(NEWS) UK Woman To Defy Israeli Blockade

"A NORTH woman held hostage by the Taliban is set to join a daring aid flight to war-torn Gaza.

Former Sunday Sun journalist Yvonne Ridley, 52, from Stanley, County Durham, will jet into the country in defiance of an Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory.



And the cargo being ferried by the daredevil will include a cargo of teddy bears knitted by her mum.

The flight is being organised by the California-based Free Palestine Movement.

Earlier this year Ms Ridley was on board one of a flotilla of ships that sailed to Gaza carrying supplies.

The Israeli Navy intercepted the ships, with clashes aboard one of the vessels resulting in the deaths of nine Turkish activists.

The flight will attempt to defy a blockade imposed by Israel after the Islamist movement Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007.

The organizers of the flight have spent a year raising the funds required to charter the plane, which can be landed in places where there is no airport.

The current initiative to send an aircraft into Gaza poses a unique security challenge as it would be difficult for Israeli forces to intercept an airplane without causing casualties.

Ms Ridley, the mother of a daughter Daisy, 18, said she was aware of the risks involved in joining the flight.



She said: 'I am taking parachute lessons in case of an emergency landing.

'There is no doubt this will be an extremely dangerous flight, we are looking for a suitable airstrip to land but it could be little more than a patch of waste ground.

'The risks are plentiful but it is vital that somebody tries to bring vital supplies to the people of Gaza.

'As well as carrying food and medical supplies I will also be taking teddy bears knitted by my mother Joyce, who lives in Tanfield, Stanley, for the children of Gaza.'

Israel says it allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week. But the United Nations argues this is less than a quarter of what is needed.

Ms Ridley is well known in the Muslim world for her outspoken views.

She converted to Islam after making international headlines when she was captured by the Taliban on an undercover assignment in Afghanistan in 2001 and held hostage for 11 days." (source)