The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said on Monday it would send ships again to the Gaza Strip, to challenge the maritime blockade in place on the Palestinian coastal enclave. The IHH first announced the sail, dubbed the "Freedom Flotilla II," in late July, but so far it has not set any official date for it. In May 2010, the first Turkish flotilla, comprising six ships led by the Mavi Marmara, attempted to breach the blockade on Gaza. After the Marmara ignored the Israeli Navy's calls to stop and turn around, Israeli commandos boarded the ship. Nine Turkish nationals were killed in the ensuing clash, and the incident derailed Jerusalem's once-close diplomatic relations with Ankara. The IHH announced Monday that activists from 12 countries had decided to launch a sea convoy to Gaza. In an email sent to IHH activists over the weekend, group director Bulent Yildirim said that "as most governments are complicit, the responsibility falls on civil society to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza." Yildirim further accused Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who in the past described the IHH as a threat to Israel, of "having no morality. If you lived in Gaza, we would provide you and your family with aid without discrimination. But you closed off all the aid channels and you are Hitler. You and all the members of the government who are with you are perpetrating genocide against the Palestinians." He further said that the Turkish government was trying to help Palestinian civilians in Gaza, "but the Zionists and the Americans won't allow us to act." Turkish Foreign Ministry officials had no immediate comment. The plan to launch a second flotilla may hinder efforts to rebuild diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel, just as Ankara launched an "air corridor" carrying wounded Palestinians to Turkey and aid to Gaza. Turkey's state disaster and emergency authority sent an initial aid shipment of 3,500 food parcels by plane from Ankara to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday evening, as part of the relief efforts. The announcement of the flotilla came on the heels of a European idea to help develop Gaza's port through a Cypriot port, with international monitors assuring that no weapons are smuggled into Gaza by its resident terror groups. According to The Associated Press, governments across Europe are warming to the proposal to give the 43-kilometer (27-mile) Strip an economic lifeline. "It's very important that the blockage of Gaza is lifted so that there can be movement of necessary goods and materials," EU Commission spokesman Peter Stano said. "That means all the blocked border crossings need to be opened so that Gaza can really develop." The IHH is considered a Muslim charitable organization in Turkey and Europe, but both the United States and Israel say it has connections with global jihadist groups. In 2008, Israel became the first country to ban the organization, and in June 2010, after the Marmara incident, Israel officially added the IHH to its terror watch list.
IHH director accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza
Head of Turkish humanitarian relief group accuses Foreign Minister Lieberman of "having no morality," says: "You closed off aid channels [to Gaza] and you are Hitler. You and all the members of the government who are with you are perpetrating genocide."
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