Md. Mideast peace activist recounts flotilla ordeal
A retired diplomat from Maryland who was aboard the so-called Freedom Flotilla attacked by Israeli commandos expressed guarded optimism Wednesday that the deadly episode would force Israel to relax its years-old blockade of Gaza.
The Israeli government "may have made a gross mistake," Edward L. Peck said in a telephone interview. "And so, this could lead to an improved situation for the people" of Gaza.
"It's a horrible thing that happened to those Turks who died" in the Israeli attack. "We had people on our ship who were beaten and maltreated," he said. "No one in his or her right mind should want anything bad to happen to a single Israeli, but bad things are happening and will happen because of what is going on in Palestine and Gaza and what isn't going on in Palestine and Gaza."
As a result of its commando assault, believed to have cost the lives of at least nine pro-Palestinian activists, Israel is facing intensified international demands to ease its blockade of Gaza, which had been designed to pressure the Hamas government.
Peck, a former career U.S. foreign service officer who served as ambassador to Mauritania and chief of mission in Iraq, spent four days aboard a Greek ship, one of six vessels that traveled by way of Cyprus before Israeli forces boarded the flotilla in international waters. He returned to his home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington after being deported by Israel.
In the aftermath of the deadly assault, the two sides have been jockeying for advantage in the court of international public opinion by airing dueling videos of the event.
Peck was not on the ship where fatalities occurred. He portrayed the actions of Israeli soldiers who boarded his ship as an overreaction that produced minor injuries for nine of 53 fellow passengers.
"The people didn't want to be boarded," he said. "We tried to resist passively, which the Israeli people were not prepared to accept." A fellow American on the ship, Joe Meadors, a Texas activist, was hit with a paintball fired by the commandos, whose heads were covered with balaclavas, said Peck.
"If somebody were to appear at my door (in Chevy Chase), fully armed, wearing balaclava masks, I'd defend my home," he said. "It's the Israeli commandos that were attacking" a ship in international waters "that didn't want to go to Israel," and the passengers defended themselves with deck chairs and iron pipes, but no guns.
The former diplomat, now in his early 80s, was taken into Israeli custody and eventually placed aboard a flight to New York.
He said his efforts on behalf of the Palestinians were not designed to support Hamas, which opposes peace talks with Israel and is regarded by Israel as a terrorist organization. However, Peck said he was a 2006 election observer in Gaza "when Hamas won a free and fair election."
Peck was among 12 Americans from the U.S.-based Free Palestine Movement aboard the flotilla, according to Jonathan Slevin, a former publisher of the Washington Times who is a spokesman for the El Cerrito, CA organization.
Nearly 700 activists were detained by Israel following the attack and more than 100 have been deported.
Peck said that after he was placed aboard a Continental Airlines jet for the trip back to the U.S., he met with rejection after requesting a drink with his airplane meal.
"I have a sense of humor," he said. "When I had my dinner and I asked for a bottle of red wine, I was told, 'No. You are not allowed alcoholic beverages. You are a threat to national security.'"
Peck is a private foreign-policy consultant. During more than 30 years as a U.S. diplomat, he was posted to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania. He was chief of the U.S. mission in Baghdad during the Carter administration. He also served as coordinator of covert intelligence programs at the State Department and was deputy director of the Cabinet Task Force on Terrorism at the White House under President Ronald Reagan.
Peck is a former paratrooper with degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles and George Washington University.
He was an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and endorsed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.
The Marylander became an unlikely participant in the 2008 presidential contest after Barack Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, adapted comments made by Peck in a Fox News interview for a post-9/11 sermon attacking U.S. foreign policy. Video of Wright "damning" America, which was followed by other controversial remarks, forced Obama to break with the minister and quit his church.
Comments
I guess it comes as no surprise that this mans credentials are made up entirely of posting to Arab Countries. However, that does not excuse inaccuracies. The ship was bound for Gaza. Gaza IS part of Israel - contrary to Mr. Peck's assertion. Prior to 1967, it was part of Egypt. Egypt ceded the territory to Israel in the 1979 Camp David Accords. Until temporarily opening its border this week, Egypt had a closed and blockaded border with Gaza. It's so inconvenient when facts get in the way of our agenda.
