I know, it is another post on Gaza but how could we ever forget Gaza ?
by George Galloway – first published in the Daily Record
MY Winnebago would nae go, go and so if your columnist is walking with a stoop, it’s the result of nights spent sleeping in the front seat of car.
I’m in Algeria, a land which had to sacrifice a million martyrs to overthrow French colonial rule and which knows a thing or two about occupation and resistance, which will account for the mass welcome by thousands of well-wishers on the route so far.
The border between Algeria and Morocco has been shut since 1994 and has been opened only twice during those long years. The first time was for my big red London bus headed for Baghdad, and the second for our 110-vehicle convoy now powering towards Gaza.
Never thought of me as a diplomat, did you?
The reason for the freeze in the two countries’ relations is the Western Sahara – the mineral-rich Atlantic coast territory, which Morocco absorbed upon the collapse of fascism in Spain and the consequent withdrawal from its former colonies.
But I don’t get every diplomatic question right. The first thing the Moroccan authorities did on our arrival in Tangier was to strip our 300- strong crew of their Viva Palestina T-shirts on account of the fact that the map of our route imprinted on the back of our shirts depicted Morocco sans Sahara.
Algeria supports the creation of a new country of the Sahara, over which the two states are at daggers drawn.
For our ships of the desert, it hasn’t been plain sailing. Many of our vehicles are old and slow. Fan belts, tyres, batteries were, as in the case of my Winnebago, bought and donated by a well-wisher days before our departure and everything that can go wrong has done.
My would-be charabanc now sits, possibly on bricks, in a poor area of Bordeaux. I never even got to sit in it.
After this, it will be Tunisia, Libya – where we will try to visit the British war graves meticulously kept there by the Libyans, despite the long years of hostility between the two countries – then, of course, Egypt.
We’ll see the pyramids along the Nile, where we’ll be joined by a huge crowd from Britain, who could only make the last leg.
The Rafah crossing point into Gaza is open this week for the first time in years, so things are looking good for a triumphal entry into Palestine around the end of the first week in March.
Last week, I told you about the high-profile police swoop on vehicles from Blackburn carrying aid for Gaza and headed for our convoy’s departure from Hyde Park. Nine men were arrested under the anti-Terrorism Act.
All nine of them have now been released without charge; wholly innocent men shamefully traduced by police and press to whom the dramatic video of the raid on the M65 was fed.
I said at the time that the police had better have a case against these men because, if not, we will certainly have a case against them and those who gullibly reported their version of events.
We now have that case and my lawyers are on to it.
Anyone with half a brain would know that it’s in everyone’s interest to encourage young British Muslims into peaceful democratic political actions because apathy is not the only alternative.
By smearing these men and their community in this way, the police, or whoever directed them, have set back community relations by years and made easier the job of the Islamist fanatics, who seek to lure these communities on to the rocks of separatism, extremism and violence.
George Galloway MP
The Cleanser
By NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
Anthony H. Cordesman, a leading military analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has published a “strategic analysis” of the Gaza massacre.(1) He reaches the remarkable conclusion that “Israel did not violate the laws of war.” The report is based on “briefings in Israeli [sic] during and immediately after the fighting made possible by a visit sponsored by Project Interchange, and using day-to-day reporting issued by the Israeli Defense Spokesman.” Cordesman omits mention that Project Interchange is funded by the American Jewish Committee.
February 17, 2009, 10:40 pm
*Abu Alaa, bringing food for his donkeys and camels
“I worked on farms in Israel for 15 years,” Abu Alaa, the owner of the land said. “We had a good relationship, and the Israeli farmers loved my bread, Palestinian bread, and our baclawa (”baklava”) sweets. I had to stop working there when Israel closed our borders, stopped giving permits to Palestinians to work in Israel.”
Abu Alaa lives in Khan Younis and owns land in the newly-extended “Buffer Zone”, the strip of land along the Green Line which, from North to South, cuts into Palestinian land by a full 1 km now. When the Buffer Zone was ‘only’ 300m, it was already 300 m too much land absorbed by the Israeli military occupation forces.
