To my fellow passengers

Yes, we are in Athens, still.  An Athens still in the midst of a civil uprising.  We have now met many of our French and Norwegian and Greek and Spanish and Swedish comerades, likewise getting ready to sail.

And we have been spending a lot of time together, getting to know each other and learning to trust each other.  Pivotal, with the oncoming trip and its challenges.  We have transitioned from our first exuberance, through a stretch of anxiety, having learned of the delays, and back into optimism.  An optimism now more sober, but crucially grounded no only in our continuing conviction that our cause is just, but also in having come to recognize the outstanding individuals among us.  The courage, the passion, the compassion which we are discovering in each other daily, hourly.  The wisdom and the experience.  The effort and the commitment...

Fifty are many people to come to know in such a short period of time, and I am sure the list will grow, but this is (in no particular order), with deep affection and awe, to Linda, Debra, Regina, Brad and Lisa.  To Anne.  To Richard Lo., and to Kit and to Hedi, and Ann, and Gail, and Ken and Gabe, and Max, and Gale, and to Donna and Libor.   To Kathy and to Kathy.... To So many, so unique, so people!

Op. Ed., Los Angeles Times

Hi Folks - here it is:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-borer-gaza-blockade-20110626,0,3515948.story

Hope you like it, and please do remember op eds from this point of view have been getting rather vicious responses.  If you are supportive, put in your two cents...

Still from Athens,

Hagit

=============

By Hagit Borer

June 26, 2011

Later this month an American ship, the Audacity of Hope, will leave Greece on a journey to the Gaza Strip to attempt to break Israel's blockade. It will join an expected nine other ships flying numerous flags and carrying hundreds of passengers from around the world. I will be one of those passengers.

I am an Israeli Jewish American. I was born in Israel, and I grew up in a very different Jerusalem from the one today. The Jerusalem of my childhood was a smallish city of white-stone neighborhoods nestled in the elbows of hills. Near the center, next to the central post office, the road swerved sharply to the left because straight ahead stood a big wall, and on the other side of it was "them."

And then, on June 9, 1967, the wall came down. Elsewhere, Israeli troops were still fighting what came to be known as the Six-Day War, but on June 9, as a small crowd stood and watched, demolition crews brought down the barrier wall, and after it, all other buildings that had stood between my Jerusalem and the walls of the Old City, their Jerusalem. A few weeks later a wide road would lead from my Jerusalem to theirs, bearing the victors' name: Paratroopers Way.

A soldier helped me sneak into the Old City. Snipers were still at large and the city was closed to Israeli civilians. By the Western Wall, a myth to me until then, the Israeli army was already evicting Palestinian residents in the dead of night and demolishing all houses within 1,000 feet. Eventually, the area would turn into the huge open paved space it is today, a place where only last month, on Jerusalem Day, masses of Israeli youths chanted "Muhammad is dead" and "May your villages burn."

It is a different Jerusalem now. It is not their Jerusalem, for it has been taken from them. Every day the Palestinians of Jerusalem are further strangled by more incursions, by more "housing developments" to cut them off from other Palestinians. In Sheik Jarrah, a neighborhood built by Jordan in the 1950s to house refugees, Palestinian families recently have been evicted from their homes at gunpoint based on court-sanctioned documents purporting to show Jewish land ownership in the area dating back some 100 years. But no Palestinian proof of ownership within West Jerusalem has ever prevailed in Israeli courts. Talbieh, Katamon, Baca, until 1948 affluent Palestinian neighborhoods, are today almost exclusively Jewish, with no legal recourse for the Palestinians who recently raised families and lived their lives there.

In his speech on Jerusalem Day, Yitzhak Pindrus, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, assured a cheering crowd of the ongoing commitment to expanding the Jewish neighborhood of Shimon Hatzadik, as Sheik Jarrah has been renamed.

This is not my Jerusalem. The tens of thousands of jeering youths that swarmed through its streets on Jerusalem Day have taken the city from me as well. That they speak my native tongue is almost impossible for me to believe, for there is nothing about them or about the society that gave birth to them that I recognize.

Did we know in 1967, in 1948, that it would come to this? Some did. Some knew even then that a society built on conquest and dispossession would have to dehumanize the conquered in order to continue to dispossess and oppress them. A 1948 letter to the New York Times signed by Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt, among others, foretells much of the future. Martin Buber did not spare David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, his perspective on the expulsion of the Palestinians in 1948-49.

But too many others, including members of the U.S. Congress who recently cheered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are determined to not hold the Israeli government responsible or the Israeli-Jewish society culpable.

Let us note that some Israeli Jews do stand up and protest. There are soldiers who refuse to serve, journalists who highlight injustice, and human rights organizations, activist groups, information centers. In a sense, all of us seeking justice have been on a virtual boat to Gaza all these decades. We have been trying to break through the Israeli blockade, in its many incarnations. We wish to say to the Palestinians that, yes, there are people in Israel who know that any viable future for the Middle East must be based on a just peace — not the forced imposition spelled out by Netanyahu to Congress — or else we are all doomed. We want it known that the soldier is not the only face of Israeli Jews. There are those who say to the government of Israel, "You do not represent us." We say to the people of the United States in general and to American Jews in particular that yes, you do have an alternative. You can support peace. A true peace.

Hagit Borer moved from Israel to the United States to study in 1977. She became an American citizen in 1992 and is currently a professor of linguistics at USC.

Precious! Sure to Make your Day!

