Yesterday we had a great international press conference. There were representatives from Greece, Sweden, France, Norway, Canada, Spain, Turkey and of course, the U.S. The room was packed with press and passengers; there was really a feeling that we are part of something historic.
Our US speakers were Ann Wright and Alice Walker, as well as Huwaida Araf, who was not representing the U.S. boat but the international flotilla.
Ann talked about the efforts of the Israeli government to stop our boat, the bogus complaint against us launched by the Israeli legal center. (This is the same center, by the way, that has been suing us, trying to get insurance companies not to insure and pushing satellite companies not to help us get wired on the boat.)
Alice Walker gave poignant comments about the fight against slavery in the US, and how people from other nations came to support that struggle. “My government has failed us, and is ignorant of our own history,” she said. “When black people were enslaved for 300 years, it took a lot of people from outside our community to help free us. This is a fine tradition–going to help people who need us anywhere on the planet. I look at you in the room; if we have salvation as humankind, it is in the room.”
Huwaida Araf spoke first as a lawyer, stating the reasons why the closure of Gaza is illegal. Then she spoke as a Palestinian, making it clear that the flotilla is not about humanitarian aid but it is to support Palestinians demand for liberation. She chided Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for their criticisms of the flotilla.
A few other highlights: A representative from a Jewish group in Sweden said there are two kinds of Jews: those who reflect on the Holocaust and say ‘we will do everything not to let it happen to us again’ vs. those who say ‘we will not let it happen to anyone again.’ He received thunderous applause.
Henning Mankell, the famous Swedish mystery writer spoke as well. Assuming there were Israeli agents in the room, he said, “If there is someone in this room who reports directly to the Israeli government, please note that there is no declaration of war here; what we represent is a declaration of peace. Try, for once, to tell the truth.”
A Native American representative from Canada talked about how the Canadian government had urged their delegation to send aid through the channels that Israel has established. “As an oppressed people, one of the things we have learned over many years,” he said, “it that you should never ask the oppressor for permission. And when you work in solitary with the oppressed, you should never work with the oppressor.”
Our U.S. delegation made signs during the conference that said, “Let Us Sail to Gaza.” After the press conference, we went outside and unfurled our enormous 40-foot “To Gaza With Love” banner. To the delight of the press, we also broke out into song. “I love the U.S. delegation,” a French journalist told me. “You have signs, you sing, you are very animated.” Indeed, with Kaleo accompanying us on the trumpet and Alice Walker joining us in song and dance, we gave a great performance.
Meanwhile, with rumors swirling wildly of boats being sabotaged and/or given orders not to leave the various Greek ports, we have no idea what boats will be able to meet up at sea with the French boat and the Irish boat that are already on their way to the international meeting point. We had inspectors on our boat today but no word yet from them about whether or not they found us “seaworthy”. We obviously have to take this a day at a time.
Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of Code Pink and a passenger on the Audacity of Hope
Why is it that the same articles that repeatedly use the phrase “pro-Palestinian” never use “pro-Israeli” when referring to Israel’s defenders/supporters? Is this what makes Israel legitimate and Palestine illegitmate?
Because supporting Israel is the default narrative, Les. It’s a given, for most people. One doesn’t need to use “pro-Israeli” because most people already are. The increasing numbers of us, however, who believe what we see on the ground, must specify that our support lies with the oppressed, not the oppressor.
Well done to Medea for getting across her message so eloquently and elegantly.
“As an oppressed people, one of the things we have learned over many years,” he said, “it that you should never ask the oppressor for permission. And when you work in solitary with the oppressed, you should never work with the oppressor.”
Powerful words. A powerful reminder of what’s at stake.
agreed, very powerful
I love it:
“A representative from a Jewish group in Sweden said there are two kinds of Jews: those who reflect on the Holocaust and say ‘we will do everything not to let it happen to us again’ vs. those who say ‘we will not let it happen to anyone again.’ He received thunderous applause.
“Henning Mankell, the famous Swedish mystery writer spoke as well. Assuming there were Israeli agents in the room, he said, ‘If there is someone in this room who reports directly to the Israeli government, please note that there is no declaration of war here; what we represent is a declaration of peace. Try, for once, to tell the truth.’ “
“A representative from a Jewish group in Sweden said there are two kinds of Jews: those who reflect on the Holocaust and say ‘we will do everything not to let it happen to us again’ vs. those who say ‘we will not let it happen to anyone again.’ He received thunderous applause.”
What an unrealistic point of view. Where was he when Paul Pot murdered millions? Or millions were murdered in the Congo and Rwanda? Where was he by the way when Sweden decided to stay “neutral” in the face of Nazi Germany (they allowed the Germans to use their rail system to move troops)? Sweden did exactly what this Swede says you shouldn’t do, it protected itself but not others.
So now, the Jews are castigated because apparently protecting yourself is not enough, you have to protect everybody. Well you can’t. Even the US could not stop genocides.
There are two kinds of Jews, one kind that understand that it is realistic to protect yourself at most, and the other kind that are totally detached from reality.
