Independent journalist Will Potter of GreenIsTheNewRed.com speaking on the panel "Representation of Activists" at the "Animal Law: Working with the Grassroots" conference May 16, 2008. The event was sponsored by the University of WA Student Animal Legal Defense Fund.
CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot pleasure boat Dignity when the contact occurred. When the boat later docked in the Lebanese port city of Tyre, severe damage was visible to the forward port side of the boat, and the front left window and part of the roof had collapsed. It was flying the flag of Gibraltar.
The Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers -- physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists from the Free Gaza Solidarity Movement -- who were trying to reach Gaza through an Israeli blockade of the territory.
Also on board was former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
Penhaul said an Israeli patrol boat shined its spotlight on the Dignity, and then it and another patrol boat shadowed the Dignity for about a half hour before the collision.
One patrol boat "very severely rammed" the Dignity, Penhaul said.
The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no warning. Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio to say they struck the boat because they believed it was involved in terrorist activities, the captain said.
But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that and said the patrol boat had warned the vessel not to proceed to Gaza because it is a closed military area.
Palmor said there was no response to the radio message, and the vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the collision
The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally, Penhaul said, but Palmor called those allegations "absurd."
"There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody," Palmor said.
"I would call it ramming. Let's just call it as it is," McKinney said after the boat docked in Lebanon. "Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side.
"Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis -- the aggressiveness of the Israeli military," she said.
The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza. Israel controls the waters off Gaza's coast and routinely blocks ships from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza, which has restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies.
Tuesday's collision was so severe, Penhaul said, that the passengers were ordered to put on their life vests and be ready to get in lifeboats. The Dignity began taking on water, but the crew managed to pump it out of the hull long enough for the boat to reach shore.
"It could have ended with people drowning if they hit us more square on," Dignity's captain, Denis Healey, said. "It could have gone down in minutes."
Palmor said the vessel refused assistance after the incident.
The boat was carrying boxes of relief supplies, volunteers and journalists to Gaza, the Palestinian territory that has been subject to an intense Israeli bombing campaign since Saturday.
Israel Tuesday lambasted McKinney -- the Green Party's 2008 candidate for the U.S. presidency and a former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia -- for taking part in the maritime mission.
In a written statement, the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast, based in Atlanta, Georgia, said McKinney "has taken it upon herself to commit an act of provocation," endangering herself and the crew.
"We regret that during this time of crisis, while Israel is battling with the terrorist organization of Hamas and defending its citizens, that we are forced to deal with Ms. McKinney's irresponsible behavior," the statement read.
The video tells the truth of the attack and the trespass of 2008.1.15 terrorism
group Seashepard.
video
http://www.icrwhale.org/gpandseaJapane.htm
The Institute of Cetacean Research
http://www.icrwhale.org/eng-index.htm
@ issue of whaling in Japan media
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uic2RDmEB1Y&locale=en_US&pers
ist_locale=1
Jordan Kushner of the National Lawyers Guild reading a statement from the Ramsey County Sheriff's office regarding the RNC Welcoming Committee raid of 8/29/08. He read the statement to a gathering of activists in Powderhorn Park on Sat. 8/30/08 after several more raids took place that same morning.
Students from several universities in Zhengzhou, in the central province of Henan, went on the rampage on Wednesday after a student vendor was beaten by several inspectors as they cleared her?a schoolgirl? unlicensed stall
Arpaio has started arresting those that speak up against him on bogus charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing. 8 arrests accured last week alone. These accured while MCSA tries to get the Board of Supervisors to address concerns of slow response times, uninvestigated rapes, racial profiling, inhumane jail conditions and millions of tax dollars wasted in law suits. They have been attempting to get on the agenda since June.
Arpaio is turning Maricopa County into a police state and not doing his job.
"Last year Amnesty International supported the first round of funding for the war on drugs military package called the Merida Initiative (aka Plan Mexico), by putting out milquetoast statements of serious concerns, refusing to take a stand against it (let alone to mobilize us (their members)) and then declaring that ineffective human rights safeguards, which had failed so dramatically during the 8 years of Plan Colombia, were cause for celebration!
Why doesnt Amnesty International take a stand? We know the war on drugs is a human rights catastrophe! Will they take a clear position against its most recent incarnation targeting Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean?"
That was from the text sent to us, but we observe our Larry Co just watched the man be dragged out and says, "We believe very strongly in freedom of speech." That is what GWB said while protesters were dragged out at his speeches, and what John Kerry said while that student was subject to a taser. Ponder. Act.
My goal with this video is to inspire other Ron Paul supporters to go out and join the fun with the Meet Up groups. Illinois Ron Paul supporters had an amazing turn out at the straw poll. We also had a lot of fun and a great rally. Lets keep up the momentum.
Read more:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/jaguar-tree-cam
p070913
Yungas Rainforest, Argentina ? Jaguars are tree climbers, but there is no federal law to protecting their forest - so our activists have taken to the trees themselves. Dressed as jaguars, they're camped in the treetops of the Yungas in a bid to block the bulldozers until a federal law can be passed.
Please help by signing now:
http://www.greenpeace.org.ar/cyberacciones/bosques.html?MM_U
RL=GPI-feature
Activists dump 5 tonnes of coal outside a meeting in Poland that looked set to block meaningful action to reduce CO2 emissions at the upcoming climate talks in Poznan, Poland next week.
As Israel's Gaza incursion continues and the fighting escalates, there are still people who believe peace is possible in the Middle East. Jeff Swicord introduces us to one such group in Washington D.C.
