FROM: Baltimore Solidarity with Palestine Facebook Event Page:

On November 15, 2011, young Palestinian activists are planning a bold new assertion of their human rights in the face of Israeli state-instituted segregation, and they are reaching out to American allies for support, especially in cities like Baltimore which know segregation and anti-segregation activism. On Tuesday, November 15, these Palestinian activists will attempt to board segregated local public buses headed to occupied East Jerusalem. Their act of civil disobedience is directly inspired by the Freedom Riders of the US Civil Rights Movement, and activists across the US are planning solidarity actions for the same day.

In Baltimore, there will be a demonstration at Penn Station during the evening rush hour, telling the story of the current Palestinian Freedom Rides through dramatic art and song. We will also explore the connections between the Palestinian and American struggles for human rights and against racism and exploitation. For example, the governments of both Israel and Baltimore City outsource large and unfair infrastructure projects to Veolia, a multinational corporation. In Palestine that looks like these bus lines which only serve Jewish-only settlements and solidify the settlements’ illegal land grabs. In Baltimore, Veolia’s projects are those like the Charm City Circulator, which serves only central, privileged neighborhoods, and heating and cooling systems for the highly subsidized, yet exclusive corporate projects of the Baltimore Development Corporation.

Tuesday’s action promises to be fun, educational, and a strong way for us to show our solidarity with these courageous and historic Freedom Rides.

Please mark your calendars and plan to join us on Tuesday, November 15th between 5:00 and 7:00pm.

Click here for more background on the Freedom Riders Protest in Palestine/Israel.

I stress first-hand because the propaganda that comes by way of American media, many popular preachers, and most corporate politicians, presents a certain narrative that dehumanizes Palestinians, proclaims a theology that sanctions segregation and discrimination, and consistently frames Israeli society as being vulnerable and under attack despite the fact that the Israeli Military is the most advanced in the region largely because of the $3 Billion dollars of Foreign Military Financing provided by American taxpayers.

I don’t know when, but at some point I began to become conscious of and question that narrative. I’m glad that I did because my doubts about what was being force-fed to me ultimately propelled me to sign up for a delegation with Interfaith Peace Builders last year.

With support from Sabeel, the church I serve, and family/friends, I landed at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel in May 2010 as a part of a delegation of about 30 people from around the U.S. From the minute we arrived my eyes began to open to the reality and complexity of the situation. During the orientation before the trip, I had been warned that people of color are viewed and treated with suspicion by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the warning came to fruition during the first 10 minutes of my being in the country. In a delegation of about 30 people making our way through the airport after a 14-some hour flight; I was singled out by Israeli soldiers with high-powered guns (now I’m wondering if they were made in the U.S.) and interrogated extensively. The two soldiers seemed determined to grill me and send me a message that I wasn’t welcome there. They only relented when one of the delegation leaders, Anna Baltzer, came to inquire about what was going on. Despite the warning that I was given prior to the trip, I walked away from that experience not only upset that I had been accosted clearly because of the color of my skin, but also because it took the color of my group leader’s skin (White) to “free me.”

After a few more experiences like that during the following days, my soul was in need of nourishment. Being the only African person in the group, it took a lot of emotional and spiritual energy for me to withstand the overt venom of that oppressive society. And while I enjoyed the company and kindness of my group-mates, I experienced an unnatural high when I finally saw somebody in Israel that looked like me.

First off, I never even imagined that there were African people in Israel. It’s not a part of the narrative that’s projected in the U.S. so I had no expectation to see “me” there. But there she was at the so-called Wailing Wall. She was an attendant there whose job was to help preserve the sanctity of the site by asking female tourists to cover themselves if it was deemed that they were revealing too much skin. She must have thought I was crazy when I practically bumrushed her with a big country smile. Showing all my teeth and gums I introduced myself and then ran my finger along my brown arm unsure if she would understand my english. I had to send her a message about the joy I was feeling related to our obvious connection.

It turned out that she did speak some english and I learned that she, like many Africans in Israel, was from Ethiopia and came to Israel because of religious reasons. She embraces Judaism and considered Israel her “Promised Land”. However, shortly after being attracted and relocating to Israel, she learned that the land was not so promising to its darker citizens. She shared with me some of the challenges that she and other African people face in Israel and said that as soon as she can earn enough money from her low-wage job that she was heading to Canada because she heard that there was no discrimination there. I inquired about the whereabouts of other African people in Israel and she provided some insight. As the trip progressed, I met and engaged many other African people as well – even African IOF soldiers. It really was an unexpected treat to my trip.

