Excited in Israel
Here are two lovely blogs from Dr. Uygar Ozesmi the Executive Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean
September 6th
Just two months ago we were part of the Arctic Sunrise Tour for the protection of Blue Fin Tuna and the creation of Marine Reserves in Greenpeace Med. Now we are part of the Rainbow Warrior Tour for the Quit Coal campaign. When we get to host a Greenpeace ship there is always great excitement. It is also a lot of work for the team, but they don't feel it because of their enthusiasm. The same enthusiasm is also shared by our supporters. The Rainbow Warrior is such a strong Greenpeace icon that I must say I was very excited.
During my trip form Istanbul to Tel Aviv, my mind was with the team and how the preparations were going. When I met them I was sure that everything was in order. They had prepared an exhibition to talk about the impacts of climate change. The music was playing, children were dancing with their mothers and some were jumping rope.
Along the pathway was the bridge up to the Rainbow Warrior. There was a crowd of visitors waiting for their turn to get on the ship. We were counting on a couple of hundred visitors, but this was beyond our expectations. That day we had more than 1200 visitors come to the ship! People got off with a big smile, having experienced a ship that symbolizes the struggle for a society in harmony with the planet. The ship had witnessed many environmental crimes and stood in resistance to those who do not care for the planet, blinded enough to commit crimes against nature and humanity. People on board gave the hope that there will be a future for all.
After we said goodbye to everyone, the ship started sailing to the Port of Ashdod. In the upper bunk of our rather basic but comfortable cabin in the ship - I went to sleep thinking what a good day we had with our supporters. Tomorrow we will have a sailing with our institutional supporters, members of parliament, government officials, journalists, and fellow environmental NGOs. They are supporting us in the 'Quit Coal' campaign. No campaign can be a real success without the support of all stakeholders. And these are the people from Israel we believe we will work with to prevent the building of a new coal fired coal plant in Askhelon. The struggle will continue until no new plants are built anywhere in the world.
September 8th
The Rainbow Warrior sailed out of Ashdod port heading towards the Ashkelon Coal Plant. The Captain sailed through different security zones and finally we were contacted by the Israeli Navy and asked to turn back because we were in a zone "where other things were happening". We responded with saying that we have no intention of jeopardizing security, that we were on our way out, and were here for a non-violent peaceful action against coal power plants that is causing climate change.
Nili, Greenpeace Mediterranean Campaigner against Climate Change, was communicating constantly in Hebrew, to explain to them what we were doing. A high-speed navy boat approached us with a machine gun in front. Getting a radio signal the captain asked us all to clear the deck and get in for security. The press stayed on deck at their own risk. My eye caught the glimpse of a woman at the machine gun.
After a few minutes I was up on the bridge again. In communication with the media boat we met 2 miles away from the coal loading pier. As the media came, the woman at the gun went inside and the boat turned away and disappeared. As soon as they were gone, a police boat appeared. They boarded the ship without permission, and with their guns, although they were kindly asked to leave their guns behind. As they entered the bridge the media boat also approached us and the journalists came on board.
The police were were asked endless questions and they tried to appear cool, but what they did was get off the Rainbow Warrior and go to the media boat captain and threaten him with loosing his license if he would not return to the harbour and stop hanging around with us.
As the police boat was escorting the media back ashore. The Greenpeace inflatables were being offloaded for action. Activists jumped in and disappeared among the waves towards the gigantic coal ship "Cape Heron". Our photographer and videographer were there to record everything. As two boats were finished being painted with our message in Hebrew "Coal Kills" and in English "Quit Coal" on the "Cape Heron". The police arrived and after getting really angry that we were playing chase in the water, their engines 3 times as powerful as ours caught up with us and they pulled our non-violent activists out of the inflatable and took the engine keys out.
Back on the Rainbow Warrior in constant communication, even when they were arrested, we knew their fate. They were pulled to a secure harbour were they were held in inflatables and questioned one by one. Thankfully, our lawyer was there to defend them.
As we were waiting peacefully, and with some anxiety for our boats to return... The Israeli Navy asked kindly enough for 'permission to board the ship.' Our captain granted this permission but they did not respect our no-arms policy. They put our captain under arrest and ordered him to take the ship to the Port of Ashdod. Our captain refused to take the ship with crew already arrested and away, and said that he was ready to take the ship to the harbour only if the police would take all the responsibility... I think that gave this policeman an understanding of what it means to be responsible for a whole ship and the people in it!
Later on I caught up with this quite disrespectful man and talked to him about his two children and their future in Askhelon. We talked about respiratory diseases in the short term, rising sealevel and food security issues related to coal, the biggest contributor to climate change. We talked about Israel being a leader in solar technologies and how stupid it is to invest in coal power plants, sending their hard earned "shekels" outside for imported coal. And off the sun and desert in Israel that shines stronger everyday. We talked about the future and why Greenpeace was here...
As we entered the Port of Ashdod we heard that activists were released and on their way back. Our captains arrest was lifted and our activists came back on board. Once again we sent out the message to Israel and all the world that we need to quit coal if we don't, it will kill our future and the planet...
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