Medea Benjamin vowed that activists will sail to Gaza in an editorial posted at 4 PM (PST) July 4 on the Oakland Tribune website.
You know, despite everything, I still believe that some activists may confront the Israeli navy as planned. There may be some legal remedies and diplomatic gambits that are available. In addition, a long confrontation with the activists would not help the Greek government politically, since most Greeks are sympathetic to the Palestinians.
According to the US flotilla activists, there still are two flotilla boats at sea whose location is undisclosed. Furthermore, there is the possibility of acquiring a new boat, leaving surreptitiously, then announcing the voyage at sea. Even if that boat only had a handful of activists, the symbolism of just getting near the Gaza shore would be awesome. And so would be the resulting press.
Maybe this is insanely optimistic. But here in the US we are a nation of naive and gullible optimists. After all, we believed in the “Audacity of Hope.”
Although the Israelis know our boats will not carry arms and that we are committed to nonviolence, they have nonetheless vowed to stop us with a dizzying array of force — water cannons, commandos, border police, snipers and attack dogs.
At least two ships have been sabotaged so far, probably by Israeli agents, and Greek officials are not letting us out — presumably due to significant American and Israeli pressure.
All this bullying, however, only strengthens our resolve. We may be fewer boats, we may have fewer passengers, we may be threatened with violence, but we will sail.
