Two American activists and one Swedish Activist boarded a fishing boat in Gaza, Olivia, on Saturday July 23, 2011. The ISM activists were on board to counteract the Israeli Military from preventing the Palestinian fishermen from fishing.At seven in the morning, three adult Palestinians and two young boys boarded the fishing boat with three ISM activists, according to a report issued by the Palestinian Solidarity Organization on July 24, 2011.
The ISM activists spotted the Israeli Military, at around two and half miles from the Gaza shore, and announced several times on a megaphone that there were, “Unarmed international observers on board, two United States citizens and one Swedish citizen.”
The Israeli Navy fired live rounds of ammunition aimed at the boat, at the ISM activists, as well as in the water surrounding the boat for thirty minutes.
The ISM activists repeated on the megaphone before reaching the three mile mark that there were unarmed civilians that only wanted to fish for Ramadan.
Palestinian fishermen in Gaza are only allowed to fish within three miles from the Gaza shore. The captain told the ISM activists that this area is over fished and it would be better to “return home” rather than fish at the three-mile mark.
The captain went three miles and seven hundred meters away from the Gaza Shore asking the Israeli Navy on a megaphone to allow them to fish for one hour. The Israeli Navy told the captain that he is only allowed to fish within the three-mile mark.
The Israeli gunboat left and then another warship equipped with a water canon took its place. The water canon aimed at the fishing boat for twenty to thirty minutes with such intensity that the captain decided to stop fishing and return to the port.
