Free Gaza Mission Vows Escalation of Struggle Against Israel

Ken O'Keefe

by Michael Leon

- We Americans are all Palestinians. From the two small boats that landed on August 23, 2008, we grew to six ships in the last flotilla that saw nine of our brothers murdered, and will have nine to twelve ships in the flotilla this Fall as we go back to Gaza. To borrow from Dr. King who gave a beautiful anthem for justice in Washington D.C. that lives on today, the Free Gaza movement knows that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. Let us see the day when we can say: “Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” -

The international effort to break the illegal Israeli siege of Gaza, shine light on the apartheid system in the occupied territories continues, and gain independence as free men and women will not fail.

Even in the face of mass murder, piracy and assassination, the Free Gaza mission will not back down as a new flotilla prepares for the next freedom voyage to Gaza in which human rights workers will risk their lives for freedom and justice.

Only two-years-old, the Free Gaza mission has changed the world. To the imprisoned, the oppressed, and the murdered in the occupied territories, we say: You are not forgotten. Your suffering will end.

The backlash against us in lies and smears, and the propaganda campaign by Israel has been extraordinary even by the standards of the pariah state.

But as human rights worker, Ken O’Keefe, writes in these pages:

I will not abandon my brothers and sisters who resist war and occupation. By being labeled a ‘terrorist’ myself, I join you, falsely accused and persecuted, the Arabs, the Muslims, Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress, the Founding Fathers of America, the eco-warriors, the people of conscience past and present. And so be it, I am a terrorist in the eyes of the American and Canadian Government who puts me on their so-called ‘terror watch list.’

Veterans Today calls on all American veterans, supporters and advocates to resist Israel’s clear and present danger to the national security of America and the safety of the civilized world. Israel must be stopped, it must be stopped now.

Even as the farce of next week’s direct peace talks are played out, the serious work for justice goes on.

For updates on the forthcoming human rights mission, see Veterans Today, Witness Gaza, the Free Gaza Mission, Cultures of Resistance and Al Jazeera.

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