Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
January 1, 2009 - We Lived to Tell the Story: Lebanon Rescued Us
Yesterday, we met with the President of Lebanon, the Chief of the Military, and the Interior Minister who all thanked us for responding and risking our lives on a mission of mercy; we profusely thanked them for rescuing us.
What would we have done, stranded out at sea, prohibited from reaching our destination, low on fuel, with a badly damaged boat if Lebanon had not accepted us? Lebanon sent their ships to find us. Lebanon rescued us. Lebanon welcomed us. And we are truly thankful.
It's official now. We've been told that the sturdy, wood construction of our boat, Dignity, is the reason we are still alive. Fiberglass would probably not have withstood the impact of the Israeli attack and under different circumstances, we might not be here to tell the story. Even at that, the report that came to us yesterday after the Captain and First Mate went back to Sour (Tyre) to inspect the boat was that it was sinking, the damage is extensive, and the boat will take, in their estimation, at least one month to repair. Tomorrow, we will bring the Dignity from Sour to Beirut. And now, we must decide what to do and from where we will do it and how we are to get back to wherever that might be.
My personal, and I know the group's, thanks must go to Al Jazeera, that allowed three of their reporters to be onboard with us on our voyage. As a result, Al Jazeera carried the story of the Dignity live, from castoff in Cyprus when our spirits were high, right up through the menacing maneuvers of the huge, super fast Israeli ships before they rammed us, the Israeli calls on the ship phone after the ramming calling us terrorists and subversives and telling us to return to Cyprus (even though the Israelis later claimed that they didn't know who we were, they knew enough about us to tell us where we had come from), and the fact that we didn't have enough fuel to follow their instructions, right up to their threat to fire at us if we didn't turn around, ending with our beaten-up boat limping into Sour harbor in Lebanon. Al Jazeera carried our story as "breaking news" and performed a real service to its audience and to us. Al Jazeera called the Israelis to inquire about the incident right as it was happening and I am sure the Israelis were prepared to leave none to tell the story. Al Jazeera told the story and documented it as it was happening.
One of those Al Jazeera reporters with us was Sami El-Haj, who was detained in Guantanamo by the United States for six incredibly long years. What an honor to even exchange glances with such a humble man who had endured so much pain at the hands of the U.S. government. I apologized to him that my tax dollars were being used in such a despicable way. And Sami's crime according to the U.S.? Born in Sudan, and reporting for Al Jazeera in Afghanistan, Sami was the wrong color, the wrong nationality, the wrong religion, reporting for the wrong news outfit, telling us the truth about a wrong war. And for that he survived incarceration for six long years. Sami El-Haj, Guantanamo prisoner number 345.
Another incredibly committed journalist who was with us was CNN's Karl Penhaul. Karl reported the truth even when his own station was repeating Israeli disinformation. The fact that we were traveling with these alert journalists added to the flat-footedness and obvious crudeness of the Israeli response. Sadly, Israel has changed its story too many times to count, and that's because they are not telling the truth.
We lived to tell the story. Karl's incredible reporting, just a portion of our story, can be seen on CNN at:
This video and the photos of Karl's report is particularly interesting given that Israel claims that our boat was only scratched and that, in actuality, our captain, while trying to outmaneuver them, damaged their warship.
I'm told that CNN only played my full statement once--and that's the time that it aired live. Of course, they cut the reference to the U.S.S. Liberty. What are they afraid of?
Last night I was on PressTV.com, along with others who were on the Dignity, and we debated a representative from WINEP, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. I reminded the audience that the Palestinians don't have nuclear weapons, depleted uranium munitions, white phosphorous, or F-16s, but the Israelis do. The facts, however, tend to get garbled after being processed by the "Grand Wurlitzer" organ of state-sponsored disinformation utilizing the world's press.
With the truth clearly on our side, Israel has been reduced to releasing ridiculous bombast. With their multiple, conflicting stories, it is clear that the Israelis did not expect us to live to tell the truth.
On the drive from Sour through Saida to Beirut, we were welcomed like heroes because our ordeal had been seen by everyone on Al Jazeera. The mayor of Sour came to welcome us. The mayor of Saida insisted that we stop there, on our way to Beirut, for a special ceremony. But there was something else that was visible along our drive, and that is the devastation that Lebanon, itself, has received as a result of the Israeli war machine. The scars of the war are still evident everywhere. I will write more on that tomorrow.
