In an email dated 5 July, the Swiss company Interbulk has notified Ship to Gaza that it will not go through with its sale of 25,200 Euro worth of cement, for which it has already signed a contract and received payment. The company is citing the Greek government’s prohibition of any maritime traffic, regardless of flag, from Greek ports to Gaza. A company representative writes:
“Due to Force Majeure we cannot deliver the cement, and we will therefore repay the 25,200 Euro which we had collected as advance payment back into your account.”
The money that is being used to buy cement and other requested humanitarian aid has been collected by thousands of regular Swedish citizens. The Greek government’s decision to not only prevent our ships to sail freely in the open sea but to also forbid European companies from conducting business with humanitarian grassroots movements like Ship to Gaza is deeply troubling and completely reprehensible in any democratic state governed by law.
It is with grief and rage that Ship to Gaza must now witness how the consequences of, and responsibility for, Israeli blockade policy seeps deeper and deeper into the European Union. It is difficult to perceive the Greek government’s actions as anything but aggression toward European civil society and industry.
