Thursday, June 30, 2011

Nukes and the Flotilla, part 2


How weary can one get?

A wildfire has reached Los Alamos nuclear facilities.  We are told that the 55,000 barrels of radioactive waste are safe.  Although that may be true, are we?

It could all be balanced by the two Nuclear Power plants in Nebraska that may become flooded.  It could go down the Missouri river, or Mizzurah river (if you are over 65 and have a double digit IQ), and thence to the Mississippi.  Perhaps it will all meet up in the gulf which, as well all know, is environmentally safe.

The Flotilla is still having problems from sabotage.  One in Turkey was sabotaged.

Rod Blago was convicted of being a typical Illinois Governor.  Fitzgerald, a Republican prosecutor, finally got a jury to agree on most counts.  The fact that Blago didn’t get a cent out of this is irrelevant.

This prosecutor did not get much done in the Valerie Plaime affair, except convict “Scooter” Libby.  He named himself Scooter because of his baseball hero, Phil Rizzuto.  I don’t get no respect.  I tell ya.  If I tried to name myself after my favorite all-time players, first choice would be “Dizzy,” the hell with that.  Second choice: Jungle Jim.  C’mon!  Third choice?  “Spaceman.”  Screw that!  I tell ya, life ain’t fair.

If you want to go after what people call corrupt, and want a Governor, just look at South Carolina.  That Tea Party woman beats everything Illinois has ever produced, and that’s saying a lot.  Use Google.

Here are a few transcripts proving that there are males on the flotilla.  The featured one is Jewish and armed (with a harmonica):

June 30, 2011

Debunking the Israeli-US Effort to Thwart Gaza Freedom Flotilla: “We Are Committed to Non-Violence”

In addition to fears of ship sabotage and threats from the Israeli military, the U.S. citizens trying to sail to Gaza aboard U.S.-flagged ship “The Audacity of Hope” in the humanitarian flotilla are dealing with another challenge: their own government. The U.S. Department of State has warned U.S. passengers they could face "fines and incarceration" for taking part in the flotilla and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appears to have given Israel the green light to use force. Last week, Clinton said the flotilla would be [provoking] actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves." The threat of violence comes just one year after Israeli forces killed nine passengers in the first flotilla to Gaza after storming their ship. The passengers aboard the U.S. ship this year are a diverse group — parents, grandparents, young people, lawyers, doctors, nurses, social workers and peace activists. They include a Jewish survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, 87-year old Hedy Epstein; and the acclaimed writer, poet and activist Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Color Purple." As The Audacity of Hope prepares to depart from Greece, Democracy Now! producers Aaron Maté and Hany Massoud spoke to crew member and former Israeli air force pilot, Yonatan Shapira, about the Israeli-U.S. effort to thwart the ship’s journey.
Yonatan Shapira, former Israeli Air Force pilot turned peace activist who is now a crew member on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s U.S.-flagged ship, “The Audacity of Hope.”
Aaron Maté, Democracy Now! producer reporting from Athens, Greece where he is covering the Audacity of Hope’s journey, part of the Second Freedom Flotilla to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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JUAN GONZALEZ: Organizers of the humanitarian flotilla to the Gaza strip say another one of their ships has been sabotaged. The engine of an Irish ship docked in Turkey was reportedly so badly damaged it would have sunk in the middle of the ocean threatening the lives of the passengers on board. It’s at least the second flotilla vessel to be targeted this week following damage to a Greek-Swedish ship docked in a port near Athens.

Activists have accused Israel of orchestrating the sabotage but say they have no direct proof. The Israeli government is trying to stop the ships from leaving port and has vowed to intercept them should they set sail. An Israeli official quoted in the Jerusalem Post said the more "they have to run in place in Athens, the better it is for Israel."
AMY GOODMAN: Well one of the ships in the ten-vessel flotilla is the U.S.-based "Audacity of Hope," named after President Obama’s best-selling book. At least three dozen U.S. citizens are on board, carrying letters from Americans to the people of Gaza. Democracy Now! Producer Aaron Maté and videographer Hany Massoud are in Greece to cover the Audacity of Hope’s journey. On Wednesday, Yonatan Shapira — a former Israeli Air Force pilot turned peace activist who is now a crew member on the U.S. boat — gave Democracy Now! a rare look inside the ship and talked about the threat of sabotage. For our tv audience, we had to shoot this video carefully at the request of flotilla organizers who don’t want to give away the ship’s location.
YONATAN SHAPIRA: So, we are now inside the "Audacity of Hope". My name is Yonatan Shapira and I’m a crew member on the Audacity of Hope together with four other people. We have a captain from the United States, another crew member from Washington and two other crew members from the U.K. and I’m from Israel. And we have the passengers that are about 36-40 and probably around 10 media persons who are going to be on board. The boat is approximately 35 meters. It was bought in Greece and yeah, we are hoping to leave soon to Gaza. We are carrying a very dangerous weapon it’s letters from people in the United States to Gaza. I have my own very dangerous weapon that is my harmonica I hope the Israeli navy will not choose to do the mistake and stop us and arrest us for carrying letters to Gaza. So let me show you upstairs real quick.
It’s a lovely deck and that would be the place where probably we will spend most of the time cause it’s nice breeze and comfortable benches. What we know already happened to other boats, it was all published in the last 24 hours, is that the boat of the Swedish-Norwegian-Greek group was sabotaged by divers and I guess everyone can guess who did it. It’s my brothers from Israel. What they did is they cut, small cuts in both of the shuts that goes to the propellers and as soon as the captain of their boat, just for checking the engine, turned it on it completely "bended" it. The boat is now dry docked and they hope to be ready in maybe a couple of days or so.
They are definitely trying whatever they can not to let us go. Yesterday as an act of safety I dived around the boat in this quite filthy water, but we wanted to make sure that our boat is still fine, but we have to guard 24 hours a day and make sure that no one is sabotaging our boat, which of course is an act of crime, it’s a completely criminal thing to sabotage engines, propellers of a boat, it can create an accident, it can create a very very dangerous potential harm for passengers or crew. So we have to be very very careful, but determined with a lot of audacity and a lot of hope.
AMY GOODMAN: Israeli air force pilot Yonatan Shapira on the Audacity of Hope, the U.S. flag ship that contains more than 50 people, we’ll go there live in a moment, that are trying to set sail to challenge the Israeli blockade to Gaza. When we come back we’ll hear Yonatan Shapira’s own story.

