‘Color Purple’ author Walker in Gaza to prod Israel

[bemildred]

CAIRO, Egypt — Pulitzer-prize winning author Alice Walker, who wrote “The Color Purple,” is traveling to Gaza along with other female activists to highlight the devastation of the Israeli offensive on Gaza’s residents.

“I feel that what is happening in the Middle East is very important because the situation is so volatile,” said Walker, speaking by telephone Saturday from the Rafah border crossing as her group waited to travel into Gaza. “I love people, and I love children and I feel that the Palestinian child is just as precious as the African-American child, as the Jewish child.”

Walker is part of a group of about 60 women going to Gaza to deliver aid and meet with NGOs and residents. The trip, organized by the U.S. anti-war group Code Pink, is intended to push both Israel and Egypt to open the borders into Gaza, said Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink who helped organize the trip.

The trip comes as efforts to reach a long-term cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hamas have hit a roadblock. An Israeli offensive on Gaza, intended to stop rocket fire into southern Israel, ended Jan. 18 with separate cease-fires declared by both Israel and Hamas.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6298816.html

[regnaD kciN]

1. Oh, I'm sure the Israelis will pay LOTS of attention...

I mean, if Hillary Clinton couldn't get the message through, they'll certainly listen to the author of The Temple of My Familiar.

:sarcasm:

[Peregrine Took]

2. I love Alice Walker. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

3. Alice Walker is a great and generous woman, who has always tried to help others

in big and little ways, but, most importantly, to help them see out around and beyond their blind spots. I can't think of a better ambassador of peace. And she knows this...

"Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

The other poster, above me here, who jumped right in with ridicule, reminds me of those who called Gandhi that "skinny old guy in a diaper." Some people are just utterly blind to how change happens. They are so emotionally committed to the ugliness, pain and suffering in the world, that they can't let go of it, nor imagine that anyone could.

[azurnoir]

4. Thank you

I loved this quote

Walker, who was making her first trip to Gaza, said it was important for Americans who give so much military aid to Israel to understand how their money was being used.

“It’s very important that they understand what is happening, and that we hold our own administration accountable,” she said.

Hopefully we have for the first time in a very, very long time an administration that is willing to be held accountable