Sorry eee that you were jealous of the thunderous applause given to the Swedish representative. To help you better understand, think of the message as a variation of the Golden Rule: “Do not ethnically cleanse others, as your tribe understands better than most the nightmare of genocide.”
Ah, so you’re the second kind, then. You might ask yourself why people like Mankell feel the way they do – hint: look it up.
“There are two kinds of Jews, one kind that understand that it is realistic to protect yourself at most, and the other kind that are totally detached from reality.”
Protect yourself by killing the previous owners of the land?
1). The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian. (Gen. Philip Sheridan)
2). The Only Good Arab is a Dead Arab?
3). The Only Good Jew is a Dead Jew?
Ooops. Number 3 was insensitive.
Got news for you 3e … you totally belong to the second kind …
Which one of you lifted a finger to help people during the Rwanda genocide? No one?
Do you now understand that you are talking nonsense? You talk big but when it comes to actual actions, you stink huge.
The Jews have a responsibility only to protect themselves. That is it. Demanding more is unreasonable double standards.
The Jews have a responsibility only to protect themselves.
it makes me really sad to hear you say that eee.
“The Jews have a responsibility only to protect themselves.”
Does that mean that Australian Jews have no responsibility to defend other Australians, or that other Australians have no responsibility to defend Australian Jews?
Last time I checked, the “Jewish state” signed the Fourth Geneva Convention. So no, actually, you do have a responsibility to protect any other people you are occupying.
“Sweden decided to stay “neutral” in the face of Nazi Germany (they allowed the Germans to use their rail system to move troops)? Sweden did exactly what this Swede says you shouldn’t do, it protected itself but not others.”
Pray tell me, eee, what was in it for Jews if Sweden (or Switzerland) had joined the ‘Great Powers’, plus some 50 other nations, in declaring war on Germany? It’s not like the Germans had a chance to win the war by the time Barbarossa turned into failure, the US had entered the war, and the Final Solution turned into mass murder. Sweden entering the war at any time would have meant the closing of borders, and risking German occupation. Instead, Sweden became a save haven for Swedish, Danish and other Jews, as well as German dissidents such as Willy Brandt. You have a problem with that? Did I mention Swedish diplomats Raoul Wallenberg, or Count Bernadotte? Wallenberg disappeared in the Gulags, Bernadotte was assassinated by members of the Stern Gang in 48. So what if he saved Jews and non-Jews from concentration camps? Peace with the Arabs had to be avoided at all costs, and that was Bernadotte’s UN mission in Israel/Palestine. In April 1945, Bernadotte had been approached by Himmler with a peace offer the Allies once again rejected (Himmler offered surrender to the Western Allies on condition of a united front against Soviet Western expansion, as was also supported by General Patton). No deal, despite the Western Allies declaring the Soviet Union to be the new evil empire almost immediately after the war. What exactly is the point of not dealing with/making peace with the enemy, be it the Nazis or later ‘terrorists’, other than to prolong conflicts and get more people killed?
Your Sweden-smear is familiar enough. Lieberman keeps bringing up the issue of Sweden’s neutrality as a sign of anti-semitism, and lumps it in with the 500 or so Swedes who joined the Waffen-SS during WW II, as did plenty other non-Germans, including various Scandinavians, French, Italian, British and Soviet citizens. By 1944, about half of SS-members were non-Germans, and their motivation mostly to fight the expansion of the Soviet Union. This, according to Lieberman, is pure evil and must be punished even though the statute of limitation has long expired for former Swedish SS-members, most of whom are no longer alive. Israel has been very successful in making countries break their own laws wrt the stature of limitation to bring ‘Nazi war criminals’ to trial. Just not Jewish war criminals. In that case, the statute of limitations remains sacrosanct. As is the case for the Stern gang members who killed Bernadotte, or approved of his assassination (who include later PM Shamir). In fact, Israel only officially admitted the foul deed after the statute of limitations had expired. That’s appalling, as is your sickening insistence that violence, military deterrence and, ultimately, war is the natural answer to all problems.
Antidote,
Sweden decided not stand up to evil and allow Germans to use its rail system. Why? Because it chose to defend itself and keep itself out of the war. If Sweden would have joined the war at that point, Germany might have been finished a few months earlier, and the lives of tens of thousands of Jews could have been saved. For example the uprising in Greece against the Nazis consumed much resources and certainly shortened the war. Of course, the cost for the Greeks was humongous. The Swedes chose not to pay the price to defend Jews or anyone else for that matter. I am not criticizing this decision. It is a reasonable one. I am against judging Israel using different standards.
“I am not criticizing this decision. It is a reasonable one. I am against judging Israel using different standards.”
The problem here is that many people WOULD criticise action of the Swedes, (as well as the criminal inaction in response to Pol Pot, the Rwandan genocide, etc.) What you seem to suggest, however, is that because YOU are willing to not criticize the Swedes, that other people should judge Israel by your standards. Forget that. Your standards are the thing that we should all be fighting against.
What is your criticism worth if you did not lift a finger in response to Pol Pot or the Rwandan genocide? You talk big, but when it comes to actions you stink. What is your talk worth if it cannot be implemented and is not realistic? What is your talk worth if no one can trust you to be effective when it counts? It is just howling at the moon, nothing more.
