GAZA FREEDOM MARCH UPDATE 8Dec09

Link

Holocaust Survivor Hedy Epstein Heads to Gaza with 1,000 International Delegates Gaza Freedom March to Israeli Border Set for December 31

The Gaza Freedom March to take place in Gaza on December 31 is an historic initiative to break the siege that has imprisoned the 1.5 million people who live there. Conceived in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and nonviolent resistance to injustice worldwide, the march will gather people from all over the world to demand that the Israeli government open the borders.  One of the marchers will be 85-year-old Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor.

Hedy Epstein was 8 years old when Adolf Hitler came to power.  She remembers the Kristallnacht in Germany; the anti-semitism in school, the revocation of German citizenship, the burning of synagogues, and males over 16 being sent away to concentration camps. In 1939, when Hedy was just 14 years old her parents found a way for her to escape the persecution, sending her on the Kindertransport to England. Hedy never saw her parents again; they perished in Auschwitz in 1942.

After World War II, Ms. Epstein worked as a research analyst at the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi doctors who performed medical experiments on concentration camp inmates. Ms Epstein has written her story in German when translated means “Remembering Is Not Enough: The Autobiography of Hedy Epstein”.
After moving to the United States, Hedy became an activist for peace and social justice causes.  Unlike most Holocaust survivors, one of the causes she has taken up is that of the Palestinian people.  She has traveled to the West Bank, collected material aid and now she hopes to enter Gaza. “It is important to let the besieged Gazan people know 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 in other places in the U.S.A. who are outraged at what the U.S., Israeli and European governments are doing to the Palestinians and that our numbers are growing.”
Another prominent Jewish delegate is South African anti-apartheid leader Ronnie Kasrils whose grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia (Lithuania). He joined the ANC in  1960 after the Sharpeville massacre. He was deputy minister of defense in South Africa’s first democratic government (1994-99) and Minister Intelligence Services (2004-2008).

Departing for Cairo, Egypt, Hedy and the 1,000 international activists will caravan into Gaza to witness the devastation from last year’s attacks and on December 31, join Palestinians in a non-violent march from Northern Gaza to the Erez/Israeli border. On the Israeli side of the Erez border Palestinians and Israelis will also call on the Israeli government to open the border.

Other participants include Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker, leading Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham, French Senator Alima Boumediene–Thiery, author and Filipino Parliament member Walden Bello, former European Parliamentarian Luisa Morgantini from Italy, President of the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Michael Ratner, Japanese former Ambassador to Lebanon Naoto Amaki, French hip-hop artists Ministere des Affaires Populaires.  Also coming are families of three generations, doctors, lawyers, diplomats, 70 students, an interfaith group that includes rabbis, priests and imams, a women’s delegation, a Jewish contingent, a veterans group and Palestinians born overseas who have never seen their families in Gaza.

Inside Gaza, excitement is growing. Representatives of all aspects of civil society, including students, professors, refugee groups, unions, women’s organizations, NGOs, have been busy organizing and estimate that at least 50,000 Palestinians will participate. People from the different sectors will march in their uniforms–fishermen, doctors, students, farmers, teachers, etc. Local Palestinian rappers, hip-hop bands and Dabbkeh dancers will perform on mobile stages.

To contact Gaza Freedom March Organizers in country:

Ann Wright in Egypt (19) 508-1493, Gaza (599) 501-517
Tighe Barry in Egypt (19) 481-2932, Gaza (598) 289-860
Medea Benjamin in Egypt (18) 956-1919, Gaza (599) 501-519
Haider Eid Gaza (599) 441 766
Ziyaad Lunat (roaming) +351938349206
Dialing region from US:
011 to get out of the US
202 for Cairo, Egypt / dial 972 for Gaza
phone number
In U.S. contact after departure:
Emily Siegel Emily@codpinkalert.org 202-441-6716
For more information see www.gazafreedommarch.org
To see video of Hedy Epstein challenging Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel  palestine.ctsastl.org


Our written appeal that was distributed to audience members at the event reads in part:

In his 1986 address upon receiving the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel pointed out that, during the Holocaust, “the world did know and remained silent.  And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.  We must always take sides.  Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the tormented.  Sometimes we must interfere.  When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.”
Yet, on one of the great issues of our time, the Israel-Palestine conflict, Mr. Wiesel has not abided by the moral maxims he championed in the above address. For example, in the second volume of his memoirs, he admitted, “Indeed, I can say in good faith that I have not remained indifferent to any cause involving the defense of human rights. But, you may ask, what have I done to alleviate the plight of the Palestinians? And here I must confess:  I have not done enough….In spite of considerable pressure, I have refused to take a public stand in the Israeli-Arab conflict. I have said it before:  since I do not live in Israel, it would be irresponsible for me to do so.”

Elie Wiesel was paid $50,000 for his appearance at St. Louis University and stipulated that he would take no “live” questions.  At the end of his talk that included important messages about exile, statelessness and transcending identity to see the “other”, the organizers indicated that they would accept questions from the audience on slips of paper.  However, the questioning began before the papers were collected and included “tough” queries like “What do you consider to be your life’s greatest accomplishment?”

It was not an easy decision to take this direct action, but I personally was moved by many factors to participate in the Gaza Freedom March and in presenting the invitation to Mr. Wiesel, the most pressing being the situation in Gaza.  I felt that this small token of support could give hope to Palestinians by letting them know they are not forgotten.  Our message is simple and clear.  We stand as a Holocaust survivor, a Palestinian and an American united in our concern.  Mr. Wiesel’s words echoed in my thoughts during his talk:

When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.

Without giving Palestinians hope that they are supported by the international community, how can we expect them to carry a non-violent struggle?  The video documenting our invitation was my first priority because I know it will give hope to many in the region and will compel others to take a stand.
I was taken aback by another beautiful consequence of this action, namely the community building it garnered.  The planning and implementation of the action and the discernment that went into my decision about participating in the march were gifts that I treasure.  I am forever grateful to those who participated in formulating this message and delivering it.  As I grappled with tough questions about why I should be the one to travel to Gaza, my friends and spiritual community supported me with love and wisdom.  Our community is stronger for this act of love.
We still await an answer to our invitation.

Let us go, Mr. Wiesel, and listen to the lamentations of Palestinian parents who have lost their children, and the children who are now orphans;
Let us go, and stand amid the desolate ruins everywhere the eye can see—of  destroyed homes, hospitals, clinics, factories, mosques, and schools;
Let us go, and interview a few of the tens of thousands of still homeless men, women, and children;
Let us go, and listen to the doctors’ heart-rending accounts of the misery and maiming inflicted on civilians by the munitions of the Israel Defense Forces;
Let us go, and walk with the farmers among their destroyed fields, greenhouses, and groves;
Let us go, Mr. Wiesel, and make eye contact with the Gazans who daily battle hunger and daily fight despair due to Israel’s inhumane siege.
Let us refuse neutrality. Let us not be silent.