Reporters hector State: Is the blockade legal? What right does Israel have to ‘defend itself’ from humanitarian aid?

by Philip Weiss on June 25, 2011

Like 37 Retweet 9

Matt Lee of AP is on fire. Be like Matt Lee, you docile bovine seven-stomached beasts of the mainstream media, grow a pair. And it looks like other State Department reporters are emulating him. Here's the video. And here's an extended excerpt from the briefing, below. Gaza is just about the first order of business. Watch State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland squirm. She's the wife of Robert Kagan, former Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney, July 2003-May 2005. And she's in the Obama administration? What does she know, when did she know it?

Be sure to listen to Lee's genius question toward the end about Saudi Arabian women driving and breaking the law. "It seems to me that's a pretty provocative act," too, but Hillary Clinton defends them. I have to believe stuff is shaking. Oh brave flotilla, be safe and make it to Gaza!!!!


QUESTION: This morning, Victoria, you put out a statement – or a statement went out in your name – about the flotilla. This is the third warning in three days from this building or people in this building about this. What is the big concern here? Are you – is there a worry that this is going – that this may upend your efforts to get the peace talks restarted?

MS. [Victoria] NULAND: I think this just continues a year of diplomacy and public statements that we’ve had making clear that we don’t want to see a repeat of the very dangerous situation that occurred last year. So we thought it was timely to put out all in one place our views on this issue, and I do commend to all of you the very detailed statement that we put out earlier in the day.
QUESTION: Right. But is there a concern that this may have broader – if it goes ahead, that there may be broader implications for the effort?
MS. NULAND: We have seen some warming in relations between Turkey and Israel, as we talked about I think it was on Tuesday. We want to see that effort continue. We want to see those who want to aid humanitarian situation in Gaza use the appropriate channels. There has been some progress, as the statement makes clear, in opening the way for more humanitarian aid. More humanitarian aid is getting in through legitimate channels. So we’d like to see that process continue and not have a repeat of the dangerous situation we had last summer.
QUESTION: Okay. Well, one of the things that the Secretary said yesterday in – when – in her comments to this was that attempts to go into Israeli waters were provocative and irresponsible. And it’s my understanding that the flotilla organizers do not intend to go into Israeli waters but in – they will stay in international waters. Is that your understanding or is that not your understanding per what the Secretary said yesterday?
MS. NULAND: I can’t speak to the intentions of those involved in the flotilla. I think the Secretary was clear it was in response to a question yesterday --
QUESTION: Correct.
MS. NULAND: -- as you remember, so that also speaks to the fact that publicly this issue is out there, that we do not want to see the bad situation of last year repeated. We do believe that channels exist for providing humanitarian aid to Gaza in a safe and secure way and that that situation is improving. And we urge all NGOs who want to participate in that to use those channels.
QUESTION: But does a flotilla sitting in international waters off the Gaza – off the coast of Gaza, is that a problem for the U.S.?
MS. NULAND: Again, I don’t want to get into the Law of the Sea issues here. I simply want to say that we don’t want to see a conflict at sea, on land. We want to see appropriate legitimate channels used for the --
QUESTION: I understand, but in the briefing that just preceded this --
MS. NULAND: Yes.
QUESTION: -- you talked about wanting to – in another instance, in the South China Sea, the U.S. has been very concerned about the freedom of navigation.
MS. NULAND: Yeah.
QUESTION: And so I’m not quite sure what the U.S. problem would be with a flotilla that stays in international waters, whether it’s off the coast of Gaza or off the coast of the Philippines.
MS. NULAND: I think we’re not talking about a freedom of navigation issue. We’re talking about appropriate and safe and agreed mechanisms for delivering aid to the people of Gaza.
QUESTION: So it’s --
MS. NULAND: So I think the statement speaks for it --
QUESTION: Well, but you believe that Israel is within its rights to defend itself to take on or to prevent ships from going into international waters?
MS. NULAND: Again, I’m not going to speak to international waters, territorial waters. I’m simply saying that we are encouraging those who want to aid the people of Gaza to use the channels that have been established.
QUESTION: All right. And then was – on the flotilla – this is on the Middle East – I just want to know, wondering if there’s any update on the Quartet meeting in Brussels?
MS. NULAND: Simply that they had a good meeting today, they did begin a conversation about when they’re going to meet next, and they’re looking to do that in the next few weeks. But I don’t have any specific announcements out of the Quartet today.
QUESTION: Is there – is the thought that the next meeting would be at the principals level or is it going to be, again, at the – at an envoy level?
MS. NULAND: I think decisions have not been made on that subject.
Yes.
QUESTION: To follow up on --
QUESTION: Just to – this is a follow-up.
MS. NULAND: Are we on flotilla too or are we --
QUESTION: We’re on flotilla. Just to make sure, does the U.S. consider that blockade legal?
MS. NULAND: I think the main point that we were trying to make in the statement was that we’ve got to use the channels that are safe, the channels that are going to guarantee that the aid get where it needs to go to the people it’s intended for, and to discourage, in strongest terms, any actions on the high seas that could result in a conflict.
QUESTION: Right, but again, that doesn’t answer the question of the legality or the – whether the U.S. perceives that blockade as legal or not.
MS. NULAND: I don’t have anything for you on legality here. We can take a stronger look at that if you’d like, but again, the reason that the Secretary spoke to this yesterday when she was asked, the reason that we’ve put out this very fulsome statement that points people in the correct direction, is because we want to avoid the problems of last year, and we do believe that there are good and reliable channels for getting assistance to the people of Gaza.
QUESTION: And just one more. I’m sorry. The people who are putting this together have a rather elaborate website, and they say that – on that that the U.S. should be protecting the rights of American citizens, protecting their safety abroad. So that is the argument that they are making. They’re very disappointed and shocked that the State Department would be warning people off. What do you say to that?
