Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Jailed for Sailing to Gaza, Challenging the Blockade

Medea Benjamin | Posted 01.05.2012

Read More: Palestine, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gaza Flotilla, Flotilla, Gaza, Israel, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, World News

The people of Gaza can't wait for political leaders to decide it's in their interest to negotiate, so it's up to us -- as civil society -- to step up the pressure. That's what these waves of boats are doing.

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Bxxxxxt the Sxxxxxxxxxs! Israeli Knesset Bans Free Speech for Jews

Robert Naiman | Posted 09.11.2011

Read More: Palestinians, Israel, Gaza, Boycott, West Bank, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Israel-Boycott-Law, Israel Boycott, Israel Boycott Ban, Boycott Israel, World News

"The boss organizes the workers," labor activists like to say. The Israeli government is doing a fantastic job of organizing resistance against the occupation. Mazl tov! Keep up the good work!

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By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sunk Its Own Ship

Medea Benjamin | Posted 09.11.2011

Read More: Gaza Flotilla, The Audacity of Hope, Freedom Flotilla, Gaza Blockade, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Gaza Protests, Israel Gaza Flotilla, World News

Through it all, the Israelis helped us turn a potential non-story into a media blitz that has not ended. The passengers are now returning home to the local public spotlight.

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He Gets It, But He Still Doesn't Get It: Reading Ethan Bronner in Athens

Robert Naiman | Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Gaza, Ethan Bronner, The Audacity of Hope, New York Times, Israel, Palestinians, Alice Walker, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, World News

Bronner's piece is a tragic performance in the gap between the understanding that it grasps and the understanding that it manages to hold.

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Israeli Official Calls Gaza Flotilla a "Provocation" and Refuses to Deny Israeli Role in Sabotage of Boats

Democracy Now! | Posted 08.31.2011

Read More: The Audacity of Hope, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, World News

In a Democracy Now! interview before the U.S. ship "The Audacity of Hope" left a port in Greece, Consul General of Israel in New York Ido Aharoni defends the Israeli government's campaign against the flotilla.

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Staying Human: Preparing to Sail to Gaza

Kathy Kelly | Posted 08.27.2011

Read More: Israel, Afghanistan, Flotilla, Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Greece, Afghanistan War, Impact News

We have to make sacrifices to stop the crimes that are ultimately being committed in our names. In different ways, we have to risk the consequences of being where we need to be when we need to be there.

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Setting Sail for Gaza, Armed With Love Letters and a Missive From Dr. King

Medea Benjamin | Posted 08.26.2011

Read More: The Audacity of Hope, Gaza Flotilla, Gaza-Blockade, Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Israel Gaza Flotilla, Gaze Flotilla Israel, World News

Our cargo is not humanitarian aid, as some of the other ships are carrying, but thousands of letters from the U.S. people, letters of compassion, solidarity and hope written to people living in the Gaza Strip.

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No "Hamas Exception" for Human Rights: A Reply to the American Jewish Committee

Robert Naiman | Posted 07.19.2011

Read More: Gaza Blockade, Gaza, President Barack Obama, Denis Halliday, Hillary Clinton, American Jewish Committee, MV Rachel Corrie, Hamas, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, David Harris, World News

The logic of the argument that the blockade of Gaza is automatically justified by the threat of violence to Israel from Hamas is essentially the same logic that the Bush-Cheney Administration used in justifying its decisions to torture detainees.

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Pro-Palestinian 'Flotilla' Ship Greeted By Thousands In Turkey

AP | EROL ISRAFIL | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Turkey, Gaza Blockade, Turkey Israel, Gaza, Flotilla Turkey, Israel Flotilla, Gaza Flotilla, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Turkey Israel Relations, Flotilla Raid, World News

ISTANBUL — Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists on Sunday welcomed back to Istanbul the ship that was the scene of bloodshed during an Israeli...

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Is it Time to Rethink Human Rights?

Saad Khan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mavi Marmara, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Israel Raid, Turkey Israel Relations, Pakistan Human Rights, Baloch, Egypt Human Rights, Scandanavia, Turkey, Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Pakistan, Malasia, World News

What is the point of campaigning for human rights when there are serious human rights violations in your own backyard?

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Iran Sends Aid Boat to Gaza, Risking Exposure of Hyped Israel-Iran Conflict

Robert Naiman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Palestine, Turkey, Iran, Israel, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Maz Jobrani, Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Rachel Corrie, World News

By its vigorous support of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Turkey forced the world to confront the issue of the blockade. What similar accomplishment for the Palestinians can Iran point to?

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Democratic Party Defends Israeli Attack

Stephen Zunes | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Israel Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Israel Flotilla, Israel Palestine, Hamas, Democrats Israel, World News

Prominent Democrats embraced the Orwellian notion that Israel's raid, which killed at least nine activists and wounded scores of others, was somehow an act of self defense.

