JERUSALEM // An Arab Israeli lawmaker’s plan to join a pro-Palestinian flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza caused outrage among Israeli politicians on Monday.
Basel Ghattas, an MP with the Joint Arab List, sparked controversy after he announced he would join other parliamentarians and public figures from around the world in the latest attempt to reach Gaza by ship later this month.
The Gaza Strip has been subjected to an Israeli blockade for nine years. It includes a complete ban on ships entering or leaving the coastal enclave’s waters.
Pro-Palestinian activists have repeatedly tried to reach the Hamas-run territory by sea but have been blocked by the Israeli navy.
Mr Ghattas on Monday repeated his demand that the “freedom flotilla” be allowed to reach Gaza peacefully, adding that suffering by residents of the strip was being neglected.
“The central issue here is the fact that the Israeli public is trying to ignore the fact that there are two million Palestinians just 50 kilometres from Tel Aviv living in disgraceful poverty and hunger,” he said.
In May 2010, Israeli commandos staged a botched raid on a six-ship flotilla which sparked a crisis with Ankara after it claimed the lives of 10 Turkish nationals.
Hanin Zuabi, a female Arab-Israeli MP who was on board at the time, was roundly denounced by the Israeli political establishment as a traitor – with Mr Ghattas now facing a similar outcry.
“It is the gravest thing possible that an Israeli MP would join the flotilla whose aim is to help the Hamas terror organisation,” said immigration minister Zeev Elkin from the ruling rightwing Likud party.
Deputy foreign minster Tzipi Hotovely said that joining the attempt to run the blockade was evidence Mr Ghattas was working against Israel.
She said the foreign ministry had been working to prevent the flotilla from reaching Israel’s territorial waters.
Agence France-Presse
