Let the sun shine - Greenpeace Middle East tour 2007

Impressions of beyrouth

2007-04-18T09:10:58Z

by Penny, Greetings from the Rainbow Warrior We have been in Beirut for two weeks now. I am reaccustomed to women who do not cover their hair and faces. There are women here who are veiled, but most aren't. It's odd, Beirut has long been in my mind as one of those dodgy places that I would love to visit but never thought that I would. In the 1980's, when I started to become aware of politics, Lebanon was a war zone. So my first, and most enduring, impression of this city is of a city at war or under siege. There are definitely aspects of that in this hilly city. Soldiers are found on every corner. At some intersections, military dudes lounge atop tanks, parked behind orange pylons. Yesterday I saw a soldier casually having a smoke and a chat while leaning on his civilian buddies motorbike. Here, as in all the other countries we have visited on this tour, I am obviously a foreigner. Many of the military personnel I pass while walking the streets of the city greet me and try to engage me in conversation. This is in stark contrast to the hostile and confrontational nature of the american military we encountered in Bahrain. Beyrouth is a mixture of old and new, bombed and pristine. There is the hulk of a Holiday Inn just up from the harbour where we are moored. Damaged in one or another bombing of the city, it stands whole, it's drained pool at its feet glowing turquoise amid the wreckage. I know this building was/is? a Holiday Inn due to its distinctive 1970's Holiday Inn architecture, visible in many cities of the world. Much of the downtown core has undergone extensive construction and rebuilding. Here there is a much more visible military presence, soldiers stationed on all corners. I don't actually care much for this newly created neighborhood. It somehow fails to capture the beauty of Beyrouth's older areas. Until very recently the city had a height restriction for apartment buildings. Beyrouth rises in a series of hills out of the sea, which means that most of the buildings had sea views. Now, like many "modern" cities, there are a number of new high rises sprouting along the water's edge, obscuring the views of all behind them. Two of these 35+ story buildings are located right in front of the Warrior. It is fascinating to watch the speed with which they are being constructed. There are many cranes, working 6-7 days a week, 10 hours a day. The noise is quite loud during the day. At the end of the workday we can see a line of construction workers hanging out on the balcony of one of these unfinished buildings, having what we surmise is a cold beer. The view must be magnificent. The other day I went on a shopping mission with the chief mate. I call it a mission because, in a foreign country, shopping for specific ship's spares becomes a mixture of perseverance, luck, and tons of patience. We had jumped into a taxi to go to an area of town that was supposed to have hardware and paint and electrical shops. Unfortunately for us, this was Friday the 13th and the anniversary of the start of the war here. That meant that in addition to a number of demonstrations going on in the city, the traffic was horrendous. After trying to get us to our desired destination for 55 minutes, our frustrated taxi driver dumped us off on a corner. We knew that we were somewhere in the vicinity of the neighborhood we were looking for....but had no idea in which direction to head. A couple of hours later we had had some small success at locating varnish and paintbrushes and were in desperate need of caffeine. However we were obviously in a caffeine free zone. Finally stumbling upon "Patisserie Robert" we gratefully plunked ourselves down in one of the two little tables outside and waited for someone to come and bring us coffee. The patisserie was ill named as there was not one cake, cookie, bread, or any food at all in fact. It looked like it had at one time been a patisserie, there were display cases and a stack of cardboard cake boxes on one of the counters. This dude dressed in a suit, asked us if he could help us and Jolien asked for coffee. After inquiring as to whether we would like american, espresso or arabian coffee he wandered off into the back. A little while later he came back out with a pot of arabic coffee, glasses of water and a bowl of sugar. In the meantime, a couple of other suits came and went with money and bits of paper. Jolien and I came to the conclusion that perhaps this was a bookie's shop, a location to place bets. After finishing our coffee we asked the dude how much we owed him. He looked over from his television (parked right in middle of the patisserie) and said that the coffee was complimentary and anytime we came by we were welcome to take coffee. I still don't know what business is actually conducted in the Patisserie Robert, but the coffee was delicious.

8 Months ago

2007-04-15T21:56:00Z

8 Months ago the Rainbow Warrior was in Beirut to help in the oil spill recovery plans. At that time, the ship was documenting almost all the contaminated spots along the Mediterranean Sea off the Lebanese cost. Arek a 17 and a bit years old, a volunteer from the Lebanese office didn't make it to the ship due to age restrictions. Arek tonight turned 18 and we had a small party hosted on the rainbow warrior for him. To Arek whom we remember did cry passionately 8 months ago for not being able to join the ship during the oil spill cleanup, To you Arek we say: "Man you are lucky to have your 18th birthday on the Rainbow". Happy Birthday Arek and we wish you a life full of peace and love. ps: we are waiting for you blog entry on this one...

