John Berger reads Ghassan Khanafani’s Letter from Gaza from Palestine Festival of Literature on Vimeo.
In an address to the inaugural Palestine Festival of Literature (2008), John Berger gives a moving reading of the letter.
Greta Berlin is asking questions, about Free Gaza summer plans, to Mary Hughes Thompson, one of the co-founders of The Free Gaza Movement (subtitles in italian, french and spanish, will be added soon)
Report from Cairo, Tuesday, May 26th
We have some great news to report!!! The day started out with a 3am call from one of our delegations in Al Arish saying that secret police had contacted them at 2pm to intimidate them and say they would not get into Gaza. We, in Cairo, told them to go on to the border and see what happens.
Then at 9am in the morning, when all three groups got in their buses to go to the border, they were stopped at the first checkpoint, surrounded by riot police, and not allowed to even get off the bus. They were told that there were military exercises going on in the area and that they could not move forward to the border. Meanwhile, they saw other cars going in and out. But they were forced to turn around to go back to Al Arish.
Ann, Tighe and I were furious, planning all sorts of things—press conferences to denounce the treatment of our delegations, protests, etc. Our first step, however, was to go to the Egyptian foreign ministry’s Office of Palestinian Affairs to see if they could help. We ended spending about 4 hours with the two people in charge of Egyptian relations with Gaza while they talked to the intelligence services and police, trying to get the group official permission and get that permission to all the officials of various Egyptian agencies at the checkpoints and the border.
Phone calls were flying back and forth, back and forth, as we followed the group’s progress, step by step, from Al Arish through all the checkpoints and finally to the border.
Out of all three delegations (Canadian, New York and student delegation from Cairo), only one person was turned back–a Palestinian student with a brand new passport that had not had her basic visa for Egypt transferred into it.
But all the rest—66 in total—made it through into Gaza. Yipppppeeee.
We are all thrilled, and are eager to get the next group of 70 who will be crossing on Saturday, May 30.
It was terrific teamwork between the folks at the border, those of us in Cairo, and our contacts back in the US and Canada who were advocating on our behalf. Thanks to all who helped.
Today we made another dent in the armor that is imprisoning the people of Gaza. Thanks everyone.
Free Gaza!!!
Medea Benjamin, Ann Wright, Tighe Barry
CodePink Delegation
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. Visit the website at http://www.codepinkalert.org/Email Alert from http://www.vivapalestina.org .
By Mary Hughes Thompson
In August 2008 history was made when our two little boats, FREE GAZA and LIBERTY, sailed to Gaza to break Israel’s occupation and blockade that had condemned 1.5 million Palestinians to decades of poverty, hunger, humiliation, death and destruction.
Since then, until it was attacked and destroyed by Israeli naval gunboats in late December, our boat DIGNITY completed four more successful voyages, carrying journalists, medical personnel, parliamentarians and human rights advocates to Gaza. We also brought out of Gaza aboard our boats several dozen Palestinians, including students whom Israel had prevented from leaving to attend international universities, patients needing medical treatment not available in Gaza due to the siege, and others we were able to reunite with families outside of Gaza.
When DIGNITY was rammed by the Israeli navy, it was carrying doctors and medical supplies needed desperately to help Gaza medical personnel provide emergency care for hundreds of victims of Israel’s invasion. Some of these doctors and journalists were able to cross into Gaza via Egypt, but others returned to their home countries, devastated that Israel had prevented them from using their skills to save lives and report on the horrors that continued for several weeks against a defenseless civilian population. Several members of our Free Gaza movement who had sailed on our boats were on the ground in Gaza throughout the Israeli offensive, helping families and medical personnel, and sending eyewitness reports and videos to the world outside.
Boats carrying humanitarian and medical supplies sent from other countries were intercepted by Israel in international waters and prevented from reaching Gaza.
While grieving the loss of our beloved DIGNITY, we were encouraged to see that the Rafah border was allowing some groups and individuals, such as CODE PINK and VIVA PALESTINA, to cross into Gaza, and we were optimistic that others would follow until the Rafah border would finally be removed permanently. It appears now that Israel and Egypt have once again decided to close the gate to Gaza, turning away hundreds of international citizens seeking to visit and bring aid to a population in crisis after suffering through years of sanctions followed by a brutal and devastating military attack. Doctors are being denied access to patients they treated during the invasion. Thousands of people are still homeless, as Israel continues to deny them the materials and tools needed to rebuild their houses and schools.
Free Gaza cannot and will not allow Israel to stop our boats from reaching our friends in Gaza. With its mighty military machine, financed by US taxpayers, Israel has flexed its muscles and attacked unarmed civilians who had the audacity to challenge its inhuman blockade of Gaza and its people. We will not be stopped. We will get more boats, and we will sail again and again, delivering supplies and materials to help the people survive and rebuild their homes and their lives.
Before we sailed away from Gaza last August we promised our Palestinian friends that we would never forget them and we would never abandon them. It’s a promise we intend to keep.
CODEPINK delegates say they will not turn back
CAIRO – May 22 – As more than 160 Americans and other citizens from around the world begin arriving in Cairo with the intent to cross into Gaza, the operators of Egyptian bus services say they been prohibited by the Egyptian government from transporting them to the border. The groups, made up of four delegations on the Egyptian side and one on the Israeli side, are part of a CODEPINK Women for Peace campaign to bring humanitarian supplies and build playgrounds for the children of Gaza.
