<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Getting serious ~ by Kevin&nbsp;Neish]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p class="metadata">  June 26, 2011 | Kevin Neish<span class="metadata"> soon boarding on one of the vessels of the Flotilla<br />
</span></p>
<div class="entry">
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<p><img title="Attack on the Mavi Marmara, May 2010" src="https://i0.wp.com/i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Attack%20on%20the%20Mavi%20Marmara/MAVMARMARASALDIRI.jpg" alt="Attack on the Mavi Marmara, May 2010" width="550" /></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Flotilla 1: The Israelis&#8217; initial violent attack began at the stern of the ship. Photo: Kate Geraghty</p>
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<h3>As we get closer to departure day, the delegates are getting more serious.</h3>
<p>I’m hearing less laughter and joking and more hardball questions as we prepare to board the flotilla. Questions like:</p>
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<p><img title="Spent tear gas or smoke grenade canisters, shotgun shells" src="https://i1.wp.com/i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Damage%20to%20Mavi/IHH_9118.jpg" alt="Spent tear gas or smoke grenade canisters, shotgun shells" width="250" /></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Spent tear gas or smoke grenade canisters, shotgun shells. Photo: IHH</p>
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<p><strong>“What does a beanbag from a shotgun do to you?”</strong><br />
If it hits your chest, it knocks you down hard. In the head, it’ll maim or kill you.<br />
<strong><br />
“Did the Israelis shoot at your faces and chests?”</strong><br />
Yes.</p>
<p><strong>“Will we be able to negotiate with them before they board?”</strong><br />
Not bloody likely.<br />
<strong><br />
“I know Hebrew, maybe I’ll be able to talk to them.”</strong><br />
Last time they didn’t talk much, they just screamed orders.</p>
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<p><a href="http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Damage%20to%20Mavi/?action=view&amp;current=zarargorenesyalar3.jpg"><img title="Vandalised cameras" src="https://i2.wp.com/i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Damage%20to%20Mavi/zarargorenesyalar3.jpg" alt="Vandalised cameras" width="250" /></a></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Israeli soldiers seized and destroyed every camera on the Mavi and stole every memory chip they could find, doing strip and body cavity searches. I was very fortunate to get my chip out. Photo IHH</p>
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<p><strong>“What does tasering feel like?”</strong><br />
Hell.</p>
<p><strong>“Will our medical team be permitted to treat our injured?”</strong><br />
They’ll probably be handcuffed with everyone else.<br />
<strong><br />
“What did it feel like to have your hands cuffed behind your back for hours?”</strong><br />
Painful at first, but eventually your arms and shoulders go numb.<br />
<strong><br />
“What if they don’t let us use the bathroom?”</strong><br />
Be prepared to piss and shit in your pants and still keep your dignity. Don’t let them humiliate you, don’t give them that power.</p>
<p><strong>“We must keep each others’ spirits up after the arrest.”</strong><br />
But they won’t let you talk, and you may have a bag on your head.<br />
<strong><br />
“Will non-whites be treated worse then whites?”</strong><br />
Yes.<br />
<strong><br />
“Where should I hide my camera chip?”</strong><br />
You can’t, they will look everywhere for it, inside and out.</p>
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<p><a href="http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Damage%20to%20Mavi/?action=view&amp;current=37450_445446960228_368272750228_5931309_3274529_n.jpg"><img title="Damaged camera equipment" src="https://i0.wp.com/i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Damage%20to%20Mavi/37450_445446960228_368272750228_5931309_3274529_n.jpg" alt="Damaged camera equipment" width="250" /></a></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Israel returned only destroyed camera equipment. Some lost over $70,000 of equipment. I personally lost $4500 of cash and $2500 of belongings. Photo IHH</p>
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<p><strong>“We should erase everything from our computers and cell phones immediately, before we’re arrested.”</strong><br />
There will be no time, so the best option is to quickly throw them all overboard.<br />
<strong><br />
“My computer is protected by a crypto password.”</strong><br />
No it’s not, not from them.</p>
<p><strong>“They wouldn’t steal my money and belongings, would they?” </strong><br />
They did, and they will.</p>