A Rainbow in Gloomy Beirut

2007-04-15T01:58:08Z

From Basma, The Rainbow Warrior as it docked in the Beirut Marina, downtown.

Captain's blog: Mike's Week: 26-31 March

2007-04-13T07:15:46Z

Monday 26 March We sailed with sand and very little water. Phil had written "SAILOR'S SHOWERS" in bright green chalk on the black board in the mess room - water was costly in Egypt. To fill our tanks would have cost over a thousand dollars for twenty cubic meters. We were a sailing ship of the desert. The engine was off and the propeller was feathering. Rainbow Warrior was being driven at six knots by a fresh north- westerly wind across the south-eastern sector of the Mediterranean Sea, in a weather forecast area known as Crusade. But the weather charts did not prepare us for what happened next. I was at the desk in my cabin, writing. Dinner had been particularly good. The Mexican chef and puppeteer, Daniel, had served stuffed courgettes and a mushroom sauce over wild rice. The phone rang. It was Jolien from the bridge deck. As I listened to her voice I watched the sea rushing past my open porthole - it was closer due to the wind heeling the ship over to starboard. I noticed too that it had changed from blue to inky black. 'There's a squall ahead of us,' the chief mate said. 'We've got to reef the sails'. Hurriedly I put my boots on and battened down the porthole, then rushed up to the bridge to find a glowing green stripe on the radar screen, that of a line squall about a mile ahead of us. The ship speed was eight knots. Stomping crews' feet came up the stairs and onto the bridge. Crew slipped into their banana-yellow oilskins, then out of the bridge wing door and onto the deck. I put on my blue raincoat and followed them - the wind was bracing. Upon returning to the shelter of the bridge the wind had become quite fierce. It was also backing, changing direction. The first large rain drops where starting to hit the deck. The reefed jib and mizzen were all that remained out, both the fore and main sail were completely home. Lightening bolts came down all around us, casting mysterious shadows of masts onto the lit-up sails. It started pouring. All the desert sand washed down from the tops of the masts and the sides of the accommodation superstructure; it ran onto the decks forming tributaries that ran to the ship side merging into muddy rivers before whirl-pooling into creamy-coffee spirals down the scupper pipes. It looked good and felt cleansing. There had been no forecast for squalls for the Crusade. The storm was heaven sent. Tuesday 27 March But the wind never returned and by sunrise we were forced to start up the main engine again. The Israeli navy called us up over the VHF when we reached fifty miles off the coast of Israel. Then Haifa radio asked us to check their DSC transmission on 2187 kHz. We followed this up with a radio check on MF. I thought back to a time, must have been fifteen years ago, certainly it was before the end of Apartheid. I was the second mate on a large 'cape size' bulk carrier, three football fields in length; nine hatches filled with coal. The cargo had been loaded in Richards Bay and we had traveled all the way around the bulge of Africa, through the straits of Gibraltar and across the Mediterranean. We were destined for the Hadera coal-fired power station in Israel. The journey took four weeks. On passing the island of Malta, a hawk and a dozen small finch-like birds (all land birds) got blown off the island to find refuge on the bulk carrier. The officers-of-the-watch witnessed the final days of the voyage filled with flights to the death as the hawk pursued the little ones around towering mushroom ventilators, each ending in an explosion of feathers. Yet, as the air battles raged on deck, so did two navies battle on the sea. Well, they weren't real battles, just the Israeli and South African navies practicing war maneuvers in the Crusade. I remember listening in to their communications over the marine-band radio. South Africa and Israel were allies during the Apartheid era. They shared military technology and perhaps even developed South Africa's atomic bomb together. I was shocked to find out, at the turn of the millennium, that South Africa had a secret nuclear weapons program. I was even more shocked to discover that atmospheric testing of a nuclear bomb had been conducted off Cape Town. But I was relieved to learn that it was all in the past, that the new democratic government had dismantled our nuclear arsenal and destroyed it. South Africa is now Nuclear Weapons free. Wednesday 28 March Rainbow Warrior is alongside in Haifa, Israel. A Dolphin class diesel- powered submarine, capable of firing cruise missiles tipped with nuclear war heads, is dry-docked across the way from us. It is German built - the best come from Kiel. Somewhere there must be two others, for Israel has three of them. It is widely believed that Israel has in the region of 200 nuclear warheads, the only country to have its own nuclear weapons arsenal in the Middle East. But Israel has a policy of "ambiguity" - a neither- confirm-nor-deny policy regarding its