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lehighvalleylive.com | July 22, 2010 Ann Wright joined flotilla of aid to Gaza Strip A retired U.S. Army colonel imprisoned while trying to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip told a Lehigh Valley audience Wednesday she's working toward a return mission to help end Israel's blockade on the region. Ann Wright, who resigned after 29 years of military service when the U.S. invaded Iraq, said her participation in the Free Gaza flotilla brought international attention to the problem of Israeli-Palestinian relations. She believes another flotilla planned for the fall will further those efforts. Nine people who took part in the flotilla were killed by Israeli troops stopping the group from bringing goods into the Gaza Strip. Wright said the troops could have easily stopped the ships, which were 70 miles off the coast of Gaza, without violence. She was on a different ship than the one where nine people were killed but she was among the hundreds imprisoned in Israel for several days. "We were trying to break open that gap and end the inhumanity to the people of Gaza," Wright told a group of 125 people gathered at Wesley United Methodist Church. "We did make a pledge of nonviolent resistance." The Lehigh Valley chapter of Veterans for Peace, Lehigh Pocono Committee of Concern and Peace & Justice Across Borders co-sponsored the event. The talk drew a diverse crowd, from a Palestinian woman who hasn't seen her family in Gaza for six years to independent congressional candidate Jake Towne. Veterans for Peace President Louise Legun said the groups invited Wright, who has spoken previously in the Lehigh Valley, to give a firsthand perspective of Israeli-Palestinian relations. "It seems in our country, we get a lot of one side of the issue," Legun said. "We're here to hear the other side. We're also here for the freedom of the Palestinian people." Unlike almost any other effort, Wright said, the attack on the flotilla brought international pressure on Israel. The Israeli government was forced to allow more goods into the Gaza Strip, where they greatly restrict commerce and travel, Wright said. "People all over the world were outraged about what happened," she said. "It's not over yet, though. This is just a small part. Nothing has changed about the movement of people." A larger flotilla is planned for the fall, and Americans are trying to raise $370,000 needed for their ship. Wright was one of only 14 Americans on the May flotilla. "People around the world are going to watch that," she said of the fall flotilla. The U.S. Boat to Gaza group has raised $70,000 so far. On Wednesday, the Lehigh Valley group contributed $1,679.
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