Running the Blockade and Harvesting the Olives

Public Forum -­‐ Saturday, Dec. 10, 7:30pm
Hewett Centre, at the Unitarian Church, 949 W. 49th Ave, Vancouver

Vancouverites Karen DeVito and John 'Max' Soos last month experienced two very different aspects of Israel's control over Palestine.

Karen was one of 27 people on two boats of the Freedom Waves, the Canadian Tahrir and the Irish Saoirse, who were forcefully taken from international waters to an Israeli prison for attempting to break the blockade of Gaza.

John was a volunteer harvesting olives in the West Bank and observed first hand the abusive treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli military. As a mental health care professional he heard from colleagues about the toll this abuse takes on ordinary Palestinians, including children.

Come hear their stories on International Human Rights Day, December 10.

Free admission. Refreshments.

Info: 604-312-3488

Organized by Vancouver Committee of the Canadian Boat to Gaza and the Unitarian Church Social Justice Committee.

Background on the Freedom Waves Flotilla to Gaza

In early November the Canadian Boat to Gaza, the Tahrir, was part of the Freedom Waves Flotilla to Gaza. The Canadian Boat, along with an Irish ship, was stopped in international waters by the Israeli navy. The boats were forcibly taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, and people on board were roughed up, abducted and held for days in an Israeli jail.

The Freedom Waves flotilla -­‐-­‐ dubbed 'the secret flotilla' because it was planned discreetly so as to minimize interference and sabotage by Israel and other governments -­‐-­‐ earned widespread international media coverage. The flotilla also received solidarity from within Gaza, many of the local 'Occupy' movements in North America, and from diverse groups in Canadian and international civil society.