Huria Search

– Search the Global

Black Community

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Troy

 

Introducing Huria Search:  Search independent websites that deliver meaningful content, to and about, the global Black community.

Huria Search - Discover the Global Black Community

As the webmaster of AALBC.com, I’ve been an active observer of web-based content, of interest to my visitors, for almost 15 years.  I share what I find in my eNewsletter, website, social media and by word of mouth.  Over the years, despite vast improvements in the capability and ease of use of technology, and the advent of social media, the ability to find quality, conscious content written for the or about the Black community is much harder.

As the largest Black oriented websites become absorbed into large corporate entities, there has been a trend toward the creation of content heavily focused on scandal, particularly celebrity scandal.  For example, here are just a few titles of articles recently published and promoted by large corporate, Black oriented, websites:

• 83-Year-Old Caught TRICKIN’
• Amber Rose After Kanye West Apology: “He Was An A$$hole”
• Jessica Simpson Announces Pregnancy Beyonce Style
• Kim Kardashian Wedding: E! Reveals The Truth Behind The Scenes
• Justin Bieber Fans React On Twitter To Paternal Suit Allegations
• Reggae Star Vybz Kartel Denied Bail In Murder Case
• Top 5 Most Notable Sexual Harassment Cases

The primary goal of a publicly traded company is to maximize shareholder wealth.  As a result, the type of content generated is designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience.  Any consideration for variety, the promotion of negative stereotypes and imagery, or a potential adverse impact on Black people is purely incidental.

I don’t mean to suggest that this type of content should not be produced at all.  The problem is that search results tend to favor large corporations, and as a result, their type of content dominates.  Large corporate entities can buy sponsored links, pay professionals to perform search engine optimization and utilize other tricks to game search engine results to skew in their favor.

Over the past year I’ve observed an accelerated trend in search results favoring large corporate sites.  The impact of this trend is that content generated by smaller websites, regardless of quality, is pushed so far down in the search results that it is never discovered.

 

I blogged about this recently after seeing how search engine results for a popular African American author has changed over time (read the blog post).

Search results matter because this is how most sites attract new visitors.  There is a direct correlation between search engine ranking and website traffic.  This condition raises the barriers of entry for new independent websites interested in producing serious content and jeopardizes the survival of sites that already do.  I discussed this issue in a recent interview (read interview)

Huria Search was born out of an effort to combat this condition.

Huria Search uses a customized and curated version of the Google search engine.  I believe you will find the results of a “Huria search” a refreshing improvement over conventional search engine results when looking for content generated for or about the global Black community (read more about why Huria Search was created).

Huria.org was launched, November 5th 2011.  If you believe in Huria Search’s goals, please share this message and the Huria Search website http://huria.org with others.

It is up to us, as individuals, to promote and support what we believe is important.  I hope Huria Search will become a tool to help us do that.  If you see ways to make the Huria Search site better please let me know.  Comment below or send me an email at info@huria.org

Huria.org is not a revenue generating site — you’ll find no advertisements or sponsored links.  Our goal is to promote and support independent websites to contribute to the global Black community in a meaningful way.

Peace,
Troy Johnson

---

Related Links

Find information on authors and books
http://thebestblackbooksearch.com/ or http://bit.ly/tbbbse

Hip Hop Loses

Another Legend,

Heavy D Dead at 44

Tuesday Nov 8, 2011 – by Britni Danielle

 

News just broke that hip hop legend, Heavy D, passed away this afternoon.

Although details are still forthcoming, TMZ is reporting that Heavy D–born Dwight Arrington Myers–was rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles and pronounced dead just after 1 p.m.

This news comes as a a complete shock. Just weeks ago, Heavy D performed at BET’s Hip Hop Awards and garnered a standing ovation from the crowd. The rapper recently traveled from London to L.A. and tweeted, “Back in the USA.. I love my life.. Only because I always have!!! BLESS UP!”

