The Ship to Gaza and Freedom Flotilla, currently on its way to Gaza across Mediterranean, are carrying 11 Swedish citizens. Among these are members of parliament, activists, medical doctors and intellectuals.The Swedish passengers are:
– Ulf Carmesund, theologian and international secretary for Christian Social Democrats of Sweden.
– Mehmet Kaplan, member of the Swedish parliament (the Green Party of Sweden), former spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Sweden, and former president of Young Muslims in Sweden (Sveriges unga muslimer).
– Henning Mankell, author, dramatist, and theater manager.
– Henry Ascher, pediatrician and Medical Director for the Rosengren foundation (Rosengrenska Stiftelsen) and researcher for refugee medicine. Member of Jews for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
– Viktoria Strand, a physician specializing in allergy medicine.
– Dror Feiler, founder of and spokesperson for Ship to Gaza. He is an artist and musician, president of Jews for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Sweden), and of European Jews for a Just Peace.
– Saman Ali, board member and treasurer of Ship to Gaza.
– Mattias Gardell, a founder of and spokesperson for Ship to Gaza. He is an author and a professor of the History of Religion at Uppsala University.
– Kimberly Soto Aguayo, Palestine Solidarity, Sweden.
– Amil Sarsour, activist from Ship to Gaza, Uppsala and chairman of the Organization for Immigrants in Uppsala.
– Edda Manga, PhD in History of Ideas and Science, lecturer, and debater.
– Also on board is a team of reporters from the Swedish television channel TV4.
Several other Swedish activists volunteered to come, but the number of passengers from each nation is limited. Approximately 500 passengers from about 50 different nations are in the convoy.
They are travelling not only passengers, but also as witnesses, a part of the solidarity cargo the Freedom Flotilla is bringing to Gaza. The purpose of Ship to Gaza is threefold: humanitarian, political and in solidarity:
– To bring the people of Gaza vital medicine and materials for reconstruction.
-To remind the World and especially politicians of the unacceptable situation in the Gaza Strip.
– To give the people in Gaza a clear, international message: you are not alone!
