[Peace-discuss] how to follow the boat/U.S. Boat to Gaza - Emergency Response Plans

[Robert Naiman]

1. How to follow what's going on with the flotilla:

We arrive in Athens on June 21, we will be in Athens at least 3 days,
and sometime in the days following that, we will set sail from
somewhere in Greece. You can check for the latest news about the boat
using Twitter. You do not need to be a Twitter user to do this; any
web browser will do.

Updates from the US Boat to Gaza feed will be here:
http://twitter.com/#!/USBOATTOGAZA

Updates from Just Foreign Policy will be here:
http://twitter.com/#!/justfp

Updates from Robert Naiman will be here:
http://twitter.com/#!/naiman

You can also see all the news people are posting about the flotilla
using the #flotilla hashtag:
http://twitter.com/#!/search/flotilla


2. From the organizing committee of the US Boat to Gaza:

U.S. Boat to Gaza - Emergency Response Plans

In late June, a U.S. flagged ship called The Audacity of Hope will
join the 2nd Freedom Flotilla –
Stay Human as people from 22 nations set sail to Gaza challenging the
Israeli naval blockade.
Though the flotilla has the right under international law to do
exactly what it is doing and has
made abundantly clear its commitment to nonviolence, the government of
Israel has publicly
stated that they are prepared to act illegally and violently and take
severe, even potentially lifethreatening, action against the boats and
their passengers.

The U.S. Boat to Gaza organizing committee urges people throughout
this country to plan
now for Emergency Response actions. The power of such actions will be
the number of cities
they are held in and the numbers of people who participate. Now is the
time to start planning.
Once you have your local plans in place be sure to contact the U.S.
Boat to Gaza organizing
committee. We will add your information to our website, and provide a
link to your site. Send
your information to us at ustogaza at gmail.com

First step: Now is the time to encourage people to sign onto the U.S.
Boat to Gaza email alert
list, as well as our Twitter and Facebook accounts, so they can
receive the most up-to-date
information directly. You can access all of this on our website at ustogaza.org

Elements of your emergency response plans
1) Public protest activities
• The goal is to be as visible as possible – both to the public
generally and to the media.
• As a local organizer you will know the best place to ask people to
gather. Possible places
include:
o Israeli consulate or other agency
o U.S. federal building
o well-trafficked, major intersection
o major transportation hub
• Think about what time of day will be easiest for large numbers of
people to come out, to
get media coverage and for the largest number of people to see your activity.

2) Media work
• Be sure to have a list of media outlets and reporters in your area
ready ahead of time.
• Inform the media of any public activities and protests you are planning.
• Monitor your local media to see if they are covering the story, and
if so how. If they are
not covering it, or not covering it well, call them!
• Ask people to write letters to the editor and to call into radio talk shows.
• The aim is to make sure the story is being covered, and being
covered accurately!

3) Pressure on the Israeli and U.S. government
• It will be important that both the Israeli government and the U.S.
government hear from
as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
• Calls, email messages and faxes should go to the U.S. government:
the State Department,
the White and to your own Senators and House Representatives.
• Calls, email messages and faxes should also go directly to the
Israeli government.
• By Saturday, June 18th we will have more detailed contact
information posted on our
website….please be sure to check back then.