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US Boats to Gaza Ann Wright Speaks at UN Security Council

Ann Wright UN Security Council

(Article copied from Peace & Planet News Fall 2023 Edition).

Following in the footsteps of Ray McGovern, Jeffery Sachs, Max Blumenthal and Randy Credico , Col. Ann Wright was asked to speak Monday, Dec. 11, at the U.N. Security Council on weapons being supplied to conflict areas and their role in preventing resolution of those conflicts. She prepared a statement that focused on the current Israeli assault on Gaza, but two hours before the meeting she was informed that since the meeting was on Ukraine, if she spoke about Gaza instead, the president of the council would cut her off and she would lose the opportunity to speak. She quickly amended her statement to focus more on Ukraine, and you can hear the remarks as she gave them in the video below. We are publishing her statement as originally written.–The editors of Peace & Planet News

On the Issue of Weapons Supplied into Conflict Areas and their Detrimental Effect on the
Prospects for the Settlement of Conflicts

By Ann Wright, U.S. Army Colonel (retired) & Diplomat (resigned)

Mr. President:

I am pleased to address you on the issue of weapons supplied into conflict areas and their detrimental effect on the prospects for settlement of conflicts.

I served 29 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. While in the U.S. Army, I taught the Law of Land Warfare and the Geneva Conventions at the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I was in the U.S. Army during the U.S. wars on Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Panama and the U.S. Central American wars in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

I was also a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and served in U.S. Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. I was on the small team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in December 2001. At the last four Embassies, I was the Deputy Chief of Mission.

In Somalia, I was seconded to the United Nations Mission in Somalia, UNOSOM, in 1993-1994 as the head of the Justice Division with the mission of reconstituting the Somali police, judicial and prison systems.

But, I resigned from the U.S. government twenty years ago in March 2003 in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq, a war that, to its credit, the U.N. Security Council refused to authorize.

I recount my personal history to underscore my thorough familiarity with conflicts in various regions, and to share my view of the futility of relying on military action instead of diplomacy for conflict resolution.

As a retired U.S. Army Colonel and former U.S. diplomat, I speak on my own behalf now as a concerned U.S. citizen who as a taxpayer pays for the weapons my country uses and sells to fuel wars that kill innocent civilians.

On the topic of today, there is no doubt that weapons supplied into conflict areas have a detrimental effect on the prospects for settlement of conflicts. In fact, the continued supply of weapons will prolong any conflict.

The important question is, how do you get conflicts to end?

I will begin with a reminder that the process for ending wars begins with a ceasefire. The process can be very long and thousands of people – millions even – can be killed before there is an agreement on a ceasefire.

For example, during the Korean war from 1950-1953, talks between parties to the conflict began in 1951 and finally concluded, after 575 meetings, with an armistice in 1953. During that war, over 4 million Koreans from the North and South, military and civilian, 500,000 Chinese military, 35,000 U.S. military and tens of thousands in the U.N military command were killed.

For our planet’s situation today, on behalf of the millions of concerned citizens worldwide who have been demonstrating over the past two years for a CEASEFIRE in Ukraine, and for the past two and one-half months for a CEASEFIRE in Gaza, I say:

STOP THE KILLINGS! CEASEFIRE NOW! NEGOTIATE !

In the 70 days of the Israeli-Gaza conflict, over 18,000 Palestinians in Gaza have already been killed, 7,000 children and 4,000 women. An estimated 6,000 are still under the rubble of their homes. 43,000 have been wounded. Over 260 Palestinians have been killed and 3,365 wounded during this period in the West Bank and thousands have been arrested and subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment.

The Israeli military has reported that 1,147 civilians in Israel and 418 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the horrific October 7 Hamas attack and the subsequent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. We now know that the Israeli military knew of the pending attack and did not defend against it.

There has been only one six-day temporary ceasefire in the fighting, to allow for the release of hostages and release of Palestinian young detainees who were jailed without charges or trial.

This temporary ceasefire allowed for a very short time for a minuscule amount of medical, relief and food supplies to come into the Gaza ghetto for the 2.3 million who have been ordered by Israel into one-third of the area of the Gaza in forced displacement. WHO (World Health Organization) reports that Palestinians are starving.

Only 10 percent of the food to feed 2.3 million has been allowed into Gaza by Israel. Israel is again starving the people of Gaza as they did in 2006 when they infamously put “Gaza on a diet” and only allowed into Gaza food of a limited caloric value.