And one final note, President-elect Obama roared like a mighty lion onto the political scene, but now he is as silent as a lamb in the face of the death and destruction that is happening in Gaza. As we approach the birthday celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. let us remember what Dr. King said:
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
And after five days of aerial bombardment by Israel, the carnage in Gaza continues.
December 30, 2008: Oh What a Day! by [former US Congress Woman] Cynthia McKinney
I'm so glad that my father told me to buy a special notebook and to write everything down because that's exactly what I did.
When we left from Cyprus, one reporter asked me "are you afraid?" And I had to respond that Malcolm X wasn't afraid; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't afraid. But little did I know that just a few hours later, I would be recollecting my life and mentally preparing myself for death.
When we left Cyprus, the Mediterranean was beautiful. I remember the time when it might have been beautiful to look at, but it was also filthy. The Europeans have taken great strides to clean it up and yesterday, it was beautiful. And the way the sunlight hit the sea, I remember thinking to myself that's why they call it azure. It was the most beautiful blue.
But sometimes it was rough, and we got behind on our schedule. We stayed on course, however, despite the roughness of the water and due to our exquisite captain.
There were no other ships or boats around us and night descended upon us all rather quickly. It was the darkest black and suddenly, out of nowhere, came searchlights disturbing our peace. The searchlights stayed with us for about half an hour or so. We knew they were Israeli ships. Who else would they be?
They were fast, and they would come close and then drop back. And then, they'd come close again. And then, all of a sudden there was complete blackness once again and all seemed right. The cat and mouse game went on for at least one half hour. What were they doing? And why?
Calm again. Black sky, black sea. Peace. And then, at that very moment, when all seemed right, out of nowhere we were rammed and rammed again and rammed again the last one throwing me off the couch, sending all our food up in the air; and all the plastic bags and tubs--evidence of sea sicknesses among the crew and passengers--flew all over the cabin and all over us. We'd been rammed by the Israelis. How did we know? Because they called us on the phone afterwards to tell us that we were engaging in subversive, terroristic activity. And if that if we didn't turn around right then and return to Larnaca, Cyprus, we would be fired upon. We quickly grabbed our lifevests and put them on. Then the captain announced that the boat was taking on water. We might have to evacuate. One of my mates told me to prepare to die. And I reflected that I have lived a good and full life. I have tasted freedom and know what it is. I was right with myself and my decision to join the Free Gaza movement.
I remembered my father's parting words, "You all will be sitting ducks." Just like the U.S.S. Liberty. We were engaged in peaceful activity, a harmless pleasure boat, carrying a load of hospital supplies for the people of Gaza, who, too are sitting ducks, currently being bombarded in aerial assault by the Israeli military.
It's been a long day for us. The captain was outstanding. Throughout it all, he remained stoic and calm, effective in every way. I didn't know how to put my life jacket on. One of the passengers kindly assisted me. Another of the passengers pointed out that the Israeli motors for those huge, fast boats was U.S. made--a gift to them from the U.S. And now they were using those motors to damage a pleasure boat outfitted with three tons of hospital supplies, one pediatrician, and two surgeons.
I have called for President-elect Obama to say something. The Palestinian people in the Gaza strip are seeing the worst violence in 60 years, it is being reported. To date, President-elect Obama has remained silent. The Israelis are using weapons supplied to them by the U.S. government. Strict enforcement of U.S. law would require the cessation of all weapons transfers to Israel. Adherence to international law would require the same. As we are about to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, let us remember that he said:
1. The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, and 2. Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter.
I implore the President-elect to not send Congress a budget that contains more weapons for Israel. We have so much more to offer. And I implore the Congress to vote "no" on any budget and appropriation bills that provide more weapons transfers, period.
Israel is able to carry out these intense military maneuvers because taxpayers in the U.S. give their hard-earned money to our Representatives in Congress and our Congress chooses to spend that money in this way. Let's stop it and stop it now. There's been too much blood shed. And while we still walk among the living, let us not remain silent about the things that matter.
