Huwaida Arraf - The Gaza Flotilla (2008, 2009)

Sherif Fam: Today, we have the unique privilege and pleasure to welcome Huweda Araf as our featured guest. Huweda was one of the organizers of the boat trip, is a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the American University's College of Law, and teaches humanitarian law at the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. She joins us now from Ramallah in Palestine. Good afternoon, Huweda.

Huwaida Arraf: Good afternoon, or good morning, I think your time is.

Sherif Fam: That's right, yes. First, let me congratulate you, as well as all your friends and colleagues, on your spectacular achievement. Thank you. Your courage and determination are an inspiration to us all.

Huwaida Arraf: Well, we definitely, I don't see it as courage, but determination, yes. Determination to try to do something as civil society, as humanitarians concerned about what's happening in Gaza in the face of the silence and complicity of our respective governments. So determination, yes. But courage, I think we get the courage from Palestinian people, which continue to insist on life, living under such really unbearable and even unlivable conditions.

Sherif Fam: Your voyage was long in the making, Huida. I think that the idea of organizing this trip first arose well over a year ago, I believe.

Huwaida Arraf: Actually, two years ago.

Sherif Fam: How many?

Huwaida Arraf: Two years ago.

Sherif Fam: Two years ago. Yes. Please give us... Pardon me?

Huwaida Arraf: well i was going to tell you it began actually had a discussion among uh... members of the international solidarity movement who had been deported or denied entry into the occupied Palestinian territories that combined with the realization that what Israel is doing continuing to build the wall sealing off the west bank that Gaza was completely isolated so continuing these massive human rights abuses while talking about wanting peace yet yet behind almost closed doors, continuing its policies of occupation, making peace impossible, and committing great human rights violations against the Palestinian people, and trying to do it all away from the eyes of the international community by keeping out international human rights observers. So the idea was, or what sparked the discussion, is what can we do about this? And so we started talking about getting large numbers of people to go, first of all, via Ben-Gurion Airport, and when we're denied entry, carry out some kind of civil disobedience, refuse to leave, trying to draw attention to what Israel is doing. After that, the discussion evolved into, almost around the time that Israel completely not only sealed off Gaza, it could have been sealed off for a while, but also imposed very severe sanctions on the people of Gaza, preventing essentials, food, medicine, electricity, fuel from entering the Gaza Strip. We decided that at this point we really need to focus on Gaza and started talking about what the best way to do that is. And through the discussions, you know, ideas came up about trying to go by sea.

Sherif Fam: Please give us a blow-by-blow account of your Odyssey. I think that's an Odyssey the whole world needs to hear again and again.

