After weeks in which its participants have suffered drone ‘attacks’ involving itching powder, loud Abba music and worse, the Global Samud humanitarian flotilla carrying aid for the people of Gaza is finally nearing its destination, in spite of warnings by various governments to ‘stop’, ‘turn back’ and agree to other ways in which the aid could be distributed.
Today, Portugal’s prime minister has said the government is in contact with Italy and Spain, but really there is little else that it can do. The government has done “what was appropriate”, he considers. It has not provided any kind of naval accompaniment, in the way that the governments of Spain and Italy have, but it has been “in contact with other member states and partners”, said Luís Montenegro as he entered an informal meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen, Denmark.
And the PM agreed, “at this moment, there is indeed a danger”. Israel has said time and again that it will not let the flotilla reach Gaza, and it has intimated that some of the boats may well be sunk at sea if they continue to ignore all advice.
Mr Montenegro has said that he considers his government can “do no more” under these circumstances – meaning the three Portuguese citizens taking part in this initiative will no doubt be full of criticism.
For now, the latest video from Mariana Mortágua, uploaded onto Facebook, has criticised Trump’s ‘peace plan’ for not respecting the autonomy of Palestine, not being “an agreement, nor a solution”. This comes as international reports suggest Palestinian Islamic Movement Hamas is seriously considering the plan, and has not dismissed it in the way that Portugal’s only Left Bloc MP seems to have done.
Source material: LUSA/ BBC/ Facebook
