the tipping point

Banner hung near Gaza port in preparation for Freedom Flotilla arrival. Photo courtesy of Eva Bartlett.

What to write about the Freedom Flotilla massacre? There is so much news and events are still moving rapidly. It seems ages ago that I wrote about how the Freedom Flotilla had backed Israel into a corner in which all its options were bad. That was true, but I don't think anyone could have predicted how dramatic events would become in the following days.

Some are saying we shouldn't be shocked that Israeli commandos opened fire with live ammunition on a humanitarian aid ship, murdering at least nine, and possibly as many as 20 people. (Rumors that Israeli soldiers tossed bodies off the ship are unconfirmed but persistent.) But I was shocked, and I think many veteran activists--including Palestinians and internationals who had lived through Operation Cast Lead--were shocked too. Watching Turkish news broadcasting on the IHH livestream after the satellite feed from the Mavi Marmara was cut, listening to a woman's voice begging in English and Hebrew for the soldiers to stop shooting and help the wounded...that was one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed. I think we should be shocked, because it is shocking. I don't think we should ever lose our capacity to be shocked by violence.

I think most of us expected the ships to be intercepted, boarded, the passengers arrested and aid stolen (which has happened.) I don't think anyone expected the bloodbath that took place. I certainly don't think the passengers or organizers believed they were on a suicide mission.

There is some debate about whether Israeli commandos had a premeditated plan to kill, or whether they simply panicked and overreacted with hysterical, overwhelming force when confronted with (shocker!) actual resistance to their aggressive seizure of the Marmara. MK Hanin Zoaby (who has faced death threats, attempts to strip her of her Israeli citizenship, and physical attacks in the Knesset for her participation) is convinced they planned to kill as many activists as possible to send a message to deter future convoys. Some evidence in the Israeli press supports this theory. But there are also reports of soldiers who sounded genuinely surprised and frightened by the fierce (although makeshift) resistance they encountered on the Marmara.

Whether or not they planned to kill, while a somewhat interesting debate on a psychological and sociological level, is really neither here nor there. What is beyond debate is that they did not hesitate to kill...and kill and kill and kill...when activists did not instantly comply with the violent efforts to seize control of the ship and stop it from sailing to Gaza. I am sure the fact that many of the passengers on the Marmara were Muslim (although European) helped them justify their lethal actions to themselves.

Whether or not there was a premeditated plot for violence, commandos armed to the teeth stormed a civilian humanitarian aid ship at 4:30 in the morning--the time of night when the most people would be sleeping, and when US interrogation manuals tell us people will be most disoriented and frightened when violently awakened. (Those who weren't sleeping were praying fajr, the first Muslim prayer of the day. The call to prayer was one of the last things heard on the livestream before it cut off.) Even if they didn't plan such an unmitigated slaughter, there is no doubt that they planned to brutalize and terrify a bunch of unarmed civilians.

Israel walks a fine line when it comes to internationals. To a certain extent, they do try to keep the worst violence confined to Palestinians, because they know, cynically, that the media outlets of powerful countries don't care about Palestinian deaths. But since the beginning of the Second Intifada, small groups of internationals have been putting themselves into the most dangerous situations, resolutely insisting on standing with Palestinians even when it means facing danger they have the privilege of being able to avoid. This means that every once in a while, Israel has to kill or wound an international, just to remind us that they can. Just one day after the Flotilla massacre, Israeli soldiers shot 21-year-old American art student Emily Henochowitz in the face with a tear gas canister at close range while she was supporting a protest of aforementioned massacre in the West Bank. She lost her left eye.

The problem is that this strategy--like all uses of repressive violence--can easily backfire. And backfire it has in the case of the Freedom Flotilla. Because the whole world has seen the face of Israeli brutality.

The stories emerging from the ships and from detention afterward would be familiar to any Palestinian--or anyone who read the Goldstone Report, for that matter. White flag killings. Critically wounded denied medical care despite pleas for help. Soldiers pointing the laser sights on their rifles at passengers' head to scare them. Repeated strip searches and passengers made to kneel, bound, for long hours on the deck of the Marmara, freezing at night and sweltering during the day. Beatings and Taser shocks for anyone who resisted. All these things are forms of torture, and of course they're also standard treatment for any Palestinian who gets arrested in the Occupied Territories.

