We started the day with a media training where we broke into groups and practiced answering some of the hardest media questions. Many of them involved the issue of Hamas (we don't support any party; we don't support the targeting of civilians; we are doing this to support the civilian population, most of whom are under 18); others were questions about why we were willing to put ourselves at risk to go on the boat. People spoke from the heart about their reasons for going, which is quite compelling. Many have been to the West Bank and/or Gaza and seen the abuses by the Israeli military firsthand. Others are Jewish and feel a particular responsibility. Almost 30% of the group is Jewish, which is amazing given that Jews are less than 2 % of the U.S. population![...]
Just arrived in Athens tonight. We had an orientation meeting at 8pm at our hotel. It was so exciting to be in a room with such terrific people. Some are amazing support people who are helping to pull everything together; others are the passengers who have all made a commitment to take this risk. We went around the room saying how we felt. Scared. Excited. Honored. Energized (me). Hopeful. Col. Ann Wright gave us a political orientation, including some of the pressure that has been put on the Turkish and Greek governments by the Israelis, and about the difficult situation Greece is going through financially (and how that makes Greece more vulnerable to pressure)[...]
by Medea Benjamin “I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him,” said Dr. Martin Luther King as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. These words will guide me and other passengers aboard the Gaza [...]
Barack Obama gave a major speech on the Middle East today and it is clear from the subsequent commentary that he impressed few people. The main reason is that he did not say much new or indicate that there would be any serious changes in US policy in the region. It was essentially more of the same with the some tweaking here and there. Nevertheless, he did manage to anger some people. For example, Israel’s hard-line supporters were outraged that he said, “Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.” For them, the 1967 borders are “Auschwitz borders” and thus can never serve as a basis for negotiations[...]
Given that President Obama daily authorizes the firing of hellfire missiles and the dropping of cluster bombs in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, it was awful odd seeing him wax eloquent this week about the “moral force of non-violence” in places like Egypt and Tunisia. But there he was, the commander-in-chief of the largest empire in history, praising the power of peaceful protest in countries with repressive leaders backed by his own administration[...]
My concern for the Israeli-Arab conflict is a personal one. I was raised in a Jewish neighborhood -- three synagogues within three blocks of our home in Springfield, Mass. -- which sensitized me to Jewish culture and history. As a young student of world affairs, I closely followed the history of the Holocaust and Israel's birth in Palestine.
On the other hand, I also had a close boyhood friend whose family had roots in Syria and Lebanon; they exposed me to the local Lebanese community. The Middle East conflict was part of my global political awakening[...]
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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