Food items such as pasta, flour, yeast, rice, salt, sugar, chickpeas, lentils, beans, olives, canned tuna and powdered milk were restricted or prohibited.

Sanitary items such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, diapers, baby wipes, detergent and dish-washing liquid were also restricted or prohibited.

A 2012 joint report by Save the Children and UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians revealed that 10% of children under the age of 5 experienced stunted growth due to prolonged malnutrition due to the Israeli blockade and siege on Gaza.

The same study revealed that 58.6% of Gaza’s school children were anemic, as were more than 68% of children aged nine to 12 months and nearly 37% of pregnant women.

There is no safe place left for Palestinians in Gaza from the massive U.S. supplied to Israeli bombs, rockets and other munitions.

The targeting of the general population of Gaza and level of destruction of medical, academic, residential and commercial areas under the guise of eliminating Hamas is a textbook case of genocide and it must end now.

U.N. Secretary General Guterres invoked Article 99 and has warned: “Amid constant bombardment by the Israeli Defense Forces and without shelter or essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.” He also warned of possible epidemics.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken said there is a “gap between … the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground” in Gaza. Yet, three days ago, on Friday, December 8, in this very room, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. security council resolution for a humanitarian pause/ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza which would have protected civilians. This veto was indefensible and wrong.

The U.S. veto of the Ceasefire in Gaza is a moral failure and a dangerous move that ensures continuation of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

That U.S. veto does not reflect the view of the U.S. citizenry who want the killing in Gaza to end. The Biden administration is on thin ice with the American public for its support and protections of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

The U.S. speaks of its shared values with Israel.

U.S. values do not include the bombing, shelling, destruction of hospitals, schools, universities, residential areas, water supplies, electrical networks, sewage networks, degrading behavior towards those who are still alive, and making return of 75% of Gazans to their homes purposely impossible—the genocide in the Gaza Ghetto.

U.S. values do not include [13,981 120mm high-explosive] tank shells worth $106 million to be immediately sent to Israel for shelling Palestinians civilians, bypassing any congressional oversight.

Somehow the U.S. government, the President, White House, State Department, Congress seem to have forgotten that everyone has the right to “Self-Defense.”

Israel is not the only country that can use that term.

Palestinians have the right of self-defense against 75 years of occupation, blockade, siege, quarantine, theft of lands, bombing of homes, hospitals, universities, schools, imprisonment without charges.

My remarks are not anti-semitic. They are honest assessments of the actions of the State of Israel and my own government, the United States.

This is not anti-semitism; it’s the description of the criminal actions that Israel and the United States are perpetrating on the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Today, the United States is providing weapons to two major conflicts: the one between Israel and Gaza, and the one between Russia and Ukraine.

The U.S. provides $3.8 billion annually to the Israeli government for Israeli military use.

Now, the Biden administration has asked the U.S. congress to approve another $14 billion with virtually no restriction on their use against the people in Gaza

On December 7, 2023, only four days ago, in a press conference with the new UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Secretary of State Tony Blinken said that over the last two years, the United States has provided $70 billion to support Ukraine and European allies have provided more than $110 billion. Biden said, “If you look at the investments that we’ve made in Ukraine’s defense
to deal with this aggression, 90 percent of the security assistance we’ve provided has actually been spent here in the United States with our manufacturers, with our production, and that’s produced more American jobs, more growth in our own economy. So this has also been a win-win that we need to continue,” Blinken said.

This is not a “win-win” for civilians in conflict areas.

The win-win is for the military industrial complex and the politicians and retired government officials who receive senior positions in the weapons industry after their retirements!

In closing, I will read part of a poem that describes how some parents in Gaza have resorted to writing their children’s names on their legs to help identify them should either they, the parents, or the children be killed in Israeli bombing.

It was written for the children of Gaza but is applicable to children in all conflict areas:

+++++++++++++

Write My Name on My Leg, Mama.
By Zeina Azzam

Write my name on my leg, Mama
Use the black permanent marker
with the ink that doesn’t bleed
if it gets wet…

Write my name on my leg, Mama
and on the legs of my sisters and brothers.
This way we will belong together
This way we will be known as your children.

Write my name on my leg, Mama
When the bomb hits our house
When the walls crush our skulls and bones
our legs will tell our story, how
there was nowhere for us to run.

On behalf of the people of the world who want to live in peace and safety, I say again:

STOP THE KILLINGS!

CEASEFIRE NOW!

NEGOTIATE ANY DISAGREEMENTS!

Thank You.