Israel worked hard to institute a total media blackout on news from the Flotilla during and immediately after its capture--blocking communications from the ship, tearing apart passengers' luggage and confiscating every phone, camera, video camera and laptop they could get their hands on, and holding passengers incommunicado for up to two days. But they simply cannot shut up some seven hundred eyewitnesses from over 40 countries. All over the world, Flotilla survivors are returning home and are telling their stories to family, friends, comrades and media. Two important websites, Gaza Flotilla Survivors and the Gaza Flotilla Archive, have been set up to collect eyewitness testimony and documentation of the attack.

In the days after the raid, a wave of protest has swept the globe, and it shows no signs of ebbing. The Gaza Freedom March website currently lists 125 separate protests in response to the massacre taking place between June 3 and June 12--and I'm sure there are many events that are not on this list.

And the final chapter of the Freedom Flotilla saga has not yet been written. The MV Rachel Corrie is an Irish cargo ship that was supposed to be part of the Freedom Flotilla, but was delayed in the Mediterranean--likely due to Israeli sabotage, it now appears. Because of the delay, the Rachel Corrie was not with the Flotilla on the 31st and escaped the attack. It is still heading for Gaza, loaded with cement, paper, medical supplies, and carrying Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dennis Halliday, a Malaysian Member of Parliament and a crew from Malaysian TV, among others.

The latest reports are that the Rachel Corrie still intends to sail for Gaza and may reach the danger zone where the Freedom Flotilla was attacked as early as tonight, US time. No one knows what will happen with this ship. There are rumors that the same commando unit is preparing to intercept it. The passengers onboard have said that they will not resist an Israeli boarding, but neither will they be deterred from their attempts to sail to Gaza. And would you really expect them to turn back after their comrades gave their lives trying to break the siege?

I think we are watching the siege on Gaza implode. Egypt has already given way and opened the Rafah crossing, for the first time in a year. Freedom Flotilla II was in the works before the blood had dried on the Marmara decks. The global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is only growing. If this is not the end, it is certainly the beginning of the end. And not just for the siege of Gaza, but for the entire apparatus of Israeli apartheid, I think. A few days before the Flotilla debacle, West Bank activist Mazin Qumsiyeh said the struggle in Palestine was reaching its "endgame." I think he's right. No one can tell if that endgame will last two, five, or ten years, although I wouldn't be surprised if things collapse far more rapidly than anyone expects. This does not mean that Israel will become less violent--quite the reverse, I think. But it's reached a tipping point where it can neither win nor even stabilize the situation. Instead of deterring struggle every act of violence just pushes it forward.

The time to act is now. GAZA WE ARE COMING! FREE PALESTINE!

PROTEST freedom flotilla massacre

News from the Flotilla keeps getting worse and worse. Initial reports were two dead; now most media are reporting between 10 and 20, with as many as 60 injured. Contact has not been re-established with some of the smaller boats and no details have been released about the dead and wounded.

Protests are taking place around the world. They have already started in some Arab countries, where it is now morning. In Turkey, protesters have surrounded the Israeli embassy and reportedly blockaded the ambassador in his home. There is a call for a general strike of Palestinians inside Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

You can find a protest near you here. The protest in Los Angeles tomorrow (Monday) will be from 4:30-8 outside the Israeli consulate, 6380 Wilshire Blvd.

FREEDOM FLOTILLA ATTACKED

At least one ship of the Freedom Flotilla, the Turkish Mavi Marmara passenger ship, has been attacked with live ammunition by the Israeli Navy. The livestream is currently broadcasting Turkish news, reporting 2 dead, 30 wounded. On the shipboard footage played on the news I could clearly hear a woman speaking in English into a bullhorn (presumably to the Israeli Navy) saying they have critically injured people on board.

These are initial reports and I'll confirm more as I have it. For now watch this.

Watch live streaming video from insaniyardim at livestream.com

livestreaming history

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is currently being surrounded by Israeli Navy warships. The Flotilla is in international waters, somewhere between 75 and 100 miles off the coast of Gaza. Passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish passenger ship carrying 700+ people, have donned life jackets and are preparing for a possible attack.

The ship's livestream feed keeps going in and out (jammed by the Israeli military), but over 12,000 people from around the world are still watching. Whatever happens--Israeli pirate attack on the high seas or a successful breaking of the siege--it's a historic moment. Watch here or on IHH's channel. As usual, Twitter is the most up-to-date news source. Follow freegazaorg and search hashtag #flotilla for many updates from around the world.