As soon as TMZ tweeted the news, many scrambled for confirmation. But after dream hampton, Heavy’s longtime friend tweeted her condolences, I knew it was true.

dream tweeted: “Of everything Hev was, he was thee best father to his daughter. Totally present. Everyday. RIP Hev. Love you.”

Other celebrities chimed in to share their shock and condolences for ‘Waterbed’ Hev.

Russel Simmons said, “I am deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Heavy D. A long time friend and a beautiful person.”

Nas weighed in, saluting Heavy D for his musical contributions, saying, “RIP TO A REAL HIP HOP LEGEND HEAVY D!”

Heavy D. was loved by many in the hip hop community. He was known for his upbeat rhymes and ability to dance. What many may not know, however, is that Heavy D introduced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Andre Harrell, and thus helped Diddy become the music mogul he is today.

Yesterday, in his last tweet to fans, Hev was encouraging.

Heavy D. leaves behind a daughter and a legion of fans. He was 44 years old.

Watch Heavy D doing what he loved best. What’s your favorite Heavy D song?

__________________________

| New Music

Heavy D ft. Anthony Hamilton

– “I Can’t” 

US Hip Hop veteran Heavy D has made a return to his Hip Hop roots, after spending the last few years doing Reggae music, with a new track featuring the soulful Anthony Hamilton titled “I Can’t”.

Heavy D, whose last body of work was the 2009 Grammy-nominated Reggae album Vibes, hasn’t yet announced what project this new song is from – but it’s available to purchase from iTunes.

Heavy D ft. Anthony Hamilton – “I Can’t”:

PS. For those wondering where they’ve heard Heavy D’s name before…

Heavy D & The Boyz – “Now That We Found Love”

Soul For Real ft. Heavy D – “Candy Rain”

Web Shows Trek Past

Sci-Fi’s Color Line

By Guest Contributor On November 7, 2011

 

By Guest Contributor Aymar Jean Christian, cross-posted from Televisual

From Blacula to Sleep Dealer, filmmakers of color have always been interested in science fiction and fantasy. But these days in Hollywood, sci-fi/fantasy films demand big budgets, and it seems like only Will Smith and Denzel Washington are powerful enough to greenlight a genre film starring an actor of color. The rare project that pushes boundaries can often go unnoticed: stellar alien invasion flick Attack the Block won over critics but couldn’t find an audience here in the States (please see it!).

Of course, on the web, things are different. While most web series are comedies and soaps, a number of creators are bucking conventional wisdom and creating stories for the black, latino and Asian sci-fi fans.

Last month, Al Thompson’s Odessa won big at the New York Television Festival — a development deal with SyFy — and released a well-financed drama, Osiris. Odessa follows the story of a father and daughter with super powers running from the bad guys whose experiments created their abilities; Osiris follows a man who is immortal.

While those two series are among the more sophisticated series to hit the web, I’ve been noticing a string of shows over the past two years looking to break the sci-fi color line. As costs for simple special effects go down, independents can afford to simulate space ships, alien worlds and laser beams. And creators are using low-cost production to diversify the space in numerous ways, adding female leads and blending genres (horror, comedy, thriller, surrealism).

There’s an artistic tradition here. From Samuel Delany to Octavia Butler, sci-fi has long attracted society’s outsiders, who use the imaginative potential of fantasy to create utopian or dystopian worlds and interrogate contemporary culture and politics.

And the audiences are there, enough so that most high profile sci-fi TV shows and films take pains to include at least one character of color. Star Trek (TV and movies) is the classic example, and continues today with shows from Alphas and Falling Skies to Battlestar Galactica and now even Game of Thrones (look out for season two!).

Below I’ve listed what shows I could find in alphabetical order. Please let me know if I’m missing an important or great series out there!

 

Black Box TV: This anthology series features regular, standalone episodes — a la The Twilight Zone – some of which are led by actors of color. The successful series was created by Tony Valenzuela. For all episodes, click here.

