Jack Shenker sends this from Corfu, where he is waiting to travel on the "Freedom Flotilla" to Gaza.

I've just completed an interesting interview with Spiros Spirou, provincial governor of the Ionian islands - which include Corfu, from where one of the "Freedom Flotilla" ships is currently trying to set sail to Gaza.
The flotilla activists have always claimed they had local political support for their mission, and from what Spirou told me it appears that they're right. In open defiance of his political bosses in Athens, Spirou told the Guardian and al-Jazeera that he "admires and supports the activists' struggle" and would make no attempt to stop their boat from making a break for international waters if it chose to do so.
But the local coastguard don't come under Spirou's control, and the decision from the central Greek government to stop any flotilla vessels from leaving port appears increasingly irreversible. "Greece loves peace, but at this moment it can't confront more powerful economic forces," said the governor. He confirmed that official attempts to tie the flotilla up in bureaucracy and paperwork were merely a pretext for preventing it from sailing at all.
"The ban has come from the ministries in Athens and I have no responsibility for it at all - I've tried to get in contact with them and get an explanation but I have not been able to get through," he insisted. "Right now Greece is in crisis and decisions have been taken at an international level."
Meanwhile a Canadian flotilla ship currently docked in Athens has announced that it will attempt to set sail at 6pm local time, regardless of the outcome of today's legal wrangling. Whether the other vessels follow suit - including the one here in Corfu - remains to be seen.