MS. NULAND: It is in the interest of protecting both Americans and other citizens from around the world who might be thinking about engaging in provocative moves like this that we were putting out these warnings so strongly in the same season where we had this problem last year. We don’t want to see a repeat, and we do believe that those who want to aid Gaza can do so and need to do so in the correct manner.
Please.
QUESTION: You kept repeating that they have available to them --
MS. NULAND: Yes.
QUESTION: -- proper channels and so on. What – could you share with us some of these proper channels?
MS. NULAND: Well, the Rafah Crossing, as you know, is open again, and we have seen an uptick in the humanitarian aid that is going through there. There are also channels through Israel, and we’ve been relatively encouraged that the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza through these appropriate channels is improving.
QUESTION: But the Rafah Crossing was only recently opened. I mean, until then, it was completely closed. So that’s one issue. And another: Could you clarify for us whether, in fact, the Gaza waters or crossing through the Gaza waters, is that legal or illegal under the Laws of the Seas and so on? Could you clarify that, please?
MS. NULAND: I think that’s the same question that Jill was asking. And I will admit to you I’m not a Law of the Sea expert here, but let me take the question.
QUESTION: Okay. And a quick follow-up on the Quartet: You said that it was a good meeting. Now what constitutes a good meeting? How was the, let’s say, the meeting today different or improved the situation from, let’s say, 24 hours ago?
MS. NULAND: Well, as you saw and as we’ve been discussing here for the course of the last week, David Hale has been involved very intensively with the parties, with the regional states. For the members of the Quartet, I think it was a chance to compare notes on diplomacy that we’ve been doing, on diplomacy that other members of the Quartet have been doing in our shared effort to get these parties back to the table. So, from that perspective, there was a lot to discuss and then to take stock of where to go next.
Please.
QUESTION: Can I do a follow-up on the flotilla?
MS. NULAND: Please, yeah.
QUESTION: My understanding is that there were a number of the Americans who planned to participate and went into your – I believe in your Embassy in Athens and sought some advice. Can you tell us what the message to them in person was today?
MS. NULAND: I’m sure that the message to them in person was identical to the statement that we’ve put out today, that we would ask them to use established and reliable channels and to refrain from action that could lead to the kind of difficulty that we saw last year.
QUESTION: When you say that you want – you don’t want a repeat of last year, you want people to refrain from action that could lead to the kind of difficulty that you saw last year, does that only apply to the flotilla organizers or does that also apply to Israel?
MS. NULAND: We’ve been urging all sides, whether it’s the NGOs or whether it’s governments involved, that we not have a repeat of what happened last year.
QUESTION: Right. Well --
MS. NULAND: And I think this speaks to the fact that the neighboring states that – to Gaza have worked hard to establish legitimate mechanisms, efficient mechanisms to get aid in so that people have a way to do this other than to risk provocative action.
Please, Jill.
QUESTION: Another subject?
MS. NULAND: Anybody – anything else on this? Lachlan?
QUESTION: Just one more on this. Yeah. I don’t think you said it, but people at the State Department have said Israel has a right to defend itself against these flotillas. What exactly would it be defending against, though? That’s what’s not clear to me.
MS. NULAND: Like all states, Israel has a right of national self-defense. Again, I don’t want to get into where the boat might be and Law of the Sea and all this kind of stuff. We are simply saying this is the wrong way to get aid to Gaza. The correct way to get aid to Gaza is through the established mechanisms which are improving, which are open, and which can get aid to the people that it’s intended for.
QUESTION: But it’s just humanitarian aid, so I don’t see why it would be – Israel would have to defend itself if it’s just humanitarian aid coming in.
MS. NULAND: It’s the matter of all states to provide coastal defense, but I’m – again, I’m not going to get into the Law of the Sea issues here. We’re simply trying to make the point that we want this done in a way that not only is going to get the aid where it’s intended, but is going to ensure that we don’t have dangerous incidents.
QUESTION: In general, would you say that the Administration, the U.S. Government, is – would advise anyone against provocative acts?
MS. NULAND: I think that’s a fair point.
QUESTION: It is. Okay. So you don’t see, when the Secretary comes out in support of women who want to drive in Saudi Arabia, deliberately violating Saudi laws and regulations, that – her support of that is – doesn’t mean that you’re not – I mean, I don’t understand where you – if you’re coming out against all provocative acts, it seems to me that that’s a pretty provocative act, and yet she’s supporting that.
MS. NULAND: The Secretary was supporting the right of not only Saudi women, women around the world, to live as men do. She wasn’t encouraging any particular course of action one way or the other. She was simply making a strong public statement of empathy and support for the campaign that these women are on to have these laws changed.
QUESTION: Okay. So a provocative act in support of the Palestinians in Gaza is not okay, though?
MS. NULAND: I don’t think we are supporting provocative acts of any kind. I think you can’t equate these two issues. The Secretary was simply speaking to the aspirations of Saudi women to have the laws of their country changed. She wasn’t encouraging any particular course of action for that.
QUESTION: Okay. Let me try and put it a different way, then. You believe that because there are established – already established means, the Israeli port where things are inspected and the Rafah Crossing, that in this case, being provocative is unnecessary and unwise because it’s just not needed; there are other ways to do it? Is that – that’s the bottom line?
MS. NULAND: That’s certainly the case, and we don’t want further incidents. It’s not in anybody’s interest.
QUESTION: Is the regular blockade a provocative act?
MS. NULAND: I think we’ve gone as far as we’re going to go on this subject.
QUESTION: I’ll ask again. Is the naval blockade a provocative action?
MS. NULAND: We would consider it provocative and it would be dangerous to have a repeat of the situation that we saw last year.
QUESTION: But the current existing blockade, the naval blockade of Gaza, is that provocative action or is it not?
MS. NULAND: As I said, we believe that there are legitimate and efficient ways to get assistance into Gaza and that those mechanisms are working and that we’re seeing, as a result of them, an improvement in the humanitarian situation.
Jill, are we moving on now? Yeah. Thanks. Please, go ahead.