Watch live streaming video from insaniyardim at livestream.com

the gaza freedom flotilla is a big f*cking deal

Freedom Flotilla passenger ship on its way to Gaza. Photo courtesy of freegazaorg's Flickr photostream.

International solidarity is pounding on the prison walls of Gaza, and sooner or later, they're going to crack for good.

In the year after Operation Cast Lead, George Galloway's Viva Palestina and other solidarity groups like CODEPINK correctly identified the Egyptian border as the weak link in the siege. Grassroots aid convoys and delegations began prying open the Rafah crossing--until last winter, when the combined forces of Viva Palestina 3 and the Gaza Freedom March threatened to punch such a massive hole in the blockade that the Egyptian government had to crack down or risk losing all credibility as Israel's chief collaborator in the strangulation of Gaza. And thus that crack was effectively sealed up, at least for the present time.

The northern and eastern borders with Israel have long been impenetrable to all but a lucky few. That leaves one obvious blockade-busting route into Gaza open: the sea.

When the Free Gaza Movement sailed two tiny fishing boats carrying 44 people from 17 countries through the Israeli naval blockade into Gaza's harbor in August 2008--the first international ships to dock in Gaza's port in 41 years--I don't think anyone could have predicted what things would look like less than two years later.

As I write this, the various vessels of the Freedom Flotilla are steaming toward an undisclosed rendezvous point in international waters. Among them: four cargo ships carrying a combined 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid: construction materials, medical supplies, textbooks, paper and even chocolate and children's toys (both still banned by Israel); and five passenger ships carrying between 700 and 800 activists from 40 countries, including 35 Members of Parliament. Ships departing from Turkey, Greece, Algeria and even as far away as Ireland will meet up in the Mediterranean and head for Gaza in one massive international effort to break the siege.

For the record, it should be stated that all the actions of the Freedom Flotilla are completely legal, nonviolent, and in compliance with international maritime regulations. All ships and cargo have been properly inspected. The Flotilla will be sailing through international and Gazan waters and does not plan to enter Israeli waters at any time. There is no conceivable way this Flotilla constitutes a "security threat" to Israel--other than threatening the security of the continued siege and occupation of Gaza.

The Israeli navy, of course, has threatened to intercept the Flotilla and kidnap and deport all its passengers, a la the Spirit of Humanity this past June. Apparently they have even set up a special concentration camp in the port city of Ashdod for this purpose.

But something else interesting has happened in the past year--namely, the Turkish charity IHH chose to strike up a warm relationship with various direct action Palestine solidarity groups at around the same time the Israel government saw fit to totally fucking humiliate some Turkish politicians, souring relations between two formerly close allies remarkably quickly. And as a result we now have a potential standoff between Israel and Turkey, which would have been unheard of just months before.

The standoff has been rhetorical so far--who knows how far Turkey would actually go to protest Israel's actions if the Flotilla were attacked. But the simple brilliance of the Freedom Flotilla's strategy must be acknowledged. Nonviolent international solidarity activists have done what no government has been able to do: forced Israel into a showdown in which all its choices are bad.

Block, hijack or fire on the Flotilla, and Israel risks not only a massive international outcry--which it's proven it can ignore--but a potential diplomatic row with a NATO member state, which it probably can't.

Allow the Flotilla in and civil society groups will have blown a massive hole in the blockade--maybe a permanent one. The floodgates will be opened. If one group can do it, surely others will try.

Because, in the long run, the latter option is by far the more dangerous choice for Israeli apartheid, I think it's likely the Flotilla will be stopped with force. But doing it will be a massive sticky mess for Israel. Even with all hasbara generators on overdrive, there is just no way to put a good PR spin on images of naval ships bristling with guns attacking a boat with THIS IS A HUMANITARIAN AID SHIP printed on it in giant letters.

Of course, Israel got itself into this mess by getting just a little too comfortable with its position of total fucking impunity. Like all oppressors, it was bound to go too far eventually. It wasn't enough to bomb Gaza--they had to flatten it. It's not enough to have the world's fourth largest military, ridiculously superior to any other in the region. Israel has to go around thumbing its nose at other countries saying (in a Cartman voice; Israel totally has a Cartman voice) "Whatever, I do what I want!" Hell, they've even managed to piss off Australia.