nuclear capability. Israel refuses to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities. The Israeli nuclear program is military by nature, it has no energy program. The Dimona reactor provides irradiated fuel from which plutonium is extracted in the co-located reprocessing facility and then turned into plutonium metal required to make the pit components for a nuclear weapon. The facilities are capable of an average weekly production of 1.2 kilograms of pure plutonium, enough for 4-12 nuclear weapons per year. Production started in the 1960's. Not far from Haifa are Eilabun and Yodefat. Eilabun is a tactical nuclear weapon storage facility and Yodefat is a nuclear weapons assemblage facility. There is a consensus in Israel, among decision makers and the public, that nuclear arsenal is essential if Israel is to survive as an independent nation. It seems that Israel will not disarm until there is peace in the Middle East and the surrounding countries will not make peace until Israel disarms. Thursday 29 March The Rainbow Warrior dropped her anchor close to Tel Aviv, outside the old port of Jaffa, the port from which Jonah set sail to meet his whale. We had steamed through the night to arrive in time for a morning press conference being held on the beach. The Rainbow Warrior - symbol of peace - formed the backdrop. Yonatan, from Greenpeace Israel, held out a map for the cameras to zoom in on - a map pinpointing Israel's nuclear sites. Though this information is publicly available on the Internet (and from sources such as the US Intelligence Community), it is not publicly discussed in Israel. At the press conference today our two speakers broached the policy of ambiguity and the stated a need to shift away from security and secrecy, towards confidence building and transparency. The public has a right to know about risks to health and environment that surround them. Israel has two 'research' reactors, but no nuclear power production. Not far from Tel Aviv is the Kfar Zekharya nuclear missile base and gravity bomb storage facility. Israel is not ready to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The map and our message were covered by all three major TV stations and published in, among others, the Hebrew daily newspaper "Yediot Achronot". The minister for Defense of the Environment cancelled his visit to the ship. Back on board the Rainbow Warrior, before lifting up the anchor, we were visited by Israel's most famous world music performer, Yair Dalal. Yair played his string-instrument and the Israeli volunteers sang along. Although I did not know the meanings to the Hebrew words, I sang along too - just sounding them tasted like honey. Friday 30 March 'Greenpeace started in 1971 with a boat that sailed from Vancouver to Alaska in protest of America testing a nuclear BOMB. The following year a little yacht, flying the Greenpeace flag, protested against nuclear testing off the island of Muroroa. It was rammed by a French navy war ship. The year after that, the same little boat went back to protest again. Its crew was beaten up by French marines. Four years later Greenpeace bought a boat and called it the Rainbow Warrior. It sailed for eight years before it was bombed in 1985 - by the French secret service - for bearing witness to their nuclear weapons testing.' I spoke slowly to the members and supporters of Greenpeace as I told them our story - there where children amongst them whose mothers where translating my words. 'Another boat replaced the sunken Rainbow Warrior four years after the bombing. It was called the Rainbow Warrior too. And she has been flying the Greenpeace flag for eighteen years. She is on a Nuclear Free Middle East campaign and you are standing on her decks.' I paused here before going on to say, 'She is your boat and I am your captain.' We were in Haifa and the ship's crew and Greenpeace volunteers shared a barbeque together - people meeting people. Saturday 31 March A thousand stairs lead up to the top of the Bahai temple in Haifa. I ran all the way. On reaching the top I rested - my eyes in a garden of tranquil symmetry; green trees, beds of blue flowers and beds of yellow flowers. I could have remained there all day, a lifetime even. In the afternoon - guided tours to the public on board the ship. I welcomed everyone to the yacht and told the Greenpeace story again. Musicians played on the forecastle and in the theatre there was a double billing of Raymond Briggs' "Where the wind blows" coupled with Al Gore's 'An inconvenient truth'. We left the harbor two hours before midnight, and motor sailed across to Cyprus. Sunday 01 April Larnaca port welcomed us to Cyprus - we came straight in without taking a pilot or needing the aid of linesmen. It was like arriving home. The agent kissed me on both cheeks when I stepped down off the gangway. Daniel, the Mexican chef, packed away his puppets and I signed his seaman book, discharging him from the ship. Marko, from Finland, arrived to take his place. The song I am singing as I close - 'We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace'. I close with love and peace. Mike

