[R-G] `We are all under the same sky` - story of the aid convoy to Gaza

[Richard Menec]

http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=24846 (Occupation Magazine)

`We are all under the same sky` - story of the aid convoy to Gaza

Adam Keller prepublication, written for The Other Israel

http://toibillboard.info/Gazaconv.htm

Jan. 28, 2006

`There is a problem` said the elderly woman who phoned urgently on the day 
before we set out. "The food which I and my husband bought for the Gaza 
Convoy is too much to be put into one box. But if we divide it in two, the 
Palestinian families who get each box will feel that Israelis are very 
niggardly. And the shops are already closed, we can't buy more. What shall 
we do?"

This Tel Aviv couple was among the very many people, in Israel as all over 
the world, touched last week by the plight of Gaza and trying to do 
something about it - preparing personal aid packages, distributing leaflets 
at street corners and on university campuses, working feverishly deep into 
the night to take care of numerous logistical hitches in the preparations 
for the convoy, sending a stream of donations from all over the world, 
picketing Israeli embassies and convoys with signs reading "Let the Convoy 
Pass!".

After many months in which it had festered, virtually unnoticed by the world 
at large (though full reports were available on the net for any who cared to 
look), the Siege of Gaza has suddenly burst into the headlines and the TV 
screens. A new situation was created by the decision of Defence Minister 
Barak to make an already terrible situation completely intolerable by 
altogether closing down the border passes, Gaza's fragile lifeline. In 
desperation the Palestinians have taken the step which is often urged on 
them, not always in good faith - i.e. to undertake mass non-violent action a 
la Mahatma Gandhi.

In fact, a relief convoy had been in stages of preparation already for 
several weeks before these stirring events. The initiative started in late 
December, when Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj - the well-known Gazan psychiatrist and 
human rights activist - got a permit to enter Israel. This provided a rare 
opportunity for him to meet with Israeli peace activists, hosted at the Gush 
Shalom office. He told at length about the increasingly desperate hardships 
of daily life in the Strip. It was quite unacceptable to hear all that and 
just nod our heads in sadness. On the spot, it was decided to organize a 
relief convoy for Gaza - providing both some real, concrete aid, and also a 
powerful symbolic gesture - and to struggle by all political and juridical 
means for the right to get the supplies into the Strip. Further, the arrival 
of the convoy at the border of the Strip would be marked by two parallel 
protest rallies, to be held simultaneously on the two sides of the 
impassable border.

(At some stages in the preparations, it was proposed that the Israelis would 
stand on a hillside overlooking the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians come to 
a nearby field on their side of the border, so that denominators on both 
sides could see each other; this creative idea was foiled by the army 
declaring said hill `a closed military zone` and surrounding it with barbed 
wire).

There were weeks of intensive preparations, meetings held every few days, 
adherence of more and more activists, endless phone calls and emailing, the 
drafting of manifestos and statements which were translated back and forth 
between Hebrew, Arabic and English, amended and amended again so as to 
satisfy all 26 of the peace groups which eventually joined the initiative - 
having considerable difference in political and ideological programs and, no 
less important, in the age and general outlook of their membership (the full 
list appears in the end). A single slogan was chosen, uniting everybody: 
`Gaza: End the Blockade!`

On occasion, petty rivalries and quarrels flared up, sometimes 
acrimoniously - as they must in all human enterprises, however 
well-intentioned. Still, many activists from various organizations worked 
day and night, and new faces we had not seen before suddenly stepped in to 
take a heavy share of the burden. Gush Shalom started a fund-raising 
campaign among its sympathizers. Hundreds of checks came pouring in from 
Israel as well as a dozen other countries around the world, to cover the 
costs of the supplies. Often, words of thanks accompanied the checks for an 
opportunity to join the struggle.

In consultation with Dr. al-Sarraj it was decided to buy, not only five tons 
of essential food-stuffs - flour, sugar, rice, oil, salt, beans and 
lentils - but also water filters.

In the original meeting with him in Tel Aviv, one of the salient details was 
how polluted and undrinkable water is in the Gaza Strip, even in 'ordinary' 
times. The Israeli siege caused a very severe shortage of water filters - 
which are far from providing a full answer, but do at least reduce the 
danger to the drinkers' health. So, the Israeli supplier was duly located in 
the town of Petach Tikva, and a quantity of filters purchased (we decided to 
concentrate on the heavy-duty large filters, costing 250 Dollars apiece, and 
destined for schools and other public institutions in the Strip).

