Mairead Corrigan, Nobel Peace Laureate, Defies Israeli Blockade

Irish Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan, who is among the 11 passengers on the MV Rachel Corrie, the Gaza-bound Irish aid ship that Israel has vowed to block from breaching the blockade, told the AP today that the group would not offer resistance if the Israeli military tried to take over the vessel.

"We will sit down," Corrigan said in a telephone interview with the AP. "They will probably arrest us ... But there will be no resistance."

Corrigan also told the AP that she has faith that Israel will allow the boat through.

As the AP explains, the Rachel Corrie is a very different endeavor than was the Mavi Marmara.

This latest attempt to breach the blockade differs significantly from the flotilla the Israeli troops intercepted on Monday, killing eight Turks and an American after being set upon by a group of activists.

Nearly 700 activists had joined that operation, most of them aboard the lead boat from Turkey that was the scene of the violence. That boat, the Mavi Marmara, was sponsored by an Islamic aid group from Turkey, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. Israel outlawed the group, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, in 2008 because of alleged ties to Hamas. The group is not on the U.S. State Department list of terror organizations, however.

By contrast, the Rachel Corrie was carrying just 11 passengers, whose effort was mainly sponsored by the Free Gaza movement, a Cyprus-based group that has renounced violence.

Here's video of the AP interview with Corrigan.