Viva Palestina convoy reaches Gaza

AlJazeera.Net
Viva Palestina convoy reaches Gaza

Oct. 21, 2010


Pro-Palestinian activists in more than 100 cars and lorries have crossed into the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah crossing with aid worth nearly $5m.

The multinational "Viva Palestina" ship arrived at Egypt's port city of al-Arish from Lattakia, Syria, earlier on Thursday. About 300 activists then flew into al-Arish airport and converged with the ship's passengers before entering Gaza.

The activists had initially joined up in Syria from Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, and more than two dozen other countries.

The convoy was organised by George Galloway a British politician. However, Galloway was not with the convoy after being banned from Egypt following clashes between activists from a previous aid mission and police in January in El-Arish, 45km from Gaza.

Zaher Berawi, the spokesman for the convoy, criticised Cairo's insistence on "excluding convoy official George Galloway," and said he hoped the issue of the former parliamentarian's banning could be resolved in the future.

WARM WELCOME

Viva Palestina originally departed from London on September 18 and arrived in Syria two weeks later.

The activists then waited for over two weeks in Lattakia for permission from the Egyptian authorities for the shipment, which includes medical supplies and school equipment, to be allowed to enter al-Arish port.

Hamas officials and hundreds of Gazans welcomed the convoy, waving Palestinian flags and also those of countries participating in the mission.

The aid does not include any building materials, which the Egyptian authorities did not allow, as part of the agreement permitting the activists to enter Gaza for three days.

Israel has kept Gaza under a blockade since 2007, saying it is a necessary step to stop arms reaching the Hamas group running the strip.

Flotilla survivors

Several dozen survivors from the Israeli attack on May 31 on the Turkish aid ship the Mavi Marmara were among those in the "Viva Palestina" convoy.

Israeli commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists when they boarded the Mavi Marmara, the main vessel in a 'Freedom Flotilla' also attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

Israel's leaders said their troops opened fire in self-defence after being set upon by activists.

However, a UN inquiry last month found that Israeli troops broke international law by boarding the flotilla and found that the killings of activists on-board were comparable to "summary executions".

After an international outcry over the Mavi Marmara raid, Israel relaxed its embargo but construction materials remain restricted.

Gazans have limited freedom of movement and Israel still enforces its naval blockade.

*Source: Agencies

Viva Palestina 5 arrives in Egypt after lengthy delay

Al-Masry Al-Youm
Viva Palestina 5 arrives in Arish after lengthy delay

Wednesday, October 20

Jano Charbel


Arish--The first of two passenger airplanes--part of the fifth and largest Viva Palestina convoy--arrived in Egypt Wednesday evening on its final stop before heading on to the Gaza Strip. The arrival in Arish port city follows an 18-day clearance delay in Latakia, Syria.

The second passenger airplane is scheduled to land at Al-Arish on Thursday. Each aircraft carries 155 delegates and activists from around the world. An aid ship with a cargo of 30 delegates and several tons of humanitarian aid is also set to dock at the Egyptian port city Thursday.

Viva Palestina describes itself as "A Lifeline to Gaza."

The convoy hopes to unload and transport its aid cargo to Gaza on Thursday. Egypt previously denied entrance to 18 members of the convoy, including former British MP George Galloway.

Following lengthy negotiations, Egyptian authorities agreed to grant the Viva Palestina activists access into the Gaza Strip for three days. From Colorado, independent activist Guy Benintendi, one of three Americans partaking in the convoy, said "we are pawns in the hands of the Egyptian government." He blamed the 18-day delay on "diplomatic and bureaucratic obstacles." Israel and other states may be behind this delay, he added.

One of the convoy's chief organizers, the Palestinian-English Zaher al-Berawi, said Viva Palestina, international institutions, the Egyptian government, the Egyptian people, and all the free people of the world, hope and strive to end the siege on Gaza. He praised "the Egyptian government's efforts, and its coordination with us to make this dream a reality."

The convoy includes 140 vehicles and a total of 340 delegates from 30 countries, according to al-Berawi. He added that over 80 percent of the aid is in the form of medical supplies, 10 percent in educational material and school supplies, and another 10 percent are emergency and relief equipment. The supplies are valued at US$5 million.

"The aid does not include any building materials [concrete, reinforced steel, pipes, etc.] as it was not allowed according to the agreements we had concluded with the Egyptian Embassy in Damascus," al-Berawi told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Jordanian associations and trade unions intended to deliver construction materials as part of the convoy but were not permitted to join, he added.

Israeli authorities have explicitly prevented the entrance of all such construction materials into the besieged Gaza Strip since 2007.

