humanrights [3]

Nine aid workers were murdered by Israeli commandos, and more than fifty were wounded.
By codepink | ALternet Jun 11, 2010

Americans who supported, organized, or were o­n the flotilla headed to Gaza with humanitarian aid stormed the office of U.S. Congressmen Brad Sherman and turned themselves in for their “crimes.” The stunt was in response to Sherman’s call for Americans o­n the flotilla be arrested for helping “terrorists.”

Watch Video Here... [4]

Col. Ann Wright (ret.), a former U.S. diplomat, Gaza Freedom March organizer, and a passenger aboard the recent Freedom Flotilla, stated that: “Nine aid workers were murdered by Israeli commandos, and more than fifty were wounded. I want to look Brad Sherman in the eye and see if he has any sense for the gravity of this situation. If Sherman wants to have us arrested – we’ll be there.”

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) has publicly called for the arrest and prosecution of “any U.S. citizens who were aboard or involved with the Freedom Flotilla” under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 [5]. Rep. Sherman serves o­n the House Foreign Affairs Committee [6], and chairs the subcommittee o­n terrorism and nonproliferation.

According to Rep. Sherman: “[It's] absolutely illegal for any American to give food, money, school supplies, paper clips, concrete …so I will be asking the Attorney General to prosecute any American involved in what was clearly an effort to give items of value to a terrorist organization.”

Rep. Sherman also stated that he was planning o­n working with the Department of Homeland Security [7] to make sure all non-U.S. citizens aboard the Flotilla would be permanently barred from entering the U.S. This list includes Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire, former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday, as well as a number of parliamentarians and government officials from Ireland, Britain, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, and Israel.

Ramzi Kysia, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement [8], said that: “Rep. Sherman is welcome to arrest me and try to make his case to a jury of my peers. Delivering humanitarian aid to people in need is not ‘terrorism.’ Brad Sherman is a prime example of just how degenerate our political discourse has become o­n Capitol Hill.”

The action illustrates the disconnect between a U.S. Congress which supports Israel unrelentingly, a White House that calls policies in Gaza unsustainable, and an international community condemning Israel’s raid of the flotilla.

You can help share the truth about the Gaza flotilla with your Congressperson [9] and friends [10] and also donate [11] to send Ret. Col. Ann Wright o­n a speaking tour about the flotilla and siege of Gaza.