Chick: In Chick, the protagonist Lisa leaves her loser boyfriend to pursue loftier dreams. She hears about a secret academy that trains superheroes, and the story progresses from there. While obviously a narrative of female empowerment, creator Kai Soremekun wanted to story to have multiple layers. The series — whose first season spanned an impressive 20 episodes — is prepping its second.

Chutes And Ladders: A brother and sister discover they can travel through time and embark on an adventure in search of their parents. Episodes are available on KoldCast.

Cursed: This series about an angel incarnate (and single mom) put on Earth to “prove her goodness” should be debuting soon.

A Demon’s Destiny: The Lone Warrior: Kennedy (Devin Rice) is a half-demon sent to Earth to save the world — from demons. The effects-heavy series is inspired by anime. For all 20 episodes, visit the show’s website here.

Episode 1: The Case For Tuesdays from Dominion Series on Vimeo.

Dominion: This noir detective series starts with a mystery of shady “shimmer men.” Episodes — and lots of minisodes — available here.

Infamous: Joey Barto and Greg Washington created this stylized noir-like series about John, who wakes up in the first episode without any idea who he is. He starts to realize he has powers, setting a dark mystery into motion. For all episodes, click here.

Lumina: Lumina is a Webby Award-winning and Streamy-nominated web series that debuted in the fall 2009 on KoldCast TV. Lumina is a fantasy series of sorts, exploring the story of a woman named Lumina whose life is disrupted when she finds a man in her mirror. Created by Jennifer Thym, the director’s next feature film, Bloodtraffick, stays in the genre with a story about a “sexy Asian female vigilante and a has-been American cop at the crux of a holy war between angels and vampires.”

Odessa: Odessa follows the story of a father and daughter migrating from small town to small town, escaping a “program” which performed experiments on them. Creator Al Thompson describes it as Enemy of the State meets The X-Files. The series will last for ten episodes, each about six minutes. Previously picked up by BET.com, it recently won big at NYTVF.

Osiris: Part detective series, part supernatural thriller, the eponymous lead in Osiris resurrects roughly thirty minutes after fatal attacks. The series will run for ten episodes starting this month. Episodes can be found here.

Rhyme Animal: This urban thriller about a DJ with a taste for cannibalism has strong horror and surrealistic elements. Rhyme Animal, created by Jorge Rivera, who frequently collaborates with star Al Thompson, was a finalist at numerous web series competitions and awards, including Indie Intertube, Clicker, ITVF, NATPE, and HBO/NYILFF. Episodes are available here.

Semi-Dead Episode 1: “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…Eat ‘Em!” from Semi-Dead on Vimeo.

Semi-Dead: Before zombies became super trendy after The Walking Dead, Chris Wiltz created this horror-comedy, spending his own money filming this buddy comedy about two roommates in living in Los Angeles after it’s been overrun with zombies. Each guy has a very different reaction to the event: one, Joe, “goes into survival mode,” while the other Chris, goes about his life as if nothing has happened. Episodes are available here.

Sheroes: Charlie’s Angels meets blaxploitation (plus superpowers) as black women try to save the world. Episodes available here.

Status Kill: This sadly only three-part series — episodes here — combines comedic social networking with an assassin storyline.

Stream: Whoopi Goldberg, of Star Trek fame, has always been a fan and supporter of sci-fi — not to mention quirky TV projects. Stream – distributed here on FearNet – focuses on Jodi (Goldberg) who is struggling to uncover the mystery behind the hallucinations she’s had her whole life.

Vexika: Easily among the most insane fantasy web series online, Vexika went mildly viral and became a bit of cult phenomenon from its unhinged storytelling, campy graphics and mainstream media exposure on G4. Episodes are available here.

Jayanti, an independent singer-songwriter from Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Jayanti sings

Inside My Love (Minnie Riperton)

** ANNOUNCEMENT! **
Gold Line Press has extended its deadline
for both the poetry and fiction competitions
to NOVEMBER 15, 2011!

