While European governments and their MSM allies do their best to control the narrative and shovel a story of a migrant invasion down out throats, there’s a glorious revolution going on behind the scenes and out of sight of public view.
An unusual story about Pia Klemp, a female sea captain on a mission to save lives in the Mediterranean sea, got my attention recently and sent me down a little rabbit hole that ripped the blinkers from my eyes. The story, that was sent to me by a friend, was that Pia had decided to reject a medal (The Medaille Grand Vermeil) awarded to her by the city of Paris back in July 2019. She expressed her thanks, her love and her solidarity for the citizens of Paris but she refused to recognise the authority of the office that awarded her the medal. Here is Pia’s reply to the Mayor of Paris…
“Madame Hidalgo, you want to award me a medal for my solidarian action in the Mediterranean Sea, because our crews ‘work to rescue migrants from difficult conditions on a daily basis’. At the same time your police is stealing blankets from people that you force to live on the streets, while you raid protests and criminalize people that are standing up for rights of migrants and asylum seekers. You want to give me a medal for actions that you fight in your own ramparts. I am sure you won’t be surprised that I decline the medaille Grand Vermeil.”
Pia’s words to the people of Paris were even more emotive…
“Paris, I love you. I love you for all the free and solidarian people that live in you. Fighting for their freedom everyday, standing shoulder to shoulder, distributing blankets, friendship and solidarity. I love you for those who are sharing their homes, love and struggles everyday – regardless of their nationality, regardless if they have papers or not… Paris, I’m not a humanitarian. I am not there to ‘aid’. I stand with you in solidarity. We do not need medals. We do not need authorities deciding about who is a ‘hero’ and who is ‘illegal’. In fact they are in no position to make this call, because we are all equal. What we need are freedom and rights. It is time we call out hypocrite honorings and fill the void with social justice. It is time we cast all medals into spearheads of revolution!.. Documents and housing for all!.. Freedom of movement and residence!”
Keen to learn more about this fascinating women I thought I might try and do a little research and the first thing that jumped off the screen at me was a wonderful news story being reported by the Guardian today. It turns out that the artist Banksy, no doubt equally impressed with Pia’s escapades as I was, decided to do what he could to help fund her amazing rescue project. So Pia now has a shiny new, and rather fast, rescue boat. It’s a 31-metre motor yacht called the Louise Michel (named after a French feminist anarchist). Pia explains they chose a fast boat because, hopefully, this will allow them to “outrun the so-called Libyan coastguard before they get to boats with refugees and migrants and pull them back to the detention camps in Libya”.
The Libyan coastguard have a horrendous reputation of mistreating people at sea (the above short video documentary includes film of the Libyan coastguard actively attacking rescuers trying to pull migrants out of the water, pushing migrants back into the sea and trying to shake them off their boat by speeding up as they’re being dragged along) or selling them off to militias at Libyan harbours after intercepting them.
Given that European authorities are actively blocking any attempts to rescue or help migrants and frequently threaten legal action, the Louise Michel’s all female crew of 10, comprising of anti-racist and anti-fascist activists advocating for radical political change, set off, in secrecy, on 18 August from a Spanish seaport and have already rescued 89 people, including 14 women and four children.
In fact, Pia has captained several non-governmental organisation (NGO) boats whose crews have rescued thousands of people over recent years. Speaking to the Guardian, Pia explains.. “I don’t see sea rescue as a humanitarian action, but as part of an anti-fascist fight,”
According to Wiki, between 2011 and 2017, Pia worked for the Sea Shepherd organization and worked on numerous international operations to protect sea animals. Between 2016 and 2018 she also commanded two rescue ships in the Mediterranean while working for two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – ‘Jugend Rettet’ and ‘Sea-Watch’. These NGOs rescued about 14 thousand migrants from drowning and Pia was personally responsible for rescuing more than a thousand. Unfortunately, one of her ships, the Iuventa, was seized by Italian authorities in 2017, who then falsely accused her of working with human traffickers. The legal case is ongoing and a conviction could even result in a 20 year prison sentence. In 2018, she had another ship (the Sea-Watch 3) blocked by Maltese authorities for several months. However, Pia is not one to who allows open hostility and threats of legal action to get in the way of what she clearly sees as her calling.
As Banksy put it so brilliantly in his email (and I heartily agree), Pia… “You sound like a badass”