“We had chartered a private bus company to take us from Cairo to Al-Arish, the closest town to the Rafah crossing into Gaza,” explained Sandra Ruch, who is leading a delegation of Canadians on the humanitarian mission. “However, the operators tell us now that the government has prohibited them from taking us anywhere near the border. They obviously believe this tactic will keep us away, but we are determined. The Gazans are completely isolated and struggling to survive. We cannot abandon them.”
The 10-member Canadian delegation is scheduled to be followed by a 14-member group from New York and a contingent of 40 students. The largest of the CODEPINK delegations, numbering about 80, is scheduled to set off for the border on May 29 – just days ahead of President Barack Obama’s landmark speech to the Arab world, planned for Cairo on June 4. The CODEPINK delegations are invited to the Gaza Strip by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The delegations plan to enter Gaza to focus attention on the need to lift the 21-month blockade and to deliver medical supplies, toys and sports equipment to the children there, who make up more than half of Gaza’s population. The groups are also bringing supplies for playgrounds, since many of the schools and playgrounds were bombed during Israel’s invasion earlier this year, which killed more than 1,400, displaced more than 50,000 people and destroyed approximately 4,000 homes.
“The majority of Gazans are under 18, and many of the youth are traumatized and depressed,” said delegation coordinator Pam Rasmussen. “Thousands are now living in rubble or cramped tents, while mourning the deaths of loved ones and struggling to support their families despite an unemployment rate in excess of 50 percent. It’s important for us to go there to show that the international community cares about their plight.” The CODEPINK delegations are not alone. Three British medics began a hunger strike at the Egyptian border crossing on May 21 to protest being refused entry into Gaza to establish a cardiac surgery unit at al-Shifa Hospital, which currently has no such facility, and to help train medical students and junior doctors there. The British medics have been denied access to the Palestinian territory at the Rafah crossing since the beginning of May. CODEPINK delegations say they are determined to get to the border and cross into Gaza.
“We call on the Egyptian government to facilitate our travel to Gaza, not create obstacles,” said Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK. “President Obama is coming to Egypt on June 4 to speak to the Arab world. He claims he wants to stand for peace and justice. We need to start by lifting the blockade of Gaza.”
For more information, please contact Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder, at 415-23…, Pam Rasmussen, delegation coordinator, at 301-51…, or Jean Stevens, CODEPINK national media coordinator, at 508-769-2138.
###
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects the Bush administration’s fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead calls for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.
From Sam Bahour’s list
Riz Khan: What do you think will be the fallout from the war in Gaza?
Professor Stephen Hawking: The attack on Gaza is similar to that on Lebanon two years ago, that killed over two thousand but did not achieve Israel’s war aims. I think the assault on Gaza will be equally unsuccessful. A people under occupation will continue to resist in any way it can. If Israel wants peace it will have to talk to Hamas like Britain did with the IRA. Hamas is the democratically elected leaders of the Palestinian people and cannot be ignored.
Riz Khan: Professor what have been your thoughts during the three weeks of violence that has taken place in Gaza?
Professor Stephen Hawking: Israel’s response to the rocket attacks has been plain out of proportion. Almost a hundred Palestinians have been killed for every Israeli. The situation is like that of South Africa before nineteen-ninety and cannot continue.
To see the whole interview go here:
Note: Thanks to my good friend Ray Nakley from Youngstown, OH for passing this on.
ePalestine Blog:
http://www.epalestine.com
Credit:Eva Bartlett
RAFAH, May 7 (IPS) – Jihad el-Shaar is pleased with his mud-brick house in the Moraj district of Gaza. The 80-square metre home is a basic one-storey, two-bedroom design, with a small kitchen, bathroom and sitting room, made mostly with mud and straw.
“My wife and our four daughters and I were living with family, but it was overcrowded, impossible. We knew we had to build a home of our own,” Shaar said. “We waited over two years for cement but because of the siege there is none available. What could we do, wait forever?”
So he decided to do it with mud.
Building earthen structures like bread ovens and small animal pens is a technique many Palestinians are familiar with, but extending the method to houses isn’t a notion that has taken hold in Gaza.
Jihad el-Shaar got the idea from his travels in Asia and the Middle East. “I travelled in Bangladesh, India, Yemen, Turkey…they all use some similar technique of building houses from earth. All you need is clay, sand and some straw.” These he mixed with water, and poured into brick moulds that were left in the sun to dry for three days. Good enough to build a fine house with.
While some Gaza residents speak of shame at the way life has ‘gone backwards’ with the siege – using cooking oil in cars, wood fires for cooking, and horse and donkey carts for transportation – Shaar is proud of his clay home.
Ali 4 and Farah 2 abu Halima with their uncle Ahmed 22 and grandmother Um Mohammed Matr Abu Halima in their burnet house which was destroyed by fire of the phosphoric bombs which were used by the Israeli war planes in the war on Gaza last Dec. 2008,Jan. 2009 , Both children Farah ,Ali and their grandmother were seriously burnt after being exposed to the phosphoric bombs inside their house, while the father of the family Sa’ad Alah Matr Abu Halima was killed with 4 of his children (Abed Raheem 14,Zaid 10,Hamza 8, and Shahed 1) .
Um Mohammed daughter in law Ghada 20 also died in an Egyptian hospital after 3 months of suffering of the phosphoric aftereffect of the bomb that killed Halima’s family six members.
Farah Abu Halima 2,Ali Abu Halima 4 who are living with their grandmother had been all suffering of the phosphoric aftereffect since the bomb fell in their family house , phosphoric aftereffects can’t be cured for eternity according to doctors and patients suffering from it can only use pain killers to reduce the pain.
band annie's Weblog 