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AMY GOODMAN: We’re on board the Audacity of Hope right now with Aaron Maté, Democracy Now! Producer. Aaron can you tell us what’s happening? It’s afternoon, Athens, Greece, time. Are you setting sail right now?
AARON MATÉ: Amy I’m standing on the Audacity of Hope. We’re still moored at dockside. They’ve just unveiled the banner on the side of the ship, it says "To Gaza With Love." And they’ve put an American flag on top of the boat to remind Israelis that they expect to intercede, that this is an American ship with U.S. citizens sharing the cargo, which I can see right now they’ve spread out some of the cargo, it’s a bunch of, they’re to Gaza residents, from U.S. citizens, I’m looking at one right now, I’m picking one up, it says, "To Gaza With Love," and it’s from Jason 5, and there’s a picture of a rainbow and a sun.
The passengers are here. They’re excited they’re getting ready to go. Of course there’s been a lot of raids. The police have been here a lot. Of course the ship has been held up by Greek authorities because there was a complaint filed by an Israeli group. But the spirit here is one of defiance. People are ready to go. And actually I’m going to pass you right now to one of the passengers, her name is Hedy Epstein, she’s an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor, and she’s right here.
AMY GOODMAN: Aaron is turning to her right now. It’s not a great line, but they are on the Audacity of Hope, so we’re going to give this a try. Hedy Epstein why are you trying, why are you on this boat attempting to get to Gaza?
HEDY EPSTEIN: Why would I not want to go to Gaza? If I can go anywhere in the world, I go to Gaza because the Israelis don’t want me to go there. That’s not a good reason for me not to go. I’m determined to go. This is my try to go to Gaza and if I don’t make it this time [inaudible], until we can go to Gaza at any time we want to.
AMY GOODMAN: Hedy Epstein, a Jewish survivor of the Nazi Holocaust. She is 86 years old, on board the Audacity of Hope. We will continue to cover the attempted journey of the Audacity of Hope. They were expected to leave last Saturday. We will update you on our website, at democracynow.org. Hedy Epstein thank you for joining us. Democracy Now!’s Aaron Maté on board the ship he will be covering this journey.

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Flotilla Sabotaged, Hillary in Hysterics, Lots

of other stuff going on.


The Freedom Flotilla is in Greece, ready to go, but Greece is holding it up.


Israel says the women on board are violent characters.


The Vessels, including the American one, called The Audacity of Hope, have been sabotaged.


Hillary Clinton, widely acclaimed as the sexiest Secretary of State since Madeline Albright, is hysterical over this.  This does not mean that she has a "wandering uterus," as Freud defined the cause -- certainly it would have been found by now.


The citizens of Greece are fighting a class war on the theory that Greece should not be sold to private interests.


In Cairo, 600 people were injured last night in Tahrir Square.  The people do not feel the revolution worked.


In Libya, it is confirmed that 20,000 of those in the East are "Militant Islamists."  Many went to Iraq during our occupation.

France is dropping equipment in the East, apparently expressing Sarkozy's love of Islam. 


The World Court wants to try Gaddafi for War Crimes although there is no evidence he has done anything we are not doing in other countries.  Well, except for the ludicrous claim he makes that the oil in Libya belongs to the people of Libya.  Everyone knows that it belongs to international corporations like BP.  The fact that it accidentally happens to be located under Libyan sands is just a cleaver ruse by this desert fox, this "Mad-Dog," as Ronnie Ray-Gun called him.


It seems that the Sixteenth Amendment makes the National Debt Limit illegal.  Obama could enforce that much more rationally than he can ignore Article One, Section Eight of the same document.

Michele Bachmann announced, in Wart loo Ioway that she was running for President.  She was born there as was John Wayne, she says.  Actually, I heard that it was actually John Wayne Gacey, serial killer of Des Plains, Illinois who was there for awhile.  Michael Morrison was born elsewhere.  She announced that John Quincy Adams was a founding father.  He was eight at the time.


