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.
Ann Wright has given her entire adult life to service. She served 35 years in the US Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. She spent the fifteen subsequent years in the U.S. State Department, a career that ended in 2003 with her resignation over the impending invasion of Iraq. For the past eight years she has traveled the world tirelessly as a peace and human rights activist working against the devastating policies of the U.S. Government.
Ann's presence on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was an attempt at citizens' doing what governments have failed to achieve. The Flotilla set out to break an illegal and immoral blockade that is slowly strangling the life out of Gaza by impoverishing and starving its people. But this non-violent citizens' movement was met by deadly force in international waters. Once again, the Israeli government has flouted international law. In addition, Israeli officials have impounded the cameras and computers of the captured journalists and peace activists in an attempt to control the portrayal of what happened. They are resisting calls for an impartial investigation of the incidents that happened in the early hours of May 31st, and unfortunately, the Obama Administration appears to be again manipulating events in the U.N. Security Council in order to allow Israel impunity.
I joined the protest at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles yesterday because my dear friend and colleague Ann Wright is being held hostage by the Israeli government. What is her crime? Why is the story about her being kept hostage unavailable to the media? Why do we still have no information on the nine people who were killed and the scores who were wounded? When will the journalists and the tools of their trade be released? Where is the story about the story itself being held hostage?
Yesterday, Ann said she would be freed within 48 hours, and with her I hope the truth of what happened will also be liberated.
In the meantime, we demand our leaders to take action: condemn Israel and put a stop to the United States military aid that funds these acts of terror.