Huwaida Arraf: A blow-by-blow account, well, it's definitely long. But let's say after almost two years of discussion and organizing, fundraising, trying to convince people that we really can do this and we really need to mobilize, on August 1st, most of the passengers arrived to Cyprus. where we received them, where we stayed, do training and orientation for everyone that was going to be on board. There was another smaller team that was in unannounced locations in Greece and on the Greek islands working on readying the boats to come to Cyprus to meet the passengers and then carry on to Gaza from there. Now, there were some difficulties along the way. technical things that came up with the boats, the weather. You can't always sail when you want. If the weather isn't right, especially since our boats are so small, oftentimes we have to wait out rough weather. And so the people that were waiting in Cyprus, instead of waiting five, six days that we had originally planned to get oriented and trained, ended up waiting about three weeks before the boats actually reached them from Greece and were ready to go. But during this training, which was a very important part of preparing to go, now most of the people that were... Actually, all of the people that were on the boats were not new to the issue of Palestine and what was happening. Veteran activists, there were... Palestinian journalists, people that were very aware and very concerned, because it's not the decision that you make likely that you can get on a boat, possibly be confronted by the Israeli Navy, which we all expected. And who knows? We did not put anything past them. Were they going to fire at us, blow us out of the water, open shots? Were they going to confront us forcefully, board our boats? Were they going to arrest us? These are all scenarios that we discussed together and went through how we can try to de-escalate violence, how we can stay calm, what we were going to do in various situations. if either any of the various scenarios that we had envisioned happened. And, of course, we knew that we possibly couldn't preconceive of everything, but we had to be as ready as we could be. And one of the things we said to people, all of the pastors, is if you're not ready to be possibly arrested, arrested, possibly seriously injured or even killed, then do not get on these boats. And it's not that any one of us wanted to die. We have people, and we have parents, people that left their kids and their families, and not to die, but very much aware of the grave situation of the God of the Church. I'm very frustrated, actually not even frustrated, or frustrated is a very light word, by the inaction of the international community. You think that there are international institutions, governments that talk about respecting human rights, and they were silent. when it comes to the human rights of the Palestinian people. So while nobody wanted to die, we all thought that this action and drawing attention to the plight of 1.5 million Palestinian prisoners in the Gaza Strip was important enough to take this action. And so, as you said, when the boats finally reached Cyprus, I think it was on the 22nd of August, we just loaded the boats with provisions for about 10 days. One of the scenarios that we might, the Israeli military might physically try to block the Israeli Navy, and we would be ready for a standoff at sea for as long as our water and our food provisions lasted. So we filled the boats. with those provisions and some of the medical equipment that we had gathered to deliver to Gaza, which was not a lot. It was seemingly symbolic because one of the things that we said and that we continue to say is that ours is not a humanitarian aid mission. This is exactly what Israel's policies are doing, making it so the Palestinian people always have to live on handouts instead of being able to exercise their human rights, instead of being able to access the outside world to develop themselves so they aren't living on humanitarian aid. According to UN estimates, 80% of the Palestinian people of Gaza today cannot survive without handouts. That's not what we wanted to perpetuate. But there were some societies in Gaza, one of them being the Tfalona, which means our children's society, the society for the hearing impaired, asked for, if we could bring some hearing aids. They had actually asked for 9,000 hearing aids because of a problem that is not very well known, but the children of Gaza are going deaf. because of the sonic booms that Israel carried out in Gaza and airspace. Unfortunately, we could not collect that many in such a short time in the funds that we had, but we did carry 200 hearing aids and some other medical supplies. We loaded that up, and the next morning we were ready to go.

Sherif Fam: Those sonic booms are low-flying fighter jets that fly over Gaza at all hours of the day and night, deprive people from sleep, which is a form of torture, and shatter their eardrums. And so that's the problem they have at this point.

Huwaida Arraf: Yes. Yes, I mean, even... I, who monitor the situation in Gaza almost on a daily basis, was unaware of this problem, was shocked to hear that they needed so many hearing aids. And, of course, they couldn't get the hearing aids. the absolute strictness of Israel's siege. It's not a siege that's based on any kind of security concerns. Now, just a little bit of a legal background, Israel isn't occupying power, although it pulled out its illegal settlements from Gaza in 2005 and tried to say that we no longer occupy Gaza, because Israel controls Gaza by air, sea, and land still. despite its pull out of settlement, Israel is still considered an occupying power with obligations under international humanitarian law. This is recognized by all human rights and humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. So although Israel tries to, again, relieve itself of these obligations, it's still an occupying power, which means that it is responsible for the welfare of the people that it occupies. Now, Israel has not only disregarded the welfare of the Palestinian people, but it has also imposed The kind of policies that Israel carries out against Gaza are placing the Gaza people under collective punishment, which is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Israel is allowed to formulate policies as an occupying power that have to do with its own security or the order of the area that it's being occupied. Now, these policies have nothing to do with security because we see that they are denying the garden people essential I'm like like medical supplies getting in hearing aid allowing that I've been I patient any medical treatment about be able to travel they cut off I'll restrict really restricted fuel and electricity it doesn't have anything to do with security that had to do with punishing the people for voting for Hamas because I don't know that not like the way that out being people voted and it's not like the government that probably how it is tight with punish the people, hoping that the people will rise up against the government. This kind of punishment, again, is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Sherif Fam: Did you receive any death threats?

