Between June 14 and June 23, 2011, a delegation of 11 scholars, activists, and artists visited occupied Palestine. As indigenous and women of color feminists involved in multiple social justice struggles, we sought to affirm our association with the growing international movement for a free Palestine. We wanted to see for ourselves the conditions under which Palestinian people live and struggle against what we can now confidently name as the Israeli project of apartheid and ethnic cleansing [...]
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[...]
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.[...]
By Medea Benjamin Today we had a great international press conference. There were representatives from Greece, Sweden, France, Norway, Canada, Spain, Turkey and of course, the U.S. The room was packed with press and passengers; there was really a feeling that we are part of something historic. Our US speakers were Ann Wright and Alice [...]
by Medea Benjamin
Today we had a long meeting about whether or not we should do some visible protests against the Greek government for holding up our ship and if so, where we should do the actions. We even had a scouting team go out, which brought back all kinds of ideas. My favorite was the “choo-choo trail option” of renting a tourist trolley, and jazzing it up with our banners, lifejackets and other paraphernalia from the boat. But in the end, the folks in the international flotilla—especially the Greeks—recommended that we lay low for a few days to see if the complaint against our boat is lifted quickly[...]
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
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