MyCARE Wants Israel To Free Those On Women's Boat To Gaza Mission

SERI KEMBANGAN (Selangor, Malaysia), Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE) has urged Israel to free all the activists and crew of the Zaytouna-Oliva vessel on the Women's Boat to Gaza (WBG) humanitarian mission, seized last night (Wednesday) at Ashdod Port, Israel. MyCARE board of trustees chairman, Assoc Prof Dr Hafidzi Mohd Noor said Israel's action was unjustified as the humanitarian group's mission to Gaza, Palestine was peaceful; without any provocation and bringing any weapons. "The mission is only aimed at bringing the message of solidarity for Gaza, and Israel's action of preventing the boat from entering international waters clearly contravened maritime law," he told a press conference, here, Thursday. Also present were MyCARE chief executive officer and WBG (Malaysia) Mission director, Kamarul Zaman Shaharul Anwar, and Dr Fauziah's family members. The Israeli navy intercepted at 2.58 pm (9.58 pm in Malaysia), the Zaytouna-Olivia together with three crew members and 10 women activists including Malaysia's sole representative Dr Fauziah Mohd Hassan, who were on the WBG mission, and escorted it to Ashdod Port. Hafidzi said MyCARE also urged the Malaysian government, as a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, to table an emergency motion to condemn Israel's illegal action against the Zaytouna-Oliva in international waters. "We also want the UN to use all avenues available to ensure the safety of the WBG mission members and crew of the Zaytouna-Oliva until they are freed and return to their respective countries. "The UN, European Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and all international forums should condemn Israel's policy of imposing a blockade on Gaza and to insist that it ends the blockade," he said. Hafidzi said MyCARE had yet to receive the latest information on the WBG delegation and would be in constant contact with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which founded the WBG mission. The other women in the delegation are from Tunisia, Israel, Algeria, Canada, Turkey, the United States, Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. Their boat set sail from Port Vell, Barcelona at 8 pm (local time) on Sept 14 and stopped at Ajaccio, France on Sept 19 and then to Messina, Italy while en route to Gaza. Dr Fauziah has been involved in voluntary activities through Rose2Rose, an agency under MyCARE, providing humanitarian aid to victims of war and disasters, particularly women and children in Palestine, Syria and Myanmar (to the Rohinyas) since 1991. -- BERNAMA