Link
George Galloway
Action: Take Action to End Israel’s War and Siege on Gaza
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=256
and join and support Viva Palestina US convoy to Gaza
http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/
INFORMATION ON WEBSITE
We have posted the previous listserv emails to the Viva Palestina webpage under the FAQ/Resources section. Many questions can be answered by reviewing those emails and by checking back frequently for new posts.
DONATIONS
Checks made out to IFCO – Viva Palestina in your possession need to be recorded by us AND by our fiscal sponsors, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, and next Friday is a public holiday! Please send them now by fastest post to our office:
Viva Palestina USA
West Polk St.
Suite 100-403
Chicago IL 60605-2085
In solidarity,
Viva Palestina USA
www.vivapalestina-us.org
usinformation@vivapalestina.org
On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 12:18 PM, Elias Farhud <farhud@intifada-palestine.com> wrote:
I just got this email update
Elias
From: USA Viva Palestina <usa.vivapalestina@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Subject: [usconvoy@vivapalestina.org] IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING VIVA PALESTINA TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
To: usconvoy@vivapalestina.org
Dear Friends:
We’re in the last stages of processing the participant lists for the Viva Palestina USA convoy to Gaza! Our enthusiasm for this journey is hopefully matched only by your own as we near the departure date! Registration is now closed, but we need people to be donating and fundraising right up to the last minute. Every penny given prior to July 15th will count towards this convoy and we will collect your generous donations beyond that date for the next convoy!
We have a large delegation in excess of 220 people – a tremendous mark of success and of the degree of support for the mission – and we need that number of participants to be matched by a proportionately large amount of medical aid and vehicles.
We have been inundated in the past week with last minute registrations for the convoy and we are still processing that information. Many of you are writing and calling with questions about making final travel arrangements, to inquire about your status, or about the numbers of attendees, travel itinerary, etc. We are unable to respond to many of these inquiries until ALL of the applications have been processed and the final details of the convoy finalized, so please bear with us while we attend to those details. Additionally, for security purposes, limited information will be released about our travel and accommodation until closer to the date of our departure.
Our apologies if your communication has gone unanswered, but know that we are more than aware of the requests and are working hard to obtain answers to EVERYONE’S questions! However, in an effort to keep information and arrangements as organized and consistent as possible, please read the following updates closely:
INFORMATION ON WEBSITE
We have posted the previous listserv emails to the Viva Palestina webpage under the FAQ/Resources section. Many questions can be answered by reviewing those emails and by checking back frequently for new posts.
DONATIONS
Checks made out to IFCO – Viva Palestina in your possession need to be recorded by us AND by our fiscal sponsors, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, and next Friday is a public holiday! Please send them now by fastest post to our office:
Viva Palestina USA
West Polk St.
Suite 100-403
Chicago IL 60605-2085
ORIENTATION IN CHICAGO THIS WEEKEND!
All group leaders need to plan on attending the orientation in Chicago THIS weekend. We will have several sessions detailing information pertinent to the convoy and travel. We highly recommend one to two group leaders from every organizing area attend.
Please send the names, contact and travel information for each group leader attending from your area, and include whether transportation from the airport and/or accommodations are needed to fatima@vivapalestina.org immediately!
ORIENTATION IN NYC – JULY 3rd
We urge everyone to get to New York City on the afternoon of Friday, July 3 for registration and for a wonderful send-off event. We will meet at the historic:
House of the Lord Church
415 Atlantic Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11217-1702
Once there and registered, we will be dispersing a great deal of information – legal and logistical. There will also be a legal briefing by our friends from the National Lawyers Guild, who have volunteered their time. NLG will also be on standby from July 17 to July 20, upon our return to the US, should there be any issues at that stage.
Overnight accommodation for Friday, July 3rd, and Saturday, July 4th, is being arranged and provided by our supporters in NYC. Please feel free to make other arrangements, and communicate them to us and to your group leaders during registration. Be sure, however, to arrange your travel to the airport if you do separate from the larger group.
