Talk by Gaza Freedom Flotilla Filmmaker

There will be an interesting talk on Friday night by a Gaza Freedom Flotilla Filmmaker. Please see the information at the Justice for Peace web site. An extract is below. It’s an opportunity to hear a first-hand account of what happened.

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Gaza Freedom Flotilla Filmmaker Speaks Out

When: Friday, July 9, 2010, 7:00 pm
Where: Calvary Church, 300 Mass. Ave., Arlington

Scott Hamann, 29 year old filmmaker from Portland, Maine, had joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla to document its mission when it fell victim to a deadly Israeli attack by IDF navy commandos. On July 9th he will speak about his first-hand experiences and show his own footage from the raid.

Nine passengers--among them a nineteen-year-old American citizen--were shot dead by Israeli forces when on May 31st they descended upon the Mavi Marmara passenger vessel in international waters in the dead of night. The flotilla, which carried more than 600 passengers from nearly 40 countries, was attempting to breach the illegal blockade of Gaza and to bring ten tons of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Scott was traveling on the Challenger I, an American-flagged ship, when it was forcibly overtaken by the Israeli military. He was brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod, detained and then deported along with hundreds of other activists, journalists and human rights workers.

Hamann will speak about his personal experience on the flotilla, the illegality of Israel’s actions, his detainment in Be’er Sheva Prison and about the shameless brutality of the Israeli police and Navy that he witnessed firsthand. Despite soldiers’ efforts to confiscate all media taken by flotilla passengers, Scott was able to smuggle out his own video footage of the Israeli raid.