(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Israel's policies for Palestinians mean suicide for the entire Jewish community, a representative of a Paris-based Jewish body has said.
In a recent interview with Anadolu Agency aboard the Marianne Boat, which departed from the Swedish Gothenburg port on May 10 as part of "The Ship to Gaza" Freedom Flotilla III, Daniel Levyne, a representative of Union of French Jews for Peace, urged the Israeli government to treat all Palestinians fairly.
Levyne warned that Tel Aviv's policies would harm not only Palestinians but also all Jews around the world. "Israel is not only guilty on its Palestinian policy but also this policy means suicide for all the world's Jews," he said.
The Marianne Boat is carrying solar panels and medical supplies for Palestinians as part of the flotilla in an attempt to break the nine-year Israeli blockade on Gaza.
About the blockade, Levyne said: "We are fighting against any kind of discrimination and racism; now we are fighting discrimination against Muslims".
He added that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not a religious or an ethnic problem but rather a legal matter.
He said that his association had also supported the "Estelle" ship, which too tried to aid Gaza in 2012 but was stopped from going further in international waters.
The first "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" expedition in May 2010 ended in tragedy after Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish nationals and an American of Turkish origin in a raid on the flotilla ship, Mavi Marmara. Another person died in a Turkish hospital in 2014 after being in coma for almost four years.
The second "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" took place in 2012.
The Marianne Boat is set to join other ships en route and plans to reach Gaza by mid-June. Boats from the Canadian Boat to Gaza, Greece Ship to Gaza, Freedom Flotilla Italia, Norway Ship to Gaza, South Africa Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Spain Rumbo a Gaza and Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) are part of the third attempt.
Israel has maintained a tight blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007, when Palestinian group Hamas took over control of the territory.
According to a report released last week by the World Bank, Gaza's "unemployment rate is the highest in the world" as a result of the blockade.
The World Bank report said: "Gaza's GDP [Gross Domestic Product] would have been about four times higher than it currently is if it weren't for the conflicts and the multiple restrictions."
"The blockade in place since 2007 has shaved around 50 percent off Gaza's GDP," it added.
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