Huwaida Arraf: uh... members of the delegation that i did with people we thought that will let me step back a little bit there were all kinds of pressure by the israeli government or their supporters to try to sabotage this mission before we even before we even set off from cyprus and these included uh... death and other threats to certain members of the delegation, to organizers, to participants. Lauren Booth, the journalist and sister-in-law, Toni Blair, her family, husband and children, received calls to their personal home in France. saying that Lauren's life is in danger, as did other members of the delegation. There was political pressure on the governments of Greece and Cyprus not to let our boats leave their ports. There was also intimidation of sorts. When we arrived to Cyprus, we were handed A letter or a notice on unofficial paper, it wasn't even on paper, but it was signed by the head of the Israeli Navy saying that there was going to be military naval exercises in the waters where we would have to sail through, in essence, saying that. You know, if you fail in this area, you might be mistakenly hit. All of these in an effort to stop us from actually leaving or setting out on our mission. And when we had actually set out, overcame all of the obstacles and disregarded all of these threats or tried to at least take precautions to minimize or to maximize our safety and to minimize the dangers that could possibly come to us, we set sail. And approximately four to five hours into our sale, all of our electronic communications equipment were jammed. We had MRSAT phones on each boat. We had at least two satellite phones on each boat and a couple of personal satellite phones. All of them, once the numbers were published to the media, all of them were jammed. There was only one phone belonging to a journalist. with an unpublished number that was not jammed and it was our only means of communication. But despite this, we kept going forward and we made it. We did not think that we would make it. Honestly, to tell all your listeners the truth, we had... When we got there, we just looked at each other. We had expected to be spending the night in an Israeli jail and not actually amongst the Palestinian people that so warmly welcomed us when we entered the port of Gaza.

Sherif Fam: It's typical of Israel that they care only about their public relations and not about the war crimes that it commits. As long as these crimes are not brought to the attention of the world community in some kind of a blatantly visual way that might arouse public outrage... Which is why Israel routinely confiscates or destroys cameras or kills journalists who take live footage of events Israel does not want the world to see. So this time around, they thought their best public relations was not to do anything.

Huwaida Arraf: I think what we were able to do, you know, there was a question up until the last, you know, the last minute, what Israel was going to do. And it was saying, part of the intimidation, I mean, they were announcing in the press that they were going to forcefully stop us and that they had a right to use force against us. Now, what we had done as the Free Gaza Movement is try to make everything that we did very public. With the exception of where the boats were being prepared, those locations were undisclosed, really for security reasons. But other than that, everything that we were doing was very public. One weekend, we were talking to the press. We made all of the passengers and their backgrounds known to everybody. In fact, before we left from Cyprus, We have the Cypriot port authority check our boats, check all the passengers, and give us an official document saying that we're not carrying any kind of weapons or any other kind of contraband or anything that would constitute a security threat to Israel. So in a way to take away that pretext. So here we are, 43 unarmed civilians on two small wooden boats carrying only food and medical supplies and ourselves. Nothing that can't be distracted. So if they were going to forcefully stop us in the middle of the sea, I think it would expose to the whole world that Israel's policies, Israel's isolation of Gaza has nothing to do with security. It has to do with punishing the people of Gaza. And I think they chose to avoid that confrontation. It's a wise decision, and we're trying to turn it into... We're trying to make it a precedent, trying to turn this into a policy. If there is nothing that, while Israel continues to occupy Gaza, if there aren't security concerns, Israel does not have the right to block the Gazan people from having access to essential needs to the outside world, in a sense. We're not only talking about essential food, medicine, fuel to survive, but also to be able to access the outside world, to be able to travel freely. The people of Gaza cannot leave the Gaza Strip. I don't think most people know that. You have this very, very, very small strip of land that 1.5 million people are trapped in. And even for essential... medical attention, they can't leave. And over the past year, 200 patients have died because they didn't have access to adequate medical care, medical care that is not available in Gaza, that Israel denies the Gazan patients the right to come into Israel for this medical care and denies them the right to leave Gaza to access it abroad. This is really inhumane, and the world is silently watching, and that's what we thought needed to stop, needed to be exposed.

Sherif Fam: Of course. I'm sure there is a far greater need for the supplies that you were able to bring in. Are you planning other trips in the near future?

