George Galloway makes a plea to Mubarak of Egypt to Open the Rafah Crossing and let the Convoy Through.

An Alternative Route By Mahjoob

LINK

Press TV Report on Viva Palestine – George Galloway makes a plea to Mubarak of Egypt to open the Rafah Crossing and let the convoy through. Minor blockage en route to Amman, Jordan alleviated. Aired 24th December 2009

EGYPTIAN U-TURN ON ENTRY INTO RAFAH 8.30pm 24Dec09

Message sent by Lynn Free Gaza Wilson to the members of the Global Help Initiative for Palestine

The Egyptian Foreign Minister said on Egyptian TV Channel 2, that neither the Gaza Freedom March nor persons accompanying the Viva Palestina convoy would be allowed to enter Gaza. The Foreign Minister’s comments confirmed statements made to Ann Wright and Tighe Barry of the Gaza Freedom March steering committee during their meeting this afternoon with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director of the Office of Palestinian Affairs Hisham Seif-Eldin and officer Ahmed Azzam. Barry and Wright went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the December 20 disapproval of the entry into Gaza by the Gaza Freedom March.

Mr. Sief-Eldin said that Egyptian embassies in Europe and North America had received a large number emails and phone calls since the announcement of the disapproval. He was visibly upset by what he described as the “tone” of some of the emails received and forwarded to him by Egyptian embassies in Europe and North America and said that emails contained threats to Egyptian interests by tourist boycotts and personal attacks and derogatory language toward staff members. He said the position of the security and intelligence services of Egypt in disapproving transiting the Rafah border crossing had “hardened.”
Sief-Eldin said that the permit we had requested to hold an orientation meeting on December 27 at 7pm at the Holy Family complex was cancelled and that the permit for a press conference at the Pyramisa Hotel on December 27 would not be approved. At the meeting we presented a written request to hold a conference on Gaza for delegates only on December 28 and 29 either at the American University Cairo or at hotel. Mr. Azzad said the Foreign Ministry would forward the request to the security agency but did not believe it would be acted on in a timely manner. The conference would be considered a “political” conference and would have to be approved by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Sief-Eldin in the strongest terms said security services would not permit gatherings with signs or banners. He said that no group would be permitted to travel to al Arish or Rafah. He said we should tell the 1360 delegates to “not come to Egypt” unless they were going to do only tourist things. He said that in a change from yesterday, the Viva Palestina convoy has not heeded the Government of Egypt’s decision on where the convoy should enter Egypt and none of their delegates will be allow to enter Gaza, but the vehicles will enter eventually through a checkpoint in Israel.

We asked again why the Government of Egypt did not make its refusal decision early in the five months process that the Gaza Freedom March has been coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a decision that would have notified delegates not to spend thousands of dollars on airfare to get to Egypt. Seif-Eldin responded that the government makes its decision on its own time schedule, not on the time schedule of others. He ended by saying that in Egypt, things are not done in the same manner as in the United States or Europe. The security services will not permit demonstrations or protests and will deal with them quickly.

URGENT -  URGENT -  URGENT -  PLEASE WRITE TO EGYPTIAN MISSIONS URGING THE OPENING OF THE RAFAH CROSSING FOR BOTH VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY & GAZA FREEDOM MARCH DELEGATES. 
Details after clicking on  “Read more”.

LATEST ALERT FROM AUSTRALIAN KAMAHL MASHNI IN VIVA PALESTINE CONVOY

8.15am 24Dec09
Egypt has officially denied entry on the ground that convoy needs Israel’s permission to cross at Rafah.  The ferry also refused the convoy of trucks to board for the crossing.  Viva Palestina now stuck in Jordan.

Reception for Viva Palestina in Jordan

Reception for Viva Palestina in Jordan

VIVA PALESTINA UPDATE 23Dec09

Egypt allows Viva Palestina to enter Gaza on 27 December 2009.  The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told Gaza Freedom March organizers on 23 December that the decision had been made to alter its policy because of the “humanitarian assistance” nature of Viva Palestina.

GAZA FREEDOM MARCH UPDATE 23Dec09

Since the Gaza Freedom March is also bringing in humanitarian assistance items valued at tens of thousands of dollars and the border is now considered safe, Gaza Freedom March will make a formal request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  that the Government of Egypt reconsider the request of the Gaza Freedom March for entry of its 1360 delegates from 42 countries into Gaza through the Rafah crossing on December 27.

Marchers and their friends have been flooding Egyptian embassies throughout the world with calls and emails. Embassies throughout Europe, the United States and Canada have told callers that they have been flooded with telephone calls from persons asking that the Gaza Freedom March be allowed into Gaza. Members of the Canadian, German, Swiss, French, Greek and Filipino Parliaments have written letters, as well as the Irish Minister of Defense, asking the Egyptian government to allow the march to proceed.
The Gaza Freedom March has families of three generations, doctors, lawyers, diplomats, 100 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.
We have large delegations from the U.S., France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Greece, Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands and Japan. We also have delegations from Sweden, Turkey, India, Ireland, Switzerland, Jordan, Morocco, Denmark, Lebanon, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Tunisia, Algeria, Philippines, South Korea, Bahrain, Bosnia, Israel, New Zealand, Slovenia, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Mauritius, Romania and Serbia.

PLEASE SIGN URGENT PETITION supporting Australian contingent.

GAZA FREEDOM MARCH UPDATE 22Dec09


Contact your local consulate here:
http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/mfa_websits/
Contact the Palestine Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo
Ahmed Azzam, tel +202-25749682 Email: ahmed.azzam@mfa.gov.eg

Egyptian Embassy in Canberra, Australia
His Excellency Omar Metwally
Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Australia
1 Darwin Ave, Yarralumla ACT 2600
Tel: (00612) 6273 4437 – 6273 4438  Fax: (00612) 6273 4279
E-mail: egyembassy@bigpond.com
Source: Australians for palestine

December 25, 2009 - Posted by EliasThe Egyptian Foreign Ministry has informed the Gaza Freedom march Steering Committee that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January.  While no delegation entering Gaza in the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border, public and political pressure changed the Egyptian Government’s position and they were each allowed through.  Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world must hear from you over the next crucial days with a clear message: Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed.

Uprooted Palestinian