Which is why I’m so excited that Interfaith Peace Builders has now organized an African Heritage Delegation to Palestine/Israel. During my trip I realized that as foreign as the “Middle East” conflict feels (again because of the accepted narrative); American Africans who travel there will find it deeply familiar. The African Heritage Delegation, comprised of just African (Black) people, will explore the parallels between the struggles of Africans in the U.S. and Palestinians and their allies in Israel. The cross-context learning and sharing that will take place with strengthen all involved.

This very important delegation is in need of your support. Many of the persons hoping to join this trip are in need of financial scholarships in order to go. Your financial contribution to Interfaith Peace Builders will go directly to somebody’s delegation costs – not to salaries or overhead obligations. Because of the amazing financial support that I received last year, I have committed myself to helping fund one of the delegates trips this year. Will you help me to help somebody else?

Visit Interfaith Peace Builders’ website and find out more about how you can support the African Heritage Delegation and a just peace in Palestine/Israel.

Our second home-stay was in the Palestinian town of Bil’in. This was a little different experience because when we arrived in Bil’in, we were taken to the path where villagers and international supporters (including Nobel Peace Prize Winners) have engaged in nonviolent marches every Friday for the past 5 years! The path leads to what the Israeli Government calls a Separation Fence, but what Bil’in residents call an “apartheid wall”. Members of the town march every week with creative and courageous flair as an act of defiance to the Israeli occupation. On the other side of the apartheid wall lies the fields of Bil’in’s farmers – their olive trees and arable land. It is their main source of economic viability – stolen by the Israeli Government and guarded by Israeli Occupation Forces.

Our host family in Bil’in showed us the evidence of the Israeli soldier’s response to their nonviolent march. The path was littered with tear gas canisters and bullet casings. These unarmed people bravely march every Friday for freedom despite the reality of violent reprisal by their armed oppressors.

The latest act of retaliation by the Israeli Occupation Forces came this week when one of the children of my host family in Bil’in was arrested along with two of his friends. Fourteen-year-old, Majde Burnat, is an energetic and mature boy who helped welcome my delegation to his town. He assisted his father, Iyad, in showing us around and making sure we had what we needed. I really took to Majde because he and I had digital SLR cameras and were documenting this historic visit. At 14-years-old, little Majde took his photography responsibility seriously! He was stooping down and climbing pillars to get just the right shot of these visitors from America who came to stand in solidarity with his people.

Majde Burnat

Additionally, he courageously documents and participates in his community’s nonviolent resistance against Israeli Apartheid. Instead of playing on playgrounds, kicking the football around, and chasing little girls, one of the main preoccupations of this 14-year-old’s childhood centers on the Israeli Government’s oppression of his people. Last Friday, during the freedom march to the Apartheid Wall, Majde passed out from tear gas that was shot into an unarmed Palestinian crowd by Israeli Soldiers. Majde was there as he usually is to take a stand for freedom and human rights. As soon as I heard about him being injured, I contacted his father, Iyad, to check on him.

This week I have learned that little Majde has been arrested along with two of his friends by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Just like African American students in the Jim Crow South were some of this country’s martyrs (Emmett Till, The Four Little Girls killed in the Birmingham Church bombing, etc.); Palestinian children are not exempt from vicious and cruel attacks of Israel’s Apartheid. The IOF arrested Majde and his friends, questioned them for three hours, and took them away for imprisonment with their parents and families not knowing what will happen to their little boys.

14-year-old, Majde Burnat and his friends are in prison right now because of the “sin” of their ethnicity. Nothing more. They are Palestinians and in Israel that’s crime enough.

Click here to learn more about occupation and the nonviolent resistance in the indomitable village of Bil’in.

John Hagee supports Tree Planting Campaign in Israel

Those of you who know me or have been reading my blog for a little while know that I have a heart for “Simple Living” – an alternative Way of life that juts against the grain of popular, consumeristic culture. This affinity for alternative living has engendered in me a deep appreciation for the environment – a part of what my Bible calls “God’s good creation”.

You can imagine my surprise and dismay, then when I learned that the Israeli Government and pseudo-government agencies plant trees in Israel not so much in reverence for Creation, but as an environmental attack on Palestinian existence. One of the sinister purposes of these Tree Planting Campaigns is not only to expropriate land from Palestinians, but to conceal the remains of their villages which they were forced from. When I was in Israel driving along the Israeli-only highways, we were often surrounded by a canopy of trees. Little did I know, that hiding in the shade of said trees was evidence that Palestinians used to live there.