Huwaida Arraf: Yes, we are, actually, in the very near future. Within the next couple of weeks, we hope to set sail again. Unfortunately, we only might be taking one of our boats this time because our movement is really in debt. We have to borrow a lot of money, and most of the people that were on the first trip emptied their bank accounts to make the first trip happen. So we're trying to fundraise, but we might have only enough funds to take one of the boats this time, which is okay because what we want to do is make sure that the The one time that we were able to reach Gaza is not the one and only time that we can repeat this, that we can actually open a channel of communication. So on this next trip, we are taking doctors with us that are willing to, on one hand, want to do assessment of the medical situation, the medical needs, but also some doctors and others that can stay long-term in Gaza. But we want to go again and see what Israel does with the same kind of preparation, with the same kind of, you know, announced voyage that we are not a security concern or we should be allowed access and see what Israel does. And if we're able to reach Gaza, we'll take also people out, patients that need medical attention, perhaps some of the... hundreds of students that have not been able to leave to pursue educational opportunities abroad. And if we can leave again, we'll try to go a third time. Of course, we're running into the end of weather that's suitable for sailing, so we might only be able to make another one maximum two trips this year, but we intend to try to make them. And like I said, we have a tentative sail date right now of September 22nd, if weather permitting.

Sherif Fam: How can people volunteer to join or donate? Do you have a website?

Huwaida Arraf: We do. And let me just say that, you know, there were 43 of us on these two boats, but we could not have done this voyage without the... this countless number of people around the world that help, whether it's from running our website to being on media committee, fundraising committee, and all the other kind of support that was provided in different countries. So you can help in many different ways. You can log on to our website, which is www.freegaza.org. And I must say, unfortunately, that one of the main things we need right now is funds. It's fun to keep going, to pay back some of the people that completely emptied their bank accounts or gave us loans to help make the first trip happen, but also to make the second and third trip happen and to plan for what we're going to do in the future, because we're establishing really good links with the people of Gaza, and when we're there, actually discussing what more we can do to really break the siege. The first time we were able to get through was a breaking of sorts. It was... You know, we got through. It was a good moral boost for the people of Gaza that have been, you know, so isolated to see that people care, that people took action. But we want to turn it into a more of a material breaking of the seed. So we do want both and others. commercial liners to start going back and forth. And as you mentioned, there's only so much that we can carry in our two small wooden boats, but we hope that what we did and what we're going to try to do again mobilizes other people to take similar actions. And especially countries, surrounding countries, there should be no excuse why they couldn't put their own boats at sea and go to Gaza and send aid and communicate and establish these open lines of communication.

Sherif Fam: We would hope that there would be a fleet of ships to go.

Huwaida Arraf: Oh, yes, hopefully.

Sherif Fam: Can people donate at FreeGaza.org?

Huwaida Arraf: Yes, there is a way to donate online. So please, every little bit helps. Even if it's only $5, $10, every little bit helps. And we really appreciate it.

Sherif Fam: Other things that... Can people donate also medication? What other things do you...

Huwaida Arraf: are. If people do have access, we are communicating with our civil society organization partners in Gaza and seeing what is needed the most from medical supplies that we can bring in. And if people have access or the ability to contribute in this way, just to send an email. How to contact us is on our website. If they send an email so we know what they might be able to provide, then we will contact you when we need these things. I can't tell you right now exactly what is needed, but I can tell you if you just send an email to let us know that you have this or you have this or you can help out in this way, believe me, we'll We will use you. We will take advantage of it.

Sherif Fam: Wonderful, wonderful. You know, your voyage will go down in history as an example of what the human spirit can accomplish in facing the seemingly insurmountable odds of challenging the brutality of a militaristic nation run amok. And we sincerely hope that others will follow your footsteps. Any last thoughts?

Huwaida Arraf: Well, just that that part is so important. You know, when we actually, when we got to Gaza and saw just how happy the people were to receive us, and you mentioned people were jumping in the sea, taking out their boats to come out and leave us. It was really an example of people to people. spirit. I mean, I think the international community in Israel has so tried to dehumanize the Palestinian people. And I don't think that they, too many people around the world, seem human anymore. And so this kind of treatment is okay. But it's not okay. And for us, when we just reached out and we touch each other, that human spirit, that was really evident. And I think that was one of the most important things about what we did. And I hope it does set an example, because for me personally, if we, if average civilians around the world feel that they can't mobilize, that they can't take action against injustice or towards making this world the kind of world that we want to raise our children and our grandchildren in, then then there's a loss of hope. And I think that more than anything, for us, this trip was a sign of hope that people can do something. And I hope that that message resonates far and wide and that more people feel empowered. We can do something. When the governments fail, it's up to the people.

