Australian activists prepare to board aid flotilla bound for Gaza

Three Australians are among a group of hundreds of activists in Turkey ready to board a flotilla seeking to break Israel’s long aid blockade of Gaza.

Daniel Coward and Surya McEwen, both from New South Wales, and Helen O’Sullivan, from Queensland, were in Istanbul on Saturday local time, preparing to try to transport aid by sea to the war-torn region.

“I’m not particularly worried about being detained abroad. My only concern is that if we do it it will happen before we can get the help to the people who need it,” said Coward, a sign maker from Wollongong who said he was recruited for the mission after becoming involved with the weekly program pro . -Palestinian rallies in Sydney.

Coward has no experience in humanitarian work and said that before arriving in Turkey last week, he had never traveled abroad beyond New Zealand.