By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TURTLE BAY — Three Manhattan residents prepared to embark on a controversial and potentially dangerous protest demonstration Monday, chartering a boat to the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza in violation of an Israeli blockade that severely restricts incoming shipments.
Richard Levy, an attorney from the Upper West Side, Brad Taylor, a construction worker from Midtown and socialworker Gail Miller are among the 36 Americans who are joining the Freedom Flotilla II when it sails out later this week.
A similar protest last summer, dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, ended in the deaths of nine Turkish activists at the hands of Israeli soldiers who were attempting to enforce the embargo by commandeering one of the boats.
"As an American and as a Jew I feel like it's very important for us to speak up and say 'This country that we've essentially bankrolled is not behaving in a way that's acceptable,'" said Levy, 69, of his decision to join the flotilla.
"The really important thing is that the blockade be lifted so the people can be free."
Speaking at a pre-departure press conference at the Church Center for the United Nations Monday, organizers and participates blamed the blockade for depriving Palestinians of needed humanitarian supplies and preventing them from creating a functional economy.
This summer's action is planned to include between eight and ten ships carrying passengers from more than 20 countries, according to organizers. The "Audacity of Hope" boat — named after President Barack Obama's book — is set to depart with the other vessels from Athens, Greece, later this week.
Levy, a native New Yorker who specializes in labor and civil rights law, said he was unsatisfied by Israel's concession to liberalize the blockade in the wake of last year's deadly flotilla clash.
While some have criticized the Flotilla as unnecessarily provocative, Taylor, 55, a Midtown West construction contractor and radio host, insisted that the group was committed to nonviolence.
"We're not provoking anything. We're going about an entirely legal action of support and solidarity and love for a people who need our friendship," Taylor said. "If there's any violence that's perpetrated in this situation it won't be because of any provocative behavior by us."
The U.S. boat got an official communication from the State Department warning of a potential clash with the Israeli military, Levy said.
Still, Taylor, who noted that his 23-year-old daughter was "a bit anxious" about his involvement in the protest, said he was compelled by his relationships with Palestinian-born activists to get involved.
"There's more we can do as individuals and I'm taking the position that active resistance to the occupation is what's needed," Taylor explained.
The 36 Audacity of Hope passengers, selected through a thorough application process, hail from 14 states and the District of Columbia, according to organizers. Roughly one quarter of them are Jewish Americans, while another quarter are people of color, they also noted.
Among the other passengers, for whom bios are available online, are a college student from Arizona and a former CIA analyst and "The Color Purple" author Alice Walker.