<p><strong>“If I sign their ‘voluntary deportation letter,’ will I avoid jail?”</strong><br />
Maybe.<br />
<strong><br />
“If I don’t sign it, will I be deported immediately?”</strong><br />
Maybe.</p>
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<p><a href="http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Attack%20on%20the%20Mavi%20Marmara/"><img title="Murdered aid worker" src="https://i2.wp.com/i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Attack%20on%20the%20Mavi%20Marmara/P5300221.jpg" alt="Murdered aid worker" width="250" /></a></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Murdered aid worker, one of 9 murdered aid workers and one of 5 shot in the head at close range, execution-style, on the Mavi Marmara.</p>
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<p><strong>“When will we be allowed to see our embassy officials and lawyers?”</strong><br />
You won’t.<br />
<strong><br />
“But international the law says they must allow that! </strong><br />
So?<br />
<strong><br />
“We must write our contact phone numbers on our arms.”</strong><br />
But they probably won’t let you use a phone.<br />
<strong><br />
“When will we see a judge?”</strong><br />
You won’t.<br />
<strong><br />
“But you have to see a judge to be deported!”</strong><br />
I didn’t.<br />
<strong><br />
“What part of Canada will I be deported to”</strong><br />
What makes you think you’ll go to Canada? I was sent to Turkey.</p>
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<p><a href="http://s1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Attack%20on%20the%20Mavi%20Marmara/"><img title="Executed journalist" src="https://i1.wp.com/i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/KevinNeish/Attack%20on%20the%20Mavi%20Marmara/P5300207.jpg" alt="Executed journalist" width="250" /></a></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Executed journalist onboard the Mavi Marmara</p>
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<p><strong>“But my bags will be here [in a different country] waiting for my return.”</strong><br />
You’d better ship them home instead.<br />
<strong><br />
“What will my government do for me?”</strong><br />
Nothing.<br />
<strong><br />
“How long will they hold us?”</strong><br />
As long as they want.<br />
<strong><br />
“Someone might get killed!”</strong><br />
Yes.</p>
<h2>More to come …</h2>
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<div data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_35326" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35326" data-attachment-id="35326" data-permalink="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/getting-serious-by-kevin-neish/neish-photo-crop/" data-orig-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/neish-photo-crop.jpg" data-orig-size="200,201" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="neish-photo-crop" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/neish-photo-crop.jpg?w=200" data-large-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/neish-photo-crop.jpg?w=200" class="size-full wp-image-35326 " title="neish-photo-crop" src="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/neish-photo-crop.jpg?w=200&#038;h=201" alt="" width="200" height="201" /><p id="caption-attachment-35326" class="wp-caption-text">Kevin Neish</p></div>
<p><strong>About Kevin Neish</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kevin Neish, Victoria, B.C.  Canada<br />
phone (250) 595-3991<br />
</strong>I’ve done human rights and human shield work all my life (53 yrs).</p>
<ul>
<li>1966 and 1990 visited Cuba on solidarity/work tours.</li>
<li>1989 acted as a human shield for 5 exiled leaders of the Guatemalan opposition group RUOG, including Rigoberta Menchu, when they returned for peace talks. We dealt with paramilitary death threats and a car bomb.</li>
<li>2000 and 2009 worked as an official observer in elections in El Salvador.</li>
<li>2002 volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement to act as a human rights observer and shield in Bethlehem during the Easter  reinvasion of the West Bank.</li>
<li>2009 and 2010 worked as a human rights observer in a Colombian prison where union and peasant leaders were held, and stayed with one of their threatened families as a protective witness.</li>
</ul>
<p>In a nutshell, I just don’t like bullies, regardless of their colour,  religion, size, nationality or race.</p>
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<p><a href="http://kevinneish.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/getting-serious/"><strong>Source &amp; Updates about events at the Flotilla2 at Kevin Neish&#8217;s Weblog</strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://kevinneish.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/getting-serious/"><strong></strong><br />
</a></p>
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