Does Israel need nuclear facilities?

2007-04-11T10:31:35Z

This afternoon I came across this article on Digg.com. The article entitled "Does Israel need nuclear facilities?" written by Zafrir Rinat in Haaretz- a well known Israeli newspaper. It raises important questions about nuclear safety following the Rainbow Warrior visit to Israel. "Professor Uri Marinov, a member of the team that drafted the master plan that guides Israel's energy sector and a man who is not identified with radical environmentalism, outlined the risks of using existing thermo-nuclear reactors to produce energy".. Here at Greenpeace, we made a call for a nuclear free Middle East. Our flagship the Rainbow Warrior is still in the area spreading the word from country to country and we are very keen on taking our call all the way to the key players in the Middle East arena.Yet we need your help in letting the sun shine on social networks. Read on and Digg this article

Wake up call

2007-04-11T10:02:24Z

by Shadi 8:13 AM, am still sleeping, my cell is ringing; it’s Basma Badran, the Arab world communication officer for Greenpeace. “Shadi, still asleep? Wake up people, the ship is already docking in Marina Solidere, all of us have to get ready, and the open boat is starting at 10 with a group of school pupils visiting the ship!” Quickly I shower and get myself ready for the big day. I have been passionately waiting for the ship to come to Beirut, not only coz it is Greenpeace’s flagship, it is rather the very crucial and bold message it is touring for “Nuclear Free Middle East” It is more than anytime before that I feel so proud of being part of such a big and caring organization. This is not the first time I step on board the Rainbow Warrior; I had the chance to get on board during the summer war for nothing more than 20 minutes. I was present among the Lebanese Greenpeace staff during the war, and I was looking forward to at least welcoming the ship in Port de Beirut after it had made four shipments of a total of 160 tons of medications for Medicine Sons Frontier. This time is way different though, I am going to be a major part of the activities taking place on board. With complete enthusiasm, I along with volunteers and other staff members, welcome the first visitors on board, a big group of lovely school pupils, and start touring them around the ship and explaining in general each part of it, and trying as much as possible to make those young minds understand our peaceful message. In the afternoon, the crowd got even more interesting, youths and different generations, and I was nothing but eager to deliver the amazing message of the tour to those people. After a couple of days of hard work on board, you get to think, the Rainbow Warrior is not only a symbol anymore, it is a core, a fascinating combination of spirits and beliefs from all over the world, coming together to serve the good of human beings. Together for a better world

Thoughts From Israel

2007-04-09T09:34:50Z

by Phil Lloyd The City of Haifa, Israel, became our next stop after a lovely sail from Egypt. A tug boat bigger than us, wrestled us into position, near the ferry terminal. I managed to get ashore latter that evening. Caught a ride to the top of the hill and found a pub called "The Bear". I drank a beer or two and listened to some "Salmonella Dub" a band from New Zealand. My mind wandered to thoughts of home. We had an open ship and got the chance to work with some locals, hear their opinions and discuss local issues. The idea that because Israel has nukes is what has "stopped our neighbours breaking down our doors..." is absurd. Not everyone share this opinion that is for sure. But we all know that nuclear weapons are a false sense of security. It has in fact made the region less stable. Since we began this tour all of the countries in the region have nuclear facilities on the table for discussion. Many citing Israel and Iran as the reason. My feeling is that as a result of New Zealand being nuclear free we have become the safest country in the world. The New Zealander who split the atom all those years ago, Sir Ernest Rutherford, died a frustrated man. He did not know that his work would lead to such prolific and dirty technology. That we would dare to use it on other human beings. That there would be so much waste with no way of disposing of it. Yet the nuclear industry is gathering momentum. From having faded into near obscurity with no new plants ordered in the US for 30 years without being cancelled, to setting up a kiosk at the COP 3, Kyoto Protocol meeting in 1997. The stand and the material they distributed talked of how their industry was safer now with new generation reactors and no CO2 emissions. Of course they didn’t mention that the new generation "Pebble-Bed" reactor they built in Germany in 86 leaked radiation and was shut down permanently. Now Uranium shares have risen 1000% since 1999. Its considered the hot commodity. The two largest Uranium mining companies just merged their efforts. Looks like we might have enough of it to last for 40 or 50 years. The carbon intensity of uranium ore mining and milling, steel and concrete in power station construction, and transportation of fuel and waste means it is far from carbon neutral. Anyhow......I digress. We sailed to Tel Aviv and anchored close to the shore. I drove the "Avon" into the old fishing harbour and the campaign went ashore to a press conference. Greenpeace released a map showing where all the nuclear facilities are located in Israel. The voice of ambiguity as to whether Israel has nuclear can no longer be heard. I got to spend alot of quality time with Israelis and found them more aware of the regions problems than I gave them credit for. I’m still in touch with several of them. That day while doing one of the boat runs the gear change cable broke and I had to remove it and change gear manually to get back to the ship. We launched the smaller inflatable and ran a rescue mission in the dark. The boat that we had chartered to bring people out to the Rainbow Warrior, got rope caught in its propellor. Mission accomplished the chartered boat then proceeded to make it known why "seamanship" is so important. A worse display of "seamanship" I have not seen as they failed to come alongside the RW. The crew stepped in and had to run the two small boats, many trips, to bring the people from shore to the Warrior. I thought that they were all very brave and made for a wonderful evening with wonderful people. That night we set sail back to Haifa for another open boat, live music and more great people. Looking over to port from the bridge deck while talking about the nuclear issue is warship after warship. A US destroyer docked with a submarine as escort. The British just announced they will upgrade their nuclear missiles..........seems like we still have some work to do.