We really can promote peace and have it if we demand it of our leaders.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Israeli Gunboats Came out of the Darkness and Rammed us Three Times
(Lebanon, Tuesday 30 December) - Today the Free Gaza ship "Dignity" carefully made its way to safe harbor in Tyre, Lebanon's southern-most port city, after receiving serious structural damage when Israeli warships rammed its bow and the port side. Waiting to greet the passengers and crew were thousands of Lebanese who came out to show their solidarity with this attempt to deliver volunteer doctors and desperately needed medical supplies to war-ravaged Gaza. The Lebanese government has pledged to provide a forensic analysis of what happened in the dark morning, when Israel rammed the civilian ship in international waters, and put the people on board in danger of losing their lives.
The Dignity, on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, was attacked by the Israeli Navy at approximately 6am (UST) in international waters, roughly 90 miles off the coast of Gaza. Several Israeli warships surrounded the small, human rights boat, firing live ammunition around it, then intentionally ramming it three times. According to ship's captain Denis Healy, the Israeli attack came, ""without any warning, or any provocation."
Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that, "The gunboats gave us no warning. They came up out of the darkness firing flares and flashing huge flood lights into our faces. We were so shocked that at first we didn't react. We knew we were well within international waters and supposedly safe from attack. They rammed us three times, hitting the side of the boat hard. We began taking on water and, for a few minutes, we all feared for our lives. After they rammed us, they started screaming at us as we were frantically getting the life boats ready and putting on our life jackets. They kept yelling that if we didn't turn back they would shoot us."
Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, was traveling to Gaza aboard the Dignity in order to assess the impact of Israel's military onslaught against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. According to McKinney, "Israeli patrol boats...tracked us for about 30 minutes...and then all of a sudden they rammed us approximately three times, twice in the front and once in the side...the Israelis indicated that [they felt] we were involved in terrorist activities."
The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus at 7pm (UST) on Monday 29 December with a cargo of over 3 tons of desperately needed medical supplies donated to Gaza by the people of Cyprus. Three surgeons were also aboard, traveling to Gaza to volunteer in overwhelmed hospitals and clinics. The ship was searched by Cypriot Port authorities prior to departure, and its passenger list was made public.
Israel's deplorable attack on the unarmed Dignity is a violation of both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes."
Delivering doctors and urgently needed medical supplies to civilians is a just such a "peaceful purpose." Deliberately ramming a mercy ship and endangering its passengers is an act of terrorism.
CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP attacking the civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence to prevent human rights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at: +972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264 mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at: +972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148 mediasar@mod.gov.il
(Larnaca, Cyprus, 10:00 am) On Tuesday, December 30, at 5 a.m., several Israeli gunboats intercepted the Dignity as she was heading on a mission of mercy to Gaza. One gunboat rammed into the boat on the port bow side, heavily damaging her. The reports from the passengers and journalists on board is that she is taking on water and appears to have engine problems. When attacked, the Dignity was clearly in international waters, 90 miles off the coast of Gaza.
The gunboats also fired their machine guns into the water in an attempt to stop the mercy ship from getting to Gaza.
As the boat limps toward Lebanon, passengers have been in contact with the Lebanese government who have said the captain has permission to dock and are willing lend assistance if needed. Cyprus sea rescue has also been in touch, and has offered assistance as well. The Dignity clearly flies the flag of Gibraltar, is piloted by an English captain and has a passenger manifest that includes Representative Cynthia McKinney from the U.S. The attack was filmed by the journalists, and the crew and passengers will report on Israel's crime at sea once they arrive in Lebanon.
On board the boat are doctors traveling to this impoverished slice of the Mediterranean to provide badly-needed relief at the hospitals there. The crew and passengers were also hoping to take wounded out for treatment, since the hospitals are not coping. In addition, the Dignity was carrying 3 tons of medical supplies at the request of the doctors in Gaza.
The three physicans on board who were sailing to Gaza are: Dr. Halpin (UK), an experienced orthopaedic surgeon, medical professor, and ship's captain. He has organized humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza on several occasions with the Dove and Dolphin. He is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics. Dr. Mohamed Issa (Germany), a pediatric surgeon from Germany is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics. Dr. Elena Theoharous (Cyprus), MP Dr. Theoharous is a surgeon and a Member of the Cypriot Parliament. She is traveling to Gaza to assess the ongoing conflict, assist with humanitarian relief efforts, and volunteer in hospitals.
Yet Israel thumbs its nose in the face of maritime law by attacking a human rights boat in international waters and has put all of these human rights observers at risk. At no time was the Dignity ever close to Israeli waters. They clearly identified themselves and the Israeli attack was willful and criminal.
