Running the Blockade and Harvesting the Olives: A Public Forum
by Vancouver Committee of the Canadian
Boat to Gaza & Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of
Vancouver
In early November the Canadian Boat to Gaza, the
Tahrir, was
part of the Freedom Waves Flotilla to Gaza. The Canadian Boat, along
with an Irish ship, was stopped in international waters by the Israeli
navy.
The boats were forcibly taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, and
people on board were roughed up, abducted and held for days in an
Israeli jail.
The Freedom Waves flotilla - dubbed 'the
secret flotilla' because it was planned discreetly so as to minimize
interference and sabotage by Israel and other governments -
earned widespread international media coverage.
The flotilla also
received solidarity from within Gaza, many of the local 'Occupy'
movements in North America, and from diverse groups in Canadian and
international civil society.
Saturday, December 10, 7:30 pm,
Hewett Centre, Unitarian Church of Vancouver,
949 West 49 Ave, Vancouver
Vancouverites Karen DeVito and
John 'Max' Soos last month experienced two very different aspects of
Israel's control over Palestine.
Karen
was one of 27 people on two boats of the Freedom Waves, the Canadian
Tahrir and the Irish Saoirse, who were forcefully taken from
international waters to an Israeli prison for attempting to break the
blockade of Gaza.
John
was a volunteer harvesting olives in the West Bank and observed
first-hand the abusive treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli
military. As a mental health care professional he heard from colleagues
about the toll this abuse takes on ordinary Palestinians, including
children.
Come hear their stories on International Human Rights Day, December 10.
Refreshments.
Free admission. We will invite donations to help the Unitarian Church
of Vancouver’s Refugee Committee sponsor a Palestinian couple from
Cypress.
Organized by Vancouver Committee of the Canadian
Boat to Gaza and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of
Vancouver.
Background on the Freedom Waves Flotilla to Gaza
