Ann Wright: The Warmth Of Solidarity #NODAPL #FreeGaza

Ann Wright (center) at JFK Airport with supporters after being deported from Israel
this month for attempting a humanitarian mission to Gaza.

Just back from detention in Israel, arrested in international waters on the "Women's Boat to Gaza" (read her report here), activist Ann Wright went directly to North Dakota to join those facing militarized police attacks that have included dogs and pepper spray. 

It can sometimes seem like Ann Wright is everywhere in the struggle for justice. Since retiring from the State Department in protest of the Iraq war in 2003, this Veteran for Peace has devoted her life to what she describes as "the warmth of solidarity."

In North Dakota Ann joined in the resistance to corporate takeover of the water supply under tribal lands of the Standing Rock Sioux. She went to stand shoulder to shoulder with water protectors like Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle who has been arrested, strip searched and slapped with a restraining order for engaging in peaceful resistance to running an oil pipeline through the watershed that supplies millions in the U.S.



From Camp Casey in Texas to Hawaii (where she hails from) to Jeju Island, South Korea, Ann can be found in the struggle for justice in the face of corporate government.

Ann Wright with Father Mun Jeong Hyeon of the
Catholic Church Solidarity to Make Peace on Jeju Island

This month we are lucky enough to have her in Maine for a speaking tour that begins tomorrow, October 28, in Brunswick. Her full schedule:

Saturday, October 29 Curtis Public Library, Brunswick, noon
Saturday, October 29 Belfast Free Public Library, Belfast, 4pm
Sunday, October 30 Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Bangor, 3pm
Sunday, October 30 Blue Hill Library Blue Hill, 6:30pm
Tuesday, November 1 State Street Church, Portland, 7pm

The title of her talk, "Never Silent Until Our Sisters Are Free," comes from a song that the international band of women on the boat to Gaza sang about the suffering of Palestinian women and their families under Israeli occupation.


You won't want to miss hearing from Ann. 

We can't rely on the corporate media to tell us what is happening in the world, but we can rely on Ann Wright and activists like her to bring us real news.

 Ann Wright at the University of Hawaii to greet President Obama as he arrived
to promote militarization to Pacific Island leaders in September.

Ann Wright Speaking Tour In Maine Begins Oct. 29 "Never Silent Until Our Sisters Are Free"

Palestinian boys prepare to welcome Women’s Boat to Gaza
which was intercepted by the Israeli naval blockade on Oct. 5, 2016.

International human rights activist Ann Wright begins a speaking tour of Maine next week to share news from her recent travels supporting struggles for justice around the globe. She was aboard the Women's Boat to Gaza which was boarded by Israel's military in international waters earlier this month.

#WomenToGaza Llegará en breve.
Israel se prepara en el puerto de Ashdod#LetFFLotillaSail pic.twitter.com/PVhmNjHfQ4

— AlaitzBG (@AlaitzBG) October 4, 2016

Ann was illegally detained along with numerous women from parliaments and human rights organizations around the globe, including Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire. On October 6 Ann was released from an Israeli jail.

It was her fourth attempt to challenge the blockade of Gaza. She has been to Gaza six times participating in the 2009 Gaza Freedom March and the 2010, 2011 and 2015 Gaza Freedom Flotillas. She was aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters when Israel’s military boarded it and killed ten passengers in 2010.

After being deported from Israel on October 6, she joined water protectors at Standing Rock to oppose the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

Photo by Ann Wright of Groovy Yurts at Standing Rock yesterday

Because she cares about life on this planet, including access to potable water and respect for indigenous land rights.

Ann is an articulate and passionate spokesperson and an ally to people struggling for peace and justice around the planet. She is doing the kind of diplomatic work that the U.S. State Department often neglects as it promotes corporate interests like fracking around the world.

Ann will share her perspectives on women in international struggles for peace and justice Saturday, October 29 at the Curtis Public Library in Brunswick at noon and at the Belfast Free Public Library at 4pm, and Sunday, October 30 at the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine in Bangor at 3pm and the Blue Hill Library at 6:30pm. She also plans to meet with the staff of Sen. Angus King while she is in Maine.

Ann, a member of Veterans for Peace, reports regularly in Common Dreams, Consortium News and Op-ed News on her participation in local struggles against militarism and for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

In “A firsthand account of Women’s Boat to Gaza” published October 10 she wrote,

“The internationally isolated enclave called Gaza has almost one quarter of the population of Israel yet is kept in virtually perpetual darkness by the policies of the State of Israel, which also limits the amount of water, food, construction and medical supplies...”

A retired US Army Reserve Colonel and a former US diplomat, Ann resigned from the State Department in 2003 in opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Last year she was on Jeju Island, South Korea with a delegation from Veterans for Peace supporting villagers protecting their soft coral reef from military base construction.

As a professional with extensive experience in Afghanistan, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Uzbekistan and a dedicated peacemaker, Ann has a unique perspective on resolving conflicts before they become wars. You won't want to miss her talks.

For more information on Ann's speaking tour contact Ridgely Fuller (508) 333-6230  ridgelyfuller@gmail.com.