January 26, and the weather forecasts were far from auspicious: "Rain and 
thunderstorms all over the country, rainfall will increase during the day." 
Already in the preceding night, we had been woken up by strong thunderbolts. 
`Who is going to get up early on Shabbat morning in such stormy weather, in 
order to participate in an open-air protest rally and carry sacks of food?`

But a single look at any of the bustling rendezvous points (Nazareth, Haifa, 
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheba) was enough to dispel all such 
apprehensions. Under the drizzle, old and young activists were very busy - 
strapping boxes with supplies (well wrapped in nylon against the rain) to 
the roofs of cars, and attaching long black ribbons to radio aerials.

As requested by the organizers, hundreds of families came in their private 
cars, all of which were soon decorated by posters showing a map of Gaza 
surrounded by barbed wire, and the slogan "End the blockade!" in three 
languages. Some added on their own cars older placards and posters left over 
from earlier campaigns: "Gaza: Stop the madness, stop the war!", "No to 
Occupation, Yes to Israeli-Palestinian Peace!", "It won't end - until we 
talk!". A battered old car, full of youngsters with weird hairstyles, was 
completely covered with graffiti: "One More Car Against the Siege", "You 
have gas? Gazans Don`t!". Together with those travelling by bus, the number 
of participants reached about two thousand - far above expectations.

It was the veteran Ya`akov Manor who had come up with the idea of asking 
demonstrators to bring private relief parcels and to add personal letters 
`from family to family`. This touched a chord among activists who had seen 
the distressing TV broadcasts from Gaza. Families spent considerable care 
and expense in preparing their personal aid packages, bringing not only food 
and mineral water, but also blankets, warm clothing and many other useful 
articles, even stoves. Parcels were fastened to the tops of the cars or put 
in the baggage holds of the buses. When later collected together, they 
amounted to no less than an additional two tons of supplies.

At the assembly the rain was slight, no real hindrance. But during the drive 
southwards to the Erez Border Crossing it grew heavier and heavier, pouring 
down, making it almost impossible to see the road, and considerably slowing 
down the numerous cars. Enough to make the most obdurate of atheists utter a 
fervent prayer, precisely the opposite of what peasants in this land have 
prayed for since time immemorial "No rain! No rain! Please, please, can you 
not stop it for two hours! Just two hours, that is all I ask!"

A call from the Reuters TV camera crew: "We are positioned at Erez and 
waiting for you. All set to start world-wide live broadcast at 12.45 sharp. 
Please be punctual - these satellite links cost a lost of money, you know". 
A hasty cellphone consultation from car to car, and the organizers` resolve: 
"We must make it, by hook or by crook, even if we all get soaking wet. We 
just CAN'T afford to miss that broadcast!" Dr. Sarraj, calling from the 
preparations for the Palestinian parallel rally in Gaza, with a ray of hope: 
"Don't worry, the rain in Gaza has stopped and the clouds are clearing away. 
We are all under the same sky, whatever the barriers on the ground!"

And so it proved. By the time the convoys from all over the country 
converged on the Yad Mordechai Junction and set out for the final few 
kilometres, there were only large puddles on the ground to remind of the 
fury of the elements. The sun broke out to give camera crews a full chance 
to capture the long long, slow moving line of cars, buses and trucks.

Disembarkation at the locked gates of the Erez Checkpoint - once a crowded 
thoroughfare, where tens of thousands of Gazan workers passed very early 
every morning on their way to low-paid jobs in Israel, now a concrete 
wasteland which only "exceptional humanitarian cases" are granted the rare 
privilege of traversing. Jewish and Arab demonstrators - about half and 
half, with a leavening of Swedes, Germans, Americans, Canadians, Japanese 
and a single Korean - held aloft aid packages and placards, marching along 
the high walls separating the Strip from Israel.

From the loud-speaker atop a van chants were initiated in Hebrew and Arabic, 
enthusiastically picked up by the marchers: "Gaza, Gaza, don't despair - we 
will end the occupation yet!"/"Gazans deserve Freedom, Gaza will be Free!"/"Peace 
 - Yes! Occupation - No! Peace - Yes! Siege - No!" / "Occupation is 
Terrorism, The Refuser is a Hero!".