Zeina Azzam’s poem can be found here.

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

Ann Wright is a 29-year U.S. Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired U.S. Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She is a member of the Veterans For Peace Advisory Board. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Wright was also a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the 2010 Gaza flotilla. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book Dissent: Voices of Conscience. She has written frequently on rape in the military.

US Boats to Gaza Ann Wright Speaks at UN Security Council Read More »

US Boats to Gaza Joins the International Campaign

Join the International Campaign to Send Ships With Medical and Relief Assistance to Gaza

November 25, 2023

The horrific 49-day Israeli attack on the civilian population of Gaza continues with over 15,000 Palestinians dead, including more than 6,150 children, and more than 36,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip. Virtually all of the 2.3 million residents of Gaza have been forced into the southern half of the tiny enclave. Two-hundred and twenty-six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli attacks have put 27 of 35 hospitals across Gaza out of operation, according to the World Health Organization.

Bakeries, grain mills, agricultural land, water and sanitation facilities have been destroyed by Israeli attacks.

Throughout the entire Gaza Strip, including southern Gaza, at least 56,000 buildings appear to be damaged.

At least 13,200 structures have also been damaged in southern Gaza, below the evacuation line that Israel established on Oct. 13 when it ordered all northern residents of Gaza to relocate to the south.

The U.N. estimates that across all parts of Gaza, over 41,000 homes — 45% of Gaza’s total housing stock — are too damaged by Israeli forces to be lived in.

Six thousand Israeli/U.S. bombs have been dropped on Gaza in 45 days; in 2019, the U.S. dropped 7,400 bombs in Afghanistan in one year. According to Airwars, Israel’s bombardment has become one of the most intense air campaigns since World War II.

To address the unfathomable needs in Gaza, U.S. Boats to Gaza announces its participation in the International Campaign to Save Gaza. As a part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition, we join with organizations in the Middle East to sponsor a number of cargo ships with medical and humanitarian supplies for the people of Gaza. As announced in the November 23, 2023 press conference in Istanbul, the ships will sail as soon as possible and hopefully by the end of December 2023 as medical and relief supplies are purchased and loaded onto the ships. 

We need your donations to purchase these supplies and to operate the ships. A donation is tax-deductible through our 501(c)(3) partner Nonviolence International, EIN 52-1645787.

Please donate here.

 

There will be an opportunity for a limited number of passengers to be on the ships. We encourage members of the medical professions to be on board. To apply to be a passenger please fill out this form or email us and we will contact you.

If you would like to be known as a participant in “Save Gaza” but can’t be on the boats, consider donating the amount of a round-trip ticket to Istanbul ($1000) and we will place your name on a plaque that will sail on one of the boats. 

Please donate here.

 

We will be keeping you informed of the status of this appeal and details of the sailing of the ships on our U.S. Boats to Gaza website and by weekly newsletter updates.

Read the Strategic Objectives and the Policies and Guiding Values of the international “Save Gazza” campaign here.

Please donate to the “Save Gazza” through U.S. Boats to Gaza here.

Free, Free Palestine! End the Blockade of Gaza!!

Alex, Kit, Ellen, Ann, and Sherri
Steering Committee, US BOATS TO GAZA

Image: Palestinians inspect the ruins of Watan Tower destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza city, on October 8, 2023. Photo: Wafa

 

US Boats to Gaza Joins the International Campaign Read More »

Handala Completes Its 2023 Sailing

Handala in Bristol

The Freedom Flotilla 2023 took to the seas again in a 58-foot converted Norwegian fishing boat called Handala! Halted by COVID for a few years, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailed this summer in northern Europe. With port visits in Norway, the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden the Freedom Flotilla Coalition did educational events with local Palestinian solidarity organizers. In 2024, Handala will sail to Gaza with educational port visits in Europe and the Mediterranean with a final push to Gaza to break the illegal Israeli blockade!

Handala in Scotland

Handala has handled the sea well, coming across the North Sea in high seas from Oslo to Scotland in mid-June. A 200-year old broken bridge in the Caledonian Canal in the Scottish Highlands halted her progress for several days, but the crew was warmly welcomed by all who passed the locks! Unfortunately, the delay caused cancellation of stops in Glasgow, Dublin and Waterford, but Freedom Flotilla members and local Palestine Solidarity groups held wonderful and well-attended events in the other stops.

