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Urgent Gaza Freedom March Update – Please take action!

Dandelion Salad

Interview with driver in UK to Gaza aid convoy 2009

undercurrentspaulo
December 21, 2009

A crew of all women are driving in a 200 vehicle convoy from the UK to Gaza. They aim to reach Gaza on December 27th 2009 with donations of humanitarian aid, ambulances, wheelchairs and more. Following the Israeli bombing in December 2008, Gaza has been suffering and this convoy hopes to give some hope. More on http://swanseapalestine.org/

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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NY to Gaza

GazaFreedomMarch
December 21, 2009

Thanks to Paul Park for this video. This is footage from a recent demonstration in Times Square in New York. In addition to the Gaza Freedom March at the Erez border crossing there will be local demonstrations showing solidarity in major metropolitan areas around the world. Check online for information about Gaza Freedom March activities in your area.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Crossposted with permission from Jewish Peace News

Urgent Gaza Freedom March Update – Please take action!

Jewish Peace News
Dec. 21, 2009

Egypt is attempting to close the boarder at Rafah, or at least threatening to do so. If this happens, the many people heading to Gaza for the Freedom March won’t be able to get there.

Please help (information below), and also help disseminate this urgent alert.
Thanks,
Racheli Gai.

From: Gaza Freedom March info@gazafreedommarch.org
Date: Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Subject: Urgent March Update

Gaza Freedom March
UPDATE
December 21, 2009

We are determined to break the siege. We all will continue to do whatever we can to make it happen

Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do not feel threatened, and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now. We both agreed to continue our exchanges.

Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we’ve encountered -and overcome- before. No delegation, large or small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the siege of Gaza and march on December 31 against the Israeli blockade. We are continuing in the same direction.

Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world must hear from us and our supporters (by phone, fax and email)** over the coming crucial days, with a clear message: Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed.

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

In the U.S., contact the Egyptian Embassy, 202-895-5400 and ask for Omar Youssef or email omaryoussef@hotmail.com

[DS added this link: Tell Egypt: Don’t Block International Gaza Freedom March! – Just Foreign Policy The editable letter below is on this link and ready to send.]

The GFM Steering Committee

* * Sample text

I am writing/calling to express my full support for the December 31, 2009 Gaza Freedom March. I urge the Egyptian government to allow the 1,300 international delegates to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt.

The aim of the march is to call on Israel to lift the siege. The delegates will also take in badly needed medical aid, as well as school supplies and winter jackets for the children of Gaza.

Please, let this historic March proceed.

Thank you.

see

Noam Chomsky: Gaza, One Year Later

Richard Falk: Gaza, Afghanistan and International Law

US Media & the Coverage of the Israel-Palestine Conflict by Sibel Edmonds

Norman Finkelstein: Gaza One Year Later

Noam Chomsky: More to fear from US, Israel than Iran

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