Canada's top diplomat has
warned against Canadian involvement in a new aid flotilla that
organizers say will leave in June for the blockaded Gaza
Strip, calling the unauthorized efforts "provocative."
"I strongly urge those wishing to deliver humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip to do so through established channels," said Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird.
"Unauthorized efforts to deliver aid are provocative and, ultimately, unhelpful to the people of Gaza," he said, yesterday.
On May 31, 2010, Israeli marines stormed the Mavi Marmara, the flagship of an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza, killing nine Turkish activists in international waters and drawing international condemnation.
Baird's warning comes amid reports that a group representing about 100 Canadian organizations says it plans to send a Canadian boat to the Gaza Strip as part of the second "Freedom Flotilla" -- this time comprising some 15 ships. AFP