TRAVEL
Those who registered online with Viva Palestina USA prior to June 20th AND who identified that they were traveling FROM New York City, JFK Airport, TO Cairo, Egypt with the convoy on the weekend of July 4th on their application have received a separate email detailing their travel arrangements through one particular travel agent. IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE THAT EMAIL – sent earlier today – AND YOU SHOULD HAVE BASED ON THE CRITERIA JUST DETAILED, PLEASE EMAIL fatima@vivapalestina.org immediately. There will be at least TWO flights on which Viva Palestina convoy participants from NYC will be seated due to our large numbers but most of that group will be leaving JFK on the 4th and 5th of July.
Those who registered after June 20th and identified NYC as their departure city or who identified another city as their departure city or who have, either by prior agreement with us or in their application, arranged to travel separately due to extenuating circumstances, must make their own travel arrangements.
It is best for groups from particular areas to arrange for this purchase/travel IN A GROUP, if at all possible. To facilitate that and keep people both organized AND affordable, we have arranged for you to arrange and purchase tickets from: R. Crusoe & Son, 566 W. Adams St. #505, Chicago, IL 60661. Our gracious contact there is Katie Weber. Please send, via email to kweber@rcrusoe.com, your:
1) Contact information
2) City of departure
3) Desired date of departure
4) Desired date of return
You are welcome to make arrangements on your own or through your own agent, but we will need from you the details of the flight you are on and when it arrives in Cairo. This is necessary for us to deal with the relevant Egyptian authorities.
If you make alternate arrangements for travel (i.e. extended layover in another city, extending your stay in Cairo, traveling from Cairo to another city before returning to your departure city, etc.), note that Viva Palestina IS NOT responsible for you, your travel, or your arrangements once the majority of the convoy departs from Cairo on or around July 17th. Any legal, travel or personal issues upon your separation from the convoy are your own, though we will attempt to organize resources for foreseeable difficulties that severed travelers may encounter.
DOMESTIC FLIGHTS TO NEW YORK
If you choose to attend the orientation event on July 3rd and then fly from NYC to Cairo, arranging those domestic flights to and from NYC is your responsibility. Katie Weber, our agent at R. Crusoe & Son, can assist with booking domestic routes for groups traveling together and is also happy to deal with individual transportation needs, but may recommend booking certain domestic flights independently, as they may be more affordable and more easily accessible. You can contact her directly, but ONLY about the domestic flights or international flights that are NOT part of the block bookings we have secured through a separate agent from JFK to Cairo over the weekend of 4 and 5 July.
PAYMENTS
Payments to our agent, R. Crusoe & Son, for any flight arrangements may be made by credit card, or by check, if sent overnight to arrive on Monday, 29 July. Credit card details can be called in to (312) 218-0626 or sent via email to kweber@rcrusoe.com with:
1) Cardholder’s name (as it appears on the card)
2) Credit card number,
3) Expiration date
4) Security code
Please identify that you are part of the Viva Palestina USA convoy. If you have not received confirmation of your payment or flight details, after sending in your payment information, please contact Katie at kweber@rcrusoe.com.
You will receive confirmation from an agent of the receipt of your payment and you will be issued with an e-ticket. Remember: Though most will leave on July 4th from JFK, due to our large numbers, some will leave on the same flight the following day. Several group leaders have been selected to assure your accommodations and travel arrangements are properly executed.
Also, for those who identified NYC as their departing location prior to June 20th, Viva Palestina paid a large deposit on seats to hold the reservation and to attempt to seat as many convoy participants as possible on as few flights as possible. If your organization has donations in its possession or has delegates attending with those arrangements, it is VERY important we recover that deposit, as it can be used to purchase aid! Late or non-payment will result in both them losing their seat on the flight and us losing a fair amount of funds that could be used for aid, and in both cases, the people of Gaza will be the ones who truly feel the loss!
ARRIVAL IN CAIRO
We have made arrangements for airport pickup for any larger groups arriving together who submit that information to us AS A GROUP. Details on alternate transportation will be given later or can be arranged by you once we release the hotel information.
ADMINSTRATIVE EXPENSES
Please bring with you the additional $100 in cash that we ask you to donate to cover the overall administrative costs of the convoy (on top of your personal travel expenses). We will collect it in NY or upon arrival in Egypt.