Mounted police shadowed the march, and a cordon of police and soldiers was 
stretched along the Wall. Ahead, the truck loaded with sacks of flour was 
already waiting, covered with heavy tarpaulins against the weather - to be 
used as an improvised speakers` podium.

A phone call from Dr. Sarraj, from the rally of the 
Palestinian-International Campaign to End the Siege at the Unknown Soldier`s 
Tomb in Gaza City, magnified by loudspeaker for the waiting crowd: `I am 
proud and honoured to be addressing you today, this is a significant date in 
the history of the region. Maybe the siege and collective punishment are a 
blessing in disguise, when they brought us together, Palestinians and Jews, 
Israelis and Arabs, united in the pursuit of peace - of security for Gaza 
and Israel, for Ramallah and Sderot!` Prolonged applause, and a reciprocal 
message of peace by the undersigned relayed in the same way to the 
Palestinian rally. It was even possible to faintly hear the cheering of the 
Gazan crowd.

On more than one past occasion, attempts at such phone-relayed speeches 
ended with embarrassing scenes of loud squeaking and inarticulate noises. 
But recent improvement in cellphone technology have evidently come to the 
rescue of cross-border peace activism.

"What shall we say to the hungry child and his mother, seeking bread in the 
streets of Gaza - we who stand helpless at the locked gate? What shall we 
say to all the children trapped in this terrible ghetto, to the stillborns 
dying in their incubators because the state of the Jews has cut off their 
oxygen? And what can we say to ourselves?" cried out Nurit Peled-Elhanan, 
whose own daughter was killed in a Jerusalem suicide bombing ten years ago.

"Three days ago, the Rafah Wall has fallen, as the Berlin Wall has fallen, 
as the 'Separation Wall' cutting through the West Bank will also fall. But 
our government and our army still continue, in our names, a monstrous policy 
of siege and denial of vital supplies to the inhabitants of Gaza" said Uri 
Avnery. "Our hearts are with our brothers and sisters in Gaza, who 
demonstrate at this very moment on the other side, with our brothers and 
sisters in Sderot who live under the threat of the Qussam missiles. This 
threat will not be removed by siege or military retaliation, 'an eye for an 
eye' will only make us all blind. There is only one way and one solution for 
ending the Qussams: to sit down and talk - yes, talk to the Hamas! Talk 
about a full ceasefire. No more Qassams from Gaza to Israel, and no deadly 
raids and incursions of Israel into Gaza, no more mortar bombs and no more 
aerial 'liquidations'. A full ceasefire on the way to full peace with all 
parts of the Palestinian people!"

Advocate Fatmeh al-Ijou spoke of last week's hearing at the Supreme Court in 
Jerusalem. "The state had enough temerity and cynicism to assert that the 
cutting off of electricity and fuel to Gaza is legal under International 
Law, as being 'similar to the international economic boycott against 
Apartheid South Africa'. As if there is anyone in the world who does not 
know who is implementing Apartheid methods in the Middle East, which country 
it is which constructs roads where permission to drive is dependant on the 
motorist`s ethnic origin!"

"Together with us and with our friends in Gaza, tens of thousands of people 
are standing at this moment in demonstrations and pickets and rallies all 
over the world, in capital cities and megalopolises as well as in small 
towns - all of them demanding the end of the siege on Gaza and of the 
occupation in general." said Professor Jeff Halper, who went on to call upon 
the people of Sderot to rebel against the role imposed on them by the 
government - "The role of hostages to missile fire and pretexts for acts of 
oppression in Gaza, which only serve to provoke further shooting of 
missiles`. [A list of places where demos took place appears in the end].

"As soon as the spotlight went out on the visit of President George W. Bush 
[a loud "Boo"! from the audience], the light also went out in the homes and 
hospitals of Gaza" called former Hadash MK Issam Makhoul. "But the years of 
silence are over. Jewish and Arab people of peace and goodwill are uniting 
in the struggle for a just peace, which alone can ensure the future of the 
children of Gaza and Sderot".

And Balad Mk Jamal Zahalka added: "The so-called negotiations and Peace 
Process which the government announced are empty of any real content, a mere 
camouflage to hide the crimes committed in Gaza. What the government tries 
to hide from the public is the basic fact that numerous offers of a 
ceasefire were made by the Palestinian side and were all rejected out of 
hand by the Government of Israel".

