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Palestine Monitor
Breaking The Siege: A Promise 150 vehicles and $5 million of aid successfully entered Gaza on Thursday, without the tragic cost of the May Flotilla. Viva Palestina’s Amena Saleem told us that organisers are delighted with the outcome, but disappointed with the Egyptian authorities. Saleem was one of 17 passengers, along with former MP George Galloway, prevented from travelling to Al-Arish port in Egypt from Syria. Egyptian security claimed the reason for refusal was for the protection of national security, which Saleem does not accept. “They told me I was refused because they believed I had once been married to George Galloway (whose first wife shares her name). They have enough intelligence to know that’s not the case. An 18 year old Jordanian sheikh was also on the list who had never been on any convoy before. Egypt needs to show Israel that they are co-operating with the siege.” Despite the refusals, passage to Gaza proved unexpectedly straightforward, which Saleem partly attributes to the presence of a large North African and Muslim presence, which put pressure on the Egyptian authorities. “It made a difference”, she said, “there was an element of the Egyptians not wanting to be shown up in the Arab world. We want show the world is united against the siege and involving the Muslim world is important”. At one stage the organisers of the land convoy had hoped to coincide their arrival with another flotilla, but this proved impracticable. Despite the massacre on the Mavi Marmara, which left nine activists dead, and threatening intimations in the media, Saleem denied the threat of violence was the deciding factor. “We had four months, which wasn’t enough time to raise money for boats.” She would not rule out future convoys taking to the seas again and risking confrontation with the Israeli navy. “No one is trying to provoke anything, we will never be armed, but we will keep trying to take aid to people that desperately need it. We need to show Gaza the world has not forgotten them. The siege is illegal but while the governments don’t take action we’ll keep coming”. Saleem rejected Israel’s slight easing of the blockade as inadequate. “Until there is a complete end no one will be satisfied. Gaza needs to be given the freedom to sustain itself.” For now the convoy’s $5 million of aid will help relieve the symptoms of extreme poverty in the strip, still devastated from Operation Cast Lead last January. Chronic levels of unemployment and malnutrition still remain. Much of the aid was focussed on medical needs, with large quantities of antibiotics, chemotherapy equipment, dental equipment and wheelchairs, as well as basic school supplies. Every vehicle used in the convoy was also donated, with the passengers flying home. The goods are sure to reach the people who need them as they were handed directly to specific hospitals and institutions in Gaza. Saleem described the organisers as “delighted” with the outcome and guaranteed that convoys will continue until the illegal siege on Gaza has been lifted.
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