This was made utterly clear to our group when we visited Saffuriyya. Most of what remains of this Palestinian village is an old Palestinian cemetery and hidden under the canopy of trees are dilapidated structures that provide proof that somebody – or in this case somebodies lived there. The Isareli Military bombed the town in 1948 during Operation Dekel and forced inhabitants from their village. After the village was attacked and the Palestinians were ran out, the town of Saffuriyya was claimed by the modern state of Israel and is now called Tzippori. Palestinians who fled the bombings of Saffuriyya in 1948 were forbidden by Israel from returning to their village and then fell victim to Israel’s Absentee Property Law. (Source – scroll to the bottom half of page)

Below you will see a picture of our guide, Ziad, showing us a pre-1948 Palestinian calendar which features a landscape photograph of Saffuriyya compared to the same landscape view now. The Jewish National Fund which solicits support from synagogues, churches, and people from all over the world has used the collected monies in part to blot out the view of the remains of Saffuriyya with an awning of trees. They don’t even want you to know that people used to live here because then you might begin asking questions like: “What happened to the people who lived here?” “Where did they go?” “Where are they now?” and “Are they allowed to come back to their ancestral village?”

Ziad shows us how Tree Planting campaigns help erase Palestinian Villages in Israel

Ziad, who’s father and grandfather lived in Saffuriyya, is one of the few Palestinians who are allowed to come back just to maintain the ancient Palestinian cemetery.

As you can see in the picture at the top of this article, Pastor John Hagee is supporting this malicious effort by encouraging visitors to his website to “plant your roots in Israel”. Don’t be mistaken, Hagee has not been baptized in the pool of Creation Care or Environmental concern. He is not looking to fight global warming or do his Christian duty to help in the absorption of carbon dioxide. He is using the influence of his name and worldwide ministry to help blot out Palestinian existence. It becomes clearer when you click through on the link. Couching his effort in an ignorant and random selection of scripture from the prophet, Isaiah, three times Hagee uses the word “barren” to get you to believe that no one lived on the land in which these trees will be planted. He describes Jews as the “faithful stewards of the land” leaving the door open for you to conclude that even if there was someone else on the land in which these trees are being planted, they are not the “faithful stewards”.

As we left Saffuriyya on our bus, one of my co-delegates from Canada told us about how she remembers seeing the blue “Plant a Tree for Israel” boxes in her synagogue while growing up and how it was strongly encouraged to do good for the environment and for Israel by planting a tree. She expressed dismay at how the acts of her goodwill were used to do ill toward Palestinians.

I have no doubt that Tree Planting Campaigns as a feature of oppressing Palestinians will one day have its own special chapter in the history books to come. I just pray that the chapter also includes names of the villages and the stories of the people who are currently prisoner in the shade of Occupation.

Pastor John Hagee

In terms of slavery in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, Catholic Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore was a slave owner and Patrick Lynch, bishop of Charleston not only was a slaver owner, but published a pamphlet in defense of slavery. Additionally, it is reported that the Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) had more than 400 slaves working on their Maryland plantations.

The Roman Catholic Church was also involved in the genocide and Stolen Generations of the Aboriginals in Australia which prompted Pope John Paul II to offer an official apology in November 2001.

It’s been said of Apartheid in South Africa that without the support of the Dutch Reformed Church, it would not have survived as long as it did. While there were many members of the clergy and representatives of churches that challenged apartheid, the Dutch Reformed Church was helping to prop it up. In fact, the South African Prime Minister who led the campaign for complete segregation, Daniel Francois Malan, was a Dutch Reformed Minister.

A few years ago, I was deeply moved to read the confession of Father George Zabelka. He was the Airforce Chaplain for the U.S. airmen who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. He was the one who used God’s name to quiet the conscience of conflicted airmen as they prepared to murder en masse. Years after, he came to deeply regret his role in using the cross of Jesus Christ to justify the annihalation of innocent civilians and penned his conversion in a piece entitled, “Blessing the Bombs.”

I am becoming more and more convinced that Pastor John Hagee will one day be viewed as being a part of this unfortunate fraternity of clergy who were trusted to preach the truth of God and instead proclaimed a lie. For his personal and political gain, he is preaching a message of separation, discrimination, and occupation in light of Palestinian people. Apartheid literally means “separateness“.