One silver lining from being stuck at Laggan Locks in Scotland, was meeting a captain from Inverness, more than an hour away. He is a member of a Palestinian solidarity group and was thrilled to meet us. By great fortune, when he learned Handala needed a captain for an upcoming leg of our trip he introduced us to one! He was both an excellent captain and engineer!

So many have supported the journey along the way. A doctor in Fort William, Scotland graciously brought us multiple dinners and groceries. He has done medical training in Gaza, the West Bank, and Rwanda. A merchant along the canal gave crew members free dinners when he learned about Handala and our efforts to break Israel’s illegal blockade.

Border police

Four Scottish border police officers came aboard in the middle of Scotland, divided us, interrogated the crew and inspected the boat. A local told us that in all the years he had worked there he’d never seen the border police come. It turned out to be a great way to attract local attention and solidarity!

Throughout the UK, local Palestine Solidarity Campaigns (PSCs) have been great. We were greeted in Liverpool by the local PSC who had organized events where local officials, firefighters, union organizers, and others spoke about their solidarity work for Palestine. We also had an event at the oldest mosque in Britain where Alex McDonald from Houston, a US Boats to Gaza steering committee member spoke after prayers; later we were part of a panel in an event at a local church. The outreach in Liverpool was excellent!

Cardiff PSC also welcomed us as we approached the lock. Seeing banners and Palestinian solidarity signs in both English and Welsh was impressive! As soon as Handala docked, a local TV station interviewed captain Clive Haswell in Welsh and later he had an English radio interview on BBC. Good exposure for the campaign!

Cardiff organized a demonstration downtown in response to the violent attack on the Jenin refugee camp by more than a thousand Israeli troops. We marched with their solidarity group through the town to the BBC offices to deliver a letter condemning their biased coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian situation.

March in Cardiff

There have been further stops in Bristol and Southampton England as well as Rotterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Halmstad, Gothenburg, and Oslo.

US Boats to Gaza was well represented in the flotilla’s crew. Alex McDonald and Tighe Barry sailed with Handala from Oslo, through Scotland. Alex continued to Cardiff and Bristol. Ann Wright was part of the ground crew in Liverpool. Kit Kittredge and Keith Meyers represented the Freedom Flotilla at the events in Waterford, Ireland. All US Boats to Gaza volunteers paid their own expenses and we have incredible gratitude for their efforts.

Thank you for your continuing support in raising awareness of the situation in Gaza, and in holding our governments accountable for their complicity in the violations of Palestinian human rights! We join together globally to let Palestinians know that they are not forgotten or alone!

Panel in Rotterdam
Panel Q&A session in Rotterdam

You can see more details of each of the port visits (including pictures and videos) at: https://freedomflotilla.org/freedom-flotilla-ports/

or some inspiring photos on the Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition/ and https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla.

Please continue to donate to the 2024 Gaza Flotilla through our US Boats to Gaza donation link.

Handala Completes Its 2023 Sailing Read More »

Stay Engaged With Gaza

 

Thanks to all who participated in our online auction! It was our first foray into that method of fundraising. We did well and learned a lot.

While we continue planning for an international flotilla to sail to Gaza in 2021, we are finding new ways to engage in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
After months of very few new cases Gaza is currently experiencing community spread of COVID-19.
  Rebuilding  Alliance and Middle East Children’s Alliance are two organizations that are providing needed help to the people of Gaza.

 

Another way to support the Palestinians of Gaza is to make a virtual

visit to a refugee camp in Gaza. Proceeds from tickets

are shared by Eyewitness Palestine and We Are Not Numbers 

 

 

Worsening the situation in Gaza have been the massive cuts by our government to the funding of UNWRA which provides education, health, women’s centers, microfinance and more. We encourage the incoming administration to restore funding to UNWRA and other U.N. agencies.
 

 

In this webinar on December 4, speakers will explore how we can support local and national movements in overcoming racism and political repression to achieve basic human rights for all. The panel will include a Kingston, NY BLM activist (Anne Ames), the editor of mondoweiss.net (Philip Weiss), and a radical feminist, revolutionary member of Black Alliance for Peace (Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture).

 

 

November 29 is International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. As a show of support, we ask that you join us in sending a photo of yourself wearing a keffiyeh or T-shirt or holding a Palestinian flag to twitter #palestinesolidarityday on Sunday, November 29.

 

 

 

Please continue to visit our website at usboatstogaza.org for updates, and webinars, and to make further donations.

 

 

Thank you for your continued support in helping to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

 

We sail until Palestine is free.

