by Salma Elshakre
George Galloway briefs the delegation in Cairo.
More reports from the Viva Palestina US Convoy
We spent the days after the Peace Bridge incident finishing the “required” paper work and negotiating with the Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs to reach an agreement on the time to be spent in Gaza, what we can take with us, and to permit all members of the convoy to cross into Gaza. Mr. George Galloway, British MP and NewYork Councilman Charles Baron made great efforts to come up with a good pact with the Ministry and tried to get the most out of them.
We were waiting for the Ministry’s approval to proceed to Gaza from the 5th of July to the 15th of July; we were ready to leave the minute we get the okay. Finally on the 15th of July we got the approval at 12:30 am, we tried to begin our journey to Gaza at 3 am. We got a bus at about 4 am and were waiting for three other buses to come. Finally at about 8 am, the first bus headed out with the first group of delegates to Rafah, where they waited for the rest of us to join.
Finally at about 11 am, we were able to get buses that would accomodate all the delegates and the luggage and the supplies and we started our drive out to Rafah to catch up with the first group that left early in the morning. There were police cars driving alongside us all the way for security, we passed the Peace Bridge without any trouble and we drove past Al Arish, where people were waving at us, flashing peace signs and expressing their happiness that we were finally heading to Gaza after the long delay we experienced.
traveler’s information paper and get our passports stamped. We were kept waiting for a very long time, people were starting to get anxious but to overcome the frustrating mood we started chanting Freedom for Palestine; we got hysterical and that put pressure on the Egyptian immigration officers to return our passports to us rapidly. Finally after four hours, we left the arrival hall and boarded the buses to enter Gaza.
Once we got to the Gaza border, the gate was wide open, we were instructed to start chanting so the Palestinians can hear us, we got off the buses and walked to the gate and started chanting loud so the Palestinians would know that we arrived! It was an astounding and stunning moment when we were at the gate finally entering Gaza. When we crossed, we were greeted by Gazans who had a little festival organized for us. Little children were beating drums and Palestinian flags were raised in the air, celebrating our awaited and delayed arrival. We got off the buses feeling victorious, we were chanting as loud as we can hoping to be heard and show the world, through the cameras that were in our reception, that we Broke the Israeli siege on Gaza!
Mr. Galloway had a press conference waiting for him when he arrived and then he had to leave immediately after, but that did not affect our presence in Gaza in any way. After the press conference ended, we were back on the buses and carried on an hour long bus ride through Gaza city to the hotel. On our way we were greeted by Gazans waving at us, we flashed the peace sign and to express our solidarity with them. We got to the hotel at 1 am, the Gazans had a great dinner arranged for us and offered us a complementary stay at the hotel. They were such hospitable people. I struck up conversations with a few of the translators that accompanied us, they figured I’m an Egyptian from my accent, and they immediately started complaining about what my government has done. I felt humiliated at some point, and all I could do was just cry and apologize to them, but I also clarified to them that they are not only bad to the Palestinians; but they are also merciless with their own people.
George Galloway gives a speech alongside N.Y. City Councilman Charles Barron and Former member of Congress Cynthia Mckinney
Our first event in the morning was a press conference with the Palestinian Prime Minister Mr. Ismail Haniya, who delivered a very good welcome speech and expressed many thanks to Mr. Galloway for arranging the convoy and remaining determined to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and he also thanked the participants of the convoy for tolerating the difficulties we’ve been through in order to make it into Gaza.
There are hundreds of bombed structues like this one in northern Gaza. (Photo La Voz de Aztlan)
Next, we did a tour of Gaza and visited the heavily destroyed areas which were mostly the industrial areas. The scenes we witnessed just made us all so stunned and speechless, no “Oh my God” is big enough to explain our shock on seeing the destruction with our own eyes, it’s like nothing on T.V. we ever see. We saw the people that live in the Unicef tents, they waved peace signs high in the air for us to see, it was heart breaking. No matter how terrible their conditions are, they were still keen to welcome us to their humble, destroyed neighborhood and express their happiness that we were there.
The American International School is now only rubble after the Israelis targeted it with a "smart bomb.". (photo La voz de Aztlan)
After this bus ride through the destroyed areas, we went to see the parliament that was hit with 13 rockets for being democratic. We attended a press conference there with some parliament members who also thanked us for all our efforts and welcomed us to the beautiful Gaza!
Our next stop was the hospital where the aid was delivered. Some of the Viva Palestina members went up to visit the patients and others just stayed by the entrance and met the volunteers from the NGOs and a few patients who were out to meet with us. I met a man named Saber Al Ashkar, who was in the hospital receiving treatment for his amputated legs. He told me it happened during the last Israeli attacks, {“Operation Cast Lead”} and he lost his brother during the severe Israeli bombardment on his neighborhood. After he told me his story, he thanked me for coming and told me to thank the rest of the group for helping out and he asked of me to come back to Gaza again and again.
