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<font size=3>December 30, 2008: Oh What a Day!<br><br>
updates@lists.allthingscynthiamckinney.com <br><br>
I'm so glad that my father told me to buy a special notebook and to write
everything down because that's exactly what I did.<br><br>
When we left from Cyprus, one reporter asked me "are you
afraid?" And I had to respond that Malcolm X wasn't afraid;
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't afraid. But little did I know
that just a few hours later, I would be recollecting my life and mentally
preparing myself for death.<br><br>
When we left Cyprus, the Mediterranean was beautiful. I remember
the time when it might have been beautiful to look at, but it was also
filthy. The Europeans have taken great strides to clean it up and
yesterday, it was beautiful. And the way the sunlight hit the sea, I
remember thinking to myself that's why they call it azure. It was
the most beautiful blue.<br><br>
But sometimes it was rough, and we got behind on our schedule. We
stayed on course, however, despite the roughness of the water and due to
our exquisite captain. <br><br>
There were no other ships or boats around us and night descended upon us
all rather quickly. It was the darkest black and suddenly, out of
nowhere, came searchlights disturbing our peace. The searchlights
stayed with us for about half an hour or so. We knew they were
Israeli ships. Who else would they be?<br><br>
They were fast, and they would come close and then drop back. And
then, they'd come close again. And then, all of a sudden there was
complete blackness once again and all seemed right. The cat and
mouse game went on for at least one half hour. What were they
doing? And why? <br><br>
Calm again. Black sky, black sea. Peace. And then, at
that very moment, when all seemed right, out of nowhere we were rammed
and rammed again and rammed again the last one throwing me off the couch,
sending all our food up in the air; and all the plastic bags and
tubs--evidence of sea sicknesses among the crew and passengers--flew all
over the cabin and all over us. We'd been rammed by the
Israelis. How did we know? Because they called us on the
phone afterwards to tell us that we were engaging in subversive,
terroristic activity. And if that if we didn't turn around right
then and return to Larnaca, Cyprus, we would be fired upon. We
quickly grabbed our lifevests and put them on. Then the captain
announced that the boat was taking on water. We might have to
evacuate. One of my mates told me to prepare to die. And I
reflected that I have lived a good and full life. I have tasted
freedom and know what it is. I was right with myself and my
decision to join the Free Gaza movement.<br><br>
I remembered my father's parting words, "You all will be sitting
ducks." Just like the U.S.S. Liberty. We were engaged in
peaceful activity, a harmless pleasure boat, carrying a load of hospital
supplies for the people of Gaza, who, too are sitting ducks, currently
being bombarded in aerial assault by the Israeli military.<br><br>
It's been a long day for us. The captain was outstanding.
Throughout it all, he remained stoic and calm, effective in every
way. I didn't know how to put my life jacket on. One of the
passengers kindly assisted me. Another of the passengers
pointed out that the Israeli motors for those huge, fast boats was U.S.
made--a gift to them from the U.S. And now they were using those
motors to damage a pleasure boat outfitted with three tons of hospital
supplies, one pediatrician, and two surgeons.<br><br>
I have called for President-elect Obama to say something. The
Palestinian people in the Gaza strip are seeing the worst violence in 60
years, it is being reported. To date, President-elect Obama has
remained silent. The Israelis are using weapons supplied to them by
the U.S. government. Strict enforcement of U.S. law would require
the cessation of all weapons transfers to Israel. Adherence to
international law would require the same. As we are about to
celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, let us remember that he
said:<br><br>
1. The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world, and <br>
2. Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things
that matter.<br><br>
I implore the President-elect to not send Congress a budget that contains
more weapons for Israel. We have so much more to offer. And I
implore the Congress to vote "no" on any budget and
appropriation bills that provide more weapons transfers, period.<br><br>
Israel is able to carry out these intense military maneuvers because
taxpayers in the U.S. give their hard-earned money to our Representatives
in Congress and our Congress chooses to spend that money in this
way. Let's stop it and stop it now. There's been too much
blood shed. And while we still walk among the living, let us not
remain silent about the things that matter.<br><br>
We really can promote peace and have it if we demand it of our
leaders.<br><br>
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