And what I saw while in Palestine/Israel with Interfaith Peace Builders was state-sponsored separateness based on ethnicity. There are different laws in Israel based on your ethnicity alone. For example, there are Israeli-only roads that Palestinians are prohibited from driving on. (Imagine the outcry if there were “White-only” highways in today’s American cities.)

SOURCE: Annainthemiddleeast.com

Furthermore, Palestinians have a white and green license plate on their car. If you’re Israeli you have a yellow license plate. If you’re a Palestinian driver you are subjected to checkpoints (stationary and “flying checkpoints”) where you must stop and present information to an Israeli soldier about who you are, where you’re going and your car may be subjected to a search just because you’re Palestinian. Even with all of this the soldier still may not allow you pass the checkpoint – no matter the urgency of your situation. These are just two of the MANY discriminatory practices that hound Palestinian lives.

Just being a Palestinian is a crime in Israel and there are a mountain of laws to prosecute you for that “crime”. The laws that Israel has enacted to occupy the lives of Palestinians in Palestine/Israel is in many instances identical to the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws that Africans in America endured.

There is growing international awareness of the occupation and oppression of Palestinians. The Government of South Africa funded and coordinated an International Legal Study entitled “Is Israel an Apartheid State? Do Israel’s Practices in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Amount to Crimes of Apartheid under International Law?” The conclusion was that Israel’s practices in these territories constitute both colonialism and apartheid.

This is the system that Pastor John Hagee is staunchly defending. In his role as pastor and televangelist, he is invoking the name of God on the suffering and murder of innocent people and while he should be censured by responsible clergy, he is welcomed into pulpits across America.

(In fact, this weekend, Bishops in the Baltimore area – Bishop Harry Jackson and Bishop Clifford Johnson are opening the doors of the Black Church to his apartheid sermon. How sad and ironic it is that the descendants of American slaves are providing sanctuary to a sermon of state-sponsored segregation!)

Future days will show that Pastor John Hagee is decidedly on the wrong side of history and is the vocal leader of an egregious movement to affix God’s stamp of approval on this devastating social sin.

As Lincoln and Mamiya point out, for Black Christians it was (and is) in the context of oppression that there was “greater weight given to the biblical views of the importance of human personality and human equality implicit in the ‘children of God” (SOURCE: The Black Church in the African American Experience) He goes on to describe how the Black Church’s understanding of Christianity is “premised on the rock of antiracial discrimination” – a feature that is not central to the White Church.

Pastor John Hagee

The doors of the Black Church should be closed to Pastor John Hagee not because of his race or personality, but he should not be welcome in the Black Church because of his message.

Not necessarily his theological justification and insensitivity of the nearly 2,000 people killed during the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina…though that would be issue enough. Not necessarily because of his advertised “slave auction” at his San Antonio, Texas church as a fundraiser…though that certainly would be enough.

But the doors of the Black Church should be closed in Hagee’s direction because of his racist and discriminatory theology as it relates to Palestine/Israel. Hagee is founder and director of Christians United for Israel and is one of the country’s most vocal Christian Zionist. Christian Zionism is an exclusive form of theology which views the modern state of Israel as the fulfillment of God’s covenant with biblical Israel. It promotes exclusive Jewish ownership of the land of Israel, views Jews as God’s “Chosen People,” expresses hostility and hatred for Arabs and Palestinians, and believes that the gathering of Jews in modern Israel will usher in the end of history and the return of Jesus Christ. (even if that gathering of Jews in Israel includes the theft, oppression, and occupation of Palestinian people and land.)

Christian Zionism is founded on an ultraliteral and uncritical interpretation of the Bible which has mutated into a vile political agenda. In the name of obedience to scripture, Christian Zionism promotes intolerance, occupation of Palestinian people, discrimination, and sacredly sanctioned human rights abuses by the Israeli Government and Military.

What Pastor John Hagee is doing in the name of Christian Zionism is akin to what American slave masters did in the name of justifying the enslavement of my ancestors in this country. They used a perverse reading of the Holy Bible to provide divine sanction for the dehumanization and oppression of my forebearers. Hagee shares kinship with a long line of ministerial miscreants who misinterpret scripture for personal gain. To be clear: John Hagee is to Arabs, Palestinians, and Muslims in general, what the supporters of slavery where to Africans in America.

