Human rights activists have gathered in the Canadian capital of Ottawa to support the country’s aid convoy to the besieged Gaza Strip.

The activists voiced support for the Canadian boat, Tahrir, a part of Freedom Flotilla II which seeks to break the siege of the coastal strip, a Press TV correspondent reported.

“We want to make sure that they know that there are thousands of us in Canada that are doing all that we can nonviolently through political means and public organizing to make sure that the realities of their (Palestinians) lives under the illegal siege are in the public eye,” said Christine Jones of Canadian Peace Alliance.

Jones went on to say that people really understand what the truth is behind “all the different pieces of news and lies” that Israel seeks to send to the world.

Freedom Flotilla II is expected to set sail for Gaza from Greek ports.

On Sunday, Greece blocked all the ships that are part of the flotilla from leaving its ports.

The organizers of the flotilla said they would maintain their plans to break the Israeli blockade of the impoverished enclave despite the ban imposed by the Greek government.

In a recent development, the Greek coast guard detained the captain of The Audacity of Hope, a Gaza-bound boat carrying American activists, for attempting to cast off without permission.

Ray McGovern, a 71-year-old American activist, criticized US authorities for trying “to get Israel off the hook.”

The Israeli military attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010, killing nine Turkish nationals aboard the Turkish-flagged MV Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other activists that were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Members of the flotilla accuse the Greek government of succumbing to Israeli pressure to block the humanitarian flotilla.

Some 1.5 million people in Gaza are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

(Press TV)