She is smart, however, as she is a Tax Attorney, a mark of genius.


There is, I repeat IS an over-ride possible at the United Nations in the case of admission of a new country.  Palestine is applying for admission as a member country.  It has to be recommended by the Security Council.  That vote will have at least three vetos -- the United States, England (who like to be very obedient to the U.S.) and France (with a President who hates Arabs, or doesn't like them -- they are not as short as he and he is no longer Jewish so he is free to express himself on the issue).  Russia and China are unlikely to agree with the U.S. on anything since it misused the mandate on bombing Libya. (Oh, and the Arab League rescinded their support and the African Union always hated the idea).  


So, that vote can be over-turned by a 67% majority in the General Assembly.  There are 192 Nations to vote.  That means, it needs about 130 yes votes, or about 42 countries to vote against it.  Exclude NATO and parts of the European Union and the Marshall Islands, and it seems likely that they will get admitted.   

Hillary Clinton's sex-appeal will not be enough to stop it (or anything else, as it seems).

In case you have not noticed, Keith Olbermann's COUNTDOWN is now back on the air on Current, Al Gore's network, but Keith is head of the news department.  He has already hired one newsman who was fired by MSNBC and working on more (David Schuster who was once suspended for saying Hillary "pimped out" her daughter to Missouri during the primaries).  


Well, enough for now, here are a few transcripts to illustrate some of the above points:



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AMY GOODMAN: A group of U.S. citizens is defiantly rejecting the Obama administration’s attempt to thwart their aid mission to the Gaza Strip, which threatens to leave them stranded in Greece. Up to 50 Americans are set to sail from a Greek port on a U.S.-flagged ship called The Audacity of Hope, named after President Obama’s bestselling book. The boat is part of an international flotilla carrying aid for Gaza’s one-and-a-half million Palestinian residents. The first two ships of the 10 ships participating in the mission have already left from France.
The flotilla members are taking part despite Israeli threats to intercept their ships. Nine people were killed in an Israeli attack on the first flotilla just over a year ago. The Audacity of Hope passengers have called for the U.S. government’s help in ensuring their safe passage. But instead, the Obama administration has told them not to set sail and even warned them they could face punishment back home. Speaking to reporters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested Israel would have the right to use force to prevent the ships’ passage.
SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: Well, we do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza. Just this week, the Israeli government
AMY GOODMAN: The State Department followed Clinton’s comments with a statement calling the flotilla, quote, "irresponsible and provocative" and warned that U.S. delegates could face, quote, "fines and incarceration." On Friday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland was questioned about the Obama administration’s threat. Under repeated questioning, Nuland refused to answer whether the U.S. considers the Israeli blockade of Gaza to be legal.
REPORTER 1: Just to make sure, does the U.S. consider that blockade legal?
VICTORIA 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.
REPORTER 1: 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.
VICTORIA NULAND: I don’t have anything for you on legality here.
REPORTER 1: 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’re making. They’re very disappointed and shocked that the State Department would be warning people off. What do you say to that?
VICTORIA 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.
REPORTER 2: Well, 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.
VICTORIA 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.
REPORTER 2: 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.
VICTORIA 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.
REPORTER 2: 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?
VICTORIA NULAND: That’s certainly the case, and we don’t want—we don’t want further incidents. It’s not in anybody’s interest.
REPORTER 3: Is the regular blockade a provocative act?
VICTORIA NULAND: I think we’ve gone as far as we’re going to go on this subject.
AMY GOODMAN: That was U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

