Viva Palestina's message of hope for Gaza

Inspired by the aid for Spain movement during the Spanish Civil War, George Galloway announced the idea for the first convoy at the biggest of all the demos, of at least 100,000 people, in front of the Israeli embassy on 10 January 2009.

The first convoy was organised in only 5 weeks, leaving London on 14 February, and its success inspired an American convoy in the summer, leaving New York for Egypt on 4 July.

The 3rd convoy, which I participated in, had contingents from 17 countries. It left London on 6 December, crossed Europe, and joined up in Turkey with a large contingent from the very impressive IHH charity.

The reception and hospitality the convoy got in Turkey and the Arab world was phenomenal and indicated a deep solidarity with the Palestinian cause and an appreciation of what we were doing for Gaza which humbled us.

However, when we arrived in Aqaba in Jordan on December 24, Christmas Eve, the Egyptian government did not allow us to board the ferry to Egypt, which was only 4 hours away by sea with Gaza a further 8 hours by land.

Delays

This was the start of a series of delays which eventually made us 10 days late getting into Gaza. We had planned to arrive on 27 December, the 1st anniversary of Israel's war.

We made a stand at Aqaba over Christmas, refusing to give up on our mission to Gaza, and were the first story on Al Jazeera night after night.

This isolated the Egyptian state which was also beating up activists in Cairo who it was preventing from going to the planned Gaza Freedom March. Egypt has been complicit in the siege of Gaza for years but these actions brought this reality to the attention of many who had not previously been so aware of this.

As the IHH had been founded by the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, Turkish diplomacy was also deployed on our side, and eventually a deal was signed with the Egyptians.

Under it we left Aqaba, went back to northern Syria to the port of Latakia, and sent our vehicles by chartered ferry to the port of El Arish just 40km from Gaza, and chartered a plane to take convoy members to El Arish airport, all of which was a considerable organisational feat.

However the emergency appeal we put out more than covered the extra costs and led to more not less aid getting into Gaza, despite Egyptian claims to the contrary.

I was on the first of 4 flights to get into El Arish; when we landed the Egyptians stamped our passports for exit as well as entry, wanting us to leave for Gaza without the rest of the convoy, but were forced to cancel the exit stamp and let us stay the night in hotels after a protest at the airport.

Once we were all reunited with our vehicles at El Arish port we were hoping for a smooth journey into Gaza but it was not yet to be.

Vehicles blocked

The Egyptian authorities refused to allow almost 60 vehicles into Gaza, including all the American vehicles from the summer convoy which had been blocked that time and taken 6 months to liberate from Egyptian bureaucracy.

Our negotiators said their proposal that they go through Israel was unacceptable, at which point they walked out of negotiations and called the riot police, behind whom the secret police formed up and, after a tense standoff, began throwing pre-prepared rocks at convoy members in an attempt to provoke a riot.

In the following fighting, where the police and the plainclothes used sticks, stones, teargas and water cannon against us, 55 convoy members were injured, 10 had to go to hospital and 6 were arrested and held overnight.

Worst of all Palestinians who had gathered at the border to welcome us were shot at when they protested at the continued delay to our arrival.

These events seemed clearly premeditated by the Egyptian dictatorship to discredit the convoy, but it is the tinpot President Mubarak who has been discredited by his recent attacks on those in solidarity with Palestine.

The next day we were finally allowed into Gaza, with the prisoners of the night before returned to us and a better deal on the vehicles not allowed in, which would now be taken by the IHH to refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon.

Heroes' welcome

Once in Gaza we were treated like heroes, an accolade we consistently argued against, as it was the people of Gaza themselves who were the heroes - remaining strong amid all the suffering unleashed upon them.

We were honoured at 2 rallies, including one at the Palestinian Legislative Council which has been bombed in parts to rubble. Some other students and I met some students at the University College of Applied Science, one of whom had had to change his engineering degree after losing his sight.

After over a month on the road for those who had been with the convoy from the start, we only had a day and a half in Gaza itself. Our return was one of the most stressful parts of the whole trip, as on returning to Egypt we were treated almost as criminals by the regime.

George Galloway, who left Gaza early, was deported, and banned from re-entry to Egypt.

We were taken by police escort to Cairo Airport, where we were put in one room with police lines separating us from the rest of the complex. There was one desk dealing with everyone's issues, with those who had flights a few days later being encouraged to leave early, at their own expense of course.

As my flight was at 8:50 that morning I very nearly missed it. After I had left there was an attempt to arrest some convoy members which was beaten back by another protest. Egypt has since announced a ban on further land convoys to Gaza, further showing their complicity with the siege.

Despite all the inconveniences and hardships we faced, mainly at the hands of the Egyptian dictatorship, the convoy was an incredibly worthwhile thing to do, getting in its aid and message of hope to the people despite all obstacles put in its path, and raising the issue of the siege around the world.

Viva Palestina will never give up on the people of Gaza and is now planning a sea convoy which will go in the spring: actions such as this will continue until the siege is lifted and the struggle will go on until Palestine is free.