The Irish Ship to Gaza campaign has been informed by the Department of Foreign Affairs that seven of the fourteen Irish activists detained by Israel last week whilst en route to Gaza will be returning to Dublin tomorrow (Thursday 10 November) at 2.25pm on British Midland flight BD123, in Terminal One.

The seven returning passengers are ISTG National Coordinator Fintan Lane (Dublin/Cork), rugby star Trevor Hogan (Tipperary/Dublin), People Before Profit councillor Hugh Lewis (Dun Laoghaire), SIPTU activist Mags O’Brien (Dublin), Sinn Fein councilor Patrick Fitzgerald (Waterford), John Mallon (Belfast) and university lecturer Zoe Lawlor (Limerick).

In the last few days there has been much confusion and conflicting information about when the illegally detained Irish citizens would be released. The families of the abductees had been assured by the Department of Foreign Affairs that all those detained would be released by 3am on Tuesday morning. The release has come much later than hoped, and the continuing delay in releasing the remaining seven activists is a cause of great distress for their families.

Media attention has tended to focus on the plight of the detained activists. While we share this concern, Irish Ship to Gaza appeals to the media to refocus attention on the reason why those who were detained undertook this journey in the first place: namely, to show solidarity with the ordinary people of Gaza who have lost their basic freedoms as a result of a blockade imposed by the military forces of Israel, and to take action that would contribute to the end of that blockade.

Freedom Waves was never intended to focus attention on the 27 people aboard the MV Saoirse and the Tahrir, but on the 1.6 million people of Gaza – half of whom are children under the age of 16 – who continue to suffer collective punishment at the hands of the Israeli military. While 14 Irish citizens were languishing in prison in Israel for the “crime” of coming to their aid, the population of Gaza continues to languish in what is, in effect, the world’s largest open air prison.

This latest of eleven attempts to break the blockade of Gaza via the sea demonstrates once again that Israel is able to act with impunity when it comes to the welfare of the Palestinian people and anyone trying to help them. It is because of the continuing inaction of governments around the world, including the Irish government, that ordinary people feel compelled to act.

The brave activists returning tomorrow will be available for press interviews upon arrival in Dublin airport.

ENDS