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AMY GOODMAN: Amidst the uncertainty awaiting them at sea, flotilla passengers are now facing a new challenge, even before setting sail. The Greek government has refused to grant permission for The Audacity of Hope and two other ships leaving port, citing anonymous complaints that later turn out to come from an Israeli group. The Greek government’s move comes amidst heavy international pressure to resolve a fiscal crisis that sparked massive protest and a general strike scheduled for this week.
The Israeli government, meanwhile, is also warning journalists not to cover the aid mission. On Sunday, Israel said reporters who board Gaza-bound ships will be barred from Israel for 10 years and have their equipment seized. In response, the Foreign Press Association said the warning, quote, "sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel’s commitment to freedom of the press." On Twitter, former U.S. State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley responded, quote, "Israel is working against its own self-interest by pressuring journalists not to cover the Gaza flotilla, clearly a newsworthy event," he tweeted.
Well, Democracy Now! is in Athens right now with our exclusive report. Democracy Now! producer Aaron Maté is in Greece covering the journey of The Audacity of Hope.
AARON MATÉ: We’re in Athens, Greece, where delegates from across the U.S. have gathered to board The Audacity of Hope. It’s one of 10 ships in the Freedom Flotilla 2, the aid mission to the Gaza Strip. But the journey is facing uncertainty. The Greek government is facing heavy pressure to thwart the aid mission, and the State Department is calling on The Audacity of Hope to abandon its voyage, just issuing a statement calling it "provocative and dangerous."
Well, we spoke to some of the delegates that are going to be boarding the ship and asked for their response.
JANE HIRSCHMANN: I’m Jane Hirschmann. I’m one of the organizers of the U.S. boat to Gaza called The Audacity of Hope. We’re here tonight, as you see, with not only our delegation, but delegations from all over the country. We’re part of the international Freedom Flotilla-Stay Human. We are going to sail to Gaza. We are over 22 countries and 10 ships that are going.
AARON MATÉ: So, right now, the Greek government is facing a huge internal revolt. There’s protests every day, strikes for this week. Are you concerned that opponents of the flotilla are going to exploit that to try to pressure the Greek government to stop the sailing?
JANE HIRSCHMANN: Yes, I think that’s happening right now. You know, our boat, right now, is ready to go, as I said. There has been a complaint that’s been, you know, lodged against our boat. It’s totally bogus. And they are trying to slow down the process. Tomorrow, our lawyer is going to try to deal with it, and we hope that we will be sailing very, very soon.
AARON MATÉ: The State Department is calling the flotilla "provocative." It’s urging Americans not to take part. What’s your response?
JANE HIRSCHMANN: I think we should see—turn that around a little and ask the State Department who’s being provocative, when a group of unarmed civilians, civil society, the civil society, is going to a country that’s been totally under siege, where this highest unemployment in the world is in Gaza, when they don’t have sanitary water conditions, they don’t have medicines. And you really have to ask, being occupied, which is the country that’s really being provocative. And I think that’s Israel. And of course the United States colludes in that, because we give Israel $3 billion a year of our tax money to do this to the people of Gaza.
AARON MATÉ: Now, you’re Jewish. I’m seeing a lot of Jews here. Are there any non-Jews here?
JANE HIRSCHMANN: Twenty-five percent of this boat, of the delegates on this boat, are Jewish, yes. And there’s a reason for that, because we want to say to the world that the Israeli government does not speak in our name.
RAY McGOVERN: My name is Ray McGovern. And I’ve seldom met 35 closer friends now, and are really eager to get on that boat to get to Gaza. What Barack Obama wants to avoid is having to decide: do I call Netanyahu and risk being rebuffed, as he is accustomed to doing, or do I just let these Americans suffer whatever fate awaits them at hands of the Israeli navy? Tough decision. That’s why they’re focusing on Greece, to make sure that we never leave here, lest he have to face that decision.
Never—never, ever—was it our intention to sail into Israeli waters, OK? Gazan waters are Gazan waters, under Israeli law, because they pretend not to be an occupying power anymore. So, either we go into Gazan waters, where we cannot be intercepted under international law, or the Israelis say, "Well, no, we were only kidding about not occupying Gaza. We still occupy Gaza." Then the Israelis do have a right to interdict arms traffic. Now, you know, we’re bearing letters, OK? My grandfather from Ireland, he was a letter carrier. So was my other grandfather. It’s very much in my tradition. We’re carrying letters. Now, what, in God’s name, can letters—how can the letters, these letters, be considered a threat to the security of Israel?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: I’m Medea Benjamin with the group CodePink. I’m from Washington, D.C. This is not a provocation. This is following the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King. It’s following the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi. It’s following the footsteps of Palestinians who resist nonviolently day after day. And it’s in a great global tradition of standing up against injustice.