Instead of fighting my standards, show that you can uphold yours. Since you can’t, maybe it is time to realize your standards are not realistic.
Who said I didn’t do anything? I did what I could, given the means available to me, but I didn’t do nothing.
But that is a nonsensical criticism. Whether one has the power to affect change or not is irrelevant to the question of what standard one should hold. And if the standard is that any state can do anything it believes is necessary to protect its citizens, then you are abandoning centuries of human progress and the very protections which every person should value.
In the 1940s, the Germans believed that protecting the German people meant killing all the Jews. Under your standards, that must be deemed a-okay, because, after all, “[t]he
JewsGermans have a responsibility only to protect themselves. That is it. Demanding more is unreasonable double standards.”You may be okay with adhereing to the same mindset as that which brought about the Holocaust. That is your business. I reject that as evil.
You don’t even get my point. For you, ‘standing up to evil’ means throwing bombs at it. That in itself is evil, and only escalated the violence on all sides. Swedish trains also transported Jews – and not to the camps. The Nazis were perfectly open to tit for tat. Sweden saved more Jews than Britain and the US during the Holocaust. That’s a fact. The ones who died in the battlefields didn’t save anything or anybody. They were there to kill and be killed.
It is you that doesn’t get the point. If the Swedes would have joined the war, it would have ended earlier, maybe months earlier, giving Hitler less time to kill Jews. But they didn’t join the war did they?
“Who said I didn’t do anything? I did what I could, given the means available to me, but I didn’t do nothing.”
Yeah, great, that really helps the Rwandans. Again, you talk big, but your actions stink. All human standards be they moral or epistemological should be constrained by the actual abilities of human people. For example, making your standard that you should have all information before making a decision, you will never make a decision. Committing to a moral standard that you cannot uphold is nonsense. It just leads to doing nothing.
you talk big, but your actions stink
eee, i don’t think you can make any broad brush statements about posters on this site wrt to actions/non action they may or may not take wrt issues outside of what we discuss on this site. it’s fair to assume peoples activism is not necessarily limited to this one issue (mine isn’t). ‘what have you done for darfur lately’ is a diversion as is positing people are hypocrites if they do not ascribe your opinion of ‘balanced’ activism.
“All human standards be they moral or epistemological should be constrained by the actual abilities of human people.”
And nothing in my standards are beyond the ability of human people. Just because there are people in power with the same evil, filthy ideas as you doesn’t mean that the standards are beyong the ability of human people. It just means that some very immoral people wield power. You could think better; you choose not to.
“Committing to a moral standard that you cannot uphold is nonsense. It just leads to doing nothing.”
LOL. What the fuck do you know about morality? You’ve demonstrated here that you have none. You subscribe to the immorality that animated the Holocaust.
Peter Hoekstra on Washington Journal this morning said the anti-war movement– “you know, Code Pink” showed its partisan, anti-Republican agenda by the fact that “nobody hears from them any more. Where are they? Now that a Democrat is in office, they’re not around.” [or words to that effect.]
Peter Hoekstra, phone your handlers; Code Pink is alive and well and giving IDF AND the Obama administration/State Department, grief. link to c-spanvideo.org
eee … this link might interest you – I believe it is a picture of you
eee
In reading and listening to what the passengers are saying about their reasons for going to Gaza, I read and hear many refer to walking in the footsteps of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr and Mandela.
I found some beautiful words written by Gandhi about Jews and Palestine, and there is so much truth in these words, it is amazing to me, to read what he wrote in 1946. He, like Palestinian Archbishop Elias Chacour, speaks of money and weapons from so-called friends, as not gifts from friends at all, but instead as impediments to peace.
“But, in my opinion, they have erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism. Their citizenship of the world should have and would have made them honoured guests of any country. Their thrift, their varied talent, their great industry should have made them welcome anywhere. It is a blot on the Christian world that they have been singled out, owing to a wrong reading of the New Testament, for prejudice against them. “If an individual Jew does a wrong, the whole Jewish world is to blame for it.” If an individual Jew like Einstein makes a great discovery or another composes unsurpassable music, the merit goes to the authors and not to the community to which they belong.
No wonder that my sympathy goes out to the Jews in their unenviably sad plight. But one would have thought adversity would teach them lessons of peace. Why should they depend upon American money or British arms for forcing themselves on an unwelcome land? Why should they resort to terrorism to make good their forcible landing in Palestine? If they were to adopt the matchless weapon of non-violence whose use their best Prophets have taught and which Jesus the Jew who gladly wore the crown of thorns bequeathed to a groaning world, their case would be the world`s and I have no doubt that among the many things that the Jews have given to the world, this would be the best and the brightest. It is twice blessed. It will make them happy and rich in the true sense of the word and it will be a soothing balm to the aching world.”
link to gandhiserve.org
Those last three sentences, they make me so incredibly sad. I so wish that what he envisioned could have been, instead of what has happened in Palestine.
But I am the eternal optimist, and I hope and I actually truly believe that some day we will see those words come true. We must never give up hope, never give up dreams of peace, never give up awaiting the day when all wars will end , for the day when all hating and hurting will end.