In Solidarity,
U.S. Boats to Gaza Team

 

* * *
We welcome you to join the campaign to break the painful, damaging, illegal blockade of 1.8 million Palestinians in the open-air prison that is Gaza.  Be a part of the journey. Contribute today! 

 

 

or make out checks to our fiscal sponsor, Nonviolence International, and put

Boats to Gaza on the subject line.

Mail checks to:
Boats to Gaza
c/o Nonviolence International
4000 Albemarle Street, NW, Suite 401
Washington, DC 20016

 

Follow our campaigns:
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla

 

 

 

 

 

Stay Engaged With Gaza Read More »

May Webinars and Film Showings




                      

May 31, 2020, is the 10th anniversary of the deadly Israel military attack on six civilian boats that were sailing to bring international attention to the plight of the 2 million Palestinians living under Israel’s brutal and illegal land, sea, and air blockade of Gaza. Israeli commandos murdered ten and wounded 50 unarmed civilians on the Mavi Marmara and beat up passengers on the other five boats.

 

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is marking the anniversary with a series of webinars to commemorate those killed on the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla and the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel that have been killed by the Israeli military and the inhumane policies of the Israeli government.  

 
For previous Freedom Flotilla webinars this year, see https://freedomflotilla.org/flotilla-informational-events/.

 
UPCOMING EVENTS

 

May 23
 
Award-winning film The Truth: Lost at Sea, followed by a discussion with filmmaker and Mavi Marmara survivor Rifat Audeh and other Freedom Flotilla participants. Hosted by Canadian Boat to Gaza

 
In 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of six boats carrying humanitarian aid, attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. After refusing Israel’s demand to turn away, the flotilla continued on course through international waters, and the Israeli Occupation Forces launched a night-raid attacking the boats. 
 
On one boat, the Mavi Marmara, the Israeli ‘soldiers’ shot and killed nine human rights activists and a tenth later died of his injuries. The film details what happened that night, unravelling how the story was spun by the media.
 

Please join us for a Webinar on Saturday, May 23 for a screening of award-winning documentary “The Truth: Lost at Sea” followed by a discussion with film-maker and Mavi Marmara survivor Rifat Audeh and others from the 2010 Flotilla, including Kevin Neish and Ann Wright.

10 am PDT West Coast North America * 12 noon Central * 1 pm EDT * 6 pm British Summer Time * 7 pm Central Europe * 8 pm Palestine
 
 
May 28 
 
Legal actions against Israel originating from the Gaza Freedom Flotillas. Hosted by South Africa’s Palestine Solidarity Alliance.  National & International Legal actions against the Israeli occupation, from the Gaza Freedom Flotillas to Annexation.” 19:30 SAST (South African Standard Time and CEST), 18:30 UK; 13:30 EDT; 12:30 CDT, 10:30 PDT. 
 
May 30
         

10th anniversary of Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara and the Freedom Flotilla in 2010.

 

Discussion with filmmaker Iara Lee, shipmates, and author Dr. Norman Finkelstein.
 
10 am PDT in West Coast North America * 12 noon Central * 1 pm EDT * 6 pm British Summer Time * 7 pm Central Europe * 8 pm P alestine
 
 
 

May 30

 

Event hosted by 48 Palestine  
From two locations. 4 pm-6 pm, Palestine Jointly organized by Palestinian and Jewish activists, this event means to commemorate together with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition a decade since the lethal attack on the first Flotilla and to call for the immediate and complete lifting of the illegal blockade of Gaza.  On our minds are all Palestinian refugees around the world, those in the West Bank, living under military occupation and the threat of annexation and of course those in the blockaded Strip.
The International Flotilla Coalition is planning another flotilla that will focus attention on a significant portion of the Palestinian population under Israeli occupation: young people and children who are half of Gaza’s population. This flotilla was scheduled to take place in May, but due to the Corona crisis and traffic restrictions imposed on large parts of the world, this plan has been postponed at this stage.
Therefore our event will include two memorial gatherings streamed live from Acre and Jaffa as well as a webinar all between 4PM and 6PM on Saturday May 30.
 
MK Aida Touma Suleiman will speak at the Acre gathering
MK Sami Abu Shehadaeh will speak at the Jaffa gathering
Past participants on boats challenging the blockade will share their experience: Amira Hass, Sheik Hamed Abu Daabas, Rami Elhanan and Jeff Halper.

We will also here from Marwan Mahmoud, a Palestinian from Gaza. 

The event will include poetry, music and singing contributed by the following artists: Dareen Tatour, Dror Feiler, Zeev Tene, Meira Asher, Tal Nitzan and Shmulik Tzur.

