Ariel Schalit / AP Photo
A flotilla of activists is preparing to set sail for Gaza this week to protest the Israeli embargo on Palestinian territory. The effort comes nearly a year after nine Turkish activists were killed by Israeli soldiers during a similar attempt to defy the blockage. Israel has pledged to make the same efforts, warning that it will not allow the ship to reach the contested area and will punish any journalists on board by banning them from the country for a decade. A letter from the Government Press Office reads that the flotilla is "a dangerous provocation that is being organized by Western and Islamic extremist elements to aid Hamas." Journalists from The New York Times and camera crews from CNN and CBS are among the media planning to send reporters aboard the flotilla.