Even after its devastating war against Gaza from December 2008 to January 2009, Israel maintained its stance.

Egypt had similarly closed off its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip after Hamas seized power in 2007. Egyptian authorities re-opened the Rafah border following the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza -- on May 31, 2010 -- in which eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed by Israeli commandos.


One of the 115 Algerian activists participating in the convoy, former Algerian MP Mohamed Douibi was previously part of the Freedom Flotilla. He was aboard the ship that bore the brunt of this Israeli attack, the Mavi Marmara. He pointed to his injured eye and said, "Israeli commandos boarded the ship I was on and fired a rubber bullet at my face. It hit me in the eye, and I'm still being treated for this injury I sustained."

"This assault made me even more adamant in my decision to defy Israel's siege on Gaza. This is why I am participating in this convoy."

This is the first Viva Palestina convoy in which he has participated. He said that he intends to partake in forthcoming Viva Palestina convoys "until the siege is lifted."

John Hurson, from Tyrone Ireland, one of eight Irish delegates partaking in this convoy, described Egypt's decision to deny entrance to 18 activists as "ridiculous."

"The Egyptian government told the world that it would open its border with Gaza indefinitely," said Hurson. "It has now become obvious that this announcement is a lie." Egypt's decision to bar these activists "puts more of a spotlight on Egypt as being a party complicit in this siege," he added.

George Galloway is considered persona non grata by the Egyptian government. He was barred from entering Egypt during the Viva Palestina 3 convoy attempt which arrived in the Port of Arish in January, 2010. Having waited for several days in the Jordanian Port of Aqaba, for clearance from Egyptian authorities, it was then ordered to be rerouted to Latakia. The convoy arrived in the Syrian port only to be delayed for several more days.

Upon arrival in Arish, the convoy waited again for clearance. Impatience and frustration led some activists to break down one of the port's gates. Clashes between Viva Palestina activists and Egyptian police ensued. More than 20 members of the convoy were injured, along with around 10 policemen.

Mahmoud Khaled, one of 90 Viva Palestina 5 activists from Jordan said, "we're happy to be in Egypt, but we'll be even happier when we get into the (Gaza) Strip and are able to deliver our aid to that besieged populace."

He added that nine Jordanians were denied entrance into Egypt, including 83-year-old Ismail Nashwan. Egyptian authorities reportedly claimed that Nashwan is a Turkish troublemaker, "although he is not a Turk, and is too old to be a troublemaker," according to Khaled.

The Viva Palestina 5 convoy originated in London. It departed Saturday, 18 September and drove southwestwards through Europe and Turkey, and arrived in Latakia on Saturday, 2 October. In Latakia, the convoy was joined by two other contingents from Algeria and Morocco.

*See also

Viva Palestina

Palestinian Relief

Gaza TV News

***

Israel & Egypt Continue to Besiege Gaza

TRUTHOUT.Org
Israel and Egypt Continue to Squeeze Israel
Wednesday 20 January 2010

Ann Wright

Two weeks ago, almost 2,000 internationals came to Egypt and Gaza in a massive show of civil society's support for the people of Gaza. Nearly 1,400 persons representing 44 countries in the Gaza Freedom March and over 500 persons with the Viva Palestina Convoy let the people of Gaza know of their concern for the tragic consequences of their governments' support of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade.

Yet, two weeks later, with the apparent approval of governments (United States, European Community and Canada) that support the quarantine, blockade and siege of Gaza, Israel and Egypt have tightened the squeeze to wring the lifeblood out of the people of Gaza.

US Military Team Visits Underground Wall Construction

The US government continues to assist Egypt in building an underground wall to cut off tunnels under the border of Gaza and Egypt. According to Reuters, on January 14, 2010, three US military personnel from the US embassy in Cairo visited Rafah to follow up on the barrier project. According to security sources in Rafah, visits by US military have been taking place monthly.

In a press conference this week in Washington, US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said, "What we'd like to see is for Hamas to stop using the border crossings as methods for smuggling in weapons and let's get the weapons smuggling stopped." Duguid did not address the use of the tunnels to get life-saving food and materials prohibited by Israel.

In December 2009, three Palestinians were killed after a tunnel collapsed beneath the Egypt-Gaza border. The three were reported missing, and later found by rescue workers.

Deadliest Week Since Last Year's Israeli Attack

Last week, January 6-12, was the deadliest week for the Gaza Strip in the past year since the January 18, 2009, ceasefire that ended Israel's "Cast Lead" offensive.

According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli air force bombing attacks killed seven Palestinians in Gaza, including three civilians. The attacks came in response to an increase in the number of mortar shells and rockets fired by Palestinian factions from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel that caused no injuries or property damage.