Especially now that the global corona crisis is making us aware on the one hand, of our interdependence and on the other, of the threat posed on the weakest populations in general and those under blockade in Gaza in particular- It is time for the international community to demand the lifting of the blockade off the Gaza Strip. The Freedom Flotilla will continue to sail, and other solidarity actions will perssist until Palestinian rights to freedom and life with dignity are respected!

 
May 31
 
Events in Istanbul, Turkey, to commemorate the 10 deaths by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara ship hosted by Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH). Read and share more background information on the Mavi Marmara from IHH. 

Events in Istanbul, Turkey to commemorate the 10 deaths by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara ship hosted by Humanitarian Relief Foundation IHH. Read and share  more background information on the Mavi Marmara from IHH. 
  A detailed listing of times and dates will be on the IHH website after Ramadan and we will be notifying you as dates are established: https://www.ihh.org.tr/en 
  • Online Concert by singers who wrote songs after their experience on the Mavi Marmara. 
  • Online Conference with Speakers focusing on the Humanitarian Situation in Gaza, Freedom Flotilla, legal processes. The conference will be in Turkish.
  • Freedom Flotilla Archive- special website which will  contain data about the Freedom Flotilla such as, reports, articles, photos, videos, legal cases.
  • Mavi Marmara show on sand art done by IHH youth online
     
  • Mavi Marmara 3D Virtual Visit
  • The Special Program on Mavi Marmara will be on Sunday, May 31st. 

 

May 31 
 
Award-winning film The Truth: Lost at Sea followed by a discussion with film-maker and Mavi Marmara survivor Rifat Audeh and other Freedom Flotilla participants (see description above).

Screening with discussion for Pacific partners and allies 

16h AEST (NSW/Vic) * 18h NZST (Aotearoa) * 9h Palestine * May 30 at 11 pm PDT West Coast North America).  
 

May 31
Evening Concert in Norway hosted by  Ship to Gaza Norway. 

May 31 
Event in Sweden. Hosted by Ship to Gaza Sweden.
 
* * *

 

Support the Flotilla to Break the Blockade
For the Children of Gaza 
 

International solidarity activists have sailed 18 voyages with over 30 boats to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The next flotilla, coordinated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 health pandemic.
 
It is more important than ever to support efforts to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. Please give generously to the 2020 Freedom Flotilla Coalition so that we can send a boat to Gaza and let the 2 million imprisoned Palestinians there know that the world has not forgotten them.

 

Send a message of hope and solidarity to the people of Gaza

 

It is 5,900 miles between Washington, DC and Gaza. Every $5 will bring us one mile closer to reaching the families in Gaza. Be a part of the journey. Contribute today!  
 

You can donate online or make out checks to our fiscal sponsor, Nonviolence International, and put 2020 Boats to Gaza on the subject line.  

 
Mail checks to: 
2020 Boats to Gaza
c/o Nonviolence International 
4000 Albemarle Street, NW, Suite 401 
Washington, DC 20016

 

Follow our campaigns: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla
 


May Webinars and Film Showings Read More »

Free Gaza Webinar




                      

In May 2020 the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition is sponsoring a series of webinars to commemorate those killed on the 2010 Gaza Freedom flotilla and the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel that have been killed by the Israeli military and the inhumane policies of the Israeli government.
 
May 31, 2020, is the 10th anniversary of the deadly Israel military attack on six civilian boats that were sailing to bring international attention to the plight of the 2 million Palestinians living under a brutal Israeli blockade of Gaza.  Israeli commandos murdered 10 and wounded 50 unarmed civilians on the Mavi Marmara ship and beat up passengers on the other five boats. 
 

                The idea of sailing to break the Israeli naval 

blockade began in 2008 with the  Free Gaza Movement.   Their story tells of the challenge and the success of getting boats into Gaza, the first in 41 years to arrive in the Gaza City port.







Over the past 12 years, international solidarity activists have made 18 voyages with over 30 boats sailing to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
 
Join us for a series of webinars sponsored by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to commemorate these efforts to support the people of Gaza. 
 
The series begins on Saturday, May 9, at 10 am U.S. Pacific time, 12 pm U.S. Central, 1 pm U.S. Eastern, 6 pm England, 7 pm France, and 8 pm Greece/Gaza, with presentations from the founding members of the Free Gaza Movement, Greta Berlin, Paul Larudee, Mary Hughes-Thompson, Vangelis Pissias, and Musheir El Farra, about the challenges of fundraising and organizing the first two boats to reach the shores of Gaza and photos of the outpouring of goodwill as the boats arrived in Gaza in 2008.  We will also show the trailer for Rock the Boat, a new movie by Kathy Sheetz about the 2008 flotilla.
 