Activists should keep an eye out here and here for news of the Freedom Flotilla and be prepared to protest any aggressive actions by Israel, particularly in the next 48 hours. Pre-emptive protests are already planned in a number of cities to demand safe passage for the boats. But whatever happens with the Flotilla, the global tide has turned--against Israeli apartheid, toward Palestine and toward justice, and I don't think there is any going back.

what's going on

1. I graduated. I now officially have an MFA. Well...sort of. Turns out the "diplomas" we were handed for the graduation photo op were friggin' props, with a little IOU inside saying something like "You will receive your actual diploma in 4-6 weeks." Which seems somehow oddly appropriate.

The commencement speaker for the film school ceremony was Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of DreamWorks, which certainly sounds impressive. But let's just say when it comes to graduation speeches, he is no JK Rowling.

2. I First-Pitched. It went okay. I got a couple of script requests for my thesis script, which haven't led to anything so far, but I'm kind of okay with that, mostly because...

3. I have a writing assignment. It pays money. Okay, not very much, but I think anything more than zero is a step in the right direction at this point. I can't really say much about the project (Hollywood is all secret like that) but it's with a great female director who just made her first feature, and it's a story I'm really excited about.

There is also a chance I may be working on a second project that pays no money (at the moment) but is based on an amazing true story that's perfect for me and would involve some subsidized travel for research to somewhere I've never been that would be very, very cool. Nothing is confirmed with that project yet but if it happens I'll be stoked. Which leads me to...

4. Travel and/or the rest of my life. This much I know for sure: I'll be in LA until the end of June, since that's when my lease is up. I'm also thrilled to report that I'll be back in PALESTINE (inshallah) July 24-August 6, traveling to the West Bank and '48 [Israel] with Interfaith Peace-Builders (and blogging up a storm per usual, of course). I'll also be spending a few days in Jordan on my own at the end of the trip, returning to the US on August 12.

Baltimore is a strong possibility for the 3 weeks between the end of June and my departure for the Middle East. After August 12...who knows????? I still really want to move back to NYC, but that sort of requires employment, which, you may be aware, is not such an easy thing to come by these days.

But in the meantime, some other things I'm excited about:

1. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. I'm going to a play! In Los Angeles! They do exist!! Of course the day I'm going, I have learned, is also the day of some giant bike race that's going to cause street closings, oh, pretty much all the way from my house to the theater. Of course.

2. Winter's Bone at LACMA with Q&A with Debra Granik. The more I hear about this film, the awesomer it sounds. Can't. Wait.

someone i know was shot today

I spoke too soon about the no-blogging thing.

My friend Bianca was shot in Gaza today.

I'm using the Palestinian standard of friendship here, by which anyone you meet for five minutes becomes your friend. I don't actually know Bianca that well. She's an activist from Malta who was on our delegation to Gaza in May/June 2009, and stayed on to work with ISM. But I met her, and got to know her a little, enough to think when I saw the press release: "Oh my God, I know that person!"

Thankfully, Bianca is okay. A fellow activist who visited her in the hospital just posted this update.

She was shot during a nonviolent demonstration protesting the Israeli-imposed "buffer zone" on the Gaza border, which prevents farmers from accessing some of the most fertile land in tiny Gaza. She was standing 80-100 meters away from the border fence, filming the demonstration, when she was shot in the thigh. As she was standing still, fully visible with a video camera in her hand at the time, it's likely that she was deliberately targeted.

Her shooting demonstrates the common Israeli army practice of aiming for the upper thigh, the location of the large femoral artery, which will cause massive bleeding if punctured. Bianca was lucky--the bullet missed both the bone and the artery and left her with a nasty, but not life-threatening, flesh wound. It also reflects the entirely common Israeli practice of targeting journalists and grassroots media-makers.

Two young Palestinians were also shot at the same protest. An 18-year-old man (boy?), Nidal Al Naji, was also hit in the thigh, and a 22-year-old woman named Hind Al Akra was shot in the stomach and is in critical condition.

The more people you know in Palestine and the longer you know them, the more statistically likely it is that you'll know someone who's been arrested, wounded or killed.

Like I said, I don't know Bianca that well. But I know her, and I know people who know her, and a network of worry and commiseration was instantly activated--hearing "international shot" and wondering who it was, checking in with friends in Gaza for updates, relaying the news to others.

We're just doing what Palestinians do all the time, of course. Someone is hurt. Is it my friend, my partner, my relative, my child? Who was there? What happened? Are they okay? The only difference is that for a Palestinian, there would have been little hope of being transported out of Gaza for treatment if the wound had been more serious than a graze.