News

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 here. After 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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Freedom Flotilla 2020: For the Children of Gaza

#GazaKids #FreedomFlotilla #EndGazaBlockade

After joining other civil society organizations in The Hague on Friday November 29 calling on the International Criminal Court to take action and prosecute Israeli crimes against Palestinians, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition met in Rotterdam this weekend to plan our May 2020 sailing towards Gaza with these important goals:

  • To challenge and end the illegal and inhuman Israeli blockade of Gaza

  • To restore the Rights of children and youth in Gaza, for life, security and freedom of movement.

For more than five years the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has been warning the world that Gaza will become uninhabitable by 2020 if the blockade does not end. Basic human rights of Palestinians in Gaza are violated daily by the Israeli-imposed blockade, including the right to adequate housing, the right to education, the right to healthcare, the right to clean water and food, and in particular the right to freedom of movement.

Civil society organizations from around the world have combined to challenge the blockade since 2008, when Free Gaza boats managed to arrive in Gaza and leave again peacefully. In all, more than 35 boats have sailed to challenge the blockade in all. Since 2010 we have sailed as the Freedom Flotilla Coalition: international civil society organizations united for human rights and dedicated to challenging the blockade of Gaza through nonviolent direct action. May 2020 will mark 10 years since the attack by Israeli forces on boats including the Mavi Marmara, where they killed 10 people and seriously wounded 56 others.

“The children of Gaza deserve the same rights as children in every other country of the world,” comments Ann Wright of the US Boat to Gaza. “They are more than a million, more than half of the population of Gaza, and they are being deprived of the right to a just future because of the illegal blockade and ongoing military attacks on occupied Gaza by Israel, with the complicity of our governments.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on people of conscience from around the world to support our May 2020 mission for the children of Gaza.

December 1, 2019. Rotterdam.

For further background information, see: jfp.freedomflotilla.org

For media comment, contact our campaign spokespeople:
jfp.freedomflotilla.org/media-room-2
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Freedom Flotilla Coalition members also held protests in front of the International Criminal Court to highlight the case in front of the court about the killing of civilians by the Israeli military in international waters in 2010.  At that time the Israeli military boarded the Mavi Marmara and other ships in the flotilla and commandeered them to Israel.  They also killed and wounded passengers.

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2020 Freedom Flotilla

                      

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: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla


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Summer Flotilla Events – U.S. and Spain

                      

Flotilla events in the U.S. and in Spain this summer 
are raising awareness, inspiring action 
and giving hope to people in Gaza 

 
St. Louis, MO: June 16                                 Chicago, IL: July 18-20
Palestine Heritage Festival                            Voices for Creative Nonviolence 
 

    

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Seville, Spain July 19                                 Madison, WI: July 24-25
                                                                     Madison-Rafah Sister City Project 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coming up in August 

San Francisco, CA: August 3
Participate on the Freedom Flotilla event starting at the ferry to Sausalito. Flotilla to Gaza Plan for August 3, 2019, San Francisco
 
 
Avalon, Catalina Island, CA: August 17: 9am 
(from Newport Beach) through the day
Join Free Gaza on the island or take the Catalina Flyer from Newport Beach.  Demonstrate on the beach in Avalon.
   
Spokane, WA: August 17: 3-5pm.
Meet at the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel at 3PM to walk to a location on the Spokane River.
 
Plans are developing for events in:
 
Detroit
Honolulu
Hudson River
Miami
Washington D.C.
 
If you would like to help with one of the events above or want to have an event in your town contact us. We can work together to make it a success!
 

NEW TSHIRTS!

Contact Kit Kittredge at marnykit@gmail.com: $20 + $5 postage.

Men’s M-L-XL crew neck, regular  Heather grey
Women’s S-M-L  V-neck, shorter sleeves, lighter weight, ash grey

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: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla


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Summer 2019 Freedom Flotilla

                      

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: 
Twitter @GazaFFlotilla
Instagram: gazafreedomflotilla
Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved.


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