WAWA/WeAreWideAwake is my Public Service to America as a muckracker who has journeyed seven times to Israel Palestine since June 2005.
WAWA is dedicated to confronting media and governments that shield the whole
truth.
We who Are Wide
Awake are compelled by the "fierce urgency of Now" [Rev MLK, Jr.] to raise
awareness and promote the human dialogue about many of the crucial issues of our
day: the state of our Union and in protection of democracy, what life is like
under military occupation in Palestine, the Christian EXODUS from the Holy Land,
and spirituality-from a Theologically Liberated Christian Anarchist
POV.
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." George Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
"My aim is to agitate & disturb people. I'm not selling bread, I'm selling yeast." Unamuno
"Imagine All the People Sharing All the World." John Lennon
"If enough Christians followed the gospel, they could bring any state to its knees." Father Philip Francis Berrigan
"You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down." Tom Petty
"If I can't dance, it's not my revolution." Emma Goldman
"We have yet to begin to IMAGINE the power and potential of the Internet." Charlie Rose, 2005
Only in Solidarity do "We have it in our power to begin the world again" Tom Paine
"Never doubt that a few, thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
"You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
DO SOMETHING!
Photo of George shown here and in web site banner courtesy of Debbie Hill, 2000.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that, among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. -July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence
Tim King, editor of Salem-News.com wrote on Ken O'Keefe's Facebook wall: "A good deal of information is being directed to our newsroom and thisis my attempt to add clarity to what is actually taking place."
URGENT....STATEMENT FROM HOSTAGES ON BOARD STROPHADES IV.....
We
have been kidnapped at the Libyan port of Derna, by the Captain and
crew of the Straphades IV. The Captain and crew have since left and the
Greek authorities are now holding us hostage on board the Strophades
IV.Ten of us are being held ...at gunpoint by a... Greek SWAT team, in a
small room 8x8ft. We have been told if we move we will be shot. We have
requested sleeping facilities, showering facilities, access to
telephones/internet and consular assistance - all have been denied. In
the last 48 hours we have had one tin of coke and one sandwich to eat.
We have had no access to water other than that in the toilets. We have
to ask permission to do anything, including using toilets. We have no
status. We do not know the nature of the charges we are being held under
and feel extremely vulnerable. We ask that everyone please put pressure
on the Greek government and demand that they end this nightmare. We
want the Greek authorities to release us and allow us safe passage to
Libya, where we can join the remaining members of the Road to hope
convoy and proceed with humanitarian aid to Palestine. Message ends.....
Can
everyone please circulate this statement via all media outlets? We need
to get the word out about the treatment our comrades and demand their
immediate release.
Background follows Facebook message from Al Suarez:
AN AID worker has smuggled a desperate message to the Guardian after he and five other British citizens were kidnapped in Libya.
In a text sent this morning, Tauqir Sharif, of Warwick Road in
Chingford, said the vessel bound for Gaza had been seized in the Libyan
port of Derna at around 12.30am this morning UK time.
It is unclear who has taken the boat, although the seizure is believed to be linked to a financial dispute.
The boat was last seen sailing out to sea and is reportedly heading for Greece.
The Foreign Office says it has begun diplomacy to try and get the group returned unharmed.
Mr Sharif said: “We have been kidnapped at sea – this isn’t a joke.
“I’m hiding my phone to get word out…we’ve been hijacked.”
The convoy set off several weeks ago as part of the ‘Road to Hope’ campaign.
It has reportedly been at the Libyan border with Egypt for over two weeks awaiting entry to Gaza.
Six UK nationals including Mr Sharif are thought to be on-board,
along with three Libyans – including two port authority policemen and
the manager of Derna Port, Colonel Salahuddin Rashin.
Two Irish citizens, a Moroccan and an Algerian are also said to be on board.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: “We are aware of the
incident at Derna Port in Libya, and have been in close contact with the
Convoy organisers.
“Our Embassy in Tripoli has been urging the Libyan authorities to
resolve the situation rapidly and ensure that those caught on the ship
are returned to safety.”
Campaigners back in the UK say the people responsible for the alleged
kidnapping are thought to be of Ukrainian and Greek origin.