~ ~ ~

Gold Line Press publishes the annual winner of the Gold Line Press Chapbook Competition. The series is run by students and alumni of the University of Southern California’s program in Literature and Creative Writing.

We are holding two contests this fall — one in poetry and one in fiction. Our judges this year are David St. John (for poetry) and Percival Everett (for fiction). The due date for submissions is November 1, 2011 now NOVEMBER 15, 2011! For full submission guidelines, please visit the contest page.

Gold Line Press chapbooks are available for purchase online from Gold Line Press, as well as in Los Angeles-area bookstores.

~ ~ ~

For questions or problems with this website or our submishmash form, please email help (at) goldlinepress.com

Publicity queries can be sent to publicity (at) goldlinepress.com

If you have general questions, please email editors (at) goldlinepress.com

Call for Papers:

Translating the Caribbean in small axe

Several decades ago, Édouard Glissant wrote in Le Discours antillais of the “undeniable” reality of a common Caribbean culture that had emerged from the shared history of the plantation, island living, creolization, and social systems. For Glissant, however, this reality remained “virtual”: although it was “inscribed in facts,” it was also “endangered” as it was not “inscribed in consciences.”

Glissant was not the first to at once posit the potentiality and question the viability of a common transcolonial Caribbean culture, nor was he the last. For despite the oft-expressed aim of transcending the local, Caribbean studies remains largely balkanized, its limits and contours often determined by national borders. Perhaps the single most important element in this balkanization of Caribbean studies is language. To Glissant, the European idioms spoken in the Caribbean were inevitably “languages of compromise,” each a lingua franca that only reinforced colonial boundaries and worked against the full realization of common Caribbeanness. Consequently, the practice of translation takes on a special significance in the Caribbean. The word’s Latin etymology—“to carry across” or “to bring across”—reminds us of the traveling function of translation, that it acts as an admittedly privileged intermediary between languages and cultures.

Small Axe shares this function: as a pan-Caribbean enterprise, we are increasingly attentive to the importance of expanding beyond the Anglo-Creole Caribbean. Since 2005, we have published three issues devoted exclusively to the French-speaking Caribbean, and it is our intention now to initiate a fuller integration of sustained critical reflections on the literary, political, historical, and visual cultures of the wide range of linguistic communities in the region. Our project, “Translating the Caribbean” aims to further the goal of pan-Caribbean linguistic and critical integration in a series of activities over the next three years. The first of these is a special issue of the journal, themed around the question of translation within the context of a changing Caribbean modernity—or perhaps, rather, a changing awareness of what modernity means in the Caribbean. Foregrounding at once the historical and the contemporary geo-political concerns embedded in issues of translation, we aim to look at the points of tension between elite opportunities for translation—understood as extra-insular/regional circulation on very literal and very literary levels—and the class and language bounded-ness of non-elite Caribbean citizens.

We invite contributors working in any of the languages of the Caribbean to participate in a generative conversation surrounding translation and the real and imagined multiculturalism of the Americas in papers that might address (among other topics):

• language(s) in/and/of exile – class, travel, and writing from the Caribbean

• francophonie in/and Haiti

• multilinguality, scholarship, and pedagogy in Caribbean Studies

• the viability and legitimacy of a designated lingua franca in the Caribbean

• the relevance of translation to issues of (il)literacy

• the place of Creole(s) in scholarship of the Caribbean

• translation and the literary history of the Caribbean

• translation in Caribbean cultural theory

• translation and the history of Caribbean journals

• the limitations of translation: what is untranslatable in the transcolonial Caribbean?

Abstracts of 250-300 words and short bios should be sent tosubmissions@smallaxe.net by 15 December 2011. Accepted abstracts will be confirmed by 15 January 2012. Final papers of no more than 6000 words must be submitted 31 May 2012.