Sherif Fam: Thank you. Thank you so much, Huweda, for all the work you do and for being our guest today.

Huwaida Arraf: No, thank you. Thank you for having me.

Sherif Fam: It was a pleasure to have you. You have been listening to Huweda Arraf, who helped organize this epic voyage of the Free Gaza and the Liberty, two small boats which broke the abominable Israeli-American siege of Gaza. She was on the first historic voyage of the Free Gaza Movement, consisting of two wooden boats, the Free Gaza and the Liberty, which, you may remember, arrived in Gaza on August 23, 2008, and broke the murderous Israeli-American-Egyptian siege of Gaza for the first time, delivering desperately needed medical supplies and hearing aids for the many civilians who lost their hearing, because of the sonic booms Israel deliberately inflicted on the civilian population by flying American-made fighter jets over their heads. She was also on the most recent trip of the Spirit of Humanity, which Israel pirated in international waters on June 30, 2009, kidnapped its passengers, and imprisoned them in Israel. She joins us now from Cyprus. Good afternoon, Ms. Oued Arraf.

Huwaida Arraf: Hi, good afternoon. Good morning, where you are.

Sherif Fam: The Free Gaza Movement, which you co-founded, undertook no less than eight trips to break the siege of Gaza in less than a year. That is a remarkable testament to the resolve and energy of your group. Could you share with us the harrowing experiences you had on the eighth trip of the Free Gaza Movement when you were aboard the Spirit of Humanity?

Huwaida Arraf: Sure. Well, first let me say there is a tremendous amount of spirit and energy, and it's not only those of us actively organizing with the Free Gaza Movement, or even those of us aboard the boats, but it's a countless number of people around the world that follow what we're doing and then take action whenever something happens to us, or they follow our movement, and that is very important. So without the support of people around the world, we couldn't have launched those eight missions, and we hope to continue to build on that support so we can launch the ninth mission, and that's what we're working on now. The eighth one, we were 21 people, human rights workers, from about representing 12 different countries. We had even a delegation from an Arab country, Bahrain, five people from Bahrain. We had Nobel Peace Lord Murray Maguire from Ireland with us. We had a former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney with us, and many others that set off on the morning of June 29th from Cyprus on a small converted ferry boat, really, carrying what we carried with us to Gaza. What we hope to bring to Gaza is, of course, doesn't even come close to meeting the needs of the people of Gaza. But our mission was not necessarily about providing for the people of Gaza, because what's happening there is a result of deliberate policies. And so we have to challenge those policies and end it, not just focus our attention on putting band-aids or delivering humanitarian aid, because if that's the case, then the people of Gaza and all of Palestine will be in need of humanitarian aid for the rest of their lives. Our mission was really to confront the siege, the closure of Gaza, which is illegal under international law. Israel's imposing collective punishment on the people there, this is strictly prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention. number of human rights organizations, international ones, and even the drilling ones have declared as such. But sadly, our respective governments are not doing anything about it. So when they're blind, when they're impotent, we have to take action. And that was the meaning. That's been the meaning from the beginning of our voyages. And that was the meaning of the last voyage that took off from Larnaca on 29th June. We carried with us three tons of medical supplies. We had rebuilding supplies because international donor communities have talked about helping to rebuild Gaza. Over $4 billion has been pledged from various countries to help rebuild Gaza, but none of these countries that talk about rebuilding Gaza is saying a word about the fact that Israel doesn't even allow one bag of cement into Gaza. It's completely sealed. and so therefore we took building supplies with us, we took school supplies because paper isn't even allowed into Gaza, and we took toys for kids because toys aren't allowed into Gaza. It's absolutely mind-boggling the thousands and thousands of items that Israel does not allow to get into Gaza when it allows a small number of trucks to enter Gaza per day, but it only carries a very limited number of items. And basically, the very basics of what Gaza needs to survive on. So they keep them on the brink between life and death, and anything that they consider to be a luxury is too much and is not allowed. And so we set off. It was going to be about a 30-hour voyage if everything went okay. In the middle of the night, I think we were about 18 hours into our voyage, around 1.30, 2 a.m., the Israeli Navy started calling us on the VHF radio, and we responded. I answered their questions as to who we were and where we were going. I told them that we were only carrying humanitarian aid with us. We're civilians. We're unarmed, and we're headed for Gaza. They started threatening us, telling us that Gaza was a blockaded area and that if we didn't turn around immediately, they would use all necessary force to stop us. We kept repeating that we are civilians, we are unarmed, don't use force against us. And they kept repeating their warning at a point they even gave us what they called a final warning, five minutes, and they'd open fire. So it was very important that I kept answering them, don't open fire, don't use force, we are unarmed civilians. We were surrounded at that point. We kept moving, but we were surrounded by at least five people. Israeli warships that shone their bright lights at us and were giving us these warnings, but we kept pushing forward. Then they stopped talking to us for a while, but they completely jammed all our navigation equipment. So our GPS and our radar was out. They were out for a little over four hours throughout the night. So our captain was using basically a map, a compass, and the stars to make sure that we didn't get anywhere into Israeli waters, which might be what they were trying to do, push us into Israeli waters so they could say that we you know, that we violated their sovereignty and give them an excuse to arrest us.

