Creating a mix-match of cultures which he believes will create new flavors and/or give an old flavor a new twist. He might have been right. Take a dash American non-violence, add some collective action, backed up by an internationally recognized charity organization and sprinkle in some political support from a blossoming democratic power, flip it up in the air and you get the perfectly globalized phenomena -The Freedom Flotilla.

"What exactly is a flotilla?" My daughter asks as we watch a news report about the events on the Mavi Marmara. This flotilla is a small fleet of ships; which in this case were carrying aid and supplies to Gaza carrying over 300 individuals from 50 nationalities, several social justice and humanitarian activist organizations; put them on a Turkish ‘vapur', ferryboat filled with materials and supplies, accompanied by a group of smaller ships.

As the Mavi Marmara, the name of the largest boat in the flotilla, reached international waters, near Palestine, the Israeli commandos attacked the ship from sea and air. In the end, nine activists were killed and many were wounded. Iara Lee, an activist with Cultures of Resistance who was on the ship during the attack is still hopeful about the end result of the attack on a non-violent humanitarian aid effort. "Now those who were on the ship were sort of not really committed, they were not full time activists, but now after this, they want to do more to see that this blockade and other injustices are ended." She attributes this to the globalized distribution of the video of the attack as helping the cause of dismantling the blockade against Palestine.

On January 23, 2011, the Israeli Tirkel commission, which did and investigation on May 31, 2010, found that Israeli Defense Forces acted within the legal limits of the law. However the
Israeli army attack on the flotilla of aid ships caused such an uproar that now there are hundreds, if not thousands of international youth and rights activists organization determined to fight the injustice of that day which left nine dead and many others injured.

Benjamin Netanyahu remarked. "This wasn't the Love Boat." But wasn't it? Isn't an act of love to want justice for yourself and others? Lee, as well as other activists could have stayed home relaxing drinking and frolicking on the beach, but they didn't. And there are others ready to fight for them.

What?! On the lower deck of a ship the activists heard the announcement that they were being attacked and they were told to stay calm and not wanting to run out? I would've had a hard time staying serene, but Lee says she's proud that they stayed committed to non-violence. We were throwing water at the Zodiacs (the small black Israeli speed boats); we didn't resort to violence. There were no weapons on the ship." There are reports that there were sticks and knives, but compared to AK-47's they weren't weapons. Those moments may have seemed scary, but for some they were inspiring.


Inspired by the Mavi Marmara, several endeavors were made. , Horizon a video by. A young rap group called Code Rouge and Palestinian Generation, have produced an extremely powerful video titled Horizon, where a series of young people pick up the Palestinian flag and start running with it. A young Israeli officer stands waiting for something to do and he shoots the young girl, then the young man, By the end of the video nearly seven people have been slain, but then, when the young officer looks up from his gun, he sees a line of people in front of him and pust his gun down. There is no use in trying to shoot them all.

Another effort is the latest of the protest films called Valley of the Wolves: Palestine, which is a dramatic portrayal of what happened on the Mavi Marmara, taking it a step further where the hero, Polat Alemdar, sets out to fight for the cause of Palestine.

Lee was right when she said, that the flotilla incident was a catalyst for creating awareness. Shortly after the attack, she told me, "Even my mother who stays away from politics has become aware as a result. The other day I posted on my Facebook account that I am going again and I got 50 volunteers in two hours. People are tired of waiting for their government to make changes and help those who need it. So we have to take responsibility to change the mentality of just letting things happen." I find her enthusiasm exciting. Listening to her talk, I thought how can I help out?

Iara was one of those people, who now make up the growing coalition of individuals, social justice organizations and her new unwittingly favorite politician, Recip Tayyip Erdo?an, the prime minister of Turkey. "Erdo?an has an incredible sense of justice. I really don't like politicians, but he is the best. It was Erdo?an who sent Turkish Airline planes for us and took us all to Istanbul and from there sent us home for free. We contacted our embassies and they seemed really slow coming forward to help. When the US Embassy representative came she just took my information and left. It wasn't until the next morning, at 6 a.m. when we were awaken by a guard shouting that we were all going home. I thought that the US had arranged it but they hadn't done anything. In Istanbul it was the Brazilian Embassy that handled the logistics of getting a ticket to send me back to New York. With the backing of such leaders, perhaps some of the injustices, poverty, and strife can be diminished."

At the end of it all, Lee muses, "I am not sure that this was the best methodology, but our goal was to create awareness, and we achieved that." Her doubt comes as a result of that being really shocked by the reaction of the Israeli government. Nevertheless, she believes in people power. "This was a boat with men, women, and children, secular and devout; all committed to justice and service." It sounds like a love boat to me-one that could only float in our newly globalized world.

(The columnist is an independent researcher and columnist based from UAE)