Israeli authorities have served international airlines with a blacklist of 300 individuals in a bid to block the journey of pro-Palestinian activists into occupied Palestine.
The Interior Ministry of the Tel Aviv regime has ordered foreign airlines not to allow the blacklisted activists from boarding flights bound for Israel, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Due to pro-Palestinian activities of these (blacklisted) people, "it was decided to refuse their entry in accordance with our authority according to the Law of Entry to Israel 1952… In light of the above-mentioned, you are required not to board them on your flights to Israel. Failure to comply with this directive would result in a delay on the flight and their return on the same flight," read a letter sent to the airlines by Tel Aviv’s Interior Ministry.
Hundreds of mostly European pro-Palestinian activists are expected to arrive in Israel within the framework of an initiative called "Flightilla."
The effort is considered as a complement to the Gaza-bound flotilla II relief aid convoy, which has been hindered on numerous instances from reaching the impoverished enclave that has been subjected to a brutal Israeli siege since 2007, to deliver much-needed humanitarian supplies to its population.
According to French activists involved in the "Welcome to Palestine" event, Malev Hungarian Airlines has already barred around 20 people from boarding a flight from Paris to Tel Aviv through Budapest.
Additionally, French authorities have also barred eight activists from boarding flights to Tel Aviv.
The "Flightilla" takes place after a Gaza-bound naval flotilla was prohibited from leaving Greek waters, where about 10 boats are trapped following a sudden decision by Athens to impose a blanket ban on departure of any vessels destined for Gaza.
Prior to the Greek measure against the aid flotilla, several of the Gaza-bound vessels were disabled by saboteurs, widely suspected to be Israeli intelligence elements.
The 10-ship humanitarian flotilla was supposed to set sail for the Gaza Strip in early July in a bid to break Israel’s five-year blockade on the coastal territory, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.
The Tel Aviv regime has ordered the Israeli navy to use all possible means to prevent the incoming international aid flotilla from reaching the economically-distressed Gaza Strip, but the Gaza Freedom Flotilla II organizers insist that they will push ahead with their aid mission.
The Israeli military attacked last year’s Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010, killing nine Turks aboard the Turkish-flagged MV Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other activists that were onboard the six-ship Gaza-bound aid convoy.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia in an attempt to make sure that Bulgaria would not support a September vote at the UN General Assembly for Palestinian statehood.
However, Netanyahu has reportedly failed to win a commitment by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov regarding the recognition of a Palestinian state.
(Press TV)
