Gaza convoy blocked by authorities

Over the Christmas holiday, Warwick students Fred Stevens-Smith and Nora DeVrede, from the Friends of Palestine society, travelled to Gaza with the Viva Palestina aid convoy. They reached Gaza on 6th January.

The humanitarian mission delivered aid to Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Students Marie-Sophie Pettersson and Katerina Elias-Trostmann, who were with Code Pink, a women’s peace organisation, flew to Cairo on Christmas Day to meet the aid convoy. Along with 1,400 international peace activists, they took part in a non-violent freedom march in Gaza, aimed at ending the siege.

In Egypt, the students were held up by security forces. Egypt is cooperating with the Israeli blockade, and building underground barriers to prevent tunnels being dug from Egypt to Gaza. The Egyptian government hindered the group’s progress, for example by refusing to allow groups of more than six to assemble and banning bus companies from taking the protesters to the border-crossing.

Code Pink’s candlelight vigil on the banks of the Nile and the peace camp set up outside the UN World Trade Centre were interrupted and broken up by police. Even under the guise of tourism, the protestors were unable to leave Cairo. However, Egyptian President Mubarak eventually allowed 100 out of 1,363 activists representing Code Pink to cross the Rafah border.

In Gaza, the students were sheltered by Hamas, who gave Petersson a tour of the devastasted areas. The Gaza freedom march, designed to commemorate last year’s war, in which 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, took place on New Year’s Day. As it had been organised by Hamas, it was boycotted by NGOs, which lessened its potential impact. Pettersson also visited a trauma centre, which illustrated for her the harmful psychological effect of conflict on Palestinian children. She and Elias-Trostmann decided to donate the money raised for the convoy to this centre.

In the northern Sinai city of El Arish, the Viva Palestina convoy was detained by the Egyptians after clashes with the authorities in which dozens were injured. After much negotiation, the convoy, compised of 156 vehicles, entered Palestine on 6th January, in what Warwick finalists Fred Stevens-Smith and Nora DeVrede described as “a major symbolic step towards breaking the siege”.

Reflecting on her experience, Marie-Sophie Pettersson spoke of the fundamental goodwill and generosity of the Palestinian people she encountered, saying that their opposition is to “the aggressive Zionist Israeli government, rather than the Israeli people, with whom they would like to live in peaceful co-existence”. She also observed, “what mattered most to the Palestinians we met was the solidarity and concern of the activists with the convoy, perhaps even more than the physical aid. They simply wish for an end to the blockade and a non-oppressive state. Our visit demonstrated both the brutal reality and normality of day-to-day life in Gaza…. Due to Israel actively suppressing Palestinian economic self-sufficiency the poverty rate there is also very high.”

Although forced to leave Gaza earlier than intended as Hamas believed an imminent Israeli attack was likely, the students left with a positive impression of their time in Gaza. Stevens-Smith stated that “Our overall feeling upon leaving Gaza was a sense of hope despite the daily hardship and individual tragedies the Palestinian people experience.”