HOTEL ACCOMODATIONS
We are in the process of negotiating hotel reservations in Cairo and will provide all participants and group leaders with the NAME and ADDRESS of the hotel, along with all other pertinent details, by JULY 3rd, if not sooner, so that those who are arriving on different flights or who are meeting us in Cairo will be able to join the convoy in the days following.
INTERNATIONAL DRIVING PERMIT
We highly recommend you get an international driving permit. To do so visit the travel information site for the Department of State to obtain information regarding the application for an international Driving Permit or visit the AAA website to print the application form directly. The cost is $15 and we urge you to apply for one for driving privileges in Egypt, just to be on the safe side!
DECORATION OF VEHICLES
We are procuring large stickers with the Viva Palestina insignia to stick on the vehicles we are purchasing in Egypt. In addition, in many areas, individuals or organizations have specifically sponsored a vehicle. Some of those, for example, are in dedication to a family member or a village/town in Palestine.
We need you to send us those dedications – the exact wording in English and Arabic, where appropriate, as we are researching how best to get these dedications imprinted on nice stickers and to affix to the vehicles. (If anyone is in this type of business, please contact us immediately – usinformation@vivapalestina.org.) It is very important that the wishes of those who have sponsored with a particular dedication are respected.
DELEGATION/DELEGATE PICTURES!
We want to produce a publication for fundraising and commemoration after we return from Gaza – a virtual USA Convoy yearbook! To that end, we require from you a nice, print-quality image of yourself complete with your details: name, age, city/town where you live, and in 100 words (no more, please!) why you are undertaking this journey.
We intend these to form the opening pages, year book style, of the publication. Photos of your fundraisers, events, organizations, etc. can be sent as well. As soon as possible, before Monday of next week, send an email with your photos attached with “Delegate Photo” and your name in the subject line to usinformation@vivapalestina.org.
RECORDING YOUR VOYAGE
Nearly all of you will have digital cameras, video cameras, computers and other equipment. We want you to bring them and use it to record your journey. There will be internet facilities in Egypt and limited facilities in Gaza. You will be able to upload onto your blog – if you have one – onto the Viva website, onto other websites, onto Youtube.com and so on. In addition, we would like you to write down your thoughts of what you see in Gaza, what the people who you meet have to say, etc. This will be used on the website and in future publications.
There is no vanity about this: it is about ensuring that, whatever the coverage we get in the mainstream media, gets the word to as many places as possible. This is why you should be contacting the media in your area – TV, radio and press – to let them know you are going and to seek coverage. I know some of you have sent out local press releases. Please send us a copy so we can circulate to help others.
SECURITY
Though we do not anticipate any difficulties, to assure the utmost security, safety and comfort of everyone on this convoy, some information, such as hotel accommodations, exact time of arrival and departure, and itinerary details should NOT be shared publicly. Please use your best judgment and know that we are using ours. You will receive this information closer to the applicable time.
In sum, it is VERY IMPORTANT that we receive the following from you:
1. A FIRM COUNT OF THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ATTENDING THIS WEEKEND’S ORIENTATION IN CHICAGO, JUNE 27TH-JUNE 28TH, WITH ALL CONTACT INFORMATION, AND FLIGHT AND ACCOMODATION DETAILS.
2. ANY FUNDS GATHERED THROUGH YOUR DILIGENT FUNDRAISING EFFORTS AND EVENTS. PLEASE SEND THESE DIRECTLY TO OUR OFFICE:
47 West Polk St.
Suite 100 – 403
Chicago, IL 60605-2085
3. ALL PARTICIPANT’S FINAL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS IF NOT ALREADY IDENTIFIED AS FLYING DIRECTLY FROM NYC TO CAIRO WITH THE JULY 4th WEEKEND CONVOY.
Much remains to be done and we ask for your confidence as we finalize details, your enthusiasm as the final days of fundraising and awareness-building approach, and your individual efforts to prepare your personal details for this journey.
In solidarity,
Viva Palestina USA
www.vivapalestina-us.org
usinformation@vivapalestina.org
June 27, 2009 Posted by Elias
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