Israel Warns Foreign Journalists: Joining Gaza Flotilla Is Illegal

[Ed Jewett]

WAR AND POLITICS FROM A LEFT-CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE:
WILL THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ARREST ALICE WALKER?


U.S. officials are now threatening jail time for those who sail on the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza. "We underscore that delivering or attempting or conspiring to deliver material support or other resources to or for the benefit of a designated foreign terrorist organization, such as Hamas, could violate U.S. civil and criminal statutes and could lead to fines and incarceration," said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland in a Reuters story dated yesterday.

We also have Hilary Clinton quoted by CNN as asserting that passengers on the flotilla will be guilty of creating "a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves," a statement basically giving the Israelis a green light to use violence.

Were the mainstream media doing their jobs, it perhaps would have been pointed out to readers that one of the most vital functions of any government is to protect its citizens from attack by a foreign power. But of course neither Reuters nor CNN go there in their respective reportsreports which in essence detail American officials exhibiting a complete reversal of priorities. For consider: here we have U.S. citizens being threatened by officials of their own government, officials who at the same time have issued statements defending the foreign power that poses a very real danger to their lives. Presumably only in Zionist-controlled America could such a situation come about.



Alice Walker over the years as an author and human rights champion


All of this brings about an interesting possible scenario. One of the ships making up the flotilla is the American vessel named "The Audacity of Hope," and among its passengers is to be one of our country's most prominent authorsAlice Walker. Born in 1944 in Georgia to a sharecropper family, Walker is an African-American writer who explores themes of racism and patriarchy in both her fiction and poetry. Her most well known work is perhaps The Color Purple, which tells the story of a young African-American girl growing up in rural Georgia. In the early 1960s, while attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Walker met Martin Luther King Jr. and became active in the Civil Rights Movement, participating in the 1963 March on Washington, one of the pivotal moments in the movement's history in which King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

What price will Walker, who is now 67 years old, pay for sailing with the Freedom Flotilla? Assuming she survives the boarding and hijacking of her ship by the Israeli military, what legal entanglements will she face? Will she be forced to hire an attorney to represent her in an American or possibly Israeli court? Such would be embarrassing for the Obama administration, to say the least, but Obama has already undergone humiliations a-plenty at the hands of the Israelis and perhaps would not be too averse to stomaching one more. But the humiliation will be all the greater considering that The Audacity of Hope's cargo will consist of nothing more than letters of support written by Americans to the people of Gaza. As Walker humorously points out , should Israel attack the ship, "it will be as if they attacked the mailman." A letter addressed to Obama and signed by 27 of the ship's passengers, including Walker, clearly states the vessel's peaceful intent and specifies its cargo:

In addition to 36 passengers, 4 crew, and 10 members of the press, our boat will carry thousands of letters of support and friendship from people throughout the U.S. to the women, children and men of Gaza. There will be no weapons of any sort on board. We will carry no goods of any kind for delivery in Gaza. Our mission is from American civil society to the civil society of Gaza. We do not serve the agenda of any political leadership, government or group. We are engaged solely in non-violent action in support of the Palestinian people and their human rights.


At least one member of Congress, Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, has called for the U.S. military to support Israel in the event of an attack upon the flotilla. Should the U.S. do so, or even if it only stands by and watches as Israel carries out such an aggression, Obama will have managed to officially kill "the audacity of hope," as it were.

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