My dear friend Ann Wright joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla just days
before it left Greece. She posted
daily blogs from her voyage, the last one written only hours before the Israeli Navy commandeered her
small boat.
Ann Wright has given her entire adult life to service. She served 35
years in the US Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. She spent the
fifteen subsequent years in the U.S. State Department, a career that
ended in 2003 with her resignation over the impending invasion of Iraq.
For the past eight years she has traveled the world tirelessly as a
peace and human rights activist working against the devastating policies
of the U.S. Government.
Ann's presence on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was an attempt at
citizens doing what governments have failed to achieve. The Flotilla
set out to break an illegal and immoral blockade that is slowly
strangling the life out of Gaza by impoverishing and starving its
people. But this non-violent citizens' movement was met by deadly force
in international waters.
Once again, the Israeli government has flouted international law. In
addition, Israeli officials have impounded the cameras and computers of
the captured journalists and peace activists in an attempt to control
the portrayal of what happened. They are resisting calls for an
impartial investigation of the incidents that happened in the early
hours of May 31st, and unfortunately, the Obama Administration appears
to be again
manipulating events in the U.N. Security Council
in order to allow Israel impunity.
I joined the protest at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles
yesterday because my dear friend and colleague Ann Wright is being held
hostage by the Israeli government. What is her crime? Why is the story
about her being kept hostage unavailable to the media? Why do we still
have no information on the nine people who were killed and the scores
who were wounded? When will the journalists and the tools of their trade
be released? Where is the story about the story itself being held
hostage?
Yesterday, Ann said she would be freed within 48 hours, and with her I
hope the truth of what happened will also be liberated.