The doors of the Black Church should be closed to Pastor John Hagee, but unfortunately they are not. With a nod to the high level of biblical illiteracy and uncritical acceptance of any preacher that has a television platform, I have encountered an alarming number of African American Christians who embrace John Hagee’s message. Not just laity, but in fact, local Bishops of the Baltimore Metropolitan area have opened their pulpits to a man who could care less about their congregation or community and who simply wants to pimp Black pulpits for personal and political gain.

Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville is hosting Hagee on Sunday, July 11, 2010 7PM. Jackson, a conservative and political right-leaning African American clergyman, characterizes Hagee as having a “timely message for our community and nation.” It’s very explicitly communicated on the website that Hagee will be representing Christians United for Israel during the event.

John Hagee flyer on Hope Christian Church Website

Bishop Clifford Johnson of Mt. Pleasant Ministries in Baltimore is also promoting a breakfast with Hagee slated for Monday, July 12, 2010 9AM – 11AM. Though it cannot be found on his church website, Bishop Johnson has mailed out this invitation inviting clergy to share in a breakfast where Hagee will be talking about “Evangelism, Church Growth, and Bible Prophecy Concerning Israel.”

Bishop Clifford Johnson's Hagee Breakfast Letter

Additionally, Hagee will be at Evangel Cathedral in Upper Marlboro, Maryland where Bishop Don Meares, a White pastor leads a congregation with a significant African American and Hispanic population. This CUFI event, “Unidos por Israel“, is specifically targeting Hispanics on Sunday, July 18, 2010 11AM.

These events are clearly Hagee’s attempt to garner support and no doubt, funds from African American and Hispanic Christians as he makes his way to the 2010 Legislative Summit for Christians United for Israel in D.C. from July 20 – 22, 2010. Unsuspecting and ill-informed Christians, with the permission of their Bishops, will be exposed to a message of intolerance, racial discrimination, and theological perversion in the name of Jesus Christ. They will hear about a God who has a perpetual preference for Jews over all other people and has divinely sanctioned the slaughter of Palestinians in the Middle East.

Therefore it is time for Christians of conscience… Christians who remember God’s heart for the marginalized and Jesus’ commitment to the disinherited to stand up and publicly rebuke Hagee’s message of hate, ethnic discrimination, and intolerance. Of all people, Black folks know the pain of being persecuted by the perverse theology of White pastors. We should identify in very intimate ways with Hagee’s assault on Palestinian humanity and his support of Israeli Apartheid. The Zionist message should not find sanctuary in the Christian Church and most certainly not the Black Church! The doors of the church should be closed!

In the days following the attack, thousands of Palestinians, Israelis, and Internationals stood together in solidarity to decry the attack and raise our voices in resistance to the Israeli Occupation.

In this video, I marched in a nonviolent demonstration with many others in the Palestinian cultural city of Ramallah. While marching, I was able to interview a passionate Palestinian community activist who had a special message for American citizens.

Israel's Apartheid Wall

Thanks be to God, I have safely returned to my family and community from my two week trip to Palestine/Israel. As most of you know, I was away with a delegation from a group called Interfaith Peace Builders. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone considering such a trip to go with an organization like this. With the support of so many (including family, churches, and Friends of Sabeel – an international peace movement initiated by Palestinian Christians in the “Holy Land.”), I received an intense course on the Middle East Conflict. Our delegation, co-led by two phenomenal women – Anna Baltzer and Cathy Sultan – was filled with approximately 29 amazing people from all over the country and many parts of the world. Together, we connected with courageous activists who helped show us what it means to be Human while under the boot of apartheid today. I will never forget my new friends and family. It is impossible for me to be the same person that I was just two weeks ago. In Christian language, it would be most appropriate to say that I have been “born again.”

I went to Palestine/Israel with a knowledge base grounded in my research, writings, and attendance at Middle East conferences. However, now I possess first-hand knowledge of what is going on in Palestine/Israel. While I was witness and participant in joyful, laughter-filled, fun moments while there, I also had a front row seat to how the Israeli Government and much of the Israeli Society actively sanctions the oppression and discrimination of Palestinian people solely based on their ethnicity. That, ladies and gentleman, is called Apartheid – a word most commonly associated with South Africa which literally means “separateness.”