AARON MATÉ: Six members of Congress have signed a letter asking the U.S. government to protect the passengers. What do you want from the White House, from Congress, from the State Department?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, first I want to say that when you look around here at representatives from other organizations, they have members of their parliament going with them. There is a member of the Spanish parliament here, European parliament here, Swiss parliament, Norwegian parliament. And they ask us, "How many members of your Congress are going on this U.S. delegation?" And I laugh, because I’m so ashamed to even say, not only is there not one member going, but we didn’t even bother asking any of them to come, because we knew it would be impossible. It was hard enough to get six people to sign a letter that said that our government should protect us. And we are U.S. citizens, you know. So, it is so embarrassing when you see how far removed our government is compared to other governments around the world in standing up for what we say that we go to war for in Iraq or in Libya: people’s basic human rights.
AARON MATÉ: So, we’re on our way to a square where there are some protests taking place?
LISA FITHIAN: We’re heading to the heart of the resistance here in Greece, in Athens right now, Syntagma Square.
AARON MATÉ: So people have been gathering there—
LISA FITHIAN: Mm-hmm.
AARON MATÉ: —daily?
LISA FITHIAN: The square is actually occupied. People, you’ll see when we get down, they’ve set up a whole community there. Each quadrant has tents set up. There’s a media area, a healthcare area. And then, in the center of the plaza is where they have the assemblies every night. So there’s a popular assembly every night, basically a decision-making process about the different agendas that they do. And right now, they’re dealing with the political position around these austerity measures that are going to be voted on on Wednesday and preparing for the general strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.
AARON MATÉ: We’re at Syntagma Square, the epicenter of protests in Greece right now. And we’re with Lisa Fithian, who’s sort of the unofficial tour guide for Democracy Now! in activist hotbeds. You were with us in Copenhagen, gave us a tour there during the climate protests. And now, tell us what’s going on here.
LISA FITHIAN: As you can see, as we come down into the main center of the plaza, right across from the parliament is the popular assembly that’s taking place right now. So what you have is folks from every walk of life that come to the center here in Athens. You know, all different ages, from all different professions, from classes, different political ideologies, are all coming here to participate in this incredible democratic process.
I mean, I think I’ve seen, as I’ve come down here, you know, people take it very seriously. There’s a voting process, and they set their agendas. And it’s in the heart of this incredible community that’s been here for over a month, where you have medical areas, media areas, art areas, cultural areas, and then people that are camping out. And so, every day this goes on. And each night, starting from anywhere between 7:00 and 9:00 ’til midnight or so, the plenary happens.
And really, on the strike, this is, you know, the center where a lot of the conflicts happened two weeks ago. And when the strike comes Tuesday and Wednesday, this will continue to be the center. Wednesday, the general strike is calling for people from all around Greece to come here to surround the parliament building. So we can only imagine what that’s going to be like. So, it’s really an incredible moment here. And as you’ve seen, talking to people from Greece, they have such great hope and such belief in what they’re doing here, that it’s really democracy.
MARY: Well, I’m Mary. I came here like everybody came. It was something like a spontaneous call on Facebook saying everybody who is upset with this situation, Greek, come to Syntagma Square at 6:00. It was Wednesday, 25 of May. And I came to see what this thing is. And I thought that, like usual, we were going to stay here for two hours, look at each other, yell a little, maybe have a fight with the police, and go back. But we are here over a month. Yesterday we have our birthday of one month. And we managed to make a small, self-organized community. It’s not—some people say it’s a political movement. OK, I don’t know, maybe it is. It’s a demonstration. That’s what it is. Everybody thinks that the political system in this country is very corrupted. So we don’t follow any party, any political party. This square says parties, political parties, are out.
AARON MATÉ: And this week, there’s a general strike being called?
MARY: Yes, for 48 hours, 48 hours. We already voted and posted on the internet to this government and to the police that we are peaceful, that we won’t cause any problems. Protect us. Don’t hate us. I hope they will do it, because it’s going to be bad for us, but worse for them. We know that.
LISA FITHIAN: We are so proud to be here at a time to see this incredible uprising of democracy in Greece and to be here in solidarity with you. And we know right now that Greece is being screwed by the IMF and the Europeans and the United States and Israel to try and crush your economy. And we believe that is wrong, and we will be with you in the streets during the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Last year, when the international flotilla tried to challenge the blockade, Israel came out 70 miles into international water and killed nine of our allies around the world, from Turkey and the U.S. Now we are concerned that Israel thinks they can come to the shores of Greece to stop us. And we say no. They are trying to stop our boats, and they’re trying to stop this flotilla to Gaza. And we did not come here just to be in Syntagma Square or to be in your strikes. We came here to break the blockade of Gaza, and that is what we are going to do.
AARON MATÉ: Greece is being threatened by these governments who are pointing to its financial crisis and saying, "You could be punished further, unless you stop these boats." What do you think of that?
MARY: I think it’s a shame. I have no words about these things, where we stop what? We accept pressures to stop what? Help people that needs help? It’s—I don’t have words to express my anger about this. And not just me. I think everybody is angry about that. It’s insane.
AMY GOODMAN: That exclusive report produced by Democracy Now!’s Aaron Maté and Hany Massoud in Athens, Greece.