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15/02/2009
by Yvonne Ridley
FIVE weeks ago Viva Palestina was a pipe dream and now it is a reality as more than 100 vehicles and 300 volunteers snake their way through France heading for Gaza.
Last night the show-stopping convoy rolled off a freight ferry in Ostend to embark on a historic mission of mercy to help the Palestinian people.
I spent the ferry crossing getting to know my fellow passengers and discovered they come from all walks of life from students to pensioners, estate agents to accountants, engineers, mechanics, housewives and doctors.
This morning I expect many of us are bleary eyed as the convoy heads for Bordeaux – I know I am, after a sleepless night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in a car seat.
My eyes feel like sandpaper every time I blink.
You see this 5000 mile trip from London to Gaza isn’t a jolly or five star vacation for any of us, although some are more organised than others with regards to finding a comfortable nook or cranny in which to sleep.
Press TV is very much part of the convoy and the only TV station to be there from start to finish. Regular reports will be filed from our SNG vehicle along the route, and there’s already been some dramas and hitches.
A group who were carrying aid from communities in Blackburn were stopped by police shortly after they set off from their homes in the North of England but despite hysterical headlines in the tabloid media most have now been released and we’re told there are efforts by Manchester police to reunite the group with the convoy.
The news was relayed on board the freight ferry bound for Ostend last night by one of the organisers Kevin Ovenden amid great cheers by those who had set off from Hyde Park in London after a rousing reception. Sporting a green Viva Palestina t-shirt he gave the opening introduction before the assembled travellers.
There were more cheers in store when we learned our convoy of 100 plus vehicles would double in size by the time we reach Libya next week – news has just come through that 100 large lorries are waiting to follow us into Egypt carrying even more aid.
Meanwhile, back in the UK charities like Islamic Help and the Al Khair Foundation are continuing with TV appeals and fund raisers to swell the coffers of Viva Palestina which will buy even more aid in Egypt before entering war-torn Gaza.
The convoy carrying in excess of £1m aid is already a record-breaker and will be the largest British land convoy to cross North Africa since the Second World War. Led by a bright red fire engine, the convoy has more than a dozen ambulances, countless vans and trucks plus a whacking great big generator brought along by the Bolton Massive (my nickname for the men from the Lancashire town). The generator will have enough power to supply a small hospital or school, so I’m told.
When you consider Viva Palestina was nothing more than a pipe dream five weeks ago, the achievement of pulling together the convoy has been nothing short of staggering.
The brainchild and initiative of Britain’s best known politician RESPECT MP George Galloway, Viva Palestina has already motored its way into the record books and it is set to get even bigger. Not a man usually lost for words, the Bethnal Green and Bow MP looked overcome with emotion as he greeted and then waved off every single vehicle.
Much of the last few weeks have been spent travelling the length and breadth of Britain appealing for funds, support and volunteers by Galloway.
From the tears and anger of communities outraged by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, thousands rallied to his call for aid and help in whatever way they could, and the efforts were open for the world to see on Saturday in central London.
Well George, I also counted the vehicles out of Hyde Park and counted them all in again at Ostend. But from my pit stop on France’s Autoroute A10, I must sign off now and try and catch up with my fellow travellers. They shouldn’t be too difficult to spot, that’s for sure.
* Yvonne Ridley will be giving regular updates from the convoy for the duration of the trip. Her website is www.yvonneridley.org
A Turkish state prosecutor has launched an investigation into claims of Israeli crimes against humanity and genocide during a recent deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“We submitted the complaint against those who we could prove were in some way responsible for giving orders for the attack on Gaza,” Meryem Sari, an attorney of the Mazlum-Der rights group, which submitted the complaint, told Reuters on Friday, February 6.
The group accuses 19 Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
“The complaint asks that Turkey be given the right to try the people mentioned,” said Sari.
Weeks after Israel’s war on Gaza, the suffering of people in the Strip has not ended.
Israel maintains a blockade, on land, in the air and at sea. For fishermen in Gaza, making a living has become harder and more dangerous, as Al Jazeera’s Mike Kirsch reports.
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