Athens, Greece, some more

Here we are, all fifty of us.  Plus a boat.  In a bit of a holding pattern, for the time being.  Every day we are here longer, the press is heating up.  The US State Department appears to have taken notice of us.  Three warnings have already gone out, and Secretary Clinton, in an interesting recent statement, announced that:

"We think that it’s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves."

(look at the news tab on the right - I posted some interesting stuff there, including her full statement).

Many very very interesting aspects to this statement.  Not the least of which is referring to anything the Israelis might do to us, some 50 unarmed American citizens carrying letters, as coming under the title of 'the Israelis ... right to defend themselves'.  Going quite the distance beyond the previous position of simply refusing to intercede with Israel to ensure the safety of unarmed Americans, this one actually invites an attack!

Moving right along, 'Israeli waters', now that's an interesting one.  According to Israel, Gaza is not under occupation.  But if so, how are we going into Israeli water?  And suppose Gaza IS under occupation - that would make it Israeli-occupied water.  It would become Israeli water only if Israel were to annex Gaza.  So is the State Department proposing to recognize an annexation of Gaza by Israel?

And finally, would we be creating a provocation if we sailed to Tel-Aviv?  We would certainly be entering Israeli water!

Clinton notes, as well, in the rest of her statement, that "Just this week, the Israeli government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza."  True.  After refusing cement and construction material into Gaza for years, all of a sudden, change of policy "Just This Week".  Israel also changed its long term policy and allowed, indeed almost invited, a group of European politicians  to Gaza.  "Just This Week".

Of course none of this whatsoever has any relationship to the oncoming flotilla.  We stress that any connection is purely coincidental.  None of it is also related to the Israel's ambassador to the UN telling us that "Israel calls on the international community to do everything in their ability in order to prevent the flotilla and warn citizens of countries of the risks of participating in this type of provocation".

Let's face it folks, they are really anxious about this flotilla.  What, one wonders, are they so anxious about?  And how far will they go to stop us from ever sailing? Several hundred unarmed civilians threatening an unarmed voyage, haven't even left port yet, and we are already doing good by Gaza!  So let it be known for the record - Israel only understands pressure!

In the announcements and requests department - because we are in Athens longer than anticipated (more nights in hotels, more eating in restaurants), some passengers are actually facing some financial problems.  Do let me know if you think you can help?

 

Interactive map of Palestine villages destroyed in Nakba

http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/interactive-map-palestine-villages-destroyed-nakba <http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/interactive-map-palestine-villages-destroyed-nakba>
Electronic Intifada
05/15/2011

Interactive map of Palestine villages destroyed in Nakba

by Ali Abunimah

The Electronic Intifada has produced this interactive map that allows
you to see information about any of the more than 400 Palestinian
cities, towns and villages depopulated and destroyed during the Nakba –
the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist and later Israeli forces
from late 1947 into 1948.
The data and images come from the website Palestine Remembered, which used much of the basic research from Walid Khalidi’s seminal reference All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Many individuals have also contributed their own narratives, images and personal discoveries on Palestine Remembered.
The Electronic Intifada acknowledges this work and is pleased to
present and increase access to this important data in a new form.


How to use themap:
Clicking on a dot opens up a pop-up bubble which shows information about that location in Palestine;Zoom in to an area by holding the “Shift” key and drawing a box with
your mouse or trackpad, or use the buttons on the left edge of the map;Click on the “+” sign in the blue tab on the upper right corner of
the map to access more layers of data such as places built up by Israel,
West Bank villages, Gaza places, and communities of Palestinians still
living in what is now Israel;View the map in its own browser window: Interactive map of Palestine villages destroyed in Nakba.

My video is out! Auditioning for Hollywood next!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unm1nzYWiT0&feature=BFa&list=PL5F70010FC2A94EB9&index=15

And don't forget to watch the other passengers speak!

From Athens, First Evening

The true significance of this boat trip, of this flotilla, in conjunction with other world events is coming into focus, having met the passengers, having met the organizers who have worked on making this project come true for some ten months now.  Having met people with a very broad scope of knowledge and understanding.  It fits, as it turns out, into an extremely complex tapestry of world events, becoming a player even where it didn't think itself to be, significant in ways that transcend even its original very significant mission.

The Arab Spring.  Beyond the revolutions and the uprisings in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Baharain, in Yemen, in Lybia, in Syria, there is the profound impact that it has had on how the population of the Middle East and North Africa views itself, and it has had a profound impact on how the world views that population. 

The spread of the Arab Spring.  A brush fire having far exceeded the boundaries of the Arab world.  And now in Greece.  Greece on the verge of an uprising, with massive daily demonstrations against the US, against the EU, against its own government.  Strikes in Greece.  General strike tomorrow, a dock strike on Friday...

Israel.  Frantically, for months now, pressuring every single mediteranean country to block the flotilla.  Having succeeded in Turkey, the next target is the Greek government.  The Greek government that may not survive the week, will it succomb to Israeli pressure against the background of massive popular unrest, against the background of massive demonstrations accusing the Greek government of being American stooges?  And wouldn't succombing to Israeli pressure become the ultimate proof to of their complicity?