The Dignity is still in international waters, 40 miles off Haifa. Everybody on board is safe at the moment as the boat slowly makes its way to safety in Lebanon.
The Newsletter of the Free Gaza Movement 1/2009, Jan. 5
Death and destruction is Israel's current Gaza policy. More than 500 have been killed since the massacre started, and a ground offensive began, while countries like Germany officially justify the slaughtering by saying that the Zionist state is defending itself and that Hamas is the only one to blame. The Free Gaza Movement takes a stand for occupied Palestine and does not believe that the war on Gaza is a defense or in any way constructive or justified. The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, for example, one of the three civil society organisations which were the first to offcially invite the Free Gaza Movement to Gaza, was largely destroyed by Israeli F16 airplanes. GCMH is an internationally renowned organisation which has done extrordinary work throughout the Gaza Strip for many years. Israel uses violence against civilians and even the Free Gaza emergency boat was brutally attacked and damaged in international waters last Tuesday. See CNN video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgddT_i9260&eurl= (8:36) and the press photo of the damaged boat by Hassan Bahsoun (download http://www.freegaza.org/uploads/2008/01_2009.jpg - 2336x3504 pixel, 72 dpi) as well as more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02. Now the boat is in Tyre, Lebanon. We have located an alternate ship, which we're currently working on procuring. It's probably not the perfect boat for the Free Gaza Movement, but the most suitable and affordable one we could find in the short amount of time. Our new ship will carry about 30 passengers and 10-15 tons of cargo. We intend to leave for Gaza sometime within the next two weeks. Also in this issue: what you can do to support the movement, passengers for the next boat, news from internationals in Gaza, who broke the ceasefire agreement, the Free Gaza Art Festival, a calendar date and the quote of the week.
Israeli Gunboats Rammed Dignity Three Times The Dignity, on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, was attacked and received serious structural damage by Israeli Navy on Dec. 30 at approximately 6am (UST) in international waters, roughly 90 miles off the coast of Gaza. Several Israeli warships surrounded the small, human rights boat, firing live ammunition around it, then intentionally ramming it three times. According to ship's captain, Denis Healy, the Israeli attack came, "without any warning, or any provocation." Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that, "they kept yelling that if we didn't turn back they would shoot us." According to Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, "the Israelis indicated that [they felt] we were involved in terrorist activities." Israel's deplorable attack on the unarmed Dignity is a violation of both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes." Delivering doctors and urgently needed medical supplies to civilians is a just such a "peaceful purpose." Deliberately ramming a mercy ship and endangering its passengers is an act of terrorism. - Contact info: http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=06ec9655d88714c7ffaf8b1534783da3
What You Can Do Israel has closed off Gaza from the international community and told all foreigners to leave. We are saying NO! We are coming in. We will not leave the Palestinian people to be slaughtered by Israel. Israel's actions amount to war crimes and the international community must take concrete action to end this catastrophe. When states and the international bodies responsible for taking action to stop such atrocities chose to be impotent, then we--the citizens of the world--must act. We are willing to risk our lives in witness and to try to end this madness. We need your help to make it difficult for Israel to stop us even before our boat hits the water. Please help by: planning a vigil at the Israeli Embassy in your country or any other public place, from the moment the boat departs (we will inform you of this ahead of time) until the boat's safe arrival in Gaza; by contacting your local media and asking them to cover our mission; by asking your elected representatives to issue statements supporting our boat mission; by writing letters to your local media about the importance of this kind of direct-action resistance. Once we set sail, we do not plan on turning back. We will stay at sea, insisting on access to Gaza, until we succeed or Israel gravely attacks or arrests us. Through all of this, we know and will insist that we are not the story. The story is the tragedy that is happening to the civilians of Gaza and why Israel is being allowed to commit these crimes with impunity.