The picture of the wall above is a concrete example (no pun intended) of the lengths to which the Israeli Government will go to separate and segregate the Palestinian community. These walls, which are built in the name of “security”, can be found all over the country separating Palestinians from families, fields, jobs, medical support, educational desires, recreational opportunities, and ancestral homeland. I heard about the Apartheid Wall, but actually standing in its shadow was a surreal experience. It has left an indelible mark in my mind about the reality of state-sanctioned oppression and will serve as one of the embers that fuel my activism on this issue for years to come. The sad part is that the wall is only one pillar in Israeli’s Apartheid program. There is MUCH more that I must share about what I believe to be my generation’s historic challenge and opportunity to strike a blow for justice during our lifetime.

It was good for me to be there in Palestine/Israel, but it is just as good for me to be home so that I can amplify the stories that I saw, heard, and experienced while there. For any who might be reading this in the Baltimore Metropolitan area, I would welcome the opportunity to come and share about my experience. Feel free to contact me. I also am connected to many others in the world who would relish the chance to share what they’ve experienced as well.

Thank you for your prayers and support while I was away. I am deeply thankful for you. Stay tuned as I continue to process and unpack my experience in Palestine/Israel.

In Solidarity,

Heber M. Brown, III

However, this year, Memorial Day has meant a day of mourning and focused anger. Humanitarians from Turkey and other parts of the world set sail in a grouping of ships to deliver 10,000 tons of aid to Palestinians who are trapped behind the concrete walls of an Israeli blockade.

As many in the world know by now, as the ships, known as the Freedom Flotilla approached the coast of Gaza, the Israeli Military attacked. Initial reports indicated that nearly 20 people were killed and many more were wounded by the assault by the Israeli soldiers. This brazen act of murder on the sea invited condemnation by many in the world.

My delegation had been watching the news of the Freedom Flotilla and were praying its safe arrival in the Gaza Strip. We knew that the 1.5 million Palestinians there needed it. We had just been at the Gaza Strip – at the Erez Crossing which is currently the only way that people can get in and out. The Israeli Occupation Soldiers were obviously irritated by our presence and after conversing with a few Palestinians, speaking with the Occupation officer at the front gate, and taking a few pictures, we left.

You can imagine our dismay and anger then we woke this morning to the news that the Israeli Occupation Forces opened fire upon the humanitarian vessels. Because the Israeli Occupation Forces are never held accountable by the world community, they act with tremendous violence without hesitation.

Demonstrations where held across Palestine/Israel today and our delegation ended in the major Palestinian cultural city of Ramallah. After a morning meeting, we made our way downtown, jumped off of our bus, and many of us joined the hundreds in the streets in nonviolent protest. People from all over the world were here marching and chanting together in solidarity. I’ve participated in street demonstrations for the past decade or more, but I’ve never felt a rush like I did today – knowing that I had the opportunity not to just watch the news in Baltimore and shake my head in disgust, but I was granted the chance to actually be on the ground in Palestine to show my support for justice and peace. While marching, clapping, and chanting in the middle of the city center, I wondered what my family and friends would see in the american media back home. I wondered if some “news” agency would get a clip of the march and send it around the world framing it as just a small group of Palestinian militants calling for “death to Israel”. It’s an implication that’s used regularly in the U.S. media, but today I knew that storyline was wrong – not just from head knowledge, but from heart experience.

I will never forget those who gave their lives today for freedom and justice. People who were just trying to help were slaughtered at sea. Now the question is will the United States – Israel’s greatest international financier and defender in the U.N. Security Council move past words and hold Israel accountable. I guess we’ll see soon.

In memory of the martyrs from the Freedom Flotilla,

Heber

I am in Palestine/Israel right now with a delegation from Interfaith Peace Builders to learn more about the conflict here. We have been here for a week and have been meeting with people on all sides of this issue. We have visited the Gaza Strip and Palestinian refugee camps while here.

We have also been following the news related to the Freedom Flotilla that left Turkey in an effort to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip who are currently under blockade by the Israeli Government.

We were shocked this morning to learn that the Israeli Military boarded one of the ships of the Freedom Flotilla and killed at least 10 of the unarmed passengers and wounded 30 others. This is outrageous! Innocent people have been killed while trying to deliver aid to the 1.5 million Palestinians who are trapped in the world’s largest open-air prison.

I strongly urge you to explore every avenue available to you to bring to justice those who were involved in this murder and to end the blockade of the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Upon my return, I will immediately be in contact with your office to explore this matter further.

Because of the substantial financial and material support that the United States Government provides to the Israeli Government and its military; we are complicit in this atrocity as well.

Sincerely,

Pastor Heber M. Brown, III