Since the ceasefire a year ago, a total of 84 Palestinians, including at least 27 civilians, and one Israeli (a soldier) have been killed. Another 160 Palestinians and seven Israelis were injured in Gaza and southern Israel.

On January 8, 2010, US aircraft flown by Israeli air force personnel bombed tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border, killing three Palestinians, including a 15 year-old boy, and wounding another two. Another Palestinian was hurt in a separate airstrike. In two other incidents, on January 6 and 10, Israeli aircraft targeted and killed four Palestinian militants, three of them in one airstrike. Five additional airstrikes, resulting in no casualties, were carried out during the week. Also this week, on four separate occasions, Israeli forces drove tanks into Gaza and conducted land-leveling operations.

Israelis Increase Border Zone Into Gaza

On January 7 this year, the Israeli air force dropped leaflets into areas next to the border fence with Gaza, warning residents to keep a distance of at least 300 meters from the border with Israel and to avoid cooperating with "smugglers" in the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. This doubled the buffer zone along the border from 150 meters to 300 meters, but Israeli forces have opened "warning" fire at farmers as far as 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) from the border.

A parallel ban for Gaza fishermen is applied to sea areas beyond three nautical miles from the coast, though often this distance is less in practice. This week, in nine separate incidents, Israeli naval forces opened "warning" fire at Palestinian fishing boats along Gaza's coast, forcing them to return to shore.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported that on January 6 and 9 this year, unknown persons detonated bombs in a pharmacy and two coffee shops in Gaza City; no one was hurt, but property damage was reported.

Two Killed in January in Tunnels and Seven Youths Burned in Tunnel Fire

In January 2010, two Palestinians died in two separate incidents involving the collapse of a tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border while they were working inside it. At least 70 people have died and 123 others have been injured in the tunnels since the end of the "Cast Lead" Israeli attack on Gaza.

On January 16 this year, seven Palestinians from Gaza were burned in a fire that broke out in one of the tunnels connecting the border towns of Rafah, Gaza and Rafah, Egypt. The seven burned tunnel workers were treated at An-Nasser and Ash-Shifa hospitals in Gaza City.

Digging tunnels and working in them is one of the few jobs available for Palestinian youth in Gaza. Tunnel workers reportedly earn $25 per day, a huge sum in the current Palestinian economy. However, they are subjected to daily bombings by US F-16 aircraft flown by the Israeli Air Force, plus tunnel collapses and fires.

Accidents in the tunnels are frequent. According to the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Mezan, 120 people have been killed working in the tunnel trade in the past three years.

According to OCHA, no commercial gasoline or diesel fuel entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom during last week. Egyptian gasoline and diesel, which is transferred through the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, remains available on the open market, with nearly 100,000 liters of diesel and 100,000 liters of gasoline transferred into Gaza per day.

Israeli Tanks Shell Beit Hanoun

Israeli tanks operating near the northern Gaza border near Beit Hanoun targeted civilian properties with heavy artillery fire on January 15, 2010. Tank shells hit civilian homes on the outskirts of the town, causing material damages but no injuries.

Egypt Builds Anchorage for Border Patrol Boats

Egypt is continuing fortification of its borders with Gaza, this time by sea. According to Reuters, Egypt is constructing a port for patrol boats that will block sea routes into Gaza for merchandise, food and weapons.

The border patrol boats will keep Palestinian fishing boats in Gazan coastal waters. Egypt has said it believes the boats are being used to carry out smuggling operations, though there have never been reports of such incidents. "It is to secure the area. It will be used to direct fishing boats in the area to ensure they do not cross the Israeli sea border and risk getting fired at," the security sources told Reuters.

As Egypt completes the 14-kilometer underground wall along the Rafah border, Egyptian surveillance of the Mediterranean Sea increases the strangling of Gaza. The tunnels are the only way Gazans can bring goods into the Strip. Israel has maintained a tight blockade of the area, letting in only 36 types of goods for the past three years.

Future Aid Missions Must Go Through Red Crescent

On January 6, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrators, protesting Egypt's delay in allowing the aid convoy Viva Palestina into Gaza, as well as Egypt's plans to build the underground steel wall, clashed with Egyptian forces at the Gaza-Egypt border. As a result, an Egyptian soldier was shot dead and 13 Palestinians were injured, including six who suffered gunshot wounds. Eventually, the convoy entered on the same day, carrying food and medical supplies.

However, in response to the clashes, Egypt introduced a new mechanism, through which future aid convoys into Gaza will go through the Egyptian Red Crescent.

