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By Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate

22 June, 2010
Countercurrents.org

On Saturday 5th June, 2010, 35 heavily armed Israeli Navy Seals commandeered our boat, MV Rachel Corrie, one of the Freedom Flotilla, in International waters (30 miles off the coast of Gaza). As they did so, we 19 humanitarian activists and crew, sat on the deck.

We were quietly anxious, aware of the solitary figure in the wheelhouse with his hands held high against the window, in full view of the three Israeli warships, 4 approaching zodiacs and 2 commando carriers, whose guns were pointing in his direction. I personally wondered if the courageous Derek Graham would live to tell the tale, conscious of what happened on the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, earlier in the week.

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Labor for Palestine Salutes West Coast Dockers for Embargo on Israeli Cargo – Letter, Video and Press Reports

Report by Labor for Palestine
Published: 21/06/10

Video and Press Reports

June 21, 2010

ILWU President Bob McEllrath

Dear Pres. McEllrath:

Labor for Palestine salutes ILWU Local 10 and its members for refusing to unload the Israeli ship that arrived in Oakland on June 20 (see reports below).

Their action is in direct response to Israel’s May 31 brutal assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Taking place in international waters under cover of darkness, the Israeli attack targeted 750 unarmed volunteers from 40 countries seeking to relieve the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s siege of collective punishment against the 1. 5 million Palestinians in Gaza.

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UN Group: Israel Should Fully Lift Gaza Blockade
Institute for Public Accuracy
21 June 2010

While backers of Israel’s Gaza policy frequently claim security for Israel as the reason for the siege of Gaza, Sen. Charles Schumer stated recently that the real reason is a political goal. For text and video, see: “Schumer Says It ‘Makes Sense’ To ‘Strangle [Gaza] Economically’ Until It Votes The Way Israel Wants“

Amnesty International:
ISRAEL GAZA BLOCKADE MUST BE COMPLETELY LIFTED

The B u l l e t
Socialist Project • E-Bulletin No. 374
June 21, 2010

Workers’ Control and the Contradictions of the Bolivarian Process
An Interview with Gustavo Martínez

Susan Spronk and Jeffery R. Webber

On June 10, 2010 we caught up with Gustavo Martinez, a union leader in the worker-controlled, nationalized coffee company, Fama de América, in Caracas, Venezuela. The company has 350 workers at the national level, with two separate plants – one in Caracas and one in Valencia. We sat down with Martínez to discuss the centrality of workers’ control in the ongoing struggle to transition toward socialism and some of the most pressing contradictions of the Bolivarian process in Venezuela today.

[Read the interview]