Tuesday night, Sacramento-area activists Donna and Darlene Wallach spoke about their experiences working with the Free Gaza Movement at an event organized by Sacramento Area Peace Action. They traveled to Gaza by boat as part of FGM’s first voyage in 2008, and stayed for several months while they worked with other international activists to re-establish International Solidarity Movement in Gaza. With ISM, they accompanied Palestinian fishermen and farmers, and documented the violence they encountered while trying to go about their daily lives. They spoke about impact of the continued siege of Gaza, specifically pointing out how painful it is for people who need to leave for medical care or as students.
Donna and Darlene also briefly reported on the Free Gaza Movement’s upcoming Freedom Flotilla. In late May, cargo and passenger ships from several countries will convene in the Mediterranean and then sail to Gaza. They pointed out that while the first voyage was a strong statement of solidarity, the current one will bring in significantly more goods like building material and books.
About twenty-five people attended the event, filling the small room where it was held. Several people I spoke to were fairly new to learning about these issues. Another had been involved in anti-apartheid activism since the struggle against South African apartheid, and saw clear parallels from his experience. As would be inevitable given what Donna and Darlene described witnessing, there was sadness and anger in the room, but hope as well.
I’m grateful I heard Donna and Darlene speak about their experiences, and also glad that I had the chance to be in a room full of people who wanted to hear what they had to say. I drove to Sacramento from Reno to hear them speak. I know that attitudes about Palestine and Israel are changing rapidly, with every day bringing people together in dialogue who refused to listen to each other five months or five years ago. This is a cause for hope, but sometimes it’s hard for those of us in more conservative, rural areas to connect to that hope…enough so that driving four hours round trip seems like a good idea every once in a while. However, I’d prefer to be able to frequently attend events like the one last night in my own community. As an activist in a smaller, relatively conservative city, I look to Sacramento Area Peace Action’s work as an example. Today, I’ll drive four hours to hear activists speak in Sacramento. Tomorrow, I hope we can organize similar events in cities that don’t have a reputation for activism.
Madeline K. Mundt lives in Reno, Nevada, where she is helping to start a group of people who are concerned about justice and peace in Palestine and Israel.
