[Peace-discuss] From Cynthia McKinney: Oh What a Day!
E. Wayne Johnson
ewj at pigs.ag
Thu Jan 1 05:53:53 CST 2009
*/...while we still walk among the living,
let us not remain silent about the things that matter. /*
*
Jan & Durl Kruse wrote:
>
> */Message from GPW's friends (the Smith family) in Stone Mountain,
> Georgia:/
> *Phil and Elaine Smith write:
> *We received this today, December 31, 2008, from Congresswoman
> Cynthia McKinney. The Smiths
> *
>
>
> *December 30, 2008: Oh What a Day!*
>
>
>
> I'm so glad that my father told me to buy a special notebook
> and to write everything down because that's exactly what I did.
>
> When we left from Cyprus, one reporter asked me "are you
> afraid?" And I had to respond that Malcolm X wasn't afraid;
> Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't afraid. But little did I
> know that just a few hours later, I would be recollecting my
> life and mentally preparing myself for death.
>
> When we left Cyprus, the Mediterranean was beautiful. I
> remember the time when it might have been beautiful to look
> at, but it was also filthy. The Europeans have taken great
> strides to clean it up and yesterday, it was beautiful. And
> the way the sunlight hit the sea, I remember thinking to
> myself that's why they call it azure. It was the most
> beautiful blue.
>
> But sometimes it was rough, and we got behind on our
> schedule. We stayed on course, however, despite the roughness
> of the water and due to our exquisite captain.
>
> There were no other ships or boats around us and night
> descended upon us all rather quickly. It was the darkest
> black and suddenly, out of nowhere, came searchlights
> disturbing our peace. The searchlights stayed with us for
> about half an hour or so. We knew they were Israeli ships.
> Who else would they be?
>
> They were fast, and they would come close and then drop back.
> And then, they'd come close again. And then, all of a sudden
> there was complete blackness once again and all seemed right.
> The cat and mouse game went on for at least one half hour.
> What were they doing? And why?
>
> Calm again. Black sky, black sea. Peace. And then, at that
> very moment, when all seemed right, out of nowhere we were
> rammed and rammed again and rammed again the last one throwing
> me off the couch, sending all our food up in the air; and all
> the plastic bags and tubs--evidence of sea sicknesses among
> the crew and passengers--flew all over the cabin and all over
> us. We'd been rammed by the Israelis. How did we know?
> Because they called us on the phone afterwards to tell us that
> we were engaging in subversive, terroristic activity. And if
> we didn't turn around right then and return to Larnaca,
> Cyprus, we would be fired upon. We quickly grabbed our
> lifevests and put them on. Then the captain announced that
> the boat was taking on water. We might have to evacuate. One
> of my mates told me to prepare to die. And I reflected that I
> have lived a good and full life. I have tasted freedom and
> know what it is. I was right with myself and my decision to
> join the Free Gaza movement.
>
> I remembered my father's parting words, "You all will be
> sitting ducks." Just like the U.S.S. Liberty. We were
> engaged in peaceful activity, a harmless pleasure boat,
> carrying a load of hospital supplies for the people of Gaza,
> who, too are sitting ducks, currently being bombarded in
> aerial assault by the Israeli military.
>
> It's been a long day for us. The captain was outstanding.
> Throughout it all, he remained stoic and calm, effective in
> every way. I didn't know how to put my life jacket on. One
> of the passengers kindly assisted me. Another of the
> passengers pointed out that the Israeli motors for those huge,
> fast boats was U.S. made--a gift to them from the U.S. And
> now they were using those motors to damage a pleasure boat
> outfitted with three tons of hospital supplies, one
> pediatrician, and two surgeons.
>
> I have called for President-elect Obama to say something. The
> Palestinian people in the Gaza strip are seeing the worst
> violence in 60 years, it is being reported. To date,
> President-elect Obama has remained silent. The Israelis are
> using weapons supplied to them by the U.S. government. Strict
> enforcement of U.S. law would require the cessation of all
> weapons transfers to Israel. Adherence to international law
> would require the same. As we are about to celebrate Dr.
> Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, let us remember that he said:
>
> 1. The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in
> the world, and
> 2. Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about
> things that matter.
>
> I implore the President-elect to not send Congress a budget
> that contains more weapons for Israel. We have so much more
> to offer. And I implore the Congress to vote "no" on any
> budget and appropriation bills that provide more weapons
> transfers, period.
>
> Israel is able to carry out these intense military maneuvers
> because taxpayers in the U.S. give their hard-earned money to
> our Representatives in Congress and our Congress chooses to
> spend that money in this way. Let's stop it and stop it now.
> There's been too much blood shed. And while we still walk
> among the living, let us not remain silent about the things
> that matter.
>
> We really can promote peace and have it if we demand it of our
> leaders.
>
> Cynthia
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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