Why I Am On Gaza Freedom Flotilla 3

Ann Wright

I served 29 years in the US Army and retired as a Colonel. I was also a US diplomat for 16 years and served in US Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia.

In my 2003 letter of resignation from the US government in opposition to U.S. President Bush's war on Iraq, I cited the "continuing unbalanced policies of the United States in "Israeli"-Palestinian issues" as one of my major concerns on US foreign policy.

I had had an assignment in the Middle East. My first experience in Palestine was in January 2009 when I travelled to Gaza and saw the brutal destruction of much of Gaza by the "Israeli" attack and the deaths of over 1400 persons. Afterwards, I helped organize 5 delegations to Gaza in 2009, including the Gaza Freedom March with 1300 participants from 30 countries.

I returned to Gaza in 2011 as a part of an international parliamentary delegation and again in 2012 after the "Israeli" attack on Gaza. I was a passenger on the Challenger 1 boat in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla in which the "Israeli" commandos executed 9 persons on the Mavi Marmara [a 10th person has now died from his injuries] and wounded over 50 and beat up passengers on each of the six boats in the flotilla. I was an organizer for the US Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, in the 2011 Gaza Freedom Flotilla and an initial organizer for Gaza's Ark.

I am horrified by the brutal 55 day "Israeli" attack on Gaza in 2014 that left over 2,200 dead and 10,000 wounded and much of the country in ruins. I am equally horrified by the lack of international assistance for the people of Gaza during this past year and by the impunity that "Israel" has in the international community for the criminal acts it has committed on the people of Gaza and the West Ban.

I am participating again in another Gaza Freedom Flotilla because I am totally and completely opposed to the continuous "Israeli" naval blockade of Gaza and the US complicity in the frequent massive "Israeli" attacks on the people of Gaza. Without the approval of the United States and the military weaponry from the United States, "Israel" would be unable to continue its military destruction of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank. As a concerned citizen of this planet, the least I can do is challenge "Israel" and my country, the United States, by this flotilla.