Image from http://popartmachine.com/item/pop_art/31623%3A48%3A46%3A607800941/PLAGUE-BAY-BEACH-CANOUAN-CARIBBEAN-COAST-DAYLIGHT-ART

New Millennium Writings is now accepting submissions 

for our Thirty-third

Consecutive  Awards for Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction.  Writing

competition winners will be published in NMW

and on this website.

$4,000 offered in Literary Grants and Awards, Plus Publication

$1,000 for best Poem

$1,000 for best Fiction

$1,000 for best Nonfiction †

$1,000 for best Short-short Fiction

To apply online, follow these guidelines No restrictions as to style, content, number of submissions, or nationality. Enter as often as you like. Send between now and November 17, 2011, Midnight, all U.S. time zones. Simultaneous & multiple submissions welcome. Previously published material welcome if under 5,000-circulation or if previously published online only. Each fiction or nonfiction piece is counted as a separate entry, and should total no more than 6,000 words except Short-Short Fiction (no more than 1,000 words). Each poetry entry may include up to three poems, not to exceed five pages total per entry. All poetry Honorable Mentions will be published. Save cover sheet or letter with the submission you'll be uploading and send as one file. Should you forget to include such covers, however, it's OK, as contact information is automatically forwarded to us when you pay online. Cover sheet or letter is not required if entering online, as contact information is automatically forwarded to us when you pay. If including such a cover or letter, however, save it to the submission you'll be uploading and send as one file. --> Payment is $17 per submission in order to cover our many expenses and reserve your book. Payment will be by credit card or echeck through PayPal (See Rule 10). Each entry must be in a separate file (up to 3 poems in one file (See #6)). Many file formats are accepted. Enter file to upload:  Select category... Short-short fiction Fiction Nonfiction Poetry After clicking Upload, allow five seconds, then follow payment instructions to conclude your submission.

The Coca-Cola Case

by Maria Popova

What Colombian laborers have to do with American foreign policy and the history of soda.

Labor rights are among the most pressing human rights issues in industrialized nations. But what makes the subject most devastating is how remote it feels to most of us yet how deeply infused our everyday lives are with its enablers, from the inhuman factory conditions in the Chinese factories that churn out our favorite shoes to the impossibly low wages of the Indian farmers who grow our afternoon tea. The Coca-Cola Case is an unsettling feature-length documentary by directors German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia exploring the subject through the lens of America’s favorite soft drink, investigating the allegations that Coke orchestrated the kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders trying to improve working conditions in Colombia, Guatemala and Turkey.

Of the 4,000 trade unionists killed in Colombia since 1986, only five have been successfully prosecuted. Five. It’s the trade union capital of the world, by far.”

The filmmakers zoom in on two labor rights lawyers and a human rights activist as they attempt to hold the beverage behemoth accountable in a vicious legal and human rights battle. Regardless of whether or not the allegations are true — though, as the film progresses, it becomes increasingly hard to believe otherwise — the film exposes the ugly underbelly of corporate politics, PR spin and the ruthless pursuit of competitive advantage.

After months of investigation into Coca-Cola, all evidence shows that the Coca-Cola system is ripe with immorality, corruption and complicity in gross human rights violations, including murder and torture.”

The film is available on YouTube in 9 parts, which we’ve conveniently collected in this playlist:

For a closer look at Coke’s alleged transgressions around the globe, take a look at Mark Thomas’ Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola. And for more on the broader subject of corporate spin and human rights abuse, we highly recommend Thinker, Faker, Spinner, Spy: Corporate PR and the Assault on Democracy.

via MetaFilter

Extreme Poverty

Is Now At Record Levels

– 19 Statistics About The Poor

That Will

Absolutely Astound You

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty than they have ever measured before.  In 2010, we were told that the economy was recovering, but the truth is that the number of the "very poor" soared to heights never seen previously.  Back in 1993 and back in 2009, the rate of extreme poverty was just over 6 percent, and that represented the worst numbers on record.  But in 2010, the rate of extreme poverty hit a whopping 6.7 percent.  That means that one out of every 15 Americans is now considered to be "very poor".  For many people, this is all very confusing because their guts are telling them that things are getting worse and yet the mainstream media keeps telling them that everything is just fine.  Hopefully this article will help people realize that the plight of the poorest of the poor continues to deteriorate all across the United States.  In addition, hopefully this article will inspire many of you to lend a hand to those that are truly in need.

