Area activists to be part of June flotilla to Gaza
We get mail:
A second flotilla of some dozen boats from 22 different countries will be sailing again at the end of June in the continuing international attempt to break Israel’s siege of Gaza. Four of the 50 passengers on the US boat, the Audacity of Hope, come from the Pacific Northwest.
Despite the fact that nine people were killed on last year’s flotilla, and that the Israeli government has threatened to use attack dogs this time, those fifty US citizens will be going on the US Boat to Gaza. This boat represents the efforts of several organizations, including Free Gaza, which, since 2008, has traveled nine times to Gaza by sea and entered successfully five times.
The flotilla was violently intercepted on the past four voyages, including Israel’s MAY 31, 2010 lethal attack on the Flotilla,when nine passengers on the Mavi Marmara were killed and many more injured by Israeli commandos. The Mavi Marmara will again be a part of this flotilla.
Despite the presence of several area activists in last year’s flotilla, area media coverage was negligible before Israel illegally attacked and seized the ships in international waters. Because of those attacks, and the risks of even harsher attacks this year, there may be more attention this year. However, last year, even in the massive coverage following Israel’s attack, the voices of activists themselves were rarely heard in corporate media outlets. We’ll do our best to be a corrective to what will likely be a similar omission this year.