No Internationals Allowed Into Gaza

During December, no internationals were allowed into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, until 92 persons from the Gaza Freedom March were allowed in for 48 hours on December 30. During January, only the Viva Palestina convoy personnel were allowed in for 24 hours. Many international persons have letters of invitation from non-governmental organizations to assist in a variety of ways. Only one other international has been allowed into Gaza in January. Egypt has denied the requests for all other internationals. The ability of citizens of the world to assist Gaza when their governments will not is tragically being strangled.

Egyptian Government Bans Gaza-bound Aid Convoys

AFP
Egypt bars Gaza-bound aid convoys
CAIRO — Aid convoys bound for the Gaza Strip will now be banned from travelling across Egypt after activists this week clashed with police, the foreign minister said in remarks published on Saturday.

Ahmed Abul Gheit told government newspaper Al-Ahram that members of one convoy led by British MP George Galloway committed "criminal" acts on Egyptian soil on their way to the blockaded Palestinian coastal enclave.

"Egypt will no longer allow convoys, regardless of their origin or who is organising them, from crossing its territory," Abul Gheit said.

"Members of the (Viva Palestina) convoy committed hostile acts, even criminal ones, on Egyptian territory," the foreign minister added without elaborating.

On Tuesday night activists with the Viva Palestina convoy clashed with police in Egyptian the port town of El-Arish, 45 kilometres (30 miles) from the Gaza border.

They had been protesting an Egyptian decision to send some of the convoy's trucks to Gaza through Israel.

Seven protesters were arrested during Tuesday's clashes but police [REPORTEDLY] swapped them for four policemen held by the activists.

A prosecutor in El-Arish later issued warrants for the arrest of seven activists, including two Britons and an American woman.

Abul Gheit was speaking to Al-Ahram from Washington where he is on a visit to discuss the Middle East peace process. He said that, from now on aid, to Gaza must be handed over to the Red Crescent at El-Arish who will turn it over to the Palestinian chapter of the Muslim relief organisation in Gaza.

The comments come a day after a foreign ministry official told Galloway he was no longer welcome in Egypt as he flew out of the country.

Later on Friday, Galloway told Sky News television he and a friend had been "bundled into a car" and given little choice but to get on a plane out of Egypt. "On the steps of the plane a representative of the foreign affairs ministry in Egypt told me that I was declared persona non grata," he said.

Egypt accused Galloway, who once called at a London rally for the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, of trying to embarrass the country, which has refused to permanently open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

Loaded-up & Trucking, Gaza-bound

AL-MASRY AL-YOUM
Loaded-up and trucking, Gaza bound
Thu, 07/01/2010

Jano Charbel



After waiting and protesting in the Arish Port for the past two days, most of the Viva Palestina Convoy activists were allowed entry to Gaza through Egypt's Rafah border on Wednesday night. Egyptian authorities allowed 139 vehicles from a total of 198 to cross the border, after objecting to the presence of 59 automobiles among the convoy – alleging these vehicles were non-essential and not agreed upon previously with the organizers.

The authorities informed the convoy's chief delegates that these 59 automobiles could be allowed into Gaza only after passing into Israel, at a later point of time, from the Egyptian-Israeli border crossings of el-Auja or Karm Abu Salem. The organizers were not impressed.

“We chose not to send these automobiles via Israel," said Viva Palestina Spokesman Zaher Berawi told Al-Masry Al-Youm, "because from our previous experience and from the experiences of others, we know that aid bound for Gaza through these crossings usually ends up missing or confiscated in Israel.”

Berawi added these 59 automobiles were a donation from the Turkish delegation. "In light of the siege, there is an Israeli-imposed ban on the import of automobiles to the Gaza Strip. So the Turks decided to donate these autos to hospitals and medical clinics – for the purpose of transporting medication and/or medical personnel within Gaza.”

According to the Viva Palestina spokesman, rather than sending the automobiles back to Turkey, the Turkish delegation decided to send these cars to medical clinics and charity groups working with the Palestinian refugees camps of Lebanon and Syria.

Rocks, bricks, wood and chunks of cement were still strewn Wednesday across the port's entrances and exits from the clashes which erupted on Tuesday night. Security forces - including riot police, plain-clothed troops with clubs, and fire brigades, along with defensive lines of lorries and armored personnel carriers - were still out in numbers, but were far fewer than those present in the day before.

Seven members of the Viva Palestina Convoy, who had been arrested during the clashes, were released Wednesday afternoon and later joined the convoy into Gaza.

