Viva Palestina Convoy Report

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Background to the ending of the recent Gaza relief convoy, illustrating the actions of the Egyptian government, in its attempts to dissuade people from any thoughts of further convoys, which undoubtedly there will be. With proof again of the complicity of governments surrounding Palestine in support of the Israeli state. Also fully illustrates the determination of the people on the convoy to do all they can to break the siege of Gaza. Support will now be needed on an even larger scale, to bring together materials for further convoys, the Government of Egypt is now fast losing face in front of its own people.

 

    Viva Palestina Convoy Report

Posted by North League Against War, based in Leeds

In support of Bradford Stop the War Coalition and the Gaza Convoy people.

For further information e-mail:   bradford@stopwar.org.uk

The following report from Gaza has just been received. It is expected that the Bradford & York convoyers will return to Yorkshire early in the week.
 
 
  Viva Palestina Update 08/01/10
  By Arshad Ali

(Group leader Bradford)

 
    Having been refused entry from Aqaba to Egypt and asked to jump through many impossible hoops, we complied and made our way back to Damascus Syria at great cost in terms of money, time and effort.
 
    We made our way to Lathakia port from where we shipped all our vehicles containing all the medical aid and emergency equipment onto a ferry partly paid for by the Turkish Government. It was a very emotional moment to be separated from all the aid we had been travelling with for nearly a month, but if that was what we had to do to get it to Gaza then that is what we would do.
 
    We spent the next 4 days or so in nearby disused army barracks in chalets with no glass in the windows wind blowing in from the sea front. Doors that did not lock, rusty metal frame beds, and filthy blankets. Some chose to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags.
 
We were then told that Syria would help to pay for 3 chartered flights from Lathakia to Al-Arish in Egypt. The Bradford crew were among the first to fly, together with the Turks, the Americans and the Malaysians with some Belgians. Two flights  would follow each carrying around 150 passengers.
 
    Our flight left Lathakia around 4pm and lasted about an hour and a half. On arrival at the airport we were asked to give our passports in. We complied.  We were kept in the arrivals area for around 4 hours and then asked to pay 15 dollars for our visas per person. This had to be paid in dollars and not in any other currency. We had to beg and borrow from each other to pay this. Then we were told that the authorities ran out of visa stickers and that we would have to wait until more were ordered. We waited.
 
    We were then told after around 6 hours that we could all go into Gaza immediately without our passports as long as we agreed to go
without the other two flights of our colleagues who were delayed indefinitely. This was outrageous. We demanded that our passports
be given back to us but the authorities flatly refused.

Negotiations started and lasted for several hours with no result.
 
    Angry, tired, hungry and very frustrated we had no option but to protest in the best way we knew how. Kevin Ovenden the convoy leader and myself ordered a silent sit-down in the lobby and refused to move until we were given our passports back and our remaining 350 or so colleagues allowed into Al-Arish to join us. This lasted for about two hours. News then came that the negotiations between Mr George Galloway and the airport authorities failed and that passports would not be given to us. This caused a lot of anger from the convoy members causing many to break the silent protest and going into a fully fledged protest with angry outbursts. A lot of noise was made and chairs thrown. The angry convoyers came close to smashing up the whole terminal and were asked by myself to show restrain and not to become criminals by causing criminal damage to property, as this would not be helpful to our cause.
 
    Eventually in the early hours of the morning the authorities agreed to give back our passports and to allow all our remaining colleagues to come and join us in Al-Arish from Lathakia. Little did we know that even after this battle was won with the Egyptian authorities we had a much bigger battle to fight later.
 
    By midday next morning all our friends had arrived from Lathakia and had been allowed into Al-Arish airport with their passports. From here we all made our way to Al-Arish ferry port to collect our vehicles containing the vital aid we had carried for the last month. All went well till about 8pm when some of the
 convoy members noticed a heavy police presence outside the port gates. In a matter of 30 minutes there were around 400 full riot police with shields, helmets and long steel batons totally surrounding the compound with no way out for us with the sea on one side and the police on all sides outside the gates. Not sure
 what this was all about, the convoy volunteers went to the gates and blockaded the gates in case we were attacked. A peaceful silent sit down was ordered by the convoy leaders. This lasted for about 4 hours until bricks and stones were thrown into the compound from behind the police line from plain clothed individuals hiding behind the police causing the peace to be broken.