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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Women Speak on an Ocean Trip




Here are a few articles on Gaza and the Flotilla.  One thing that was interesting was how many women were going and why.  Kind of a lame "hook," I suppose, but things that need to be said since a penis has been too much in the news and not enough about peace:





Why I'm joining the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza


Alice Walker

Why I'm joining the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza

The Guardian
Why am I going on the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza? I ask myself this, even though the answer is: what else would I do? I am in my 67th year, having lived already a long and fruitful life, one with which I am content. It seems to me that during this period of eldering it is good to reap the harvest of one's understanding of what is important, and to share this, especially with the young. How are they to learn, otherwise?

Our boat, The Audacity of Hope, will be carrying letters to the people of Gaza. Letters expressing solidarity and love. That is all its cargo will consist of. If the Israeli military attacks us, it will be as if they attacked the mailman. This should go down hilariously in the annals of history. But if they insist on attacking us, wounding us, even murdering us, as they did some of the activists in the last flotilla, Freedom Flotilla I, what is to be done?
There is a scene in the movie Gandhi that is very moving to me: it is when the unarmed Indian protesters line up to confront the armed forces of the British Empire. The soldiers beat them unmercifully, but the Indians, their broken and dead lifted tenderly out of the fray, keep coming.
Alongside this image of brave followers of Gandhi there is, for me, an awareness of paying off a debt to the Jewish civil rights activists who faced death to come to the side of black people in the American south in our time of need. I am especially indebted to Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman who heard our calls for help – our government then as now glacially slow in providing protection to non-violent protesters – and came to stand with us.
They got as far as the truncheons and bullets of a few "good ol' boys'" of Neshoba County, Mississippi and were beaten and shot to death along with James Chaney, a young black man of formidable courage who died with them. So, even though our boat will be called The Audacity of Hope, it will fly the Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner flag in my own heart.
And what of the children of Palestine, who were ignored in our president's latest speech on Israel and Palestine, and whose impoverished, terrorised, segregated existence was mocked by the standing ovations recently given in the US Congress to the prime minister of Israel?
I see children, all children, as humanity's most precious resource, because it will be to them that the care of the planet will always be left. One child must never be set above another, even in casual conversation, not to mention in speeches that circle the globe.
As adults, we must affirm, constantly, that the Arab child, the Muslim child, the Palestinian child, the African child, the Jewish child, the Christian child, the American child, the Chinese child, the Israeli child, the Native American child, etc, is equal to all others on the planet. We must do everything in our power to cease the behaviour that makes children everywhere feel afraid.
I once asked my best friend and husband during the era of segregation, who was as staunch a defender of black people's human rights as anyone I'd ever met: how did you find your way to us, to black people, who so needed you? What force shaped your response to the great injustice facing people of colour of that time?
I thought he might say it was the speeches, the marches, the example of Martin Luther King Jr, or of others in the movement who exhibited impactful courage and grace. But no. Thinking back, he recounted an episode from his childhood that had led him, inevitably, to our struggle.
He was a little boy on his way home from yeshiva, the Jewish school he attended after regular school let out. His mother, a bookkeeper, was still at work; he was alone. He was frequently harassed by older boys from regular school, and one day two of these boys snatched his yarmulke (skull cap), and, taunting him, ran off with it, eventually throwing it over a fence.
Two black boys appeared, saw his tears, assessed the situation, and took off after the boys who had taken his yarmulke. Chasing the boys down and catching them, they made them climb the fence, retrieve and dust off the yarmulke, and place it respectfully back on his head.
It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off and put – without delay, and with tenderness – back on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try.
That is why I sail.
The Chicken Chronicles: A Memoir by Alice Walker is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. A longer version of this article appears on Alice Walker's blog: alicewalkersgarden.com/blog

From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
URL: http://www.zcommunications.org/why-im-joining-the-freedom-flotilla-to-gaza-by-alice-walker





Preparing to Sail for Gaza

Social activist Stephan Corriveau warned all of us due to set sail on the Canadian ship dubbed the Tahrir - one of the boats participating in the upcoming Gaza flotilla - that we would have no opportunity to bathe during the three-day journey to Gaza but would have drinking water. There was no point in bringing a change of clothes, the Montreal-based Corriveau noted, because there would be nowhere to change, encouraging us to take as little as possible. In the best case scenario, we will make it to Gaza and can buy some clothing there, he said.
There are about 50 of us, men and women, due to sail on the Tahrir, whose name is a reference to the Cairo square where protests earlier this year led to the downfall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Several hundred other activists, from about 20 countries, and several dozen journalists are currently preparing to set sail for Gaza.
At several Mediterranean ports, ships await their participants for the upcoming flotilla. The vessels were acquired in a transatlantic fund-raising effort which began about a year ago, immediately after the Israeli Navy killed nine partcipants aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla ship, the Mavi Marmara, last May. The new flotilla has been organized by a coalition of organizations, all of which refuse to accept the Israeli argument that the Gaza Strip is no longer besieged and that if there is a siege, it is only because of the arms Hamas has been smuggling into the territory. The activists' participation is designed to apply popular pressure on their own governments to stop cooperating with the Israeli policy.
Canadian activists raised about $350,000 over the past year for the operation, setting up an account in the name of a group called Turtle Island Humanitarian Aid. The Canadian government has announced it does not support the flotilla, viewing it as a provocation against Israel. Other governments have had a similar reaction to the effort in response to the participation of their nationals. Only the Irish government has called on Israel to refrain from violence in response to the flotilla.
Last Thursday, the Greek port authority announced it had received a claim contending that the the Amercian boat, whose delegates are mostly from the U.S. but some are Israelis, was not seaworthy and the ship's departure would be delayed until the claim was investigated. Flotilla organizers say they believe the claim to be politically motivated. Their lawyer is currently negotiating with authorities over the issue but the plan is to set sail with the rest of the flotilla.
Although the Tahrir has been generally referred to as Canadian, it was purchased for about $500,000 with contributions that also came from Australia, Denmark and Belgium; nationals of all of these countries will be on board when it joins the flotilla. The donations came primarily from individuals and non-governmental organizations, said David Heap, a Canadian professor of linguistics and French who has a history of activism against apartheid in South Africa and on behalf of native peoples in North America.
Heap said he was not surprised by the Canadian government's opposition to the flotilla, and claimed Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had been a founder of a think tank that supported South Africa during the apartheid regime and that opposed sanctions against the regime and the release of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.
In advance of the departure of our ship, we - the particpants - sat in a Greek hotel, getting to know one another and rehearsing the prospect that the Israeli Navy would take control of the ships in the flotilla. In simulation drills over several hours, about 50 civilians - ranging in age from 20 to 69 - attempted to imagine themselves facing Israeli warships and M16 rifles with fighter helicopters hovering overhead, along with water cannon, tear gas and Taser stun guns. The participants also imagined verbal abuse along with physical blows, dogs, and masked commandos.
The activists concluded from the exercise that they should acknowledge their fears and learn as a group of people, mutually responsible for one anther, how to confront their fears. 

