Friday, July 01, 2011
Audacity Tour
Tour of The Audacity of Hope, a US Ship Joining the Freedom Flotilla
One of the ships in the 10-vessel Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla is the U.S.-based "The Audacity of Hope," named after President Barack Obama's best-selling book. At least three dozen U.S. citizens are on board, carrying letters from Americans to the people of Gaza. Democracy Now! producer Aaron Maté and videographer Hany Massoud are in Greece to cover The Audacity of Hope's journey.
On Wednesday, Yonatan Shapira — a former Israeli Air Force pilot turned peace activist who is now a crew member on the U.S. boat — gave Democracy Now! a rare look inside the ship and talked about the threat of sabotage. "I see it as an obligation of me as an Israeli and a Jew to help steer the wheel of this boat into Gaza in order to challenge these war criminals, and to send this message to the Palestinian people, to the Palestinian children in Gaza and the rest of the world, that they are not alone and we support them, and one day, they will be free," Shapira said.