People First Media program archive
Header

Gaza mission, and arrests, raise awareness

November 8th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized

Jim Manly’s participation in a recent mission attempting to deliver aid to Gaza helps raise awareness of needs, issues

On October 16, 2012, a tall ship called The Estelle began its voyage from Greece to Gaza, carrying citizens from a number of countries, including Parliamentarians from Greece, Norway, Spain and Sweden, and retired Canadian Parliamentarian Jim Manly. The passengers were peaceful civilians committed to non violence; they carried a cargo of aid and communications equipment—and a symbolic cargo of solidarity with struggling Gazans.

The ship didn’t make it to Gaza. It was surrounded by Israeli war ships while in international waters on October 20, boarded and its passengers arrested. One of the Israeli passengers, later said that excessive force and tasers were used against them and that a Greek MP was beaten by security interrogators.

Jim Manly, the sole Canadian participant in the aid mission, arrived home on October 25. Jim Manly is a former Canadian Member of Parliament and a retired United Church Minister from Nanaimo, B.C.

We’re joined in the studio by Jim Manly.

434_november_08_2012_sm

Image: Jim and Eva Manly at the Vancouver International Airport prior to Jim’s departure for the Gaza mission.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback.