Held In Greece

An email was sent out from my beloved friend to everyone on the ustogaza.org list serve...letting us know that they were eating, waiting on porta potties to be delivered as they are being held, in solidarity with their imprisoned captain  - docked at port in Greece. I picture her smiling face, her whole face lights up when she does, its a comforting sight for me to see. I'm grateful that I can see her face aboard the flotilla, hand waving high, excited to go to Gaza.

But they are not going to Gaza today. Perhaps not tomorrow either. Not until our government gives in to the ideas and values that founded this country: FREEDOM was one of those ideas. Now the Audacity stays at port. Waiting for it's Captain to return, as he is imprisoned for leaving port against Greece's edict. His intentions were genuine and needs to be reprieved. A Swedish ship, Juliano docked at a Greek port was damaged - sabotaged to be exact. As well as the Irish ship Saoirse incurred engine damage while at port. Attacks are being wrought upon humanitarians and instead of assistance and help they are being slandered and the entire Mediterranean is now on lock down.

 So why not FREEDOM for PALESTINE?! Our government needs to relinquish its comfort with Israel and make a stand against their bff. This siege goes against everything that the US is supposed to stand for, yet we fund it. Every hard working citizen of this country is paying for the imprisonment of Gaza.

Some of the citizens of the United States have been molded to want justice and human rights, for the entire world. We have witnessed injustice committed in our own counties and steadily have been trying to abolish it. But racism, feelings of supremacy still plague the conscious of many. Our country has been through slavery, the Jim Crow Laws and  yet democracy prevailed, hope did too.

What do we have now? It is not a democracy when activists are arrested for peaceful humanitarian actions. Greece needs to free the Captain of the ship. Would the postman be jailed in Gaza for delivering these letters? Then why should the humanitarians delivering it be any different? These letters couldn't make it there any other way regardless. Israel and the US say that there are proper channels to bring aid into Gaza. They do not want aid, they want INDEPENDENCE!

 This is an injustice and a shameful part of our history as the US is the primary supplier to Israeli military programs that continue the siege on Gaza. 

 Please read this article by Joseph Dana, a journalist on the Audacity: The Battle Over the Gaza Flotilla

Article Links:

•  Stuck in Dock, Flotilla Activists See the Hand of Israel 
  
•  A Conservative Estimate of Total Direct U.S. Aid to Israel: Almost $114 Billion
•  Sabotage to Irish Ship Saoirse
  
•  Cost of Israel
  
•  Sabotaging Freedom Flotilla II
  
•  Scandinavian Activists Say Ship Sabotaged in Greece 
  
•  Gaza flotilla ship 'sabotaged by divers'
• Organizers: Gaza flotilla era may be over 
• Greece halts flotilla bound for Gaza