Report from Gaza:
We Will Keep On Going Offshore Fishing
Vittorio Arrigoni Date : 10-05-2008
I went to Al-Awda hospital to take off my stitches, a fairly good embroidery appears now on my skin wounded for life (todà Israel), like teeth of a voracious mechanical shark which infests this sea from long time, hunting his besieged victims, Palestinian fishermen.
How much innocent blood became food to feed the ichthic fauna living in the Gazan sea? I'm waiting impatiently that the sea will calm its anger and will allow us to go offshore again, to claim the violated right, the right to live or, at least, to survive for these people that are rightfully occupying their nautical space.
There are many reasons why we go out fishing with Palestinian fishermen, some of them are noticeably concrete and vital reasons, some others have a more symbolic feature but are not less essential.
One fishing day with us on board, according to the fishermen, is equivalent to one week of ordinary work offshore when, without internationals, they can't dare to sail for more than few miles from the port where usually fishing is very poor. If they try to go further they risk to be killed or, when they're lucky, "just" wounded. (It's worth remembering that before the siege was imposed by Israel, there were more than 3.500 fishermen working along the 40 km of the Gazan coasts; today just 700 of them are still trying to commit themselves in one field which was able to provide jobs for at least 40.000 people considering mechanics, fishmongers and thousands of local fishermen that now are surviving with difficulty).
The day after one of our fishing action the fish is sold at the market at a knock-down price. The offer is bigger, prices go down, more mouths will eat. The owners of some fishing boats, before we arrived, had seriously the intention of selling their boats, due to the very high price of the fuel and to the absence of a future income perspective. Since we arrived they told us many times how our support, in addition to contribute to increase their incomes, has also acted as a great hope injection injected in a hopeless humanity.
In addition to the clearly visible achievements obtained with our fishing actions, there are some others more symbolic but equally edifying. With Free Gaza and Liberty we opened the Gaza port, with the rudimentary Palestinian fishing boats we try every day to open the sea, aware of the fact that this is not important only for the fishermen, but for all the Palestinians and this is the reason why we work obstinately to claim their right to live a life free from the confinement slavery, from the siege and from the Israeli crimes against humanity.
If the Israeli army, or the puppeteer who is moving its barbed wire in Israel, believes they put me out of order wounding me I just want to make a statement for them: poor deluded.
Me, Vittorio Arrigoni, with Darlene, Donna, and others fellow travellers committed in this mission for the protection of human rights, will never retreat facing the insult of justice, the abuse of legality and every raped freedom. You will have to kill all of us and accept this responsability in front of the world and of God who both in the Torah and in the Koran doesn't justify in any way the cool-headed murder of innocent people. Kill all of us.
I would like to talk with the Israeli soldiers who attack us every day and that the day I was wounded I could see so closely I could focus the white in their cold eyes; I would like to ask them if they really believe that they are defending Israel (IDF) when they shoot at unarmed civilians, internationals or Palestinians, while they are simply fishing on Palestinian vessels.
As a pacifist I don't wish it in any way, but I would really not be surprised if one day one of these young Palestinian fishermen, of whom Israel steals the hope for a worthy life, having collected mourning over mourning for fathers, friends, brothers, killed or wounded or buried for years in an inhuman Israeli prison, I was saying I would not be surprised if one of them would choose to leave the fishing nets and shoulder a Kalashnikov.
Because this is what Israel is teaching the young Palestinians, with its warships, raids, the military occupation of borders, imposing the siege as a collective punishment and denying all human rights; in this way, teaching hate to its innocent victims and providing them with daily lessons of pure gangrenous hate, Israel becomes responsible for the risk all Israeli are submitted to, from Ashkelon to Tel Aviv.
We will keep on going offshore fishing, not scared at all by all terror threats shot on us by the Israeli navy, until politics, high-class activism and the politically committed civil society will stop to turn their back on the "moral issue of our times" as Nelson Mandela defines the Palestinian issue.
We want to show to the Palestinians, who adopted us, that in this worlda minority group of men and women is still alive, ready to redeem on their skin, now healed, the conspiracy of silence and the indifference of a majority group of people totally apathetic facing this huge tragedy.
I believe that, everywhere on the planet, there are still many human beings immune to the indifference and selfishness virus, and this is the reason why I'm making a plea, don't leave us alone, don't turn your back on your brother dominated by a horrible injustice.
Come here to help us or support us in other ways.
Try to be close to us from far away.
Stay human.
Vittorio Arrigoni
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