Posted by: David Fink | June 2, 2010 12:56 PM
Edward L. Peck is a radical who inspired the racist Obama preacher, Rev Wrights now famous GOD DAMN AMERIKKA and "the chickens are coming home to roost" blaming America for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 2, 2010 1:17 PM
Gaza is part of Israel according to the treaties, but Israel's government doesn't govern it, do they? They've withdrawn their forces from it, they don't tax it, and they make no attempt to police it or provide any of their standard government services to it. They have abandoned any material claim to it and therefore I don't think other countries should consider it "part of Israel" anymore.
The same goes for those "tribal areas" that are nominally part of Pakistan. Pakistan's government doesn't even try to govern them, yet when we attack our enemies there, they protest that we're violating their sovereignty. Luckily, our government is sensible enough to ignore these hollow claims.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 2, 2010 1:39 PM
It seems to me that successive US administrations, from the Reagan administration on, trusted Ambassador Peck to represent the US interest in various countries, including some less than friendly to the US. Ambassador Pack's qualifications and appointment were approved by the congress as well, and, as noted in the story, he served as deputy director of the Reagan administration's task force on terrorism. I would say that this man's words and actions are worthy of close attention, and his positions should be carefully considered, rather than simply rejected because of being at odds with some other position.
Posted by: Alan Moore | June 2, 2010 1:41 PM
How is it that all folks who oppose Israel and US Cops are terrorists. Answer: That's how capitalist governments market their oppression. What authority do US and Israeli cops have outside of the US and Israel? That authority wielded in the form of violence.
Posted by: Mark Skudlarek | June 2, 2010 1:46 PM
Oh. you mean Israel is just supposed to sit there and absorb 100 or so bombings per day, like they used to before they constucted a wall and put up the blockade? That sounds like something our President might do, not a country like Israel. This jerk peck, might change his tune if he and his family lived within mortar range. Get real people - hamas is a murderous, bloodthirsty group of terrorists posing as human beings. Leave Israel alone. Let THEM live in peace.
Posted by: Confused Two | June 2, 2010 2:14 PM
I saw Peck's interview with Greta last night. To say this guy is a complete idiot would be an understatement. I can see why the Middle East continues to be such a mess with ex-diplomats like Mr. Peck putting their stamp on the situation. How do people like this get to the positions they hold? It's a complete mystery. It's Alice in Wonderland.
Posted by: dnha14 | June 2, 2010 2:42 PM
Gaza is not part of Israel.
Posted by: mike | June 2, 2010 2:45 PM
"The people didn't want to be boarded," he said. "We tried to resist passively, which the Israeli people were not prepared to accept."
______________________
Who you going to believe? Your own lying eyes or this guy. I have seen videos of the so-called "peace activists" beating Israeli soldiers with pipes as they lay on the deck of the boat; of so-callled "peace activists" physically throwing an Israeli soldier from the boat. This was a pro-Hamas, pro terrorist provocation launched from Turkey by the Islamist Turkish leader.
Posted by: pem | June 2, 2010 5:14 PM
Amb. Peck has done more to advance the interests of the US than all the neocons put together.
The commentator above is incorrect. Peck was on a different ship, not the one of the clipped video. As far as what happen on the other ship, I don't blame folks for getting angry. The Israelis need to learn that some folks will fight if attacked.
Posted by: Ryan | June 3, 2010 7:27 AM
Israel is a rogue state and a danger to anyone or country that she can imagine as a threat.
Posted by: helvena | June 4, 2010 1:09 PM
Believing Gaza is part of Israel is indicative of how swamped America is with second rate propaganda. The person that wrote “Gaza belongs to Israel”, oddly enough, seems to sincerely believe it to be true. I forgive them for they know not what they do and besides he or she most probably acquired his or her knowledge of Palestine from Wolf ‘down on my knees for Israel’ Blitzer.
Here is a question for all the sentimentalists out there: what do Israeli’s think American’s will do when they find out what has really been going on in their name?
Posted by: Al | June 5, 2010 1:51 AM
I contacted continental on this issue with the denied glass of wine. They say it never happened and that Mr West is lying.
They replied to my comment with:
-----------------------------------------------
I am sorry that you have an understanding of an incident that did not happen. Please keep in mind that many people post many things on the internet, not all are factual. Please understand that this incident is very new, those who were involved in the situation overseas have just been released or are still being held. A passenger who is considered “a danger to national security” is not admitted into an airport, let alone on a flight.
Please judge your resources of information accordingly for accuracy.
---------------------------------------------------
Who's zooming whom here?
Posted by: JC | June 12, 2010 12:24 PM