“We want these foreigners to leave, they're such a headache," a brigadier general from the Central Security Forces told Al-Masry Al-Youm reporter. "If you speak with them tell them so." Meanwhile, a group of Viva Palestina youth stood within the port, near the iron gates which they had half-destroyed the night before. Without hearing, or understanding the officer's remarks, one youth activist yelled “we are very disappointed with the Egyptian government for what they did to us last night, and... even more disappointed with this government's role in assisting the Israeli siege of Gaza. Shame on Mubarak."

The next convoy, Viva Palestina IV, is expected to arrive in Egypt after at least five months. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is reportedly going to join this convoy "in his personal capacity, not in his official capacity as president of a foreign state" said Berawi.

Viva Palestina: Gaza or Bust

AL-MASRY AL-YOUM
Gaza or bust
Wed, 06/01/2010

Jano Charbel


Arish--Egyptian security forces put down a protest staged by international activists from the Viva Palestina convoy in the Mediterranean port of el-Arish late on Tuesday night. More than 20 members of the convoy and at least ten riot police were injured in the clashes. Six convoy members were reported missing and are assumed to have been arrested.

The Gaza-bound convoy, consisting of some 200 vehicles, had been shipped to Arish on Monday 4 January via the Syrian Port of Latakia. Last week Egyptian authorities demanded that the convoy be rerouted to Arish--from its planned course via Aqaba in Jordan to the Red Sea Port of Nuweiba. However, since their arrival the Viva Palestina convoy has been deadlocked in negotiations with Egyptian authorities, who opened the Rafah border crossing in Gaza from 3 until 6 January.

Commencing its journey from the UK and Turkey, the Viva Palestina convoy comprises some 200 ambulances, vans and trucks loaded with humanitarian aid. On Tuesday afternoon Egyptian authorities welcomed and received Viva Palestina's chief delegates--including British MP George Galloway and several Turkish MPs--but raised objections regarding 59 of the vehicles in their convoy, deeming them non-essential. According to Egyptian authorities these 59 vehicles could enter Gaza, but at a later point in time, through the el-Auja border crossing with Israel.

Viva Palestina delegates rejected the terms imposed on them. At the port Galloway announced “They instructed us to hand over 59 of our vehicles to Israel at their checkpoint, where they would never be seen again. This is 25 percent of a convoy which drove thousands of miles and for which people worked very hard. This is in direct contradiction to the written agreement which we made with the government of Egypt through the Egyptian consulate in Aqaba.”

Convoy members--520 of them, from 17 countries--began protesting at the port and chanting slogans in support of Gaza, along with others against the Egyptian regime. Shortly afterward a group of angry youth activists pushed and pulled on a port gate until they broke it open. Security forces were swift to mobilize rows of riot police, armored personnel carriers, firetrucks and lorries to block the exit and prevent the convoy from leaving.

Outside the port a junior state security officer in civilian clothes informally asked three journalists from Al-Masry Al-Youm, “Are you going to write that they broke down the gates to the port? That they beat up one of our conscripts? That they are burning tires inside? Are you going to write about all of this?” The officer concluded: “We're going to clean this mess up in a little, you'll see.”

An angry Arabic-speaking Turkish youth activist sitting on top of a port wall said, “Yes, we broke down the gates, but they were rusty gates anyway.” He denied that fellow activists had beaten a conscript and insisted that they weren't burning tires inside. Moments later, however, the thick smoke of burning tires could be seen billowing from within.


An assortment of riot police and plain-clothed officers with clubs moved into action just before midnight. Rocks were being hurled back and forth amidst shouts, screams and curses, and the sound of breaking windows and windshields. The firetrucks opened their water canons. The clashes lasted less than 15 minutes. The protesters withdrew into the port, and security forces took a few steps back. Inside the port a group of activists announced that three Britons, two Americans, and one Kuwaiti had been arrested.

An elderly (unnamed) English activist told Al-Masry Al-Youm, “We didn't want any clashes. Well I can't speak for everybody in the convoy, since some lads are keener on confrontation. We just want to deliver the medicine and aid that we collected back home.” He added, “We drove 3000 miles to Aqaba and then back through Syria. Now we're just 25 miles short of our destination, we want to get this convoy through.”


Addressing convoy members from on top of a Turkish car, Galloway said, “We bent over backwards to cooperate with these people, they asked us to come to el-Arish, they told us that we would be welcome in el-Arish, and now we know what they mean by 'welcome'.”

He added, “We had a solemn and binding agreement signed by both parties, through which we agreed to withdraw from Aqaba. It came at a huge expense of money, energy, time and health. This means that the agreements of the Egyptian dictatorship cannot be trusted even when they are signed on paper.”