http://www.gazaark.org/translation/
Remember the Mavi. Support the Ark!
Four years ago, six boats set off from various ports around the Mediterranean with the goal of breaking Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza. There would have been more if some boats hadn't been sabotaged. Six hundred passengers from many different countries were united in their determination to help free a people who have lived under Occupation for over 40 years, with all the misery that that entails. While still in international waters, they were boarded in the early morning of 31 May by armed Israeli commandos who came in speed boats, or descended from helicopters overhead, shooting as they went.
Committing piracy, the commandos boarded every boat in the flotilla, violently attacking these unarmed activists. By the end of the attack nine Turkish men onboard the Mavi Marmara had been murdered and 50 wounded, one of whom was in a coma for four years, before dying last week.
How do we honour the memory of those that made the ultimate sacrifice in the quest for freedom? - Freedom, not for themselves, but for another people, for the Palestinians, who have suffered under Israeli brutality for so long. How do we bring some comfort to the parents of Furkan Dogan, the young Turkish–American man, murdered while still in his nineteenth year, his whole life ahead of him?
There is only one way to honour these ten men, and that is to continue the work that they left unfinished. We must sail until Gaza is free, until all of Palestine is free, no matter how long that may take. Otherwise their deaths were in vain.
All attempts to break the immoral blockade so far have been from the outside; now, we are trying to break the blockade from the inside out, sailing Gaza's Ark (www.gazaark.org) from the port of Gaza City to another port in the Mediterranean, carrying goods to trade. Our opposition will do everything they can to stop us. They have already tried by sabotaging the boat, blowing holes in the hull which left it partially submerged in the water. However, they can't sink our resolve, and neither can they destroy the steadfastness of the Palestinian people; we will repair the damage and carry on.
This is where we need you. There are many ways you can help.
1. If you can donate to the repairs of the boat, please click here http://www.gazaark.org/donate/
A full list of all the repair items that need funding will be sent out soon.
2. We invite you to join our twitter storm on Friday May 30 at 7am Pacific, 10am Eastern, 3pm UK, 4pm Europe, 5pm Palestine, midnight Sydney, Australia. All details here: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gazaday-tstorm
3. Please also join the thunderclap so you can contribute one tweet: http://thndr.it/TCd685
4. Finally, you can help publicize Gaza's Ark by sharing our new video, Gaza's Ark Sailing After Sabotage, by email or Facebook: http://www.gazaark.org/2014/05/22/gazas-ark-sailing-after-sabotage/
The more people who know about our project, the less likely our opposition would dare attack us again. The world will be watching. For the sake of the next group of activists who will once again risk their lives by sailing on Gaza's Ark to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, this is the least we can do. Please spread the word.
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