Seeking to maximize the media spectacle, sources in Gaza report that 100 boats plan to set sail from the Port of Gaza to greet the humanitarian flotilla expected to arrive today, Sunday, May 30, 2010. They boats from Gaza are calling the effort the Committee Against the Siege.

According to spokesman Jamal al-Khudary, included in the delegation will be family members of prisoners in Israeli jails. The vessels will be waving PLO flags as well as displaying balloons with photos of the children killed by IDF forces in Gaza.

According to Israel Navy sources, the vessels heading to Gaza to break the embargo will be intercepted, not permitted to dock in Gaza. The self-proclaimed humanitarian activists, believed to number 500-600 will be placed under arrest if they fail to cooperate with navy instructions. Israel hopes to impose a media blackout on much of the events, realizing the entire mission is not a humanitarian one, but another effort to depict Israel in a bad light in the international media.

The passengers on the flotilla include EU parliamentarians, members of the press, and a Holocaust survivor, AP reports.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)