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<a href="http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/979-we-are-not-the-story-its-not-just-our-21-kidnapped-passengers">
We are NOT the “Story”, It’s Not Just Our 21 Kidnapped
Passengers</a></u></b></font></h1><font size=3>Wednesday, 01 July 2009
13:22 Written by Free Gaza Team <br>
<a href="http://freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/979-we-are-not-the-story-its-not-just-our-21-kidnapped-passengers" eudora="autourl">
http://freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/979-we-are-not-the-story-its-not-just-our-21-kidnapped-passengers</a>
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On June 30th 2009 Israeli Occupation Forces forcibly boarded the Free
Gaza boat, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, and kidnapped 21 human rights workers and
journalists who were on their way to deliver much needed humanitarian and
reconstruction supplies to besieged Gaza. Those abducted by Israel
include Nobel peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. <br><br>
Since their kidnapping, tens-of-thousands of people around the world have
mobilized to demand their immediate and unconditional release. The Free
Gaza Movement would like to thank everyone who has made a phone call,
sent a fax or email, written a letter, or organized a demonstration on
behalf of our 21 imprisoned friends.<br><br>
With respect, it is not enough. We are not the story. Since its founding
in 1948 the State of Israel has regularly kidnapped and tortured
Palestinians, throwing them into forgotten prisons where they can
languish for years. Today, over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners
without benefit of due process, some never even charged - men, women, and
children - endure torture and isolation in Israeli jails, outdoor prison
camps, and secret black sites. They come from all walks of life: doctors,
journalists, parliamentarians, workers, resistance fighters, homemakers,
students and others. They are our sisters and brothers.<br><br>
The 21 passengers aboard the Spirit of Humanity have been illegally
incarcerated for their solidarity work with Palestine. 11,000 other
members of our common human family are already imprisoned simply for
being Palestinian.<br><br>
The Siege of Palestine is not simply the physical blockade against Gaza.
The Siege includes the hundreds of checkpoints throughout the West Bank
that separate families and communities and shatter any prospect for a
viable Palestinian state. The Siege includes the millions of Palestinians
in Diaspora, many of them dumped in squalid refugee camps in Jordan,
Lebanon and elsewhere. The Siege is ever-present throughout all aspects
of Palestinian life.<br><br>
This Siege is only strengthened when we pay more attention to the
injustice done to 21 international solidarity workers than we do to the
much greater injustices already being committed against millions of
Palestinians.<br><br>
We in the Free Gaza Movement implore all the good people around the world
who have working so hard to secure the release of our friends to
"adopt" a Palestinian prisoner. We ask you to learn about the
crisis and take on the cause of an individual prisoner as your
own.<br><br>
Break the Siege! Reach out to Palestine!<br><br>
For more information, please visit
<a href="http://www.FreeGaza.org">FreeGaza.org</a>, as well as the
following prisoner information websites:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=7209&CategoryId=4">
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=7209&CategoryId=4</a>
<li><a href="http://sumoud.tao.ca/?q=node/view/76" eudora="autourl">
http://sumoud.tao.ca/?q=node/view/76</a>
<li>
<a href="http://palestinianprisoners.blogspot.com/2009/04/palestinian-prisoners-families-protest_27.html">
http://palestinianprisoners.blogspot.com/2009/04/palestinian-prisoners-families-protest_27.html</a>
<li>
<a href="http://www.btselem.org/english/statistics/Detainees_and_Prisoners.asp" eudora="autourl">
http://www.btselem.org/english/statistics/Detainees_and_Prisoners.asp</a>
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</ul><br><br>
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