Israeli | Gaza Aid Crisis Explodes on World Stage

Love | Peace Details of the Israeli | Gaza aid flotilla clash in the Mediterranean remain sketchy. Hundreds of activists are in Israeli prison, unable to speak with journalists, according to all credible media. 

AP confirms that Edward Peck, 81, a former American ambassador living in Chevy Chase, Md., has been released and will be home later today. 

In addition to his ambassadorship and several other overseas posts, Edward Peck’s government positions included serving as deputy director of then-President Ronald Reagan’s White House Task Force on Terrorism. He has a consulting firm, Foreign Services International. via AP

Edward Peck was in the flotilla with a group from the Free Palestine Movement, his wife Ann Peck said. On its website, the group says its mission “is to challenge Israeli policies and actions that deny Palestinians their human rights, and in particular the right of unfettered access to all of Palestine.”

via Reuters

Other Americans on board the Free Palestine Movement ship were retired television commercial producer David Schermerhorn of Orcas Island, Wash and Joe Meadors, 63, of Corpus Christi, Texas, a Navy veteran. Joe Meadors was serving aboard the U.S. Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty that was attacked by Israeli forces in 1967, killing 34 crew members.

Rumors are building on the Internet that at least one more aid boat, and possibly more, will attempt to run the blockade in a new effort to open Gaza. 

More reading: Israel Holds Hundreds Seized During Raid on Flotilla NYTimes

Flotilla Assault Off Gaza Spurs Crisis WSJ