The Free Gaza Movement organized five voyages to Gaza in 2008 and two voyages in 2009.
 
This screening is presented by Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Free Gaza Movement and co-hosted by US Boats to Gaza, and Canadian Boat to Gaza
 

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to view a film, interact with the filmmaker and more! Please register in advance by clicking hereYou will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the screening and webinar.  

  
We will alert you to other Gaza Freedom Flotilla webinars in May:
 
  • May 28
    Legal actions against Israel originating from the Gaza Flotillas hosted by South Africa’s Palestine Solidarity committee 
  • May 30
    Filmmaker Iara Lee & her film “Attack on the Mavi Marmara” hosted by US Boats to Gaza
  • May 30
    Event hosted by 48 Palestine   
  • May 31
    Events in Istanbul, Turkey to commemorate the 10 deaths by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara ship hosted by IHH.
 
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla raises awareness by sailing against the blockade of Gaza, with a focus on the children and youth of Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla’s next sailing, called For the Children of Gaza, will challenge the blockade, while focusing attention on young people in Gaza, who form more than half of the population in that tiny blockaded area. Originally scheduled for May 2020, the voyage has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

   ***   
 

Send a message of hope and solidarity to the people of Gaza
It is more important than ever to support efforts to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. Please give generously to the 2020 Freedom Flotilla Coalition so that we can send a boat to Gaza and let the 2 million imprisoned Palestinians there know that the world has not forgotten them. 

 

It is 5,900 miles between Washington, DC and Gaza. Every $5 brings us one mile closer to reaching the families in Gaza. Be a part of the journey. Contribute today!

 

Or mail checks to our fiscal sponsor,
Nonviolence International

with 2020 Boats to Gaza on the subject line
 
2020 Boats to Gaza
c/o Nonviolence International 
4000 Albemarle Street, NW, Suite 401 
Washington, DC 20016

 

Follow our campaigns: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla
 

 


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2020 Flotilla Delayed




                      

In light of global health restrictions on travel and public gatherings, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is delaying our planned departure for Gaza. We had initially planned to visit several southern European ports in April and May, and head for Gaza at the end of May, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara and other Freedom Flotilla vessels in 2010, that killed 10 peace activists. We will stand with our IHH partners as they commemorate those deaths and press for justice at the International Criminal Court .
With the help of supporters like you, we recently purchased a boat for this year’s voyage. Visit our updated website for updates about this boat and our preparations over the coming months. We will decide when our next voyage will begin based on ongoing reviews of public health conditions worldwide and in the ports we are planning to visit.
While the COVID-19 pandemic creates challenges worldwide, it is especially dangerous in Gaza, where conditions are immeasurably more difficult because of the illegal Israeli blockade; Palestinians there are particularly vulnerable now that the first COVID-19 cases have arrived .
 
The crowded conditions in Gaza, with a stretched healthcare system and extremely limited access to outside medical aid, means that we must keep the Palestinian people of Gaza in mind as we adapt to new realities worldwide.

We join organizations like the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza in calling on the international community and the World Health Organization to pressure Israeli authorities to allow entry of medical supplies and equipment necessary for coronavirus testing and treatment.
 
During this exceptionally dangerous period for Palestinians in Gaza, we urge you to support organizations providing on-the-ground services there, such as UNWRA, Rebuilding Alliance, and Middle East Children’s Alliance.

For more information on the situation in Gaza, see this webinar on COVID-19 from CODEPINK and this interview with Dr. Mona El-Farra, health chair of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza.

 

In solidarity,

Follow our campaigns: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla
 

 


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2020 Freedom Flotilla Delayed and Gaza Fights For Freedom



                      


 
Dear supporters & friends,

Please join The Canadian Boat to Gaza campaign for a film webinar for the screening of Gaza Fights for Freedom, a film by US journalist Abby Martin. 

This screening is presented and co-hosted by The Social Justice Event Collective, Canadian Boat to Gaza, Independent Jewish Voices-London, Ontario and People for Peace- London, Ontario. 

The screening was to be held during Israeli Apartheid Week on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, calling on progressive movements, groups and organizations fighting all forms of racism, racial discrimination, marginalization and oppression to join forces in advocating for Palestinian rights in the context of global struggles against racial oppression. 