No comment...

2007-03-29T15:58:47Z

It has been a while since Yemen

2007-03-28T09:49:33Z

by Phill Lloyd onboard the Rainbow Warrior, Walking around ashore, smelling fresh lavender flowers, playing pool on the street corner, bought some local candy for some deaf kids, had a fresh squeezed mango juice with an old "Aden" who spoke perfect English and who took the time to give me a history lesson on Yemen, Aden in particular. Everywhere I walked people wanted to practice their little spoken English and me my little Arabic. So open and friendly, they invite you to stop and share their food with them. Shaking hands with the local kids as I walked. I bought a local "skirt" that the men wear, a scarf, and another mango juice. We had open boats to the public. Woman wearing full burka adorned the ship and we gave tours via translators. The atmosphere was tremendous everyone was so friendly and enthusiastic. Our Solar Chill fridge was working, as was our solar streetlight, which the mayor of Aden was intrigued by. It was sad to leave, we felt like we could have easily spent more time with these wonderful people. As we headed out of the harbour I noticed that even the pilot boat had solar panels on the roof and all the marker buoys were run on solar panels. The journey towards the Suez Canal was moonlit and calm until we came to the end of the Red Sea and the wind and waves slowed our progress. Interspersed with events like pods of dolphins, a lunar eclipse, False Killer Whales and clear starry nights. And of course a barbeque. The Sinai Peninsula loomed on one side, the cliffs of Egypt on the other. I don't think that the anchor had even hit the bottom when the local "shops" disguised as boats tied up alongside us and offer to sell us their wares at the "very best price for you my friend". They also offer to buy paint and wire and rope from you. I gave the bosun on board a couple of pieces of old rope which were better than the ones they tied up with and of no use to us. The Captain was first to do trade with the natives and then slowly some of the crew parted with their hard earned cash to buy a trinket or two. Luckily, the next day we upped anchor, moved, re-anchored, more "best prices" and "friends" tied alongside. Then upped anchor and joined the tail of a precession of larger ships and began the long day thru the Suez. Past the military guard posts, the bridges ready to cross at a moments sign of trouble. The sand. More sand. A town, a few fishermen, the Bitter Lake. The point where many ships anchor, waiting. Maybe they ran out of Marlboro cigarettes the currency of choice and this is where everyone becomes "Bitter". Past a few more houses, a city, a few more military installations, and many fishermen and off course some sand. Then, before you know it the pilot boat comes to get the pilot and the agent. They stay alongside for rather a long time hoping for one more carton of cigarettes..................it wasn’t to be and we are free to proceed into the open waters of the Mediteranean Sea. We turned the corner and anchored in the Port of Alexandria. Egypt. The 600 hundred-year-old Fort captured my imagination as we settled in behind a throng of fishing boats. These boats are full of colors, character and characters. On the inflatable boat runs, to and from, the ship to the shore, I met and photographed some of the fisherman. They offered their food, tea, smiles and plenty of thumbs up! I gave some of our old covers for shelter in the small boats tied off the stern of the bigger fishing boats. With a small fire going and a roof they seemed very content. Of course we invited the volunteers who had been helping with our visit and we had a barbeque. I got ashore one night. Sat on the beach, was told to move as it was on military property. The sign, written in Arabic was a little obscure. I moved on and walked the harbour wall towards the town. I changed some money and sat down outside and had a coffee where I met Muhammad Ali, a sailor who had been living in Europe for 6 years and was finding it hard to re-adjust to life in Alexandria. I smiled as I watched 3 kids jump on the bumper of the tram as it pulled away. Cars are parked in front of the no parking signs, the traffic weaves all over as there are no lanes marked. The horse drawn carts and carriages and people risking their lives crossing the road all made for a great coffee. I finished my second brew, my new friend Muhammad Ali paid the bill and I too risked my life to cross the road. I bought some English newspapers and magazines for the ship then made my way back to the yacht club, which was the dropping off, and picking up point. I just missed the last run but luckily for the second engineer and I, a local fellow that I had be-friended grabbed my hand and walked me to his rowing boat, loaded us in, after I had stood on his hand, and proceeded to row us to the ship singing small parts of Italian love songs which we replied with "row row row your boat....". Hard to forget being sung to, while being rowed in a dingy called” Hitler", through a maize of fishing boats, the old city of Alexandria beneath us, the newer one to one side, a 600 year old castle on the other, the Rainbow Warrior awaiting.

