At 5:00 pm on June 28, 2011, CODEPINK kicked off a 24 hour/day vigil outside of the Greek embassy in Washington, D.C. Equipped with large protest signs, candles, and pink flowers, people gathered to show their support for the passengers of the US boat to Gaza, aptly named the Audacity of Hope. For days the Greek government has prevented these activists from leaving the Athens port and sailing to Gaza. Disseminating false claims that the Freedom Flotilla II is a provocative measure that effectively endangers Israeli security, the Israeli and US governments have pressured the Greek government to prevent all flotilla ships from sailing out of its ports[...]
Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) quoted from the mayors’ resolution Calling On Congress to Redirect Military Spending to Domestic Priorities during House debate of the annual defense spending bill. She noted that the people of the United States, and our mayors, are calling for a swift withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and bring the war dollars [...]
Birgitta Jonsdottir is a member of the Icelandic Parliament and the Foreign Affairs Committee. She is also the coproducer of Collateral Murder, a documentary about the murder of civilians by US soldiers in Iraq–using footage that was released by WikiLeaks. Jonsdottir visited the US boat “Audacity of Hope” bound for Gaza early Saturday, July 2. [...]
Medea Benjamin Nine passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza began an open-ended fast in front of the U.S. Embassy on the evening of July 3, calling on the U.S. government to pressure Greece to release our Captain and ship. We staked out a little area across the street from the Embassy entrance, decorating it [...]
By Medea Benjamin
After being detained at sea and forced to return, the US Boat to Gaza was guided by the Greek Coast Guard into a military compound just outside Athens. The press left the ship, but the passengers remained on board and spent the night in the boat. The Greek government has fully cooperated with the Israelis in impeding our movement. The only help we've received from the Greek government are two port-o-potties they put outside our boat, knowing that our toilets are not working when we're not at sea.[...]
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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