The three young girls in the picture are all related to each other. During the Israeli savage attack “Operation Cast lead” they lost numerous relatives and one of them, lost both her mother and father. No child should ever experience what they went through. The trauma of their horrible experience could be seen in their eyes.
Our last stop was at the Ministry of Detainees, we went to a session where the families who have their sons, husbands or wives detained by the Israelis come forward to tell their stories. A woman told her story, her husband has been detained for 16 years and his son never got to see him, and after all this time, he still doesn’t know if he’s ever going to be free and see his family again. Then three young girls came up and told their stories. While they were talking, many people were overwhelmed by sad emotions and crying out of pity for the young girls who had to go through such a dreadful experience. They were orphaned and had to witness their loved ones die horrifically before their eyes, their words of rage were so sticking, such little girls had so much rage inside them.
Finally, we went to the hotel for lunch followed by a live concert with Low Key and Sunny Boy who sang their famous main stream songs. They were with us during the whole convoy; they expressed deep solidarity with the Palestinians from the moment they arrived.
We returned to the hotel to get ready to leave at 7 pm to drive out back to Rafah to begin crossing the border by 9pm because our 24 hours permit to visit Gaza expired. It was very sad that we had to leave the beautiful Gazans during the gorgeous sunset, as we drove away, I overheard many conversations about how much everyone enjoyed their short stay in Gaza and how poignant it was having to leave. People in the streets waved goodbye, we took as many pictures as we could and cherished every remaining moment in Gaza.
We got to the border on time, we crossed and we were held up at the arrival hall once again. A man on the convoy had family who were kept in Gaza and weren’t allowed to exit even though they carry American passports. We were trying any way possible to get them to cross with us, it was pitiful to hear the young children sob and cry while we were driving away to the gates, but we had to go obtain approval again from the Egyptian authorities to let them cross. A few hours passed, we were held up because they took away the man’s passport, but finally around 1 am we were allowed to leave Rafah and head back to Cairo, but the children were not allowed to cross.
No matter how short the time was that we spent in Gaza, we still got to see how people are living, how much destruction was caused, and the overall situation in Gaza. We got to see the bullet holes through buildings, the bombarded neighborhoods; the shattered glass in hospitals, the incomplete building constructions due to lack of availability of cement and building materials. We saw the broken minarets in mosques so people wouldn’t hear the call for prayer and the scraps of melted metal from cars, the destroyed factories, and the signs of black smoke from a once raging fire in civilian buildings. It is outrageous how the Egyptian government is collaborating with the Israelis in placing their brothers and sisters under this illegal siege and what for? What do they benefit out of this? They parttake in this cruel massacre of the Palestinians, they don’t offer them help, instead, they aid the enemy in making conditions harsher on them.
The Palestinians have suffered so much but yet they are resisting. They are fighting for the rubbles of their homes and their land and their children. No matter how much stress and suffering they experience, they are still standing tall. No matter how hard things are on them, they still looked happy that we were there, they were very hospitable and generous even in such dire conditions and hard times.
George Galloway briefs the delegation in Cairo.
More reports from the Viva Palestina US Convoy
We spent the days after the Peace Bridge incident finishing the “required” paper work and negotiating with the Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs to reach an agreement on the time to be spent in Gaza, what we can take with us, and to permit all members of the convoy to cross into Gaza. Mr. George Galloway, British MP and NewYork Councilman Charles Baron made great efforts to come up with a good pact with the Ministry and tried to get the most out of them.
We were waiting for the Ministry’s approval to proceed to Gaza from the 5th of July to the 15th of July; we were ready to leave the minute we get the okay. Finally on the 15th of July we got the approval at 12:30 am, we tried to begin our journey to Gaza at 3 am. We got a bus at about 4 am and were waiting for three other buses to come. Finally at about 8 am, the first bus headed out with the first group of delegates to Rafah, where they waited for the rest of us to join.
Finally at about 11 am, we were able to get buses that would accomodate all the delegates and the luggage and the supplies and we started our drive out to Rafah to catch up with the first group that left early in the morning. There were police cars driving alongside us all the way for security, we passed the Peace Bridge without any trouble and we drove past Al Arish, where people were waving at us, flashing peace signs and expressing their happiness that we were finally heading to Gaza after the long delay we experienced.
traveler’s information paper and get our passports stamped. We were kept waiting for a very long time, people were starting to get anxious but to overcome the frustrating mood we started chanting Freedom for Palestine; we got hysterical and that put pressure on the Egyptian immigration officers to return our passports to us rapidly. Finally after four hours, we left the arrival hall and boarded the buses to enter Gaza.
