Urgent: take action for Gaza
[Press TV] Egypt Bars Viva Palestina Convoy From Entering It’s Territory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_k3fv239aM
Gaza aid held up in Jordan – 26 Dec 09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etJ_A-kE4mI
2009 December 26
tags: britain, egypt, ireland, israel, media, usa
by joti2gaza
To all friends of the convoy and of Palestine,
Well folks, as you awake today from your Christmas hangover, over 500 people from 20 countries, in 250 vehicles loaded with humanitarian aid, are left stranded in Aqaba, Jordan, having been refused permission to enter Egypt.
The Egyptians have placed three conditions on the convoy if it wants to enter Egypt.
1. We hand all our vehicles and aid over to UNWRA.
2. We drive 500 miles abck to Syria, and take a 24-hour ferry through the Suez Canal. (Actually, we would have to hire five boats, since the port of Al Ariesh couldn’t handle a boat big enough for the convoy.)
3. We have to ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt to Gaza.
All three conditions have been flatly rejected by everyone on the convoy, as we want to cross into Gaza and hand our aid over to the Palestinians ourselves.
Would you phone Canada to ask permission to enter the US? Would you ask France for permission to go to Germany? For the first time, Egypt has now openly admitted that it is subject to control of Israel/US.
This has been the lead story on Al Jazeera for the past 24 hours, and there are media teams from all over the Arab world here in Aqaba following this story. Needless to say, everyone watching is totally outraged by Egypt’s complicity with Israel/US in denying this convoy of aid to reach Gaza.
Yesterday, Christmas Day, John Hurson from Tyrone dressed up as Santa to lighten the mood, and everyone’s sprirts lifted. Al Jazeera interviewed Santa, who explained that the children in Gaza were the only ones in the whole world who didn’t recieve any presents. Santa explained that while flying through the air on his sleigh with the reindeers, he was stopped and refused entry. Santa was upset as this was the only place in the world he could not visit.
Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the start of the 22-day massacre of over 1,400 people. In solidarity, many convoy members are all going to embark on a fast. We will fast for as long as it takes for us to get into Gaza with our aid.
We are calling on people all over the world to fast with us, and with the Palestinians, who fast every day due to the illegal siege imposed upon them by Israel/US/Egypt.
It’s time to take a stand and say “Enough Is Enough”. This siege has got to stop, for the sake of humanity.
We are calling on ALL friends of humanity to call the Egyptian Embassy and demand that we be allowed to enter Gaza and deliver our aid.
The contact details for the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin are: +353-1-6606718 / +353-1-6606566 /consular@embegyptireland.ie
The contact details for the Egyptian Embassy in London are: 0044-20-7499-3304 / eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg
Please contact them, and express your outrage at their refusal to allow Humanitarian Aid into Gaza, and to let them know that you will never travel to Egypt again, as long as they are the lap dogs for Israel/US.
Please forward this message on to everyone you know, and ask them to do the same. Plus, please leave a message of support for everyone who is stranded here in Aqaba, and for the Palestinians who need our support now, more than ever.
joti2gaza.org
Updates on Twitter
Joti 2 Gaza Facebook group
Example letter to the Egyptian consulate in London
Lots more info and ideas on Reading PSC website
Ireland to Gaza Facebook group
Example Letter to: eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg
To whom it may concern,
As you are no doubt aware, approximately 450 volunteers from Britain, Turkey and the US are currently stranded in Aqaba, having been refused entry into Egypt. The Egyptian government has stated that it will not allow the Viva Palestina convoy to deliver its aid to Gaza unless permission is granted by the state of Israel.
I appeal to you to apply pressure to your government to allow the convoy through. The people of Gaza are in desperate need of aid, having been under siege for over a year. It is clear that Israel – which is perpetrating this siege, and which almost exactly one year ago launched its genocidal bombing campaign against the men, women and children of Gaza – will not give its permission for aid to be delivered. Meanwhile, Egypt is an independent republic, in control of its own borders, with a population that deeply supports the Palestinian cause. Why should Egypt wait for Israel’s permission in order to allow aid to be delivered through Rafah?
It is Christmas – the time when billions across the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a Palestinian Jew born in Bethlehem. Let us celebrate Christmas this year by doing our very best to bring peace and justice to the land of Jesus’s birth: Palestine. The world is watching.
Yours sincerely,
Dying children in Gaza