From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
URL: http://www.zcommunications.org/preparing-to-sail-for-gaza-by-amira-hass




Schivone: A Moment Before Boarding the Next Flotilla



Crossposted from Ha’aretz

A moment before boarding the next flotilla

I’d rather use my influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies I consider abominable.


By Gabriel Matthew Schivone
You might wonder what would motivate a Jewish American college student to participate in what may be the most celebrated – and controversial – sea voyage of the 21st century, one that aims to nonviolently challenge U.S.-supported Israeli military power in the occupied territories. I simply cannot sit idle while my country aids and abets Israel’s siege, occupation and repression of the Palestinians. I would rather use my personal influence and power, in concert with other members of American civil society, to actively and nonviolently resist policies that I consider abominable. So, next week, I and more than 30 other American civilians will be sailing on the U.S. ship the Audacity of Hope, to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
I am one of a growing number of young American Jews who are determined to shake off an assumed – and largely imposed – association with Israel. Prominent advocacy organizations, such as the American Jewish Committee, which proudly proclaim their unconditional support of Israel, for several years have been declaring their “serious concern” over the increasing “distancing” of young American Jews from the state.
But what Israel apologists like the AJC view as a crisis, I see as a positive development for American Jews, who, like other parts of U.S. society, are shifting from blind support for Israel to a more critical position that reflects opposition to our country’s backing for Israel’s policies.
If Israel’s apologists in the U.S. are alarmed by a falling off in unconditional support for Israel, they should be even more concerned that such a diverse range of youth – especially young Jews – are joining up with constituencies that actively organize against America’s role in the occupation. Today, the so-called crisis has expanded from the coasts to such places as Arizona. It probably was just a matter of time before a Jewish anti-occupation group emerged in my home state, given that a fairly substantial portion of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on the University of Arizona campus (in Tucson ) were Jewish. For our part, we Jews launched an initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus in spring 2010 – one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country, which has a mailing list of 100,000 – and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix.
Through JVP, I discovered there were a great many others like me, who were experiencing profound internal conflicts regarding Israel. They included people who had been intimidated from expressing public criticism of Israel, and others who were afraid to speak out in defense of Palestinian rights for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic.
It was clear that a campus JVP opened up a powerful, organic outlet through which Jewish students could safely exchange and process – without fear, intimidation or a need for self-censorship – their critiques, concerns, ideas, knowledge, questions, discoveries and plans to promote achievement of a genuinely mutual peace in Palestine/Israel. Before JVP came along, it wasn’t possible to have an open discussion, or feel that we as Jews had an alternative to either unquestioning support of Israel (the status quo ) or staying silent and thus supporting it by default. I myself was silent and timid for much too long.
We are committed to acting out of Jewish ethical traditions, while holding Israel to the same standard as any other state in the international system – no more, no less. Before JVP, there was nothing on my campus that was critical of Israel from an American Jewish perspective. Zero. The group’s success demonstrated that young Jews – moved by their cultural or religious values, which include a belief in universal human rights – have been on campus all the while, ready and willing to join a human rights-based cause for justice in Palestine/Israel. All it took to gain support on campus and elsewhere in the state was a potent sprinkling of opportunity, initiative and political will.
In Athens, as I write, waiting to board the Audacity of Hope, I am wearing a Star of David amulet around my neck, which was given to me the night before I left Arizona by a dear friend and fellow JVP organizer. She got it from a silversmith in Haifa while on a “Birthright” trip as an adolescent. For her, it had always been the reminder of the crude brainwashing she felt she had encountered on that trip. But when she came across the star recently, she decided it might be put to good use if I were to wear it on my journey. And so that’s what I’m doing.
I wear it as a symbol of the basic values of Judaism that I feel are not emphasized sufficiently today: the imperative to welcome the stranger as you would want to be welcomed; and of helping to free the slave from a bondage that you would not wish to suffer.
As a consequence of various nonviolent actions undertaken all over the world, led crucially by Palestinians on the ground, the Israeli occupation will one day end. Those of us who face up to the unavoidable choice of either tolerating or resisting these crimes will determine how long the death and suffering of mainly Palestinian noncombatants continues, and how long a lasting peace in Palestine/Israel remains out of reach.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

#Libya, #Gaaza, and #Palestine



We have a couple of pressing items to deal with. 

One is the attack on Libya and the reasons surrounding it:

1) We know that Gaddafi is a bad guy because we saw a clip of him playing chess with the head of the International Chess Federation.  People who play chess are always bad guys, we know that.  But a recent documentary on HBO makes the point even clearer.  Bobby Fischer was a chess player and he was prosecuted by the United States for playing chess in *gasp* Yugoslavia!  Also, he said he hated Jews, even though he was Jewish.  This chess stuff has got to stop.

2) It is only costing us $10,000,000/day.  That's cheap.  If we didn't spend it there, we'd probably be frittering it away on teacher's salaries and hiring police.

3) Since it has been 60 days, there is all this claptrap about the war powers act and congress being involved.  What do they think this is -- Russia?  The President has the right to attack anyone he wants to.  God told him.

4) We haven't just been killing Libyan civilians -- we also hit some tanks and stuff.

5) A tanker of Libyan oil is on it's way here -- see?