"I don't think people in the US know what is going on here," the blond, well-dressed Greek woman said to us, in front of the Greek Parliament at Syntagma Square, at 11pm.  "I brought my 9 year old son here with me the other day, and we stood here until three o'clock in the morning, because I think he should know.  Tell them about us.  Don't forget."

"The slogans," the young man answers my question, "that one there says, 'I am going crazy because you cut off salaries and you cut off pensions and  medical benefits but you still haven't cut your own throats.'  That one, it awards Papandereu the badge of 'Goldman Sachs employee of the month'".  The one over the bridge, I can read: "You take the debts, we will take Solidarity: REVOLUTION".  They were all going to stay there, at least 30,000 of them, I would say, through midnight, preventing parlamentrians from getting through for a crucial midnight vote.  The vote, alas, was held, and Papandreou did win, slim margin as it was...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-21/papandreou-wins-confidence-vote-raising-rescue-chances.html

And in the middle of this, the ten boats of the flotilla, the beseiged population of Gaza, the occupation of Palestine, the 50 or so of us on the Audacity of Hope, now attempting to put faces and names and stories together, our personal stories, our personal voyages to this point, our shared voyage beyond this point, I think I have been near history before.  I am not sure I quite got to put a finger in, though, until now.

Israel Defense Force: The Path to Glory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ9BLW2TEw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFGsbXuxufk

Palestinians are people, too

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/164711-palestinians-are-people-too
By Mustafa Barghouthi- 06/03/11
Every June 5 for the past 44 years of my life has brought back memories of being a 13-year-old facing life under Israeli occupation. Forty-four years ago I saw Israelis for the first time. It took my generation a very long and difficult time to come to terms with accepting the need for peace and compromise with our occupier. That compromise was the two-state solution. Our goal was to end occupation and achieve freedom, dignity, and self-determination.

Last month in the United States, it became clear to me that few Americans fully understand what it means to be under military occupation for 44 years. Imagine a situation where all universities are closed down by a foreign military power for a total of three years. That happened here in the eighties. Imagine a situation in which all elected local municipality councils are dismissed by the military and replaced by foreign officers. That happened to us in the seventies.
And try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one day and found your business, factory or farm demolished by Israeli bulldozers. That's what happened during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2008-09. Imagine a situation in which 40 percent of all adult males in your community and a substantial number of women, including young girls, have been imprisoned for political reasons -- mostly to suppress freedom of expression. That is exactly what has been happening to us for the past 44 years.

In addition, there is harsh restriction of movement with 600 military check points that prevent people in the West Bank from reaching Gaza and Palestinians from reaching Jerusalem to study, pray and even get to hospital for treatment.

Regardless of how hard I try I cannot forget the agony I felt as a medical doctor trying to convince stubborn and unthinking Israeli soldiers to allow Abu Muhammad, a patient suffering a heart attack, or Basem, seriously injured in a car accident, across a check point and into Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem.

Nothing can adequately explain the bitterness and frustration felt when young Israeli soldiers humiliate our fathers and mothers, as well as our sick disabled grandmothers and make jokes about their suffering, while we stand by unable to do anything to stop them.

It is our aspiration to rid ourselves of these injustices and achieve peace through nonviolent and peaceful resistance. We aspire to the same dignity that moved the Arab youth to create the Arab Spring. Our dream is clearly not the same one held by a Congress seemingly mesmerized by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent litany of negatives regarding Palestinian rights and aspirations.

Last month, 15 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded, while peacefully commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, or "catastrophe," when roughly 725,000 Palestinians were dispossessed during Israel's creation in 1947-8. Carried on the winds of the Arab Spring, the demonstrators used non-violent means to demand freedom and justice. They were met in turn with tear gas and live ammunition from Israeli soldiers.

Regrettably, much of the American media coverage of the protests was devoid of any historical context, portraying Palestinians as being motivated by irrational hostility towards Israel and Jews.

This coming Sunday, June 5, Palestinians plan to march peacefully en masse again to demand our freedom from occupation.
While a recently discovered phenomenon to some in the West, Palestinians have in fact long been using peaceful means to protest Israeli policies and actions. Through general strikes, protest marches, boycotts, and others methods, Palestinians have sought redress through non-violent means for the injustices that have been done to them for over a century.

For much of the past decade, grassroots non-violent demonstrations have been taking place in villages like Bil'in, Nil'in, and Budrus. The courageous people there have struggled desperately to stop the theft of their lands for ever-expanding Jewish-only settlements and the construction of Israel's separation wall, which cuts thousands off from their farmlands and pastures, and severely restricts the freedom of movement of many thousands more.

The Israeli army has used increasingly repressive methods to suppress these demonstrations. Since 2004, 21 Palestinians, approximately half of them children, have been killed by Israeli forces during peaceful protests against the wall and settlement expansion, and between 2004 and 2009, in the four villages of Bil'in, Ni'lin, Ma'sara and Jayyous alone, at least 1,566 Palestinians were wounded.

Since taking office two years ago, President Obama has called on Palestinians to abandon armed struggle completely and embrace the non-violent tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In his address to the Arab and Muslim world from Cairo in 2009, he stated that, for centuries, "black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding."

Yet, when Israeli soldiers on May 15 gunned down peaceful Palestinian protesters demanding freedom and justice, the Obama administration not only refused to condemn Israel's use of deadly force against unarmed demonstrators, but a White House spokesman seemed to justify the killings, stating that Israel had a right to "defend" itself.

For non-violent tactics to be effective, it is essential that there be a public outcry and condemnation if and when they are met with violent repression. By encouraging Palestinians to engage in non-violent protest and then failing to support us or to condemn Israel's violent response, President Obama imperils our success and comes across as offering Palestinians only empty words about freedom and how to achieve it.