Nuclear power: neither as secure, nor carbon-free, as industry hacks would have you believe.

2007-03-27T18:05:06Z

by brianfit

Twelve activists, from eight countries, have managed to get inside the security perimiter of a nuclear power plant at Belleville Sur Loire in France and scale the cooling tower. Notable in this video (in French) is the complete lack of any security personnel whatsoever. (More here from Greenpeace France)

To be honest, I think I'd prefer to see our banner-hanging sprees foiled by security than know that a potential source of dirty bomb material can be gotten into with equipment little more advanced than a ladder.

And if you're of the school that says "ok, it's a risky technology, vulnerable to break-ins by unsavory types who might take an interest in dirty bomb or fissionable material, but at least it doesn't cause climate change," you may want to read this article in Business Week:

]]> Is [nuclear power] really as clean as supporters contend? A report, released on Mar. 26 by a British nongovernmental organization called the Oxford Research Group, disputes the popular perception that nuclear is a clean energy source. It argues that while nuclear plants may not generate carbon dioxide while they operate, the other steps necessary to produce nuclear power, including the mining of uranium and the storing of waste, result in substantial amounts of carbon dioxide pollution. "As this report shows, hopes for the climate-protecting potential of nuclear energy are entirely misplaced," says Jürgen Trittin, a former minister of the environment in Germany and a contributor to the report. "Nuclear power cannot be promoted on environmental grounds." [...] "The assumption has long been that the [greenhouse] effect is zero, but the evidence shows otherwise." The report comes as British Prime Minister Tony Blair is pushing to build a new generation of nuclear plants in the name of curbing global warming.

Environmental groups like Greenpeace, the Rocky Mountain Institute and Germany's Öko-Institut have argued in recent years that nuclear power comes with hidden carbon emissions. But the Oxford Research Group study is the most quantitative and up-to-date advancement of this assertion...

So lets see. It's not safe. It's not a solution to climate change. Even the Nevada Nuclear Test Site is a non-starter for storing the waste. What exactly is left to argue for Nuclear Power?

Ah, of course! It's "too cheap to meter." Oh wait, that one fizzled years ago, didn't it...

Rainbow Warrior ETA Haifa

2007-03-26T20:36:49Z

From Captin Mike-Rainbow Warrior Hello all, We have the wind with us and we can make it all the way to Israel without the use of engines. We'll be a few hours late though. Apologies for any inconvenience. Estimated Time of Arrival at Haifa = Tuesday @ 1500 We come with love and peace, Mike

From Paul in Egypt

2007-03-26T00:11:31Z

Shortly after sunrise on Monday morning, the Rainbow Warrior arrived in Alexandria, passing by the old citadel as she entered through the breakwater into Alexandria harbour. She was met by a small but enthusiastic flotilla of boats and the curious but friendly waves from fishermen tending their nets. Alexandria is an ancient city, although now most buildings dating from the early part of the 20th century, showing signs of decay. But there is still a beauty as the city sweeps the side of the bay. It was a thrill to see the Rainbow Warrior anchored there. Egypt is a fascinating and chaotic place and the land-based team of Ilona and Khaled have been in Alexandria for a number of days to finalise the plans for the activities we were undertaking. Omer, Alonso and Lama came fresh from the excitement of Yemen, and then Nicky, Greenpeace's Peace and disarmament campaigner arrived, closely followed by me and Jo. Arabic and English). The reality is that nuclear power is dirty, dangerous and a threat to the proliferation of nuclear weapons - an issue that was to be discussed in the afternoon. hreat made a useful prelude to the afternoon's discussions. The discussion following ranged from the first intervention saying that it was mandatory that Egypt had nuclear power, through to an editor in chief loudly demanding that as Egypt was surrounded by enemies they not only needed nuclear power but also weapons as well, through to the more considered view that, although nuke shouldn't be rejected there were many other resources etc. We had good praise for the initiative of wanting to engage a debate, not tell people what to do. In the afternoon, there were presentations from Ambassador Mohammed Shaker who has been Egypt's disarmament ambassador at the UN as well as chair of the 1995 NPT conference who called for a conference where we could bring out all the proposals for a NWFZ and WMDFZ dust them off and start talking about them. Rebecca made some very good points on ways to move forward in the region in the context of a post-cold-war world and changes in the political situation in the region with interesting proposals for including Israel and Iran and pointing out that it will be difficult but not impossible. It is important to stress that Greenpeace is not in Egypt, nor indeed anywhere on the tour, to 'tell people what to do', what we are aiming to do is to engage in a dialogue about different energy choices - there are cleaner, safer and cheaper sources of energy than nuclear - and to raise the idea of a Nuclear Free Middle East as a key way to increase peace and security in the region. There is no doubt that there are people who disagree with us, but that is no reason not to have a discussion. One of the key problems in the region is that diplomacy and negotiation have broken down and there is increased rhetoric and tension that could lead inexorably to conflict. This is not the way forward. Jaw, Jaw not War War is an old saying but really needs to apply here. After the seminar we had press visit the ship the people attending the visited the ship and we had the opportunity to talk more informally with some of the participants. All in all it was an extremely successful day. We achieved our objective of engaging a debate on nuclear power and renewables - but more importantly made the key connection between the politics, nuclear power and weapons. We have much to do - but this has been an extremely good start.... Onward to Israel where the dialogue must continue. Israel must urgently join the discussions for a Nuclear Free Middle East. Paul ]]>

