November 05, 2010 — In May 2010 an international flotilla of peace activists, carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, set sail on the Mediterranean. The Mavi Marmara, a ship bearing a Turkish flag but carrying activists from around the world, was boarded and brutally attacked by the Israeli military.

This one-sided attack, which violated international law, claimed the lives of nine innocent peace activists. Canadian Kevin Neish was on board and is now sharing his first-hand account of that horrible night, embarking on a pan-Canadian tour with stops in Halifax, Hamilton, London, Windsor, Regina, Yellowknife, Edmonton and Vancouver.

On the subject of the passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, Neish recounts, “They were humanitarian aid workers. A lot of them were pot-bellied fellows, balding, glasses, looked a lot like me. They weren’t fighters.”

By sharing his harrowing account, Neish hopes to encourage others to get involved with the Canadian Boat to Gaza (CBG) (http://canadaboatgaza.org/) that will sail in spring 2011 with Freedom Flotilla 2, an international project that plans to send boats from over15 countries with the goal of breaking the siege of Gaza.

CBG steering committee member Wendy Goldsmith explained the imperative activists feel to send a Canadian boat, “The Canadian Government has been consistently complicit with Israeli policies and actions that clearly violate international law, and so it is up to civil society to take a principled stand against the Israeli siege and for the people of Gaza."

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For more information contact:

Wendy Goldsmith 519-619-6766 or David Heap 519-859-3579