Sherif Fam: Or make it impossible for people to know where you were.

Huwaida Arraf: Also, right, because we had what's called a spot beacon on our boat that was sending out signals to our land support team where we are sending out regular signals, and that was jammed also. So for about four or five hours in the middle of the night, people didn't know where we were. Our satellite phones still worked, so we would call regularly and give them information. you know, where we thought approximately we were, but they couldn't follow anymore. I mean, it is illegal under maritime law to do this, because not only do they jam our navigation system, but also of other boats in the area, and so I suspect they couldn't keep it that way for too long. a little over four hours, our GPS and radar started working again. We kept going despite their threats, and I kept repeating the same thing. What's really important to note is that Israel declares a blockade on Gaza, but As the occupying powers or as occupying Gaza, they are responsible under international law, under the Fourth Geneva Convention, they are responsible for the health and well-being of the occupied civilian population. And therefore, they cannot declare a blockade or impose a blockade on this area, because then that becomes collective punishment. A blockade or a siege is an act of war, and you can't declare an act of war on a territory that you occupy against people that you're responsible for. And so I kept telling them that any blockade they think they have on Gaza is illegal, and as we do not constitute any kind of threat to them, they are obliged to let us in with the aid that we're carrying for the people. At a little before 3 o'clock, you know, we knew that we were getting ready to enter what they called their 20-mile limit, which is where they did the blockade. I used the VHS radio, Channel 16, which reaches out to all boats. in the area, and I knew that there was a UN ship in the area, and so I started calling out to them and telling them, because at that point we were surrounded by eight Israeli warships, we could count, and they were getting close to us and pulling away, getting close to us, then pulling away, and we knew that they were very likely to attack us as soon as we crossed that 20-mile line. I called the number twice, three times, for the UN to come assist us, and then the VHF radio went out, which is also illegal for any side, anybody to do, to knock out this Channel 16. But they did, so we had no more communication as far as that was concerned. We went forward, and suddenly, a little after 3 o'clock, And Zodiacs came filled with soldiers, about 11, 12 soldiers on each Zodiac, heavily armed. They had black masks on, carrying guns. And the guns were up and pointed. And they came up along each side of our boat and jumped on board. they immediately went after people with cameras. My husband Adam was one of them. I saw them grab him by the neck and push him into the captain's wheelhouse. I later found out he was roughed up, his camera taken away, as with the other journalists on board and other cameras. A couple of our people managed to hide footage from the soldiers, and we have a small clip of what we experienced on our website. But then we were We were told to, or not really told, I mean, the soldiers took over the wheel from the captain. They wouldn't even let him drive it. And then they proceeded to drive it in really a reckless manner that not only almost everyone on board, but even their soldiers started getting sick. For the next five hours, the boat was bouncing all over the place until we finally got to the port of Ashdod where they detained everybody. Myself and another colleague, they kept us in military detention under the watch of soldiers overnight. Everyone else they took to detention center to await deportation. They declared that they were going to deport them because me and my colleagues are actually Israeli citizens. They can't deport us. Over the course of the next eight days, everyone was deported. In the meantime, they sat in jail. A lot of people, and we thank them, focused on you know, what happened to us. But what we have been saying is that, you know, we are not the story. What we experienced is very mild compared to what the people of Gaza are experiencing. And Palestine on a daily basis, something that's forgotten. You know, we had 19 people in the nationals in jail. Let people forget about the 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners that are in jail and aren't even allowed to see their loved ones. So if, if what happened to us helps draw attention to what is happening in Palestine, then that's the good thing. That's where we need to keep our focus. And that's right now, with that in mind, is how we're organizing or really the impetus for us organizing for our next mission. Israel continues to have our votes confiscated and has not given it back yet. We're working on getting that back using political and legal means, but we're not even letting that stop us. So we help people. you know, anyone listening, anyone that hears about us and believes in what we're doing, using nonviolent civilian action to confront the brutal policies of the Israeli military, then please join us, because when we come back next time, it needs to be in bigger numbers, with more boats, more people on board, to show Israel that we're not backing down to this violence, because if we back down, then, you know, violence 100 times worse will keep... perpetrating it against the Palestinian people.

