After many months of planning and fund raising from all corners of the country, the U.S. Boat to Gaza organization prepared to set sail on its ship “The Audacity of Hope” from Athens, Greece to the besieged Gaza Strip, its cargo consisting only of letters and drawings of encouragement and solidarity according to passengers.

But on June 24, the Greek government received an anonymous letter of complaint charging that the ship was not seaworthy according to organization spokeswoman Gale Toensing, who said the letter was from the Israel Center of Law, as well as another similar letter from the Shurat Hadin organization in New York City. 

On July 1, the boat attempted to sail again but was stopped and forced to head back by the Greek Coast Guard and brought to port just outside Athens in Piraeus, where it has been held ever since. 

“The Greece government is in very bad financial shape so it seems very likely the U.S. played a significant role in pressuring the government to stop the boat,” said Felice Gelman of New York, a spokeswoman for U.S. Boat to Gaza.

“It is also the case that Israel is a fairly large trading partner with Greece…and probably without U.S. and Israeli pressure, this would not have happened.” 

The American ship, which was just over 100 feet long and contained about 36 passengers and four crew members including 86-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, former U.S. army colonel Ann Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker and others, was among several participating ships in a flotilla designed to bring humanitarian aid and/or encouragement to Gaza residents and to break the Israeli naval blockade on the deeply impoverished and besieged Palestinian territory. 

In addition to the American ship being stopped, passengers said an Irish boat was sabotaged in Turkey, a Norwegian and Swedish boat in Athens was also sabotaged, and a Canadian boat was also stopped. 

One ship in the “Freedom Flotilla II” managed to get through initially, however, as the French ship Dignite/Al Karama headed toward Gaza but was stopped about 40 miles away; its 16 passengers were reportedly arrested as well. 

Undeterred, passengers and organizers of the American ship, named after President Barack Obama’s best-selling book, said they plan to reorganize and hopefully launch the flotilla again later this year. 

“We knew that we would be facing opposition,” said Toensing, “but we thought it would be from the Israeli military not the Greeks. I think we were surprised at the extent the Greek government decided to hold up the blockade.

“We will definitely try again, for sure, because we as Americans support the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, home demolitions, and siege on Gaza with $10 million in tax dollars every day.” 

Toensing said that six Greek commandoes on a coast guard ship pointed their guns at the passengers of the American ship before hauling them back into port. But she sensed that they “weren’t into it” and were simply following orders. Many other Greek military officers supported the flotilla’s attempted mission near the dock according to Toensing despite the government’s decision to impound the ship. 

“We’re going to keep going back until the blockade is lifted and Gaza is free,” she said. 

Medea Benjamin, another passenger and Jewish American member of the Code Pink  organization from the Washington, D.C. area, was also surprised by the Greek government. 

Last year, nine activists were killed when Israeli commandoes stormed the Mavi Marmara ship in international waters. Israeli officials said the machine-gun toting soldiers were acting in self-defense against lead pipe attacks on the ship and also that weapons and materials used to make weapons were being smuggled in by the flotilla.

This time around, The Audacity of Hope ship carried only letters and drawings from about 3,000 people including children and also was able to bring journalists from the New York Times, Al Jazeera, the BBC and CBS Nation onto the boat to join them in their mission. Dozens of journalists inspected the boat beforehand to see exactly what was being transported. 

“We wanted to make a point that we’re about breaking the siege and not just about humanitarian aid,” Benjamin said. 

The Israeli military alleged that the ship was carrying bags of sulfur to be used to “paralyze” or “incinerate” commandoes who may board the ship according to Benjamin. But she said the allegations were later retracted.

“There was no sulfur on board, they made that up,” Benjamin said. 

The ship also faced opposition from Texas Republican Governor and possible presidential candidate Rick Perry, who sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder claiming that the flotilla was attempting to “provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization” and asking the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue all avenues including legal action to stop its mission, even though passengers have said the ship only contained letters and drawings. 

Despite the hardships faced by the U.S. boat, Benjamin said they are determined to complete their mission of breaking the siege. 

“We have focused the world spotlight on the plight of the people of Gaza and been in the news for several weeks, that was our purpose in the beginning,” she said. 

“The Israelis have been forced to try to defend their indefensible policies in Gaza and the Egyptians have gotten more pressure to open the Rafah Crossing, we feel those are all positive outcomes of the flotilla,” she said.