Tonight, there are more than 20 million Americans that are living in extreme poverty.  This number increases a little bit more every single day.  The following statistics that were mentioned in an article in The Daily Mail should be very sobering for all of us....

About 20.5 million Americans, or 6.7 percent of the U.S. population, make up the poorest poor, defined as those at 50 per cent or less of the official poverty level.

Those living in deep poverty represent nearly half of the 46.2 million people scraping by below the poverty line. In 2010, the poorest poor meant an income of $5,570 or less for an individual and $11,157 for a family of four.

That 6.7 percent share is the highest in the 35 years that the Census Bureau has maintained such records, surpassing previous highs in 2009 and 1993 of just over 6 percent.

Sadly, the wealthy and the poor are being increasingly segregated all over the nation.  In some areas of the U.S. you would never even know that the economy was having trouble, and other areas resemble third world hellholes.  In most U.S. cities today, there are the "good neighborhoods" and there are the "bad neighborhoods".

According to a recent Bloomberg article, the "very poor" are increasingly being pushed into these "bad neighborhoods"....

At least 2.2 million more Americans, a 33 percent jump since 2000, live in neighborhoods where the poverty rate is 40 percent or higher, according to a study released today by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

Of course they don't have much of a choice.  They can't afford to live where most of the rest of us do.

Today, there are many Americans that openly look down on the poor, but that should never be the case.  We should love the poor and want to see them lifted up to a better place.  The truth is that with a few bad breaks any of us could end up in the ranks of the poor.  Compassion is a virtue that all of us should seek to develop.

Not only that, but the less poor people and the less unemployed people we have, the better it is for our economy.  When as many people as possible in a nation are working and doing something economically productive, that maximizes the level of true wealth that a nation is creating.

But today we are losing out on a massive amount of wealth.  We have tens of millions of people that are sitting at home on their couches.  Instead of creating something of economic value, the rest of us have to support them financially.  That is not what any of us should want.

It is absolutely imperative that we get as many Americans back to work as possible.  The more people that are doing something economically productive, the more wealth there will be for all of us.

That is why it is so alarming that the ranks of the "very poor" are increasing so dramatically.  When the number of poor people goes up, the entire society suffers.

So just how bad are things right now?

The following are 19 statistics about the poor that will absolutely astound you....

#1 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of "very poor" rose in 300 out of the 360 largest metropolitan areas during 2010.

#2 Last year, 2.6 million more Americans descended into poverty.  That was the largest increase that we have seen since the U.S. government began keeping statistics on this back in 1959.

#3 It isn't just the ranks of the "very poor" that are rising.  The number of those just considered to be "poor" is rapidly increasing as well.  Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty.  Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.

#4 The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010.

#5 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

#6 In Washington D.C., the "child food insecurity rate" is 32.3%.

#7 More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

#8 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.

#9 Today, there are over 45 million Americans on food stamps.

#10 According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 15 percent of all Americans are now on food stamps.

#11 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.

#12 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.

#13 We are told that the economy is recovering, but the number of Americans on food stamps has grown by another 8 percent over the past year.

#14 Right now, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#15 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

#16 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid.  Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.  Today, approximately one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

#17 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.

#18 The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.

#19 It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.

Sadly, we don't hear much about this on the nightly news, do we?

This is because the mainstream media is very tightly controlled.

I came across a beautiful illustration of this recently.  If you do not believe that the news in America is scripted, just watch this video starting at the 1:15 mark.  Conan O'Brien does a beautiful job of demonstrating how news anchors all over the United States are often repeating the exact same words.

