 (WAFA)- A group of Turkish nongovernmental organizations are undertaking a joint effort to break the years-long Israeli embargo on Palestinians through a Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) project to send aid ships to Gaza in May, the Turkish paper Today’s Zaman reported Sunday.
The İHH launched its project in early April, attracting strong support from other NGOs in Turkey, including the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der). The foundation plans to send two ships -- a cargo ship and a passenger ship -- to besieged Gaza toward the middle of next month. The project’s motto is: “Palestine is our destination, humanitarian aid is our load.”
The İHH’s public relations representative, Salih Bilici, told Sunday’s Zaman that the ships will carry more than 3.5 tons of humanitarian aid as well as a delegation of around 500 people to Gaza.
“We will take medical equipment and medicine to the Palestinians. In addition, we will take them food and clothes. We will also take construction materials, which will be used to repair schools and hospitals in Palestine. We purchased the cargo ship for $850,000, and we paid TL 2 million for the passenger ship. We financed the purchases through donations,” Bilici remarked.
Israel has imposed a strict economic embargo on Gaza since 2006, drawing harsh criticism from the international community and rights groups in particular. Many human rights groups say people in Gaza have been living in an open-air prison due to the Israeli embargo.
According to Bilici, the İHH’s aid ship project has garnered a great deal of support from the Turkish people.
“Huge interest is awakened when you say ‘Palestine’ in Turkey. Turkish people make the greatest donations to Palestine-related projects because they know the Israeli embargo on Palestinians is neither humanitarian nor principled. It also has no place in international law. Israel should retreat from its pro-embargo policies immediately and end its open-air prison policy on Gazans,” he said.
The İHH is working in coordination with NGOs in 42 countries around the world, including organizations from the United States, Greece, Ireland, Indonesia and Malaysia. Bilici said six other aid ships would be sent to Gaza from Europe.