Sherif Fam: But still, were you beaten, harassed, or otherwise assaulted? How many people were beaten, harassed, or assaulted in jail, or on the way to jail, or on the boat?

Huwaida Arraf: On the boat, a couple of people were. As far as all of us know, we weren't all beaten and assaulted. We were... I mean, if you would have seen how they jumped on our boat, the commandos, really, as if they were going to war or, you know, they knew who we were. They knew we were unarmed. They knew we were civilians that carried nothing. We were on a simple boat, but yet they came in heavily armed. And, again, went after the camera. So the people with cameras got roughed up. I think probably my husband was the most, was beaten up the most, but didn't sustain any... you know, any serious, serious injuries. Other people, I tried to calm them down. For example, when I saw them approach our boat with their guns raised, so I stood in front of them, like, calm down. And for that, you know, they handcuffed me and took me away to a separate area, a small area of the boat to be away from everyone else. They handcuffed some other people. Other than that, we were, you know, I was separated, so I didn't really see everybody, but You know, no one really complained. I can't say that they came up and beat up everyone on board, no. But the fact, the very fact that they jumped on board in the way they did with their weapons, didn't even raise their masks once, except maybe to throw up because the boat was being driven in such a haphazard way. It was really unnecessary.

Sherif Fam: But you were clearly targeted as a dangerous individual who was trying to calm them down.

Huwaida Arraf: Yeah, right. They didn't like that. But, you know, I am used to them, unfortunately, because I live in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, and so I see them constantly at checkpoints when we demonstrate against the illegal apartheid wall. They constantly have their weapons raised. They fire them at us. So it was nothing new for me. But some other people that were in Afghanistan, you know the the main area of the boat where they were headed are not i mean we warned them that this might happen we went over this scenario and tried to repair people as you know just as possible but i didn't want them to rush in there with their weapons raised um so i was trying to calm them down in that in that sense but yes they they didn't like that and they um punished me for that

Sherif Fam: Well, who can forget your image on a documentary where you face down Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint?

Huwaida Arraf: Yes, I know that there is a little clip of that on YouTube. It's something that Palestinians go through every day. It's really nothing new for us, but I know that it got a big response and was forwarded to many people around the world that were shocked to see. maybe not be as much standing for the soldiers, but realizing that soldiers really do shoot at children. They really do shoot at unarmed protesters. And if that helps to wake people up, what we really need to do is wake people up, because why are these policies allowed to continue? You know, if it was any other country, any other country, there would be more of an outrage. But because it's Israel, these, you know, any kind of footage that comes out, any kind of criticism is muted, at least. as far as most of the mainstream media goes. And we have to break through that. We have to break the silence. It really is criminal when you know what's going on and you turn a blind eye, or even worse than that, provide the resources for a drill to continue to do this, which America does, and thereby also American citizens that pay taxes. And we become complicit in what a drill is doing. And so we have to stop it.

Sherif Fam: And also we have to note that the government of Ireland was quick to demand the release of the Irish volunteers Israel had illegally abducted in international waters and imprisoned, but we never heard a peep from the United States, even with regard to former Congresswoman McKinney, which is remarkable.