So don't rely on the mainstream media to tell you everything.

In this day and age, it is absolutely imperative that we all think for ourselves.

It is also absolutely imperative that we have compassion on our brothers and sisters.

Winter is coming up, and if you see someone that does not have a coat, don't be afraid to offer to give them one.

All over the United States (and all around the world), there are orphans that are desperately hurting.  As you celebrate the good things that you have during this time of the year, don't forget to remember them.

We should not expect that "the government" will take care of everyone that is hurting.

The reality is that millions of people fall through the "safety net".

Being generous and being compassionate are qualities that all of us should have.

Yes, times are going to get harder and an economic collapse is coming.

That just means that we should be more generous and more compassionate than we have ever been before.

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Captured in

international waters

en route to Gaza:

An eyewitness account

 

by SR Editor on November 7, 2011

 

By Lina Attalah *

Inside the Tahrir boat to Gaza Friday morning, as everyone sat opposite computer screens, updating the world about our trip, David Heap, one of the boat's organizers, made a grand entrance to our make-shift media center.

"50! We're 50 miles away from Gaza," he screamed to applause.

The previous night, we were expecting Israeli intervention at any point. Israel has a record of attacking solidarity boats in international waters as far as 100 nautical miles off Gaza's shore. But when we woke up to a sunny day and found that our communications system was working, we thought that arrival to Gaza was imminent. Activists on board spent the first half of the day decorating the boat with pro-Gaza flags, signs and artwork.

The enthusiasm, however, didn't eliminate our expectation of Israeli intervention. Activists were working on English and Hebrew signs reading "this is piracy" and "this is kidnapping," in anticipation of a possible attack in international waters.

We were right to temper our optimism. Towards the early afternoon, we saw three Israeli warships in the horizon. We knew that the moment had come.

At that point, some activists and journalists on board started throwing equipment into the sea, fearing that the information stored on their technology could be used by our potential captors to implicate other activists who were not on the boat.

Soon after, the Israeli presence in the waters around us intensified. We counted at least 15 ships, four of which were warships, and the rest a mix of smaller boats and water cannons. From inside the smaller boats, dozens of Israeli soldiers pointed their machines guns at us. This is when our communications system was jammed and we lost contact with the world.

Our boat's captain started receiving radio messages from the Israeli navy, asking about the organizers and the destination of the trip. Ehab Lotayef, another organizer of the Tahrir boat to Gaza, communicated with the Israeli navy, telling them that our destination was Gaza and that any attempt to arrest us would be illegal. When the navy repeated over the radio, "Tahrir, what is your final destination?" Lotayef, who is a poet, responded, "the betterment of mankind."

As Israeli naval vessels loomed around our boat, the Israelis made a proposition that they would send one person to inspect for weapons, and if he found nothing, they would let us pass. The proposition was met with skepticism among the activists, although some thought this could really be a way to get to Gaza. The Irish boat, which was sailing with us, staunchly refused the proposition.

As the Israeli ships closed in on us, we found the Irish boat heading into our direction and hitting our boat so aggressively that they damaged their entry point. We speculated that this could be a form of resistance to the forced Israeli boarding, but we couldn't communicate with them to find out.

At this point, the Israelis had withdrawn their proposition and sent radio messages to our boat, asking us to stop sailing because they would board the boat and take us to the Israeli port of Ashdod. When our boat refused to surrender, they aimed their canons at us, showering us with salty water. This came a few minutes after Heap had warned us, "get ready for a shower." The radio warnings from the Israeli navy continued, asking the boat's members to remove the net surrounding the boat, which we had put in place as a form of protection.

The boat had become highly unstable and panic was in the air. But a beautiful rainbow in the sky caught our attention, and, in what was a surreal moment, we started capturing it with our cameras.

