As we get ready to launch our cargo ship and Israel rattles its sabers threatening to violently stop our 8-boat flotilla, the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza cannot be forgotten. It is they who pay the price for the inaction of governments, particularly in the EU and the US.
According to the BCC and Amira Hass in columns last week, Israel allows only 81 items into Gaza for basic and bare necessity life. These items, many of them that have nothing to do with rebuilding a shattered infrastructure after Israel's brutal Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of 2009, are mostly 'added to the list' of imports because of pressure from Israeli merchants who make a great deal of money if their item gets on the approved list.
http://www.youtube.com/gazafriends#p/a/u/0/o2s_v-DHv0Y
Watch the video and look at the absurdity of banned items... chocolate, jam, sheets, pillows, and all rebuilding supplies. Taking these supplies into Gaza is exactly what the Freedom Flotilla intends to do.
Then watch the flotilla on our website, pressure your government officials to advocate for our safe passage, and continue to donate what you can for our fuel, captain and crew.
We want to thank everyone of you who have donated, advocated, written and called your representatives. This initiative has grown from a few supporters to thousands around the world. http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza
In the words Alice Walker, poet and author:
Goddess Speed your boat. You are doing the work of The Collective as it attempts to bring Comfort, Support and Abiding Love and Solidarity to Itself. What you demonstrate is what we all, deep in our hearts, can know: We are One People, existing in one Love. The Gazans are us, living in a beleaguered place too small for us, dangerous for us, deadly for us. Just as the air connects us, so does this knowing wisdom of being one expression – human – of an infinitely creative Universe.
I send you my blessings, my prayers for your safety, and my love,
--
Greta Berlin
www.freegaza.org <http://www.freegaza.org>
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