Viva Palestina coordinator Kevin Ovenden reports that a humanitarian aid convoy originating in the U.S. and bound for Gaza has been stopped by Egyptian authorities.
Leaving JFK airport with aid for Gaza
July 11, 2009 – THE LARGEST-ever U.S. humanitarian aid convoy is now gathering in Egypt to head across the border into Gaza on Monday, July 13.
Vehicles are coming from Alexandria, the medical supplies from Cairo and the advanced party of nearly 100 U.S. citizens is heading for the staging post of Al Arish, just before the border with Gaza.
That group, of four buses, has, however, been stopped from crossing over the Suez Canal and into the Sinai region, which leads to Gaza. The buses, carrying people, medical aid and bearing US, Egyptian and Palestinian flags in a spirit of international cooperation, have been held at a security checkpoint and given various, conflicting reasons for why they cannot proceed to their destination at Al Arish.
New York Councilman Charles Barron is leading the group and is negotiating with security officials to resolve the situation. He has contacted Washington and other elected officials in an effort to clarify the reasons for the delay and address any concerns as efficiently as possible.
Former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney will join the convoy on July 13, and British Member of Parliament George Galloway will also be heading to meet up with Councilman Barron and the advance group. He and the rest of the advance group of the convoy, however, are insisting on their right to travel with their supplies to Al Arish, where the rest of the convoy is to rendezvous with them before heading for the border crossing into Gaza.
This medical convoy is on the way to Gaza a month after U.S. President Barack Obama described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian crisis.” “Our convoy is on an aid mission,” says Galloway, “We come in peace; but we will not be stopped.”
Update at 2:45 a.m., Cairo: The 100 Viva Palestina humanitarian volunteers have decided to stay the night in their buses at the Mubarak Peace Bridge over the Suez Canal, despite pressure from the Egyptian security officials to return to Cairo.
The official reason given at the checkpoint for refusing to allow them to cross is that the officials there did not have a list of the names of the members of the convoy. Such a list was–at the request of the Egyptian authorities before any of the convoy members set foot in Egypt–sent to the Egyptian ambassadors to Washington, D.C., and London.
The U.S. embassy in Cairo has now stepped in to forward a newly provided list of those convoy members aboard the buses at the bridge to the Egyptian foreign ministry to clear the way for the convoy’s passage.
Nancy Mansour Leigh, a spokeswoman for the Viva Palestina delegation at the Suez crossing, says, “It’s going to be an uncomfortable night, but it’s nothing compared with what the people of Gaza must live through every day. We’ve already succeeded in securing Internet access and are negotiating other necessary facilities. But whatever facilities are provided or not, our determination will see us through the night and all the way to Gaza.”
New York City Councilman Charles Barron is on the scene at the Suez Canal and acting as chief negotiator with Egyptian security officials. He said: “The Viva Palestina movement has had a great success this morning with our stand at the Suez crossing. We’ve now got an agreement for us to stay until the list of our convoy members reaches the foreign ministry. It shows what can be achieved with the determination and commitment of a collective body of people.
“We are determined to cross onto Gaza, and no matter what happens next, out of this first small confrontation, we’ve achieved a success for the movement in support of the Palestinian people. The convoy is going to move on, and we ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around.”
British Member of Parliament George Galloway offered these words of encouragement for the delegation being held up at the crossing: “This is an American convoy. And Americans are used to refusing to give up seats on buses in the struggle for justice. I regard everyone who’s putting themselves on the line tonight at the Suez Canal for the success of this humanitarian mission as nothing short of a hero.”
What You Can Do:
- For ongoing updates, visit the Viva Palestina-USA website http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/
- Contact the Egyptian embassy and call for the immediate release of the Viva Palestina convoy. Call 202-966-6342, fax 202-244-4319 and e-mail consulate@egyptembassy.net
- http://www.facebook.com/l/;SocialistWorker.org reporter Eric Ruder and a number of contributors to this Web site are part of the Viva Palestina convoy. You can read blogs from some at http://www.facebook.com/l/;TheSitch.com
Message sent by Richard Reilly
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://socialistworker.org/2009/07/11/gaza-convoy-stopped
Gov’t committee against siege slams Egypt for not allowing in lifeline-2
No comments:
Post a Comment