Passengers for the Next Boats We will give priority for places on the boat to doctors, journalists (preference going to major media outlets), and political figures or other high profile people. We will try to take two or three long-term human rights workers in on this voyage as well. If we successfully enter, we plan to make continuous, back to back trips for so long as funds are available. If you know doctors, journalists or politicians that would be willing to go with us please contact Karin at: kpally at earthlink.net or call Huwaida at +357-96-723-999 immediately. We are now putting together the list of passengers that we can accommodate on the first boat. However, we will also want to have a list of people ready to go on the second and third trips, if the first one makes it in, so do continue to direct people to us. Also: we have received lists of urgently needed medical supplies from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and from hospitals in Gaza. If you know of groups in your country that would like to donate medical supplies or make a contribution towards the purchase of medical supplies, please put them in contact with Lubna immediately at lubnna at gmail.com or +357-99-081-767
News from Internationals in Gaza There are several international human rights observers from the Free Gaza Movement and other groups currently in Gaza. See, for example, Vittorio Arrigoni's quote of the week below and his Italian blog at http://guerrillaradio.iobloggo.com, Sharon's blog at http://talestotell.wordpress.com and Eva's at http://ingaza.wordpress.com. Video interviews with the prolific journalist Ewa Jasiewicz, Jenny Linnel, Fida Qishta and more can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/lowvoicesloud. Also visit the new blogs http://gaza08.blogspot.com and http://www.savegazanow.blogspot.com. Since an air raid by the Israeli Air Force led to the injury of one and the death of another Palestinian doctor on December 31th and five more Palestinian medics on January 4, International Solidarity Movement and Free Gaza Movement volunteers will be accompanying medical teams throughout the Gaza Strip. In an effort to document the war crimes being committed by the Israeli military operation in Gaza, the internationals will be joining Gazan medical teams in shifts, both governmental and NGO hospitals. Volunteers expressed their concerns about the violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Geneva Convention, which state that medical facilities and vehicles are to be protected from warfare. See http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2009/01/01/human-rights-activists-to-accompany-medical-teams-in-gaza/
Who Broke the Ceasefire Agreement? The date Israel broke the ceasefire agreement was November 4th, when it killed six Palestinian fighters. On November 5th, another Israeli attack killed seven Palestinian fighters while on November 1st, yet again the Israeli army killed a Palestinian farmer. All of the Israeli killings were carried out in the Gaza Strip and on November 5th, Hamas' military declared the ceasefire to be broken and thus no longer valid. Attacks against civilians are always illegal. But consider that Israel has killed 380 men, women, and children and injured 1,720 in just four days, using U.S. supplied F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters, and naval gunboats against a mostly unarmed population ... and the onslaught continues. American taxpayers give Israel $7 million per day, see http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/GazaDec08.pdf. And consider that part of the ceasefire agreement was the lifting of the siege which simply did not happen and that the democratically elected Hamas recently proposed to continue the ceasefire without the siege which was ignored. Consider that the ceasefire has also been broken by Israeli naval ships patrolling Palestinian waters and consider that Hamas has recognized Israel in the borders of 1967 three years ago. And: there is no one in the Israeli government who has presented a scenario for peace.
Winners of the Free Gaza Song Contest Ofer Golany and Angelika Wagener (Cello) won the Free Gaza Song Contest with Ofer's easy, Caribbean-like version of the Free Gaza Song. You can hear it in the webcam version at http://www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm, but it is hoped he will record his version with a good mike. Ofer Golany is an Israeli songwriter and peace activist, active for the right of conscientious objection. His websites are http://www.ofermusic.com and http://www.guns2guitars.org. Right now he is recording an anti-militarist project called "Your Sister": http://www.myspace.com/akhotkha - And now sharpen your pencils and tune your instruments for the Free Gaza Art Festival: http://www.anis-online.de/2/freegaza/artfestival.htm. Every kind of art can be submitted: paintings, drawings, sculptures, videos, photos, collages, poetry, literature, music, dance, land art, anything that is clearly related to Free Gaza and that can be shown online. Next to artistic contributions, the Free Gaza Art Festival will present special features about artists in Gaza and Palestine. See you there!
Calendar January 8: The musical group Helm (http://www.helmmusic.com) is part of the group 14 Friends of Palestine and plays a benefit concert for the Free Gaza Movement in London in the Darbucka World Music Bar, http://www.darbucka.com
Quote of the Week "Let's get this straight: as a pacifist and non-violent person I totally abhor any form of Palestinian attack against Israel, but out here we're sick of hearing that tired old adage according to which this massacre of civilians was Israel's answer to the Palestinians launching their modest, homemade 'rockets'. For precision's sake, from 2002 to the present day the qassam rockets against Israel have produced 18 dead, while only last Saturday, in just a couple of hours we counted more than 250 civilians dead in the hospitals." - Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza, "The Unnatural Catastrophe of Gaza", Jan. 1, http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=b99a192190aabb518904b15ee54187dd&offset=
Urgent Action 