Ellie Merton, chair of the Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity
Campaign, said: “We think the ship is several miles out to sea in the
Med now. They’ve been making slow but steady headway.
“We’ve no idea what [the hostage takers] are up to.
“They’ve set out to to sea with the back door open – it’s criminally stupid. We all remember Zeebrugge.
“I just feel physically sick that something will happen to the
international aid workers and the Libyan officials who are hostage on
that boat.”
Mr Sharif, 23, was on board another convey of boats bound for Gaza
back in May when they were seized by Israeli troops in the Mediterranean
sea.
Nine people, including friends of Mr Sharif, were killed in the raid.
UPDATE: 1PM
The Libyan Navy has reportedly sent four ships and is tracking the ship in open waters – but no force has been used.
Two fighter jets have also been deployed, according to campaigners from ‘Road to Hope’.
They have also claimed that the captain of the ship has said he
intends on proceeding to Greece where he will drop off the hostages.
On 10 October 2010, at 8:50PM EST, JC left this comment on my Facebook page in reference to Ken O'Keefe:
JUST SPOKE
WIT KEN HE SAID THE CAPTAIN IS STILL ON BOARD THERE IS NO CONFRONTATION
WIT THE SHIPS CREW THE LYBIAN PORT POLICE ARE IN WIT CAPTAIN NOW TELLING
HIM TO TURN ROUND BUT HE IS REFUSEING THEY ARE NOT AT FULL SPEED BUT
THEY ARE ABOUT A MILE OUT TO SEA NOW KEN HAS ASKED TO KEEP THE FINGER ON
THE PULSE WIT THE MEDIA AND TANKS EVERYONE FOR THEIR HELP
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY
Wednesday 10th November, 2010
23.15 GMT - LONDON
UK
AID WORKERS (INCLUDING 2 MAVI MARMARA SURVIVORS) HELD HOSTAGE ON
GREEK-OWNED SHIP, AFTER SHIP OWNER ARGUES WITH EGYPTIAN BROKER
DERNA PORT, LIBYA
"Strofades IV" has broken its moorings, without port permission, and is heading out of Derna Harbour.
The rear door of the ship is half closed, with convoy vehicle B7 stuck on it precariously. It is extremely dangerous.
In the lower deck of the Ro-Ro (rollon rolloff) ship are held hostage:
3 Libyans - (2 port authority policemen, with Colonel Salahuddin Rashin, Manager of Derna Port)
1 Moroccan
1 Algerian
2 Irish
6 UK nationals
The
violent Greek owner who is also its captain of "Strofades IV" has just
disembarked (as at 22.50 GMT) through a side door of the ship, onto a
speed boat. His speed boat has made for another cargo vessel in Derna
the harbour - "Odin Finder".
None of our guys now know who is in charge of Strofades IV, or where it is destined to go.
The
ship is empty, apart from the hostages and single convoy vehicle jammed
in the doorway. It is making rapid headway to get out to sea.
The matter is a serious breach of every maritime law possible.
We have asked all relevant Embassies to supply urgent, immediate, consular assistance.
We are EXTREMELY concerned for the safety of all the nationals on board.
For further info, please contact:
Ellie Merton
London Liaison
Road to Hope, Convoy to Gaza
+44 7770 376701
Photo of Ken O'Keefe
Every Tattoo Tells a Story and Expresses the True Ken O'Keefe
"HOPE has two children.The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine
"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust." - Aquinas
Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
" In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."-Mother Teresa
“You cannot talk like sane men around a peace table while the atomic bomb itself is ticking beneath it. Do not treat the atomic bomb as a weapon of offense; do not treat it as an instrument of the police. Treat the bomb for what it is: the visible insanity of a civilization that has ceased...to obey the laws of life.”- Lewis Mumford, 1946
The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership....a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace, and to the improvement of the human condition. The attributes upon which we must draw are the human attributes of compassion and common sense, of intellect and creative imagination, and of empathy and understanding between cultures." - William Fulbright
“Any nation that year after year continues to raise the Defense budget while cutting social programs to the neediest is a nation approaching spiritual death.” - Rev. MLK
Establishment of Israel
"On the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations." - May 14, 1948. The Declaration of the Establishment of Israel
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