For More Information, Please Contact:
Greta Berlin (Cyprus) +357 99 081 767 / iristulip@gmail.com
Osama Qashoo (Cyprus) +44 (0)78 3338 1660 / osamaqashoo@gmail.com
Angela Godfrey Goldstein (Jerusalem) +972 (0)54 736 6393 / angela@icahd.org

LARNACA– The Free Gaza Movement is delighted to announce that their third boat, the Dignity, carrying 27 crew and passengers, arrived in Gaza at 8:10 Gaza time, in spite of Israeli threats to stop them. In the pouring rain, the boat pulled into port amid cheers from the people of Gaza and tears from the passengers. David Schermerhorn, a crew member called an hour before the boat entered Gazan waters to say, “There is a rainbow stretching across the Mediterranean from where we are right now.”

Yesterday, the Israeli Navy said they would stop our vessel once it reached Israel’s territorial waters. Apparently to save face, they said they would harm our boat, arrest us and tow us IF we entered Israeli waters. The problem for Israel is that the Dignity had no intention of getting anywhere near those waters.

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October 28, 2008

Contact: Greta Berlin, Cyprus: +357 99 08 17 67
Angela Godfrey Goldstein, Jerusalem: +972 547 366 393
Huwaida Arraf (on Dignity): +357 96723 999 /+357 96780 329

It rained today in Cyprus, a rain the Cypriots really need. Those of us who were getting ready to send another delegation to Gaza worried the weather would prevent us from leaving. But by 3:30 pm the rain began to stop, the sun came out, late-afternoon rays shining through the flags that draped our new boat, the DIGNITY. We had worked so hard over the past two months to keep the boat safe.

Several times over the past week, people had said that Israel was looking for the FREE GAZA, asking port authorities where it was and when we were going. So today was another triumph for the human spirit.

Twenty-seven passengers and crew were on board, grinning and waving at the media gathered below on the docks. All the hard work and all the frustration were worth it as they crowded around the upper deck of the new boat, posing for photos. JOE FALLISI, a passenger on board and an Italian tenor, sang as the boat pulled out. Once again, the Cypriot authorities escorted the boat out and on its way to Gaza.

Israel says they will stop us and not allow us into Gaza. How cruel to threaten to stop a boat full of non-violent people like MAIREAD MAGUIRE and DR. MUSTAFA BARTHOUTHI. Why would they want to send doctors away from injured children? What are they so afraid of that they would want to shoot instead of talk? Mairead Maguire said it perfectly today, “If we had continued to fight instead of talk, Northern Ireland still would have no peace.”

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‘Salt of This Sea’ Trailer

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD and GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin’s signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Beginning at the Republican National Convention in August, the McCain-Palin ticket has touted the pipeline as an example of how it would help America achieve energy independence.

“We’re building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America’s largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever, to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets,” Palin said during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.

Despite Palin’s boast of a smart and fair bidding process, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp.

And contrary to the ballyhoo, there’s no guarantee the pipeline will ever be built; at a minimum, any project is years away, as TransCanada must first overcome major financial and regulatory hurdles.

In interviews and a review of records, the AP found:

[Read the report]

THIS IS A MULTILINGUAL NEWSLETTER:
FOR english, deutsch, español, italiano, français SEE BELOW.

(hat tip)

“Nahr al-Bared Between Past and Present”

One year has passed since the first Palestinians were allowed to return to the outskirts of the destroyed Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, to the so-called “new camp”. Meanwhile, up to 15.000 people have resettled there, many of them waiting to access their destroyed homes in the “old camp”, the core of what used to be Nahr al-Bared Camp. The Lebanese army still exclusively controls the old camp as well as parts of the new camp.

Nahr al-Bared Camp used to be an economic center in the north of Trablous. Although the first shops and companies have reopened in Nahr al-Bared, they struggle with difficult economic conditions such as the siege of the camp.

This 16-minute film was produced in a small workshop in the camp. It deals with the current developments in Nahr al-Bared, focusing on economic aspects and on reconstruction.

The film can be watched and/or downloaded here:
http://a-films.blogspot.com/2008/10/videobetween-past-and-present.html

Please check the collective’s website for further videos on Nahr al-Bared:
http://a-films.blogspot.com/

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