Wright discusses Gaza flotilla

By Kaleb Underwood     9/16/10 7:00pm

Retired U.S. Army Colonel and former U.S. diplomat Ann Wright addressed an audience of approximately 50 students, faculty and community members on Sept. 9 to discuss her opposition to the the violence used by Israeli Navy to seize the six ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on May 31. Wright was a passenger on Challenger 1, a small yacht in the flotilla. The event was hosted by the Baker Institute Student Forum. Wright resigned from her post as a diplomat after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and is now a peace activist who spends her time protesting the government's current policies in the Middle East.

"It is gratuitous political crap done in our name and we let them get away with it. We need to challenge everyone of these administrations, both Republican and Democrat," Wright said.

The flotilla was part of the greater Free Gaza Movement and was funded by the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), which uses ships to break through the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in order to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza residents. On the night of May 31, the flotilla was intercepted by Israeli naval forces who boarded the ships.

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Wright said Israeli forces had no right to intervene because the ships were located in international waters, 70 miles off the coast of Gaza.

"All the ships were boarded forcefully by commandos who began by firing percussion grenades and paint bullets," Wright said. "We had loads of peaceful, nonviolent resistance on each ship ... we had women lined up on the railings to tell them 'no'."

Wright said that on another ship, the MV Mavi Marmara, violence broke out between the passengers and the Israeli commandos. She said nobody knows who initially attacked whom or when live bullets were first fired.

"Some had sticks and iron bars to hit the Israeli commandos," Wright said. "Women [passengers] were hogtied with masks over their heads."

Wright said that one nurse on the ship reported pools of blood up to her ankles, and a representative from international news network Al-Jazeera told her he saw a passenger fall into a puddle of blood.

Wright maintains that the actions of the Israelis were unjustified because the Israeli government knew about the flotilla and its humanitarian purpose, and had been discussing the flotilla for weeks in their cabinet.

"You've got to condemn these actions," Wright said. "It is inhumane. We should be pushing for our government to demand an independent investigation."

Wright dismissed all Israeli implications that the commandos' actions were humane because of the extreme level of violence she witnessed and heard about from the other participants.

"I was stunned when all of a sudden they were aiming at our heads with tasers and stun guns," Wright said.

Little visual evidence of the confrontations is available because all cell phones and computers were confiscated by the Israeli military after the ships had been boarded.

"The first thing we were told was to go below and get our phones, computers," Wright said. "We got searched every hour on the hour. They found them all but three."

Although video footage from three chips that the passengers were able to hide was leaked to the news media and onto the Internet, Wright remained critical of the absence of U.S. media coverage of the flotilla.

"All sorts of organizations, with the exception of the United States media, were there interviewing and asking questions," Wright said.

Even after the attack, the only news organization to approach Wright for an interview when she returned to the U.S. was Democracy Now.

"I think there is a lot of disingenuous reporting coming out of the U.S.," Wright said.

Wright urged everyone to donate to the Free Gaza Movement and to raise awareness about the blockades and trade limitations currently placed on Gaza by Israel. More than 100 items that might be seen as a threat to national security are currently banned, including such items as building materials and batteries, Wright said.

The next flotilla will sail in November and include 8-10 ships funded by donations from people all over the world, including a Jewish group from Germany. One ship in Europe already has had 9,000 people request to join, Wright said.

"This is going to be the mother of all flotillas," Wright said. "Now is the time to keep pushing, pushing, pushing."

BISF Events Committee chair Ruchir Shah, a McMurtry College junior, gave Martel College junior Shamsa Mangalji the credit for attracting Wright to Rice.

Mangalji said she invited Wright to speak at Rice after meeting her while working at PBS Houston this summer.

Both Shah and Mangalji were pleased with the attendance, but Mangalji said she thought more students would attend based on the interest they had shown before the event.

Wiess College freshman Alexa Juarez said she found the talk interesting and that she admired Wright's courage.

"I saw it on the news earlier as a snippet and it was great to get the entire back story," Juarez said.

Jones College freshman Abby Endler encouraged students to attend future Baker Institute events.

"I was a little disappointed because this was such a unique opportunity," Endler said. "It was really fascinating to hear an inside perspective.

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