Teddy Katz read out a message from former Minister Shulamit Aloni, a 
scheduled speaker who could not come for health reasons: "Enough of the 
killing, murder and destruction, committed in our name! Enough of false 
propaganda, media spins which end in death! This is my direct message to the 
Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak, and his henchmen: The time is over for your 
mentality of reckless, unthinking commando raids and assassinations. The 
time has come for maturity and rational consideration - a time for peace!" 
(Aside from her words, Aloni provided a substantial monetary donation and 
two personal aid packages.)

A completely unexpected speaker, who came up at the last moment, was a young 
woman from Sderot, Shir Shusdig - who climbed the truck/ podium with some 
diffidence and took the microphone: `For the past seven years, at Sderot and 
Kibbutz Zikim, I have lived under the constant threat of the Qassams. I have 
become so attuned to them that even in other, quiet parts of the country, 
when I hear a public address system I immediately think this is the missile 
alarm. I know that the people on the other side are also suffering very 
much. I don't trust either our government or the Hamas to solve the problem 
and bring peace. But, the fact that we have come here, so many people 
together, Jews and Arabs and Palestinians over there, that is what gives 
hope; that we all want peace!" (very loud cheers).

At the end, the personal parcels were loaded on a smaller truck. Since the 
army is far from already allowing them into the Gaza Strip, the personal 
packages, together with the sacks of flour and rice and the precious water 
filters, were all taken to a warehouse placed at our disposal by Kibbutz 
Kerem Shalom - conveniently located where the borders of Gaza, Israel and 
Egypt meet. Getting them into the Strip will require a lot of negotiations, 
lobbying and possibly an appeal to the Supreme Court - as we knew in 
advance. You will soon hear more about it.

(A few minutes after protesters piled into the cars and buses, the rain 
started again. )
=========================================================

Social TV video of the convoy (Hebrew text, but you can see the action)

http://www.tv.social.org.il/medini/stv-gaza-relief-convoy-26-1-08.htm

if it does`nt work well, try instead: 
http://www.practivism.co.il/video/stv/stv-gaza-relief-convoy-26-1-08-new.wmv

List of participating organizations: Gush Shalom, Combatants for Peace, 
Coalition of Women for Peace, ICAHD - The Israeli Committee Against House 
Demolitions, Bat Shalom, Bat Tzafon for Peace and Equality, Balad, Hadash, 
Adalah, Tarabut- Hithabrut, Physicians for Human Rights - Israel, AIC - The 
Alternative Information Center, Psychoactive - Mental Health Workers for 
Human Rights, ActiveStills, The Students Coalition (Tel Aviv University), 
New Profile, MachsomWatch, PCATI - The Public Committee Against Torture in 
Israel, Yesh Gvul, Gisha, Local Television on the Internet, Committee for 
Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue, "On the Left Side", Faculty for 
Palestinian-Israeli Peace (Israel).

Website of the Palestinian organisers: 
http://www.end-gaza-siege.ps/IndexEn.htm

List of places where parallel demonstrations took place on this 
international day against the blocade of Gaza:

U.S.A. New York, Phoenix, Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, 
Philadelphia, San Francisco, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, 
Boston, Alameda, Detroit, Chapel Hill, Durham, Champaign, Anaheim, 
Charlotte, Costa Mesa, Sioux Falls, St. Paul, New Haven

U.K London, Birmingham, Brighton, Leicester, Manchester, Edinburgh, Swansea, 
Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow

SPAIN Madrid, Malaga, Cordoba, Barcelona, Valencia, Santander, Torrelavega, 
Celra (Girona), Lerida, Asturies, Mallorca

ITALY Rome, Modena, Bologna, Grosseto, Naples, Milan, Padova Como Udine, 
Torino

FRANCE Paris, Poitiers, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Nantes, Orleans,

CANADA Montreal, Sydney, Toronto, Melbourne

GERMANY Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, Gothenburg, Koblenz, Wuppertal

SWEDEN Stockholm, Gotaplatsen

AUSTRIA Vienna

SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town

- and in other places which may have escaped our attention - often with a 
considerable participation of Jewish groups opposed to the policies of the 
Israeli government.

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