The Rainbow in Alexandria-Egypt by Omer

2007-03-25T00:27:14Z

The Rainbow Warrior is now in Alexandria, Egypt, an important stop in our tour of the Middle East. The East Bay in Alexandria is the perfect setting for the Rainbow Warrior. Inside the half-moon-shaped harbour are many small blue or green fishing vessels, with colourful symbols – horses, tiger, eagles and so on - painted on their bow. From the harbour, the new Alexandria Library is clearly visible. Yesterday, Greenpeace held a high-level seminar inside that prestigious building, together with the Egyptian Institute for Peace Studies. The topic for the seminar was a Nuclear Free Middle East. In attendance were three Ambassadors, one General, representatives of the Arab League, the Egyptian, French and Italian governments, and about 50 others. The seminar explored ideas that could provide movement rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons. Egypt has been a leading proponent of this idea in international meetings, but for over 30 years it has seemed impossible to turn this idea into reality. Now, with the region poised to go nuclear, (Egypt has stated its intention to develop a new nuclear power plant, all the Arabic Gulf States have also expressed interest), some would say this is the worst time to try to rid the region of the nuclear threat. But Greenpeace believes that it is this crisis point of imminent nuclear development, which provides the opportunity for movement. As well as being unnecessary and expensive, nuclear power also brings the potential for developing nuclear weapons. And in a region fraught with tension, this proliferation risk would be a terrible development so terrible that some states may have second thoughts. The discussion yesterday was informative and robust. There is a strong national sentiment in favour of developing nuclear power in Egypt. Though currently rich in oil and gas, this country will run out of those resources in 30 or 40 years. It is understandable that Egypt is looking to its energy future, though we believe that better alternatives exist. Greenpeace’s Paul Horsman presented a paper to this meeting which outlined how Egypt could meet its energy needs 80 times over from renewable sources. Further, comparing the construction costs of solar and nuclear energy, unit for unit solar power is between 1.5 and 3 times cheaper than nuclear. The concept of a region free of nuclear threats is not new, and all countries pay lip service to the notion. But rhetoric is far from reality, and so far this idea has not come to fruition. On the positive side, based on yesterday’s high level discussions, there is clearly an eagerness to consider moves towards ridding the region of nuclear threats. These decision makers and opinion formers engaged in a thought provoking series of discussions about how to break the gridlock in the region over which must come first – peace or disarmament. Traditionally, the Arabic states have insisted on eliminating all weapons of mass destruction as a first step, while Israel has held fast to the concept of peace as a prerequisite to scrapping nuclear weapons. The discussion yesterday focused on practical steps to move this stalemate forward – to build confidence while agreeing to disarm. While we do not expect this tour to bring immediate results, the discussions in the Alexandria Library planted the seeds of further development, which could on day see the dream of a nuclear free Middle East bear sweet fruit. Omer

On the "External Locus of Control"

2007-03-24T20:14:17Z

It is something between an entry and a comment.I thought of bringing it forward for all what it means.I took the liberty of publishing this on Let The Sun Shine from a comment posted by UmmEl3yal on her blog referring to "How do you define a Middle Eastern person?" previously posted here.

Eastern cultures in general have what is called an "external locus of control" which, in brief, means they (we) believe that control over their (our) environment lay outside themselves (ourselves). This is typically due to religious beliefs, political oppression, authoritarian education and upbringing and many other factors. So, unlike Western cultures, the belief in the individual’s ability of creating a change is very limited. So we tend to "wait" for others (God, our father, tribe head, teacher, Emir, King. Etc…) to make a change. Yet, as with any aspect of cultural characteristics, they are dynamic and can change :)

Captain's blog stardate -316217.69: Mike's Week

2007-03-24T14:50:07Z

Mike Fincken is aboard the Rainbow Warrior as part of the Middle East Peace tour. Here's his personal blog of a week in his life:

Wednesday 07 March

On the last of the four flights connecting Cape Town to Aden I awoke to the shaking of the airplane moving rapidly down the runway. I awoke confused. I could not tell if we had just landed or were about take off, until the front of the Yemeni airplane lifted up and my stomach sank. I drifted off again. The trolley ran down the aisle and stopped against my foot, a piece of sweet bread was placed in my hand. The trolley passed me by, heading down toward the back of the plane, my headed nodded forward and the sweet bread hit the cabin floor.

