Israel sabotaged Gaza flotilla ship at Greek port, activist hints
The Israeli-born Swedish activist said that “somebody who knew what they were doing” could sabotage the propeller.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JUNE 25, 2015 20:19Marianne av Göteborg arrives in Palermo, Sicily.(photo credit: FREEDOM FLOTILLA COALITION)
The Israeli-born man taking part in the flotilla which seeks to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip told an Israeli Arab radio station on Thursday that somebody sought to sabotage one of the ships before it set sail for the Hamas-ruled territory, hinting that Israel was behind the act.Dror Feiler, a far-left pro-Palestinian activist who renounced his Israeli citizenship 33-years-ago and now resides in Sweden, told Radio al-Shams that while one of the ships was at port in Greece, an unidentified individual tried to damage one of the vessel’s propellers.“We don’t know who it is,” Feiler said. “But that person went deep underwater and sabotaged the propeller, so we had to find a different boat.”The Israeli-Swedish activist said that “somebody who knew what they were doing” could sabotage the propeller.Israeli living abroad speaks of Gaza-bound flotilla.“There are dark forces that keep trying to stop us all along the way,” he said.Feiler told al-Shams that this attempted sabotage was a repeat of an incident in 2011, when saboteurs did damage to a boat that was set to embark to Gaza while at port in Greece.The activist told the radio station that flotilla participants were wary of being prevented from setting sail to Gaza, which is why they spent as little time in Greece as possible.In years past, according to Feiler, Greek authorities have prevented activists from launching a flotilla from its ports.Feiler also told al-Shams that the three-ship flotilla, which is carrying nearly 70 activists, is currently at sea near Crete, and that it is due to arrive in Gaza “within three-to-four days.”