Irish Ship Nears Gaza Blockade

Israel is preparing for another confrontation with activists over its Gaza blockade as a ship from Ireland is expected to reach its waters Friday. The MV Rachel Corrie, named after an activist run over by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting in Israel, is carrying a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mairead Maguire, and a former U.N. deputy secretary-general, Denis Halliday, as well as a group of Malaysian protesters. The ship's voyage seemed in doubt as reports indicated its communications equipment was damaged, but a spokeswoman for the group backing the trip, the Free Gaza Movement, said everything is on schedule. According to the Israeli paper Haaretz, the Irish Foreign Ministry has been relaying messages between the ship and Israel and that the passengers are not planning to violently confront soldiers if boarded.