Medea Benjamin, Greece, the U.S., Israel, and the Gaza Flotilla

Talk Nation Radio for July 13, 2011
Medea Benjamin, Greece, the U.S., Israel, and the Gaza Flotilla
Early release



TRT:29:14
Produced by Dori Smith in Storrs, CT
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org Download here as a free MP3 file in 128K.

An activist for 30 years, Medea Benjamin is winner of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She is also an author and former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization. Her articles appear in Alternet, Huffington Post, CommonDreams, and OPED news. Or you can learn more about her work online at Codepink.org and USTOGAZA.org. We reached Medea Benjamin in Athens where the US ship Audacity of Hope is still impounded by Greek Authorities. Author, and long time peace activist, Medea Benjamin is co-founder at Global Exchange and Code pink, and you can learn more about the flotilla mission at twitter at @USBOATTOGAZA Deputy Consul General Kate Brandeis that she agreed that the U.S. Boat “had a right to sail to Gaza.” Still, they were stopped at gun point as they tried to leave the Greek port.

Medea Benjamin discusses the tactics and pressure brought to bear on Greek authorities who arrested the captain of the US Ship to Gaza, the Audacity of Hope, and jailed him for several days in very poor conditions.

Passengers have been making their way home after being stopped in waters off the Greek port of Pireaus. We look at what went wrong, and what organizers plan to do now. In many ways the short journey was a success though. Media coverage was largely positive and many journalists wanted to go on the flotilla to Gaza. Israeli officials appear ham handed and Greek authorities give ridiculous credibility to an organization (Shurat HDin, Israel Law Center) that has in the past been tied to a scheme to force a sale of the Gaza flotilla ships, and "give" the money to a supporter who says they were a victim of some form of violence that is in no way connected to anyone in the flotilla movement.

ALSO, TIAA Creff announced that they were divesting from holdings in companies supporting settlement activity in Israel. (See Haaretz July 2011).

Also available for this week, a related special: here

Talk Nation Radio for July 7, 2011
Gale Courey Toensing, Medea Benjamin, Update on US Ship to Gaza
Flotilla Passengers Reflect and Plan Next Actions

Gale Courey Toensing, Medea Benjamin, Update on US Ship to Gaza, Flotilla Passengers Reflect and Plan Next Actions

Talk Nation Radio for July 7, 2011

Gale Courey Toensing, Medea Benjamin, Update on US Ship to Gaza
Flotilla Passengers Reflect and Plan Next Actions



TRT: 29:02
Produced by Dori Smith, in Storrs, CT and syndicated with Pacifica Network
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

We hear voices from the Gaza flotilla and interview Connecticut peace activist Gale Courey Toensing who provides us with an update as of July 2nd (from on board the Audacity of Hope in Greek port). Gale Gale Courey Toensing is a staff reporter for, Indian Country Today. Then Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange and Code Pink co-founder, provides an update as of July 7th (from Athens, Greece). Passengers of the flagship of the Gaza Flotilla 2, the US Boat to Gaza, as well as other vessels are now en route home. Greek authorities have confiscated their boat and other boats in the flotilla and are holding them.

We hear about possible fall out from the actions of U.S. and Israeli governments as well Greek officials involved in an exaggerated response to intercept the peace activists in waters off Greece as they left the port of Piraeus. Legal action is possible, according to Medea Benjamin, as John Klusmer, the captain of the Audacity of Hope, was arrested and held for days in severe conditions without a bed or ample food and water. He was released Tuesday and charges relate to a failure to obey a police order. They appear to be the equivalent of a misdemeanor.

The passengers on board the US Ship to Gaza, Audacity of Hope, have vowed to continue to work to "lift Israel's criminal siege of Gaza and end the Israeli occupation". This as the Obama administration and the State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continue to issue meaningless requests to the Israeli government that they stop pushing Palestinians out of their homes, crushing the homes, then building new settlements which are typically massive apartment complexes.

We are editing a half hour interview with Medea Benjamin to add to this week's available broadcasts.

See USTOGAZA online

See also "US Boat to Gaza Is a Quarter Jewish - "Not Too Shabby!" Tuesday 7 June 2011. by, Robert Naiman, in Truthout.