Sincere Intention Prompts Malaysian Activists To Join Women's Boat To Gaza Mission

By Thivyamalini Ramalu KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- It is the sincere intention to curb the siege on Gaza that prompted Dr Fauziah Mohd Hasan, 59, and Norsham Abu Bakar, 54, to join in the Women's Boat to Gaza (WBG) mission. They are happy and satisfied with what they had accomplished, despite criticisms and negative remarks from some quarters over their daring feat. "Let them talk. We have to be optimistic on our direction and objective. What is important is why we want to do it, the intention. Members in the mission are also from other religions and faiths, but they share the same objective. "If they can, why not us, as Muslims to help our brothers and sisters there (Palestine)," said Norsham when sharing her experience in the mission with Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) students at the university here recently. WBG is a humanitarian aid mission involving the participation of women from several countries including the United States, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel, Algeria, Canada, Turkey, United States of America, Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia to symbolise universal solidarity with the people of Palestine. Norsham, who is a member of Board of Trustees, boarded the Amal-Hope ship which was stranded in Barcelona, Spain, due to technical problems. In the mission, Dr Fauziah, together with WBG humanitarian aid members travelled by sea on board the Zaytouna-Oliva vessel after Israel closed the land route to Gaza from the Egypt-Gaza border in Arafat. "We want to put pressure on Israel so that the people there get to possess what those in Malaysia and other countries have, namely freedom, justice and other basic needs. "This mission is one of the contributions from activists to curb the blockade," she said. Dr Fauziah and Norsham also told the audience the preparations they went through before going on the mission, like swimming exercise at UIAM. "Alhamdulillah, we learn the swimming technique, how to breathe in water and now, we are no longer scared of water," said Norsham. They also showed photographs and video recordings of the mission members onboard Zaytouna-Oliva negotiating with the Israeli soldiers, which were among items which Dr Fauziah managed to hide from being seized by the Israeli soldiers. "All the mission members are strong-willed women who are prepared to go through various challenges for the sake of one objective," said Dr Fauziah. Thirteen delegates from various countries and three crew set were onboard the Zaytouna-Oliva ship, while another nine delegates and three crew onboard Amal. The set sail at 8 pm last Sept 14 (Barcelona time) from Port Vell and stopped at Ajaccio, France (for the first round) on Sept 19 before continuing the journey to Messina, Italy (second round). However, Zaytouna-Oliva was detained by the Israeli soldiers on Oct 5 while on its way to Gaza at the Ashdod Port, Israel. On Oct 7, Wisma Putra confirmed Dr Fauziah was safe and had been released. -- BERNAMA