The way to peace and security is in many ways simple, but it requires accepting Palestinians as human beings every bit the equals of Israelis.

Mustafa Barghouthi, a doctor and a member of the Palestinian parliament, was a candidate for president in 2005. He is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, a political party.

A Letter

From: Diane Shammas
Subject: A personal message to all of you on the eve of your departure to Gaza

Dear All,   Above all, I want to thank all of you women for your commitment, dedication, and sacrifice towards breaking the Gaza blockade. As most of you who know me, I am of Lebanese/Arab American heritage. I am reminded by comrades on the left, do not expect us to be interested in the Middle East to the same extent as you are, we have  social, economic, and political injustices in the U.S. All of you have taught me differently, it does not matter what religion,ancestry, political stripe or whatever connection you have to the injustice, in this case, injustice in the Palestinian Occupied Territories,  humanity is your moral compass. I have been to Gaza Strip 3 times, once with the May 2009 Code Pink delegation and the last two times on my own. In the last 15 months I have lived in the Gaza Strip for 6 months. I teach at Al Azhar University  English, research methods, and American Studies.     Prior to your departure, I want to send each of you a personal message.   Medea: Oh my God, we have experienced so much together, the May 2009 delegation to Gaza, the Gaza Freedom March 2009-2010, and the Egyptian Revolution--standing in the freezing cold at the Rafah gate, all of us negotiating with the army to let us in!!!!!!!!!!   Ann: As trite as it might sound, you are our "Rock of Gibraltar".person, having served for 30 years in the armed services and in the U.S. State department.    My first trip to Gaza, I will never forget when I witnessed the destruction of the American School in Beit Lahiya, flashbacks of what Israel did to Lebanon in several occupations, but the most recent war  2006 came back to home. Trying desperately to be stoic, I broke into tears and you were there to hug me. Words cannot describe how deeply I felt  your compassion.   Greta: What a firebrand you are! We were at an academic conference at UCLA, a joint sponsorship of Levantine Cultural Center and UCLA Comparative Literature Department, discussing the 2006 War in Lebanon. It was like a hurricane hit when you approached the Los Angeles Time reporter about their reporting of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Since then I have been in solidarity with the Free Gaza Movement--- from their maiden voyage of breaking the siege of Gaza to the several that have followed.     Ridgely: Looking forward to seeing you on the streets of East Jerusalem (Sheikh Jarrah) and Beit Ummar where we last saw each other after the protest in late April 2011. Your work is immeasurable in the West Bank.   Hedy: What can I say, you give meaning to the word of "survivor". I am honored to have met you once.  We had a shared moment on New Year's Eve, where we embraced each other "Happy New Year 2010" at Mugamma Square (Gaza Freedom March).     Kathy: I have corresponded a few times with you and Steve via email. We were both in Cairo at the Gaza Freedom March. Your dedication and commitment to both Palestine and Haiti is immeasurable. You are a veteran of the flotillas to Gaza and although I am not a religious person, I feel that given your intestinal fortitude this trip you will be there soon.   Hagit: Let me introduce myself. I have taught  as an adjunct professor in the American Studies and Ethnicity Department at USC, and my sister is a retired professor from USC. I thank you as an Israeli born for your sacrifice to joining the flotilla. My deepest wish is on your return to the United States, you can communicate to our USC community what is happening in Gaza. As a professor I received from my students' evaluations that I am quite knowledgeable about my topic, but I am biased when it comes to I/P conflict, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans. Perhaps  you can convey to them it is not a matter of bias, but justice and "being human".   My heart is with you, I will be tracking your voyage to Gaza. My love to all of you.   Diane     Diane Shammas, PhD International Education and Urban Education, Policy, and Planning Lecturer, American Studies and Ethnicity

PRESS CORNER

"Israeli officials say the flotillas’ goal is not to ship aid to the Palestinians, but to challenge and embarrass the Israelis."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/world/middleeast/17flotilla.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

As my fellow passenger Gale noted, they are finally getting it.  But not quite.  One thing is still missing.  How, one wonders, do these 'flotillas' accomplish the goal of embarassing the Israelis (by which I gather the speaker meant the government and the army)?  In fact, why, exactly, WOULD the Israelis feel challenged?  Suppose, in fact, Israel were to refuse to be challenged.  It did exactly that, previously - 6 times before Cast Lead - 6 boats went to Gaza and were let through.  No challenge, no embarassement. 

But the current Israeli government, like a drunk in a pub, is 'challenged' because it is out of control.  It then proceeds to make a spectacle of itself, coming across as a pathetic bully, and is subsequently embarassed.  No, the aim is not to 'embarass the Israelis'.  The aim is to give them a choice betwen letting us through and embarassing themselves.  Nor can these flotillas hope to 'challenge' Israel without the enthusiastic cooperation of Israel itself.  Don't let them come, Israel is screaming, at Cyprus, at Turkey, at Greece, at Europe, at anybody who cares to listen.  If they do, we will just HAVE to feel disproportionately challenged, and we will just HAVE to respond with disproportionate force, and then everybody will hate us and we will look terrible and be enormously embarassed! 

Good act, this.  Israel the out-of-control lunatic putting the rest of the world in charge of keeping any challenge, however minimal, away from it.  A force of nature, Israel. Can't reason with it.  Do we all remember its a hurricane with a bomb, and that they have been having really hard time keeping their pants zipped up? 

In some other interesting news, the Law Center Shurat Ha-din, together with two American-Israelis, has just brought a law suit against the 14 ships of the flotilla, including the Audacity of Hope, as well as against  Inmarsat, the satellite communications company providing services to the flotilla, and against the companies insuring the ships.

