Over the weekend, Israel's military boarded and seized the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel, Al Awda, arresting its crew and confiscating its cargo of medical supplies bound for besieged Gaza.
Injuries are reported, but nothing like the murderous assault suffered by the Turkish flagged, Mavi Marmara, engaged in a similar attempt at penetrating Israel's naval blockade in 2010.
Then, ten of the activist aboard were murdered by commandos. I spoke to Canadian photo-journalist, Jon Elmer the day of the Mavi Marmara attack*; he was in the West Bank.
Jon Elmer in the first half.
And; George Orwell famously described the battle for a remembering of crimes committed by society's overlords as the Memory War. Today, the reality of wars occurring around the planet seem too removed from the consciousness of the World's most powerful and belligerent nations to illicit the universal outrage and action required of their citizens to end them. We have it seems lost the memory war, and perhaps too surrendered our collective conscience.
This week coming offers another chance; it marks the annual remembrance of the 1945 atomic destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Women in Black will hold their annual vigil in remembrance of Hiroshima-Nagasaki this Tuesday, August 7 at high noon below the tourist information office across from the Empress Hotel.
Terry Wolfwood is Director and co-founder of the Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, and a writer, photographer, and long-time activist who has traveled from the highlands of Mexico to the gates of Gaza and beyond in pursuit of peace, social justice, and women’s rights. Her articles have appeared at Briarpatch, Peace News, and Third World Resurgence among other places, and she's the local coordinator for Victoria’s Women in Black.
Terry Wolfwood and the power of remembering in the second half.
And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to get up to in and around our town for the coming week. But first, Jon Elmer and the deadly 2010 taking of the humanitarian relief ship, Mavi Marmara.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/