To Gaza With Love: Gaza Freedom March and Viva Palestina Bring a Message of Hope

On December 31, 2009, over 1,300 people from 43 countries were set to join the Palestinians of Gaza in a nonviolent march to the Israeli border, calling upon Israel and the world to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip.  The activists gathered in Cairo, Egypt on the week prior to the march.  It soon became apparent that reaching Gaza would be more difficult than many had expected.  On December 20, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing that it would close its border with Gaza for the rest of 2009 and into January 2010. Undeterred, the activists rallied supporters in their home countries to pressure on the Egyptian government to reverse its decision and allow the marchers to pass.

When it became apparent that most of the activists would be in Cairo on December 27, the one year anniversary of the start of Israel’s attack on Gaza, many began to pour their creative energies into planning events in Cairo that would draw attention to the suffering in Gaza, as well as the Egyptian government’s complicity in the continuing siege. The Egyptian authorities responded harshly, breaking up a memorial along the Nile River held in honor of the civilians who lost their lives in Gaza one year ago, and arresting approximately 25 American citizens who had converged upon the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to seek help from their government’s representatives.

On December 28, Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, began a hunger strike vowing not to eat until the authorities permitted her to enter Gaza.  Hedy was joined by thirty others, who began their strike at the United Nations building before moving to the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists building.  She told reporters, “It is important to let the besieged Gazan people know that they are not alone.  I want to tell the people I meet in Gaza that I am a representative of many people in my city and other places in the U.S. who are outraged at what the U.S., Israeli and European governments are doing to the Palestinians and that our numbers are growing.”

On December 30, Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, informed the organizers of the march that one hundred demonstrators would be granted passage into Gaza.  The organizers considered the offer but ultimately declined.  “We refuse to whitewash the siege of Gaza. Our group will continue working to get all 1,362 marchers into Gaza as one step towards the ultimate goal for the complete end of the siege and the liberation of Palestine,” said Ziyaad Lunat of the Coordination Committee.  Some who had traveled to Cairo as part of the March did accept the offer and entered Gaza later that day, but they did so as individuals, not as Gaza Freedom Marchers.  Many of the 86 individuals who crossed the border had family inside Gaza, and understood that this could be their only opportunity to see their loved ones.

The following day, which should have been the day that the Gaza Freedom March took place, the activists defied Egyptian orders, attempting to set out for Gaza on foot.  They were quickly stopped by Egyptian security forces, who barricaded the activists in their hotels and on the streets.  The internationals were joined by Egyptian civilians who expressed outrage at their government’s decision to close the border and detain over one thousand internationals in the city of Cairo.  These Egyptians too faced violent repression at the hands of Egyptian security personnel.  Reports of bloodshed came from Tahreer Square, where those who were able gathered to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, who marched through the Strip as planned.

On January 1, members of the Gaza Freedom March issued the Cairo Declaration, denouncing the siege of Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian land and calling for an international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law.  Most of the marchers left Egypt on January 3, vowing to bring their message back to their home countries.

As Gaza Freedom Marchers were held in Cairo, a second delegation of internationals bound for Gaza were facing difficulties of their own. In 2009, Viva Palestina, an organization based in the United Kingdom, sent numerous convoys of internationals into Gaza via land and sea to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. They convoy left England on December 3, with the intent of reaching Gaza on December 27 to commemorate the one year anniversary of the attack on Gaza.  The final leg of the journey was to take activists through Syria and Jordan, where they would board a ferry on the Red Sea that would take them to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, where they could cross into Gaza.

The convoy was first held up near Amman, Jordan on December 24 because the Jordanian authorities had received word that the Egyptians would not permit the convoy to enter Egypt via the Red Sea.  The activists decided to continue south to the port of Aqaba, where the Jordanian warnings were proven accurate.  Egypt offered the convoy entry, but only via a port on the Mediterranean, requiring the convoy of over 200 vehicles and 450 people to travel back through Jordan and Syria, thus costing time and money.  After days of negotiations proved fruitless, Viva Palestina agreed that this was the only way to reach Gaza.

The convoy reached the Egyptian city of El-Arish on January 4, where many of the internationals’ passports were seized and the organizers of the convoy were informed that much of their aid would not be granted entry into Gaza.  This set off angry protests in El-Arish and at the Gaza border.  The Egyptian military responded with violence that left dozens of Egyptian, Palestinian and international civilians injured and one Egyptian soldier dead.

According to Twitter updates provided by members of the convoy, the internationals were slowly being allowed to enter Gaza on January 6.  Even if the Viva Palestina convoy had been granted full and swift access to Gaza, without spending their resources on the extra travel required by Egypt, their 200 vehicles filled with aid would have been only a drop in the bucket of what is needed to rebuild Gaza. One year after the Israeli attack that left over 1,400 dead and thousands more injured and homeless, the people of Gaza remain unable to rebuild their homes and their lives.  Billions of dollars in international aid have been pledged, but Israeli restrictions have ensured that none of it has reached those who need it most.  Actions such as the Gaza Freedom March and the Viva Palestina convoy are important not merely as means of demonstrating solidarity, but as ways of drawing the world’s attention to the suffering of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents.  The participants in these two initiatives have already proven their willingness to boldly stand forward in order that that suffering might end.  It is time for the world to follow their lead.