By Amira Hass - Haaretz

Outsourcing, aggressive and vocal diplomacy and ridiculous lies thwarted the flotilla, but they have not taken Gaza off the international agenda...Blocking the flotilla did not discourage the organizers, who are graduates of the anti-apartheid and anti-white supremacy struggles...[B]locking the flotilla only increased their motivation to keep placing the Palestinians' demand for freedom at the forefront of the international agenda.

By Charlotte Kates - July 08, 2011

It has been widely reported and speculated that the reason for Greece's participation in the suppression of Freedom Flotilla Two may be found in its own economic situation - that the [Greek] government...is so desperate for international financial and economic support that it is willing to serve as the enforcement arm for Israel's illegal siege on Gaza...Yesterday, in Vancouver...a Greek consular official...confirmed that this is indeed the case.

July 5, 2011 - Halifax Media Co-op

Dr. Ismail Zayid of the Canada-Palestine Association argued that the silence of Canada and the US on the issue of Israel's blockade of Gaza effectively makes these so-called "free world" countries collaborators in the blockade, which...is a violation of international law and a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention...Zayid also stressed that the purpose of the flotilla to Gaza is not simply to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, but also...to expose the illegality and absurdity of the blockade itself.

By Robert Stevens - WSWS

Israeli government officials have said plans are in place to prevent by force a French ship carrying humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip...The vessel Dignity is in international waters, after having left Greece last week. It is part of the planned 10 ships in the Freedom Flotilla II. The flotilla aims to deliver tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is subject to an illegal land, air and sea blockade.

Freedom Flotilla II participants demand their lawful right to deliver vital humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, an Israeli/Washington/Greek conspiracy blocks them. Nonetheless, they persist, trying to overcome imperial ruthlessness and succeed.

By Miles Howe - July 5, 2011

Yesterday, July 4th, the Tahrir chose to make a break for Gaza...In true Canadian fashion, two kayaks were procured from a local beach-side rental store, paddled across the bay, and stashed silently behind the Tahrir, out of sight of the coast guard and the numerous Greek special forces that now were stationed in the marina...At approximately 6:30pm, the Tahrir revved her engines...[and] at the last moment the two kayaks...blockaded the [coast guard].

04 July 2011 - Al Jazeera

A Canadian ship taking part in a planned aid flotilla to Gaza has been forced to return to harbour in Crete after an attempt to reach international waters was thwarted by coast guards, according to on-board activists..."In a matter of minutes, the people on the boat turned on the engines while two of the activists kayaked, trying to block the coast guard in port. At that point, the Tahrir made an open break through the port, shooting for international waters."

By Amira Hass - Haaretz

Flotilla participants and members of the leftist opposition in Greece have accused the Socialist government of caving in to Israeli pressure..."The Greek government is obeying the orders of Israel and that is why the ship is anchored here. Were Greece a genuine democracy, the ship would have already set sail..."

By Agence France-Presse - Sunday, July 3, 2011

The captain of a US vessel intercepted after it tried to defy a ban and sail for Gaza from Greece was being held in "shocking conditions" Sunday and has not received consular assistance...New York lawyer Richard Levy...has visited [Captain John] Klusmer in jail [and]...told enraged US activists that "he had no bed or toilet in his cell, and is receiving no food or water".

By Miles Howe - July 3, 2011

When...peace activists have their cover blown, occupy a island-hoping ferry in the marina, and begin marching up and down the boardwalk, screaming "Shame on Papandreaou!" and "Free Gaza!"...there's a problem. A town like Nikolaos, with 8 euro cocktails, lazy Tuesday night karaoke...and not even a nude beach, isn't built for such expressions of solidarity with the people of Gaza. This isn't Athens. This isn't Syntagma Square. There's not even a hint of tear gas in the air.

02 July 2011 -Al Jazeera

The captain of a US ship bound for Gaza has been arrested by Greek authorities for a felony after being brought before a prosecutor...The boat, which is part of a Freedom Flotilla aiming to break Israel's [blockade] of the Palestinian territory, set sail on Friday from the Greek port of Perama [but] was towed back to shore by the Greek coast guard.

By Kevin Neish - rabble.ca

Earlier flotilla ships in 2007-08 got rammed by the Israeli navy...Last year, they attacked the flotilla [and]...beat, tasered, gassed, and shot 63 peace activists, murdering nine...Now the Israeli government is reduced to sabotaging our civilian aid ships while we are in foreign ports.

By Miles Howe - July 2, 2011

Today, as the Tahrir remains unable to leave the port of Agios Nikolaos, the [Canadian Boat to Gaza] secured the assistance of an ally within Greek politics...Mihalis Kritsotakis, representative from Heraklion, the main seat on the island of Crete, paid a visit to the locked-down Tahrir..."Why in this situation do we break between Greeks and Palestinians, and Arabs?...And why do we go against the feeling of the Greek people?"

By Miles Howe - Halifax Media Co-op

For days now, the administrative requirements from port authorities at the marina in Agios Nikolaos have become more and more obscure, culminating today with the discovery that the Tahrir's radio did not have the proper signal call, and simply could not sail without it..."They were looking to see if they could find something...And they kept looking and looking and looking, with another officer, and another agency, and another officer, and another agency, they kept coming...looking."

July 1, 2011 - rabble.ca

In an attempt by local authorities to confiscate the Canadian ship Tahrir's transit logs, it has been revealed that a Greek Ministerial order has been issued to prevent any ships from leaving ports in Greece if the destination is Gaza..."Israel has in effect extended the illegal blockade of Gaza to Greek ports, using Greece's economic difficulties to influence the government's position..."