Matthew Theunissen of NZPA
Nicci Enchmarch did not think twice about joining a convoy that will take her to the same waters where nine of her fellow aid workers were killed by Israeli soldiers as their Turkish ship attempted to break the Gaza blockade.
The New Zealander is helping co-ordinate a convoy of 500 trucks - the largest of its kind - that will travel through Europe and Egypt to Gaza and provide supplies and support to Palestinians living under siege in the war-torn territory.
Ms Enchmarch, who lives in London, returned to New Zealand this week to "redeem" herself to her parents, who had some anxious moments when it was reported the flotilla she was on, the Mavi Marmara, had been boarded by soldiers and that people had been killed.
"Because the Israelis blocked all the frequencies and they were saying they didn't know how many had died or who had died, that was obviously a very tense time for them," she said.
Ms Enchmarch was present when a dying man was carried on to the ship's deck after being shot in the head with live ammunition, a shocking revelation.
"We had a whole series of scenarios in our own minds, privately and collectively, about how we thought the Israelis might react, but shooting and killing people was certainly way down the list. We thought even the Israelis would not be so mad as to do that," she said.
It was upsetting that reports in the media, in New Zealand as well as in Israel, gave credence to the Israeli government's allegations that the soldiers had been attacked by the aid workers, she said.
"One of the frustrating things is when people challenge you about what happened on the Mavi Marmara, when you've stood there and you have watched it and you know the people around you and you know the quality of the people around you. So when you hear words like 'terrorist', it is really, really frustrating."
Six New Zealanders, part of a group called Kia Ora Gaza, will join the land convoy that departs London on September 18 and travels through Europe before the trucks are loaded onto ships and head to Egypt, passing through the same waters where the Mavi Marmara was boarded in May.
The border between Egypt and Gaza is officially recognised as the route through which aid can pass, so their success or failure at making it to Gaza will be telling as to how complicit Egypt's government is with the siege, she said.
Kia Ora Gaza vice captain Chris Van Ryn said he was "very confident" the convoy would make it through.
"It's one of the largest convoys in history and really represents a people power.
"Now we have people from around the world saying 'hang on this can't go on like this', and I think it has put enormous pressure on Israel."
Ms Enchmarch said the amount of torment and danger she went through trying to get aid to Gaza was nothing compared with what Palestinians faced every day of their lives.
"They have been neglected by the rest of the world, they're locked up in there, they have no control over their destiny whatsoever so to suddenly have a group of foreigners arriving at the gates of Rafa with humanitarian aid and vehicles, they are more than anything so pleased to see the support. More than anything that is what really hits their hearts," she said.
NZPA
source: newshub archive