Mr. Galloway had a press conference waiting for him when he arrived and then he had to leave immediately after, but that did not affect our presence in Gaza in any way. After the press conference ended, we were back on the buses and carried on an hour long bus ride through Gaza city to the hotel. On our way we were greeted by Gazans waving at us, we flashed the peace sign and to express our solidarity with them. We got to the hotel at 1 am, the Gazans had a great dinner arranged for us and offered us a complementary stay at the hotel. They were such hospitable people. I struck up conversations with a few of the translators that accompanied us, they figured I’m an Egyptian from my accent, and they immediately started complaining about what my government has done. I felt humiliated at some point, and all I could do was just cry and apologize to them, but I also clarified to them that they are not only bad to the Palestinians; but they are also merciless with their own people.
George Galloway gives a speech alongside N.Y. City Councilman Charles Barron and Former member of Congress Cynthia Mckinney
Our first event in the morning was a press conference with the Palestinian Prime Minister Mr. Ismail Haniya, who delivered a very good welcome speech and expressed many thanks to Mr. Galloway for arranging the convoy and remaining determined to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and he also thanked the participants of the convoy for tolerating the difficulties we’ve been through in order to make it into Gaza.
There are hundreds of bombed structues like this one in northern Gaza. (Photo La Voz de Aztlan)
Next, we did a tour of Gaza and visited the heavily destroyed areas which were mostly the industrial areas. The scenes we witnessed just made us all so stunned and speechless, no “Oh my God” is big enough to explain our shock on seeing the destruction with our own eyes, it’s like nothing on T.V. we ever see. We saw the people that live in the Unicef tents, they waved peace signs high in the air for us to see, it was heart breaking. No matter how terrible their conditions are, they were still keen to welcome us to their humble, destroyed neighborhood and express their happiness that we were there.
The American International School is now only rubble after the Israelis targeted it with a "smart bomb.". (photo La voz de Aztlan)
After this bus ride through the destroyed areas, we went to see the parliament that was hit with 13 rockets for being democratic. We attended a press conference there with some parliament members who also thanked us for all our efforts and welcomed us to the beautiful Gaza!
Our next stop was the hospital where the aid was delivered. Some of the Viva Palestina members went up to visit the patients and others just stayed by the entrance and met the volunteers from the NGOs and a few patients who were out to meet with us. I met a man named Saber Al Ashkar, who was in the hospital receiving treatment for his amputated legs. He told me it happened during the last Israeli attacks, {“Operation Cast Lead”} and he lost his brother during the severe Israeli bombardment on his neighborhood. After he told me his story, he thanked me for coming and told me to thank the rest of the group for helping out and he asked of me to come back to Gaza again and again.
The three young girls in the picture are all related to each other. During the Israeli savage attack “Operation Cast lead” they lost numerous relatives and one of them, lost both her mother and father. No child should ever experience what they went through. The trauma of their horrible experience could be seen in their eyes.Finally, we went to the hotel for lunch followed by a live concert with Low Key and Sunny Boy who sang their famous main stream songs. They were with us during the whole convoy; they expressed deep solidarity with the Palestinians from the moment they arrived.
We returned to the hotel to get ready to leave at 7 pm to drive out back to Rafah to begin crossing the border by 9pm because our 24 hours permit to visit Gaza expired. It was very sad that we had to leave the beautiful Gazans during the gorgeous sunset, as we drove away, I overheard many conversations about how much everyone enjoyed their short stay in Gaza and how poignant it was having to leave. People in the streets waved goodbye, we took as many pictures as we could and cherished every remaining moment in Gaza.
We got to the border on time, we crossed and we were held up at the arrival hall once again. A man on the convoy had family who were kept in Gaza and weren’t allowed to exit even though they carry American passports. We were trying any way possible to get them to cross with us, it was pitiful to hear the young children sob and cry while we were driving away to the gates, but we had to go obtain approval again from the Egyptian authorities to let them cross. A few hours passed, we were held up because they took away the man’s passport, but finally around 1 am we were allowed to leave Rafah and head back to Cairo, but the children were not allowed to cross.
No matter how short the time was that we spent in Gaza, we still got to see how people are living, how much destruction was caused, and the overall situation in Gaza. We got to see the bullet holes through buildings, the bombarded neighborhoods; the shattered glass in hospitals, the incomplete building constructions due to lack of availability of cement and building materials. We saw the broken minarets in mosques so people wouldn’t hear the call for prayer and the scraps of melted metal from cars, the destroyed factories, and the signs of black smoke from a once raging fire in civilian buildings. It is outrageous how the Egyptian government is collaborating with the Israelis in placing their brothers and sisters under this illegal siege and what for? What do they benefit out of this? They parttake in this cruel massacre of the Palestinians, they don’t offer them help, instead, they aid the enemy in making conditions harsher on them.
The Palestinians have suffered so much but yet they are resisting. They are fighting for the rubbles of their homes and their land and their children. No matter how much stress and suffering they experience, they are still standing tall. No matter how hard things are on them, they still looked happy that we were there, they were very hospitable and generous even in such dire conditions and hard times.
This life changing experience is only the beginning for many of us, we will stand against this injustice and Palestine will be FREE!
great blog, expressing the truths going on, I really hope people take notice...
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