The Norwegian Ship to Gaza vessel with the name Handala has reached the Danish shore and was received by crowds despite heavy rain and wind, according to the organizers of the ship sailing in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel since 2005. Handala is the Norwegian part of the international organization, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. This summer Handala is on a solidarity tour of Europe, with a focus on the children of Gaza. The journey started in Oslo in mid-June, and has visited ports in England, Holland and Germany before reaching Denmark. In each of the countries, local Palestine support groups have arranged public meetings and greetings with the participants on the boat. Huge numbers of local people have been informed about the occupation in general, and the situation in Gaza in particular, according to a press release by the organizers. This trip is also a test-run for next year’s new attempt at reaching Gaza, says Torstein Dahle, who is the founder of the Norwegian Ship to Gaza organization. On board are several who have tried to reach Gaza in previous attempts. Wellu Koivisto was on the mission in 2012, which was the first year the boat was stopped by Israeli marines. The crew was taken to prison in Ashdod and the Israelis confiscated the boat – never to return it. Each time the Israelis have stolen a Ship to Gaza boat, the organization has managed to finance a new one, with only the help of donations from private people, said the press release. The second in command this summer, Arne Birger Heli from Norway was on the mission in 2018. In international waters, getting close to Gaza, the boat was boarded by Israeli soldiers. They stole everything from the crew – their cellphones, cameras, computers – even the clothes they wore. ‘Two Israeli soldiers came up close and pointed guns at me and demanded I handed over my wristwatch,’ says Arne Birger, who admits that it was a very scary situation. The crew was also this time sent to prison in Ashdod, where they were released some days later, inside a plane heading for Norway. Their boat again was left in Israel, never to be seen again. But Arne Birger says he is prepared to be arrested again the next time they make a new attempt at reaching Gaza. The captain on this summer’s mission, Joel Opperdoes from Sweden, has also seen the inside of the Israeli prison in Ashdod – in 2012 and in 2015. ‘Palestine has been occupied since 1967, and they don´t give up. We have only been at this for little over 10 years, and we will never give up either – until the siege is lifted,’ says Opperdoes. This summer the Ship to Gaza has only met welcoming crowds in all ports. Speaking to the public in the pouring rain and heavy winds yesterday, Torstein Dahle said that Israel is trying to keep the world unaware of the blockade they have put around the whole of Gaza. “But they will never succeed in keeping the truth away from public knowledge. We will be heard all over, and will never give up the fight and never lose hope that Palestine one day will be free.” Handala is scheduled to go from Copenhagen to Halmstad in Sweden, where there is a huge arrangement awaiting the ship’s arrival. The next port is then Gothenburg before the ship returns to Oslo on the 14th of August.
Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA