My hero of this week is Edward Peck.
Mr. Peck is former ambassador to the US and a few days ago he travelled on a boat to Gaza along with a number of Turkish people to deliver much needed aid to the Palestinians. As we now know the Israeli military boarded one boat and after allegedly being threatened by those on the boat, they opened fire and killed nine of the Turks.
Mr. Peck was on the second boat and was unharmed. The reason he is my hero is because in the aftermath of outrage from all camps, accusations and justifications by Israelis, despair and anger from the Turkish community, Mr. Peck calmly and pleasantly stated his case to news network Al Jazeera. His opinion was that the Israelis could have used this opportunity to show compassion after a number of disastrous months where they have happily showed their ruthlessness. They didn't take him up on his offer. In his calm and logical delivery was a voice of reason in a world that is furious, confused and frightened. The fact that he is a US citizen adds credibility to the Palestinian struggle and proves that not every American political figure is in Israel's pocket.
