BICOM

While the flotilla to Gaza is still encountering logistical and political problems, pro-Palestinian groups say hundreds of activists intend to fly to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Friday to protest the country’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip and other policies.

As part of Israel’s preventive measures, which are expected to be complicated because of the difficulty in isolating the activists, the Population Authority, the Israel Police and the General Security Service of Israel, have begun to work on the lists of passengers scheduled to arrive in Israel in the coming days by air. “We profile those passengers about whom there is suspicion that they are planning to disrupt public order at the airport,” a high-ranking police officer told Ma’ariv. “By means of the Foreign Ministry, we intend to approach the airlines and ask them not to allow those passengers about whom we have suspicions to fly. In tandem, we are planning to be ready at the airport with large forces to prevent the possibility of attempts to disrupt public order.” The officer also said, “we know the names of some of the activists who are supposed to arrive and the Population Authority is planning to deny them entry on security grounds.”

The police say that an emphasis will be placed on a number of flights that will arrive in the next few days from Greece, Turkey and France. This is because these countries, located along the Mediterranean, are where pro-Palestinian activists who expected to take part in the flotilla are currently held-up, as thus far they have been unable to leave port.