Then we were outmaneuvered. Israeli ships hit our boat and soldiers started boarding. Dozens of masked soldiers screamed "on your knees," and "hands up." One soldier filmed the whole process. At the same time, a group of soldiers invaded the boat's lower level, where we had set up our media center. I don't remember at what point an Israeli flag was flown from the boat.

After some initial checks, we also found ourselves below deck, where we were seated one next to the other. We learned that the boat was already being steered towards Ashdod. When one of the soldiers asked if we needed anything, Lotayef and Heap said "we need our boat back." They were ignored.

We were then allowed to go one by one to collect our luggage from the ship's hold. I found no computers or any other electronics left, and our luggage was dumped in piles, with soldiers lying on the floor in what became a mess. That same area had been our temporary home for the past four days as we worked, ate and slept there. The scene of a dismantled home was quite disturbing.

After two hours we reached Ashdod. Unfortunately, I couldn't see what became of the other passengers because I was called out first. We exchanged painful gazes at each other as I was taken out, wondering when and where next we would meet next.

On the way out of the boat, I was showered with flashes as Israeli soldiers took pictures. The place we were taken to at Ashdod is a featureless detention facility for "illegal migrants." I was strip-searched and had my flip cam, personal diary, USB stick, mobile phone and voice recorder confiscated. My computer and camera had already been taken by the soldiers on the boat. I tried to negotiate to get my things back - or at least to recuperate my personal diary, where I had compiled minute details of the trip - but failed. I did manage to keep two books they wanted to confiscate.

My thoughts, in the meantime, were with the boat's activists, who pledged to peacefully resist being taken out of the boat. They agreed that they would only leave the boat by being forcibly dragged. As I was searched, I heard Heap screaming inside the facility. "Ehab, can you hear me?," "Majd, can you hear me?," "Kit, can you hear me?," "Karen, can you hear me?," "Michael, can you hear me?" His calls echoed in the large detention facility, piercing through its noisy corridors. But I heard no responses from fellow activists.

I was brought somewhere else, where I was interrogated by police officers for 30 minutes and where my finger prints and photo were taken. During the interrogation, I was asked about my professional history, the different organizations I worked for and how I knew Freedom Waves, our flotilla to Gaza, and the activists involved. As I was facing the police officer, I saw the reflection of George Klontzas, the boat's captain, in the mirror. His legs were cloaked in metal chain.

"Are you aware that you were heading into a closed military zone?" the police officer asked. I said yes. When he asked why I did that, I told him I was covering an activists' quest to challenge the Gaza blockade. He smiled and let me go.

I was driven by two diplomats from the Egyptian Embassy to the Taba border crossing and crossed over to Egypt, quite smoothly and unharmed.

***

Right before setting sail, I was sitting with Heap in an office at the Fethiye port in Turkey, sending last minute emails. Amid frantic emailing, I overheard Heap calling his son on Skype and telling him, "I love you, you know that." I was a little disconcerted. I hadn't thought to do the same. I asked him, "Do you really think we need to call our folks and tell them we love them before we sail?" He told me, "We have to tell them we love them all the time." At the time of writing this article, he and Lotayef were still detained in Israel.

One of the two books that escaped confiscation was Mediterranean Crossings by Iain Chambers. As the soldier removed my bookmark, I naively rushed to mark the page by folding it. "The Mediterranean becomes a site for an experiment to a different form of history," read some of Chambers' words on that page. Perhaps the line describes the act of appropriating international waters in a quest to change the status quo.

* Lina studied journalism at the American University in Cairo. Before joining Al-Masry Al-Youm English Edition, she wrote for Reuters, Cairo Times, the Daily Star, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others. In 2005, she worked as radio producer and campaign coordinator with the BBC World Service Trust in Darfur, Sudan. She also worked as project manager for a number of research-based projects with multi-media outputs around the themes of space, mobility, and intellectual history. Lina is particularly drawn to border areas, where human geography issues of conflict and desire are rampant.

Source: almasryalyoum.com

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