Shurat Ha-Din, which calls itself a human rights center, but which specifically advertizes itself as acting on behalf of Jewish rights, has been in the flotilla business some time now.  One of its less known contributions was to submit, a year ago, an emergency petition to the Superme Court of Israel to stop the release of the 2010 flotilla detainees.  The petition was rejected.  The best way to describe them is to say that they appear to be too much even for the Israeli legal system, but take a look for yourselves:
http://israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=357&show=reports

Trip Preparations

Things you cannot get in Holland:

·         Anti-bacterial ointment (prescription only).*

·         Combination shower gel and shampoo (only available for men)**

·        

Things it is very difficult to get in Holland:

·         Travel mugs

·         No-nonsense wide brim hat

·         Music notebooks

·         Needle and thread

·         Decent shoes

·        

Things it is very easy to get in Holland:

·         Water bottles, the kind that fits on bicycles.  At least 10 models available everywhere 
    from 3-20Euros

·        

Other things it is very easy to get in Holland:

·         Bicycle locks.  At least 50 models available everywhere, from 5-250Euros

·        

More things it is very easy to get in Holland:

·         Rain gear, especially the kind that you need when riding a bicycle.  An full array from 7-
    700Euros.

What was that thing about all those snow words the Eskimo have????

_____________________________

      *Had it smuggled from Belgium.  The risks people take for me!

      **I am looking into the side effects of using men's shower gel and shampoo combination for two weeks!

DOGS

In addition to Flotilla 13 – better known as the Shayetet – the ships will be boarded by members of the Border Police’s Yasam Unit and the Prisons Service elite Masada Unit, both known for their expertise in crowd control and the use of non-lethal means to quell violent riots.

The teams will be supported by snipers – whose job will be to neutralize violent protesters before the commandos board the ships – with dogs from Oketz, the IDF’s canine unit, and operators from Yahalom, the elite unit from the Engineering Corps

http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=223430

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCylMJoN2Do&feature=related

                                                                                                                                        thanks, PB

A CALL FROM GAZA in Support of the Freedom Flotilla II

12.6.2011

Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine

We the Palestinians of the Besieged Gaza Strip, on this day, five years after closures began on Gaza , are saying enough inaction, enough discussion, enough waiting – the full siege on the Gaza Strip must end.

Shortly after 2006 democratic election which were supervised by people and bodies from the international community, nations formerly supporting aid and cultural organizations in Gaza withdrew their support.  In mid-2007, our borders, controlled by Israel and Egypt, fully closed, locking Palestinians within and preventing imports and exports from crossing our borders.

From December 27 2008 to January 18 2009, Israel waged an all-out slaughter on Gaza, killing over 1500 Palestinians, the vast majority innocent civilians and among them over 430 children, and destroying thousands of homes, businesses, factories and buildings including universities, schools, hospitals and medical care facilities, and damaging vast tracts of our water and sanitation system.

Two and a half years following the cessation of Israel's attacks, almost no homes and few buildings have been rebuilt, our sanitation and sewage system is more dire than ever, raw waste continues to be pumped into our sea –for want of proper treatment facilities –polluting our water and the fish along the coast which fishermen are forced to harvest –banned from entering the 20 nautical miles of sea accorded to Palestinians under the Oslo agreement—contaminating our drinking water and food supply.

Our farmers continue to be shot at, maimed and killed by Israeli soldiers along our border, prevented from working, growing and harvesting their land, denying us a rich supply of produce and vitamins.  Nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition continue to rise, affecting our children's growth and their ability to study.  Our economy is shut down by lack of functioning factories and electricity.  Our students hold little to no prospects of exiting for study abroad, even when placements and scholarships have been secured, due to the Israeli control of the Erez crossing and the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing being closed more often than opened. Our ill suffer for want of necessary medications and medical supplies and equipment.

Since 2005, over 170 Palestinian organizations have called for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions to pressure Israel to comply to international law. Since 2005, Palestinians have weekly met in villages in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, to protest Israel 's occupation policies.

 Creative civilian efforts such as the Free Gaza boats that broke the siege five times, the Gaza Freedom March, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, and the many land convoys must never stop their siege-breaking, highlighting the inhumanity of keeping 1.5 million Gazans in an open-air prison. 

On the 2^nd of December, 22 international organizations including Amnesty, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid, and Medical Aid for Palestinians produced the report ‘Dashed Hopes, Continuation of the Gaza Blockade’ calling for international action to force Israel to unconditionally lift the blockade, saying the Palestinians of Gaza under Israeli siege continue to live in the same devastating conditions.  Human Rights Watch published a comprehensive report "Separate and Unequal" that denounced Israeli policies as Apartheid, echoing similar sentiments by South African anti-apartheid activists.

The recent announced opening of the Rafah crossing has yet to be fully enacted.  Even when open, it will mean little with respect to the imports and exports of goods to and from Gaza and will not improve the plights of fishermen, farmers and Gaza 's unemployment and manufactured poverty rates.

We request that the citizens of the world oppose this deadly, medieval blockade. The failure of the United Nations and its numerous organizations to condemn such crimes proves their complicity. Only civil society is able to mobilize to demand the application of international law and put an end to Israel 's impunity. The intervention of civil society was effective in the late 1980s against the apartheid regime of South Africa . Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have not only described Israel ’s oppressive and violent control of Palestinians as Apartheid, they have also joined this call for the world’s civil society to intervene again. 