6) So stop this nonsense about 60 days.  We just marked the 40th Anniversary of the War on Drugs and we all know how well that has worked.

So now, here are a few things about Gaza, Palestine, and people impudent enough to flash the peace sign.  A bunch of Hippies over there:


Top 10 Reasons why Rafah opening doesn’t cut it


From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway, more on the inadequacy of the new Rafah Crossing rules on the Egypt-Gaza border.
In no particular order of importance, we thought we’d list some of the reasons why the opening of Rafah, while significant and helpful, doesn’t meet all of Gaza’s needs for access and why, as some voices in Israel have recently suggested, it can’t serve as Gaza’s only access point. Despite four unanticipated days of closure last week, the crossing has been operating for the passage of travelers on a more regular but still semi-limited basis.
  1. Passage through the crossing remains limited: Egypt has indicated that it will operate the crossing six days per week during regular working hours, but it seems this won’t be enough: between 400 – 450 individuals have been able to travel through the crossing per day from Gaza to Egypt. From November 2005 to June 2006, approximately 660 passengers per day exited the Gaza Strip through Rafah and according to the Palestinian Crossings Authority, 10,000 people are currently waiting to travel.
  2. The situation is unstable: As last week’s closure of the crossing indicates, the situation on both sides of Rafah remains unstable, such that it’s not clear whether the crossing will remain open, nor exactly to what degree.
  3. Rafah doesn’t lead to the West Bank: Travel and movement of goods between Gaza and the West Bank remains severely limited, a problem which Rafah cannot address, as goods and Gaza ID holders are not allowed into the West Bank even via the Egypt-Jordan route. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are part of the same customs envelope, and are recognized, including by Israel, as a single territorial unit, which, despite four years of tight closure, still shares one economy, one education system, one healthcare system and countless familial and social ties.
  4. Export is not moving and not through Rafah either: Export remains severely limited (about 2 truckloads per day, the last of which left Gaza on May 1, 2011, compared with a target of 400 per day in the Agreement on Movement and Access) and is currently not taking place through Rafah at all. This is impacting industries across Gaza which used to sell or export their wares in Israel, the West Bank and abroad. Before the closure, the vast majority of Gaza’s “exports” were sold in Israel and the West Bank.
  5. Construction materials do not enter through Rafah: Construction materials are being let into Gaza via Kerem Shalom only (between Israel and Gaza) for approved projects undertaken by international organizations and following exceedingly lengthy bureaucratic procedures. Each month since January 2011, about 10% of what entered monthly in the years prior to June 2007 has entered for these specific projects. At present, Egyptian authorities have not indicated if or when they will allow construction materials to pass at Rafah.
  6. Import of goods does not take place at Rafah: Imports to the Strip purchased by the private sector enter Gaza from Israel via Kerem Shalom Crossing. Even if Egypt were to allow goods to enter at Rafah (and there is no indication that they intend to do so nor when) the crossing and surrounding roadways are not currently equipped to handle the transfer of large quantities of goods, on the scale of the access needs of the Strip.
  7. Humanitarian aid does not regularly enter through Rafah: Aid enters Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing, between Gaza and Israel. At present, Egyptian authorities have not indicated if or when they will allow convoys of humanitarian aid to pass at Rafah.
  8. Medical patients in need of treatment not available in Gaza cannot always make the long journey to Egyptian hospitals. In any case, Palestinian hospitals in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, part of a common Palestinian health care system, are there to serve all residents of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza residents.
  9. Reports prove it: Restrictions on access at the crossings between Israel and Gaza (at Kerem Shalom for goods and Erez for people) continue to impact the well-being of residents of the Strip. Yesterday UNRWA published a study showing high rates of unemployment and the Association for International Development Agencies also reported recently on how limits on the entrance of construction materials primarily impacts the work of aid agencies and residents of Gaza.
  10. Rafah doesn’t lead to the West Bank: Oh wait, did we say that already? Well, we’re saying it again, because it’s very, very important.

 

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And just now, the crime of crimes:

Palestinian imprisoned for flashing the peace sign



From the Occupied Palestine blog comes this report of another nonviolent activist arrested.
Khaled Zawahre’s military hearing has concluded delayed ruling until Sunday they will either release him or keep him in custody for 101 days. We want to ask your support to keep sharing this information widely so the cases of arbitrary arrest by Israel get more media attention. For putting a unarmed civilian on trial for a military court after an arbitrary arrest without any proof is a severe  human rights violation
Khaled Zawahre was arrested in Qalandia while stopping in front of the Skunk Car he has been detained in Ofer prison and Military court extended his emprisonement with another 101 days of arrest until end of investigation they accused him of beating up a soldier and throwing rocks even though the films show he was standing non-violent infront of the car being skunked !
Earlier on May 15 2011, Khaled also got injured during a similar nonviolent demo and was hit with a rubber bullet and lost consciousness twice from the teargas (HRW May 20, 2011 issue) on the same day, Israel answered nonviolent protesters with great and disproportionate violence which caused 15 deaths.
For more photos and videos of Khaled and Qalandia, visit the Occupied Palestine blog. Khaled was previously seen on this blog in the video from the “Naksa day protests.”

 

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