Ship to Gaza website in ‘cyber attack’

Activists on the Swedish Ship to Gaza have claimed that a cyber attack on their website is the latest attempt to sabotage the aid mission of the Freedom Flotilla II.

The organisation’s server company was forced to pull the plug and the website was shut down last Friday after a so-called ‘overload’.

“Since Friday morning our server supplier has been under attack, which means that our website is down. We can’t say for sure if it is directed against us, but it is obviously an advanced attack,” Ship to Gaza wrote in a statement.

Information from the organisation, which is undertaking a second attempt to break the Israeli-enforced blockade on Palestinian Gaza, has been moved to a temporary blog page. The activists are considering whether to report the matter to the police, but claim the action has not disrupted their progress. “The effects of the attack were not those desired,” Ship to Gaza press spokesperson Mikael Lofgren told the TT news agency.

Just before the flotilla’s launch at the end of June, the Swedish Ship to Gaza organisers reported that their boat had been sabotaged by divers. The organisation blamed Israel for the damage to the hull, but such accusations were adamantly denied, despite authorities making no secret of their determination to prevent the convoy reaching Gaza. The government said the “James Bond-esque” claims had no bearing on reality.

The last year’s attempt to break the blockade ended in a bloody battle as Israeli forces stormed an aid ship, resulting in nine deaths. The heavy-handed action was widely condemned by the international community.

The current flotilla consists of 300 activists from 22 different countries, adamant on bringing necessities and aid to the coastal region, which has been under the blockade since 2006.