… set sail yesterday, according to Ha’aretz. This one, however, safely navigated the Sea of Galilee, not the Mediterranean. This one contained two thousand kibbutz teenagers, not international activists. This one probably won’t get nearly as much media attention. But it crossed the waters for the cause of peace, too—to lobby for the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas in Gaza, and one of the biggest obstacles to negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians:
A flotilla of 90 rafts made its annual crossing of Lake Kinneret yesterday, with 2,200 kibbutz teens participating. The flotilla, organized by the Kibbutz Movement, adopted as this year’s theme the campaign to free captive soldier Gilad Shalit. The crafts’ sails bore slogans calling for Shalit’s release, including calls to accept the German negotiator’s proposal to negotiate with Hamas. The teens began building their rafts a week ago along the Kinneret’s shores. They set sail for Dugit Beach on the eastern shore with the westerly afternoon breeze behind them.