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The Price of Defying Israel

Paul Larudee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gaza Flotilla, Free Gaza Flotilla, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Gaza Flotilla Raid, 2010 Gaza Blockade, World News

I was one of those who chose to defy Israeli forces when they attacked and took our Freedom Flotilla ships that were trying to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to civilian organizations in the Israeli blockaded Gaza Strip.

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WaPo 'On Faith': Israelis And Palestinians Both Created By God

The Washington Post | Max Carter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gaza Flotilla Raid, Israel Palestine, Gaza Flotilla, Israel Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Religion News

Palestinians and Israeli Jews are equals. Both are humans. Both deserve dignity and freedom. It's time for the "something new" to be a recognition of ...

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Supporting Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel

Alice Walker | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gaza Flotilla, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, 2010 Gaza Blockade, World News

Rosa Parks sat down in the front of the bus. What would that look like, be like, today, in this situation between Palestine and Israel? It would be to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.

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O Jerusalem, Killing The Prophets

Rev. Chuck Freeman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Palestine, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gaza Flotilla, Israel Gaza, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Israel Gaza Attack Israel, Flotilla Raid, Religion News

I do sit up and take notice when the lives of foreign peace activists are lost in the Middle East. When this occurs Israel seems to always be the perpetrator.

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With "Linkage," Turkey and Brazil Can End the Siege of Gaza

Robert Naiman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iran, Rachel Corrie, Turkey, Gaza, Oliver Stone, Brazil, Chicago, Obama Administration, Israel, South of the Border, UN Security Council, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Gaza Blockade, World News

Suppose Turkish and Brazilian diplomats were to demand effective Security Council action to end the siege on Gaza before they assist with Iran sanctions. Do you think U.S. diplomats would get the message? I think they would.

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Israel: Hasbara, Lies, and Videotape

Jamal Dajani | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Turkey, Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jamal Dajani, Israel, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Mavi Marmara, Hasbara, World News

Is there a disconnect between the way Israel sees itself and its actions, and the way they are viewed by the rest of the world?

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Gaza Palestinians Desperate For Medical Care Stream Into Egypt

McClatchy | Miret El Naggar | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Freedom Flotilla, Gaza Egypt Border, Egypt Medical Care, Gaza, Egypt, Gaza Egypt, Gaza Medical Care, Gaza Freedom Flotilla, World News

RAFAH, Egypt -- They arrived at the border by the busload: amputees and people with other disabilities by the dozens, in wheelchairs pushed by family...

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David's Slingshot

Robert Koehler | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gaza Blockade, Turkey, Holocaust, Hitler, Gaza, Egypt, Israel, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Goliath, David, World News

After Israel released photos of weapons confiscated from the Mavi Marmara, this story got biblical. Slingshots? Perhaps the Israelis, of all people, have reason to tremble at the power of a slingshot.

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Why Should Israel Behave?

Wael Nawara | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Un, Israel, Israel Gaza Operation, Rogue States, Freedom-Flotilla-Raid, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Obama Israel, World News

Why should Israel behave? When did Israel experience consequences to its actions?

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Israel: The Truth is Coming

Jodie Evans | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Ann Wright, Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Israeli Navy, Video, World News

My dear friend Ann Wright joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla just days before it left Greece. She posted daily blogs from her voyage, the last one written only hours before the Israeli Navy commandeered her small boat.

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Denis Halliday Urges Irish-Americans to Defend the Rachel Corrie

Robert Naiman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mary Robinson, Sinead O'Connor, Gaza Blockade, Rachel Corrie, Gaza, United Nations, Gaza Flotilla, Denis Halliday, Ireland, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Barack Obama, World News

The issue of the Gaza blockade has tremendous resonance in Ireland, partly because of Ireland's high degree of engagement in international humanitarian causes.

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The New Charity Paradigm: Gaza Freedom Flotilla Delivers Aid Plus Political Agenda

Blake Bromley | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gaza Blockade, Israeli Attack, Israeli Raid, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Terrorism, Good Samaritan, Humanitarian Aid, Gaza Flotilla, Palestine, Impact News

The Gaza Freedom flotilla is evidence of the shift that's taking place in international humanitarian aid. Since 2001, governments have declared aid organizations to be combatants when they help organizations considered to be terrorists.

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Israel, Gaza and the 'Lynching' of Morality

Seth Freed Wessler | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Palestine, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Politics, Gaza, Lynching, Foreign Affairs, Gaza Flotilla, Morality, Israel, Free Gaza Movement, Foreign Policy, Gaza Blockade, Haaretz, Human Rights, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla, Politics News

It's clear that outside of the U.S., at least, shifting rhetorical blame to the slain activists won't be enough to tamp down outrage. So Defense Minister Ehud Barak is emerging as the likely target for a secondary source of blame.

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