     In defence the convoy members responded to this attack with stones and bricks from within the compound.  This attack lasted for about an hour with the riot police using water cannons loaded with pepper spray and attacking the convoy members with
batons causing injuries to 52 members. Heads were split open, faces bloodied and limbs fractured needing immediate hospital treatment. The convoy leaders requested ambulances but the police refused this request saying that the injured should be brought out of the compound as the attacks were continuing. This was
thought to be a bad idea by the leaders including myself as it would have caused more injury. Several police men were injured in this attack by the missiles thrown by convoy members. A truce was called and things came to a halt after about an hour. We took this time to give medical treatment to the injured using the
 medical equipment in our own ambulances which were meant for Gaza.
 
    An hour later the police were then joined by armed police officers and another standoff took place. Mr George Galloway then asked for further negotiations to take place. Turkish and Egyptian officials were included as part of this process. After about two hours the police then backed off and we were allowed to take our injured outside the compound and taken to hospital for treatment for serious head injuries and other injuries to other parts of the body.
 
    Seven members of our convoy were arrested and taken into custody.
 
    At around 3am the police dispersed and the convoy volunteers were able to go back to their vehicles to rest and get some sleep after being badly shaken up and shocked by these attacks.
 
    About ten convoy members including myself stayed up the rest of the night keeping watch in case any further attacks occurred. Thankfully they did not.
 
    I together with my colleagues were still awake keeping watch at around 7.30 in the morning of Wednesday when we saw ambulances bringing the injured back into the compound with bandages around their heads, arms and faces.
 
    At around 4pm we were then given the orders to move out of the compound and told to move towards Rafah border taking us into our destination Gaza only 30 miles away. The 7 members of our convoy who were arrested the night before were released by the police to join us. The trip to Rafah border took us around an hour escorted by the police.
 
    We entered Rafah at around 5pm in the dark where a reception party and press conference had been organised for us. This went on for several hours till around 9pm after which we left the border area and entered Gaza. Once through the gates into, we got the welcome of our lives. The next 18 km of road leading to our
designated hotels were a slow and emotional trip with thousands of residents lining the streets. Gazans of all ages men and women, old and young were extremely excited and pleased to see us, kissing our vehicles. Kissing our hands to show their affection and appreciation and dancing and singing in the streets. People lighting street fires to light the night sky in celebration of our achievements and throwing flowers and confetti over our vehicles. It was a very emotional time for many of us
too often many of us, including myself coming close to tears at the spirit of the besieged people with such big hearts. It was a sight that i will never forget for as long as i live. It seemed as if the whole population of 1.5 million people had come out to greet us.
 
    We reached the hotels quite late where we were given food and drink before going to bed to rest before another reception in the morning.
 
    We were up early to go to a reception party and to hand over our vehicles containing the medical supplies to the official charity committee after which we were given a tour of the city so that we could see for ourselves the devastation caused by the attacks by Israel including government building, schools, mosques and
private homes. Many of us cried tears at the misery of the high spirited residents who find themselves living in the biggest concentration camp in the world constantly under siege.
 
     In the evening the hundreds of convoy members were invited to a public rally attended by the Prime Minister Ismael Haniay who thanked all the heroic volunteers and leaders who had against all odds driven 5000 miles across 12 countries to reach Gaza to bring the desperately needed aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. The PM talked about the lack of building materials which were required to rebuild Gaza. He also spoke of the resolve of the people of Gaza to fight for their freedom.
 
    Mr George Galloway was given a special presentation for his service to the people of Gaza by the PM. The evening ended by a meal and then we made our way back to our hotels to get ready to leave Gaza the next morning as we only had permission by Egypt to stay just 48 hours in Gaza.
 
    31 days of constant travelling in all conditions had been an experience I will never forget in spite of all the difficulties faced by us all. Seeing the kindness and the hospitality of these poor people who have so little but such big hearts will stay with me forever and I would gladly do it all over again.
 
    The experiences I and my fellow volunteers from Bradford have gone through will make us better human beings.
 
Now we can go back to our own families and friends and try and be better people. But the people of Gaza will still have nowhere to go but to go on suffering the siege under which they find themselves for no fault of their own other than democratically electing a government of which the west does not agree with even
though it is the only democratically elected Government in the whole of the despotic Arab world of Dictators.
 
        Arshad Ali... Group Leader, Viva Palestina ..... Bradford. 
  Bradford Stop the War Coalition......... website:  www.bradfordstopwar.org.uk

Email Contact email: northllaw@yahoo.co.uk