Huwaida Arraf: Thank you very much. State Department refused to denounce it, refused to even issue a statement. But you're right, other countries did stand up for their citizens. Also, the Greek foreign minister issued a strong declaration also demanding the release of everyone and the boat, which was sailing under the Greek flag. But the United States, although we had a number, and from the beginning, even with the Free Gaza Movement, all of our missions always had a good number of American citizens on board. But including in December, when our boat was brutally rammed in international water, it was really in danger in the lives of everyone on board. It was only due to the expertise of the captain that he was able to take this boat that was in international waters, taking on a lot of water because it was rammed the way it was. He was able to get it to a safe port. But otherwise, everyone on board could have drowned. In the middle of the night, I mean, all the people had life jackets, but still in the middle of the night, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Not a word of condemnation from the American government. And we have to work on that.

Sherif Fam: I also note that the Viva Palestina American convoy, which arrived in Gaza, was told that all volunteers had to sign affidavits saying that they waived all responsibility for their safety and that the American consulate and embassy would not come to their assistance. which is incredible. I mean, the American consulate and embassy do not come to the rescue of any American citizen in Israel.

Huwaida Arraf: exactly before anyone was let through the rafah border with egypt they had to go to the american embassy in cairo and sign this waiver since they were leaving the american government of all responsibility for their safety and well-being and saying that if anything happened you cannot have access to any confidentiality which is really ridiculous they claim that they cannot you know they don't have a presence in the gaza strip but You can't tell me that the American government doesn't have influence on the drill. If it would just speak up, it does. It just won't. And so it's really a shame to not only to make the American citizens sign this, but they also have to pay a fee for signing away their rights.

Sherif Fam: Amazing. They have to pay $30 each to sign away their rights. You know, the siege of Gaza could be broken with a one telephone call. I know your time is short as you are engaged in raising funds for the next few boat trips, and I really appreciate the time you took for this chat. Let me quickly mention to our listeners that donations for the Free Gaza Movement can be made at the website www.freegaza.org. Are there other ways to donate?

Huwaida Arraf: That is the main way. If you go to our website, you can see all the different ways to donate. We have a fiscal sponsor in the United States. The donations would be tax deductible. But also, you know, whatever makes you feel comfortable, PayPal, check, wire transfers, but all the information there is on our website. And we definitely want to encourage people to go to our website because there they find a wealth of information about what continues to happen in Gaza and also how they can get more involved, how to contact us. So the website's certainly the best way, freegaza.org.

Sherif Fam: Right. We should also get much more involved from here with our government to pressure the Obama administration to... to condemn these actions, and especially, you know, I guess John Dugard, the former rapporteur, the United Nations rapporteur, recently wrote an article in Friday's edition of The Nation saying that there is sufficient evidence today to convict Israel of war crimes, and yet the United States is still silent.

Huwaida Arraf: It is. You know, the law is clear, and the facts are there. The evidence is there. What's missing is the political will to hold Israel accountable because to implement these laws, even the laws that protect people's human rights, you need the political will to do it. And so far, the United States, which has the most power and influence over Israel, which continues to support Israel, not only... not only militarily and economically, but also politically by using it to veto on the Security Council against any kind of resolution that aims to hold Israel accountable or even criticize Israel for what it's doing. And so these atrocities continue. One way, I think, just... maybe to wrap up in terms of how people, your listeners, maybe can get involved, is one of the things that we're trying to do is get organizations, associations all over the world to be part of this vote, the next vote that will go. We'll hopefully have more than one vote go together, and not necessarily to be on it, but perhaps to send something with us. We have a Right to Read campaign on our website. The Bureau doesn't allow books into Gaza, and so the universities don't have books. And so we put out a list of books that the universities have requested, and people can also see this list on our website and send us books to take in on our next mission, or a whole host of things that you can send with us for the people of Gaza on our next mission and get very involved and let your members of Congress know how involved you are in this mission and this mission must succeed. We can pressure members of Congress to make those phone calls, make sure that Israel does not hijack this vote again.

Sherif Fam: And hopefully even get a member of Congress aboard the boat.

Huwaida Arraf: Yes, if you can encourage a member of Congress to come with us, that would be great. We are actively working on it. We definitely need high-profile people that will help us get more attention from the media on these boats. So there's a lot of things that people can help us out with if they want to contact us on our website. We really want to get as many people as possible invested in making this next mission a success. And, again, it's not the number of people on the boat. It's the people around the world that are going to do it, that are going to break the siege of Gaza.