When public venues were closed due to Covid19 measures, we postponed that event, now to be held through a Zoom online webinar on Saturday, March 28th, 2020 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Please register in advance for this webinar by clicking hereAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the screening and webinar. 

Film-maker Abby Martin will join us after the screening to discuss the making of her documentary, including a questions and answers period. Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features riveting exclusive footage of demonstrations. The documentary tells the story of Gaza past and present, showing rare archival footage that explains the history never acknowledged by mass media. You hear from victims of the ongoing massacre, including journalists, medics and the family of internationally acclaimed paramedic, Razan al-Najjar. At its core, ‘Gaza Fights For Freedom’ is a thorough indictment of the Israeli military for war crimes, and a stunning cinematic portrayal of Palestinians’ heroic resistance.

 

We will also be joined for part of the discussion by a Palestinian participant from one our partner organizations in Gaza We Are Not Numbers, a group of aspiring and inspiring young journalists telling their stories of daily life in the Gaza Strip.
Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to view a film, interact with the film-maker and more! Please register by clicking here.
   
If you wish to donate to UNWRA’s Covid-19 urgent response appeal for healthcare in Palestine, see here: 
In Solidarity,


Follow our campaigns: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla

 


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2020 Freedom Flotilla to Gaza Set For May




                      

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is moving ahead with planning for the 2020 attempt to sail to Gaza in May to break the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade.  
 
There are many ways to  these efforts, including donating financially and, for those in Texas, coming out to hear Herman Reksten, who captained the Al Awda in the  2018 flotilla. Here’s a video of the 2018 flotilla.  
 

Al Awda Captain Herman Reksten

Captain Herman will be traveling across the U.S. with speaking events along the way. He  will talk about his experience in 2018, when he was beaten and imprisoned by Israeli commandos who illegally boarded the Freedom Flotilla ship attempting to reach Gaza. He will also discuss his work in the Mediterranean rescuing migrants fleeing violence and famine in the Middle East and Africa.

 
Herman will be speaking in Texas between February 4 and 11. Here is his schedule.  
 
Col. Ann Wright (ret.) will be doing presentations in California later in February. Details will be posted here when they become available.

In 2020, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition will sail again to break the illegal and inhuman blockade of Gaza. During this mission we will be focusing on children and youth struggling to survive in the wreckage of Gaza.

In 2012, the UN declared that Gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020. Over the years, the international community has watched that prediction become truth. Palestinians in Gaza live among bombed-out hospitals, schools, and homes. There are water, food and electricity shortages throughout the beleaguered strip, making basic survival a serious challenge. The desperate economic situation also means that children have taken on adult responsibilities, working to help support their families.


The most vulnerable of the innocent are young people, many of whom have been deliberately targeted by Israeli snipers since the 2018 beginning of the Great March of Return, when Palestinians demand their right to return to the homeland from which their families were expelled by Israel. IOF snipers have murdered at least 256 Palestinians in these protests, and tens of thousands have been wounded, many maimed for life. Please watch and share this award-winning short video about one of them, Dreams in the Crosshairs, created by one of our Palestinian partner organizations in Gaza, We Are Not Numbers, with funding from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

The world expresses outrage and yet the slaughter and deliberate destruction of Gaza continues with impunity. It seems clear that Israel is systematically targeting Gaza’s future, its children and youth.

Will you help us sail this year? Together we can help end the blockade!

You have heard about the “Steal of the Century” proposed by President Donald Trump. We remind everyone that without justice, there can be no peace, and so we encourage you to read, share and amplify Palestinian responses in your communities and around the world, including this “Appeal of the Century”  from We Are Not Numbers.

A critical way to help our campaign is to contribute financially.  

 
You can donate online or make out checks to our fiscal sponsor, Nonviolence International, and put 2020 Boats to Gaza on the subject line.  
 
Mail checks to: 
2020 Boats to Gaza
c/o Nonviolence International 
4000 Albemarle Street, NW, Suite 401 
Washington, DC 20016

 

Follow our campaigns: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla
 

 


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May 2020 Freedom Flotilla Will Sail to Gaza




                      

Our fiscal sponsor is Nonviolence International, 501(c)(3), tax ID 52-164578. 
Donations can be made here or checks can be mailed to: 

2020 Boats to Gaza
c/o Nonviolence International 
4000 Albemarle Street, NW, Suite 401 
Washington, DC 20016

Follow our campaigns: 



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