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Saturday 26.1.08: A countrywide relief convoy and Israeli demonstration in
solidarity on the Gaza border with a parallel Palestinian demonstration in the
Strip.
On Saturday, 26 January 2008, a humanitarian convoy of supplies headed by
peace and human rights organisations will go from Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem
and Beer Sheva to the Gaza Strip border, decked with signs “Lift the
Blockade!” The convoy will meet up at 12.00 noon at Yad Mordechai Junction and
all will then travel together to a hill which overlooks the Strip, where a
demonstration will take place at 13:00. Speakers will be Shulamit Aloni, Uri
Avnery, Ronit Matalon, Hassan Jabareen and Prof. Jeff Halper. There will be a
‘phone link between the Israeli demo and hundreds of Gazans on the Gaza side
in Gaza City at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, demonstrating as part of the
Palestinian-International Campaign to End the Siege,” one of whose spokesmen
is psychiatrist and human rights activist, Dr. Eyad Sarraj.
The convoy will contain sacks of flour, food supplies and other essential
products, especially water filters. Water supplies in Gaza are polluted, with
nitrates at a level ten times the maximum recommended by the World Health
Organisation. Due to the Israeli blockade, Gaza has a critical shortage of
water filters, creating an intolerable violation of minimum humanitarian
standards.
Organisers of the convoy will be appealing to the army for immediate
permission for the goods to be allowed into the Strip, and are prepared for an
ongoing campaign next to the border crossings, together with a public and
judicial appeal; nearby kibbutzim, which are within the range of the Qassam
rockets and mortars, have offered their warehouses for storage of the convoy’s
goods.
A simultaneous demonstration will be taking place in Rome, Italy. There will
also be demonstrations in various cities in America, at the initiative of San
Francisco-based Jewish Voice for Peace.
To travel as part of the event, you may go in one of the convoys (8.30 a.m.
departure from Reading Terminal in Tel Aviv, 8.45 a.m. from Teddy Stadium in
Jerusalem) or join the general convoy as it leaves at 12 noon from Yad
Mordechai Junction, or go individually to the demo, which will take place at
“Nevi Mari Lookout” near Kibbutz Maflasim (from Yad Mordechai Junction, go on
Road 34 and at Gavim Junction turn right onto Road 232, after about 6 kms,
immediately after Kibbutz Maflasim, turn right and go for a short distance to
the site). A map showing the site of the demonstration is available on the
website: http://toibillboard.info/26janmap.jpg.
For further details:
Adam Keller, Gush Shalom (0506-709603), Adi Dagan, Coalition of Women for
Peace (0508-575730), Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, ICAHD (0547-366393). Dr. Eyad
Sarraj (Gaza), End the Siege on Gaza campaign, (0599-408438), Marwan Diab
(Gaza), End the Siege on Gaza campaign, (0599-462037).
Participating organisations:
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.
Background:
Despite unilateral evacuation of 7,000 settlers, the Gaza Strip remains
Occupied Territory and the situation of its residents is increasingly
worsening. Israel continues to control its airspace, territorial waters,
population registry, tax system, supply of goods, freedom of movement and
access to healthcare. Entry and exit of people and goods is completely
controlled by Israel, and is currently under total closure, so that the Strip
has actually become the largest prison in the world.
We sympathize with Sderot’s residents and others living near the border,
exposed to traumatising Qassam rockets, but siege and collective punishment
are no answer: although 1.5 million men, women and children are denied basic
necessities, driven to the edge of starvation, Israel is increasing the daily
death-toll among Palestinians, many of them civilians – whilst the rocket fire
has increased. Few Israelis ask why several Palestinian ceasefire offers have
been rejected out of hand by the Israeli government. We’ll go to the Gaza
border, in co-operation with Palestinian partners inside Gaza, to show there’s
an alternative to siege and rocketfire – an alternative of peace. |