We call on civil society organizations worldwide to intensify the anti-Israel sanctions campaign to compel Israel to end to its aggression. We call on the nations and citizens of the world participating in the Freedom Flotilla 2 to continue their plans to sail to Gaza where they would be welcomed by Palestinians. The civil society initiatives of the Freedom Flotillas are about taking a stance of justice and solidarity with besieged Palestinians when your governments will not. We call on the Flotilla movement to grow and continue to sail until the siege on Gaza is entirely lifted and Palestinians of Gaza are granted the basic human rights and freedom of movement citizens around the world enjoy.

Signed by:

University Teachers' Association

Palestinian Nongovernmental Organizations Network

Al-Aqsa University

Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza

General Union of Youth Entities

Arab Cultural Forum

General Union for Health Services Workers

General Union for Public Services Workers

General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers

General Union for Agricultural Workers

Union of Women’s Work Committees

Union of Synergies—Women Unit

Union of Palestinian Women Committees

Women’s Studies Society

Working Woman’s Society

Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel

One Democratic State Group

Palestinian Youth against Apartheid

Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info

Palestine Sailing Federation

Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime

Palestinian Women Committees

Progressive Students Union

Medical Relief Society

The General Society for Rehabilitation

Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children

Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children

Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children

Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth

Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens

Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah

Rafah Olympia City Sisters

Al Awda Centre,

Rafah Al Awda Hospital,

Jabaliya Camp Ajyal Association,

Gaza General Union of Palestinian Syndicates

Al Karmel Centre,

Nuseirat Local Initiative,

Beit Hanoun Union of Health Work Committees

Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip

Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre

Al Awda Centre, Rafah    

Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Information Society

women section -union of Palestinian workers  syndicate

Middle East Childrens’  Alliance -Gaza 

Local Initiative -Beit Hanoun

WORDS

Because in another life I am a linguist I cannot help but share with you the following creative linguistic gem, hailing to us from Ed Koch, the defunct mayor of New York City, describing the 2010 flotilla (I can be creative too!)

"That last attempt to break the Gaza blockade ended with nine people on the ships being killed after they attacked and injured the Israeli soldiers who took custody of those ships."
(http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/ss_politics0689_06_07.asp)

Going quite the distance beyond the standard use of passive ('being killed') vs. active ('they attacked and injured'), this one breaks new and stunning linguistic grounds by its use of innovative vocabulary.

Now,I cannot help but wonder whether Koch, like me, availed himself of the thesaurus in his search for the most appropriate term for describing this event of 'custody taking'.  Consequently, I also must wonder what expressions he may have considered as possible alternatives.  'Attacked and injured their Israeli safe keepers'?   'Viciously fought against the gentle restraining of their Israeli soldier care takers' mayhap? Did you consider 'guardian angels', Ed? 

Ah, words...

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'

And the linguists among you may even know I have a particular angle..

Jerusalem - I grew up there...

 
On Jerusalem Day, celebrating Israeli occupation of the city in 1967, tens of thousands of Jewish youth marched through the Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem chanting "Mohammad is Dead" and "Kill the Arabs".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t_ZjetcSMQ

<http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=31&amp;Itemid=74&amp;jumival=6886>


 

PRESS

Articles about The Audacity of Hope:

5/29/11
Michael Moore.com:  The Gaza Freedom Flotilla - One year Later and Another Flotilla on the Horizon - Ann Wright
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/gaza-freedom-flotilla
http://tinyurl.com/3w8pqgx
5/30/11
Marin Independent: San Rafael woman prepares to breach Israeli blockage of Gaza
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_18156408
http://tinyurl.com/3so5unt
5/31/11
Illinois Public Media News:  Urbana Resident Prepares for Humanitarian Trip to Gaza Strip
http://will.illinois.edu/news/spotstory/urbana-resident-prepares-for-humanitarian-trip-to-gaza-strip/
http://tinyurl.com/3vamomu
6/1/11
Americans Joining Flotilla to Protest Gaza Blockade
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html
http://tinyurl.com/44qexm8

Selection of articles about the Freedom Flotilla 2 (and 2 about the Rafah border opening)

May 28
From our Canadian comrades:
Canadian Boat to challenge blockade of Gaza
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/johnbon/2011/05/canadian-boat-challenge-israeli-blockade-gaza
From our European comrades:
European Coalition rejects UN Chief’s call to stop siege busting flotilla to Gaza
http://www.paltelegraph.com/world/world-news/9289-european-coalition-rejects-un-chiefs-call-to-stop-siege-busting-flotilla-to-gaza.html
May 29
Egypt Opens Rafah Crossing:  This is What Democracy Looks Like
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/05/29
May 30
Turkish group: Israel won’t dare attack us
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4076117,00.html
Canada warns against participation in Gaza flotilla
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=222788
Turkey saves ire for Israel, concerns for Syria
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/30/us-turkey-mideast-interview-idUSTRE74T3SE20110530
Gaza flotilla “emboldened” by Obama’s Mideast speech
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=305213
May 31
Israeli Navy trains for second major Gaza flotilla
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2011/0531/Israel-s-navy-trains-for-second-major-Gaza-flotilla
June 1
Open Border at Gaza Is Not So Open, Palestinians Find
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/middleeast/02gaza.html
June 2
Secretary General vs Freedom Flotilla 2
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/06/20116182039243894.htmlCairo shuts Gaza’s Rafah crossing to free passage at US insistence
http://www.debka.com/article/20988/[For those of you not familiar with Debka -- it is a rightwing Israeli website that claims affiliation with Israeli intelligence  -- read it with the appropriate skepticism]
June 3
Controversial Gaza flotilla
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/0603/1224298322401.html
US Issues Official Statement Against Gaza-bound Flotilla
http://www.imemc.org/article/61370