Justice for Gaza convoy crosses into Gaza Strip

[sister herb]

[ 08/03/2009 - 11:04 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The British Justice for Gaza convoy was able to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing on Saturday evening.

Adel Zurub, the information officer of the governmental anti-siege committee and the spokesman for the crossings and borders, said that the convoy which includes seven to nine medium-sized trucks loaded with medicines and medical equipment were allowed into the Palestinian Rafah city on its way to Gaza city, noting that the convoy includes 19 British activists.

According to Zurub, the Palestinian government and the Gaza people have welcomed the convoy and thanked them for the sacrifices the organizers have made along that lengthy journey with the aim to extend a helping hand to the besieged Palestinian people in that tiny coastal Strip.

It was reported that this British convoy succeeded in passing through the Rafah crossing after 60 US female peace activists from the organization of codepink women for peace had earlier managed to cross into Gaza to express their solidarity with the Palestinian women and demand the lifting of the Israeli siege on Gaza.

Spokesman for the codepink delegation Medea Benjamin told journalists that the aim of their visit is to draw the attention of the US administration of president Barack Obama to the need to lift the siege on Gaza and to launch a new peace process and aims to declare solidarity with the besieged Gaza people especially the Palestinian women on the occasion of the international women's day which is marked on the eighth of March.

Benjamin noted that the delegation comprises 60 European and American activists, doctors and international woman leaders carrying 2,000 gift baskets for the women in Gaza to honor and support their steadfastness against the Israeli occupation.

She added that the American women feel great sympathy for the Gaza women and demand Obama to allocate part of the budget to support health and education in the Strip instead of directing support for Israel and providing it with warplanes and bombs that kill children in Gaza.

The delegation includes the noted American novelist Alice Walker, a Pulitzer laureate, and the parents of slain US peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer during her attempt to prevent it from demolishing a Palestinian home in Rafah in 2003.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/...a+79KpjsYZJ+fleKM25BTDBMzcaSoHKEkArpqdfVV32U=

 

[sister herb]

:salam2:

 

[saima11]

:salam2:

the convey this evening has come under attack please pray for brother some are hurt www.presstv.ir

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,


Insha'Allah we will make dua for their protection.

 

[Hazem2]

Thanks for al brothers did thi & may allah reward them.

 

[saima11]

GROWN MEN CRYING...THE SIEGE IS BROKEN...

:ma: alhamdulillah convey is in gaza.

Viva Palestina Update
15.30 (GMT) Monday 9th March 2009

GROWN MEN CRYING...THE SIEGE IS BROKEN...
ON THE DAY THE PROPHET WAS BORN

And they entered side by side like heroes, some on foot some in their vehicles, tears, smiles, hugs, flowers. It was historic, it was legendary. Gaza we are here. We have fulfilled the promise - Viva Palestina! The lifeline from the people of Britain to you, the people of Gaza, has arrived.

We have broken the barriers, we have opened closed borders, we have defied the odds,we have overcome the challenges across thousands of miles and three continents. We are here to be with you, to embrace you, to share your tragedy with you.

After another morning of intense negotiations, a deal was reached to allow all of the members of the convoy to go through. In the end, Viva Palestina had to make the sacrifice of agreeing that some vehicles will have to cross the border from the Al Ouja Israeli controlled crossing point. This includes our mascot, the fire engine and the boat. This was due to the restrictions imposed by Egyptian law governing the Rafah Crossing.

A tearful Talat Ali told me that 'Rafah is the most beautiful crossing in the world', he also said that the time , effort and sacrifices put in by all the Viva Palestina family meant that history has been made today - on the day the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was born.

George Galloway made an emotional speech thanking the people of Gaza for the wonderful reception and assuring them that for Viva Palestina and in our millions, “WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS!” George also reiterated that the people of Palestine have voted and that their voice should be respected.

Today the convoy will head along the Salah Eddine road towards Gaza City witnessing along the way the destruction and death caused by the Israeli war machine. Along the way they will be greeted by the people of Gaza who will know that Viva Palestina is here and that they will NEVER BE ALONE.

Farid Arada

 

[sister herb]

:salam2:

Nice to get sometimes also good news from Gaza.

Palestinians watch the arrival of a British aid convoy at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip March 9, 2009. British politician George Galloway arrived in Gaza on Monday after crossing through Rafah along with a British convoy loaded with humanitarian supplies.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

A Hamas policeman welcomes a member of a British aid convoy upon their arrival at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip March 9, 2009. British politician George Galloway arrived in Gaza on Monday after crossing through Rafah along with a British convoy loaded with humanitarian supplies.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

British politician George Galloway (3rd R) and fellow members of a British aid convoy are welcomed by Palestinians and Hamas police upon their arrival at Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip March 9, 2009. Galloway arrived in Gaza on Monday after crossing through Rafah along with a British convoy loaded with humanitarian supplies.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa