As I was ordering a delicious zataar with labani from Forn Al-Hara’s in Little Arabia yesterday, I picked up a flyer for an important happening going down this weekend in Anaheim. The Muslim Public Affairs Council has organized a special event on Saturday at the Heritage Forum featuring an eyewitness account of Israeli’s attack of the Freedom Flotilla, a divestment and boycott organizer and live music. Ambassador Ed Peck was part of the international “Freedom Flotilla” that never reached the shores of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid it carried as part of its cargo. Nine activists aboard the Mavi Marmara were killed in the ensuing violence following a pre-dawn raid on May 31st. Israeli spin in the media has been constant ever since, but to get an idea of the perspective to be offered by Peck on Saturday evening, the retired diplomat spoke with CNN:
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MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati has said that Saturday’s ‘Set the Truth Free’ event is an opportunity to “raise our voices for the voiceless people of Gaza, who are suffering from one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent decades which is compounded by Israel’s blockade.” Locally, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has yet to echo Representative Keith Ellison’s call for an opening of Gaza’s border and an investigation into the violence that took place in international waters. Regardless of which way Sanchez’s political will bends, Anaheim, though vastly under reported, continues on as an important location for the U.S. based struggle for justice in Palestine. Saturday’s event is just the latest in a series.
To learn more about “Set the Truth Free” visit MPAC at: http://www.mpac.org/index.php
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