Following my day-and-half commute to work, it was a welcome sight -the Rainbow Warrior. Lit up at night, lying quietly alongside in Aden harbor. The crew were mostly tucked away in their bunks, but a few familiar faces were there to greet me. Canadian Phil, (the coxswain who had made the dramatic rescue of the three Sirens off Corsica during the first week of my last voyage on the Rainbow), drew my big black suitcase over the gunwale and onto the steel deck. He carried it through to my cabin - I had arrived home from home.

]]> Thursday 08 March

Crew turned onto the deck at eight in the morning and busied themselves preparing the ship for sea - taking down awnings and presentation material. A barge banged itself heavily alongside, then threw ropes up to make fast. Hoses where connected and freshwater pumped on board.

The pilot arrived, a young man with a distorted grin, his left cheek bulging like a hamster's with quat (a local leaf loaded with amphetamines). He was a jolly soul, and entertaining - kept recommending the wrong direction for the engines. He laughed heartily at his own mistakes. I was too tired to give him much attention as he bounced around on deck. I just wanted to get the ship to sea; the wind was good to fill the sails. Kiwi Phil, the boatswain, set the sails and soon we were making ten knots motor-sailing.

Pirate watches were set up and fire hoses prepared to repel borders. A week ago the Rainbow Warrior was under the threat of attack. Four skiffs were sighted racing up towards the sluggish sail boat off the coast of Oman. The pirates had their faces masked by balaclavas, each one brandishing a weapon - alarms sounded on the Rainbow Warrior and the Greenpeace crew turned out to line the ship side railing -creating the presence of witness. Captain Daniel transmitted a Mayday call - "The vessel is under attack". A French navy war ship acknowledged and diverted course to offer assistance, giving a two hour estimated time of arrival. Either the 16 witnesses or the imminent arrival of the French Navy turned the cards and the pirates backed off.

Leading on from the pirate attack, just a few days later (last Friday), Captain Daniel was diagnosed by Bahadir, the Turkish doctor, to have appendicitis. The ship's course was diverted to Salalah and the captain ferried ashore for surgery. A few hours later my cell phone started ringing; I was standing in front of the check-in desk at Durban airport, flying home to Cape Town after having spent a week with my parents in Pietermaritzburg. I put the phone to one ear and my finger to the other, it was Deepak from Greenpeace.

'Mike. Could you fly out to Aden on Sunday?'

Friday 09 March

More surface water flows into the Straits of Bab el Mandeb than flows out. This is due to evaporation over the Red Sea, which is very high and is not offset by the inflow of any rivers. The resulting change in density accounts for a sub-surface outflow of highly saline water throughout the year. Rainbow Warrior flew in to the Red Sea with the wind at her stern, carried by the ever incoming current; she topped 11 knots.

The Hanish Islands are situated at the South of the Red Sea, close to the Straits of Bab el Mandeb. I was advised to steer well clear of them by an old mate of mine, Dave from Darby; he's on board right now as ships electrician. I sailed with Dave eleven years ago on the Moby Dick; my first Greenpeace voyage.

Dave comes up to me at the chart table and points out the Hanish islands. 'On the Siscom we were attacked by pirates just there' he says, 'under the command of Peter Wilcox'.

The ship's crew remain on edge as we navigate off the Yemeni coastline in the southern waters of the Red sea.

Saturday 10 March

We made good with the favorable weather by having a barbeque in the evening. An old oil drum that has been sliced down the middle and welded with brackets is attached to the side railings on the bridge deck, just outside of the bridge wing door. Kiwi Phil, the boatswain, did the red-neck thing with coals and tongs whilst the crew relaxed into the sun set. The day had an extra hour in it as we retarded time to meet UTC + 2. Music from all around the world played and a little wine was passed around.

Sunday 11 March A school of dolphins swimming at the bow, so many, in such a tight pack they remind me of a forest of kelp, or the tentacles of some ancient sea creature reaching out ahead. We continue through the Red Sea.

At night the waters are dark, but they flash with bio-luminescence -like stars in the deep.

Mike's first week ends at midnight with the Rainbow Warrior sixty miles due west of Mecca.

It ends facing East, with a prayer for love and peace,

Mike