Saturday, December 26, 2009
Awww...the big Hamas-Day parade is still stalled: Gaza Freedom Marchers face Egyptian u-turn
An unconfirmed report is that at at 8:30pm tonight, December 24, 2009, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said on Egyptian TV Channel 2, that neither the Gaza Freedom March nor persons accompanying the Viva Palestina convoy would be allowed to enter Gaza...
And still, today: Stranded in Aqaba
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. From Ireland, 10 volunteers in 2 ambulances, a van, and a truck loaded with Humanitarian Aid are part of this convoy. The convoy is organised by "Viva Palestina", a charity founded by George Galloway, MP.
The Egyptian Government have placed 3 conditions on the convoy if it wants to enter Egypt.
1. We hand all our vehicles and aid over to UNRA.
2. We drive 500 miles back to Syria, and take a 24 hour ferry through the Suez Canal.
3. We have to ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt to Gaza.
All 3 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...
It's all about them! Enjoy pictures of activist John Hurson as, you guessed it, Santa Claus, at the link.
[via: My Right Word]
Because they won't be getting into Gaza the good news is:
"In solidarity, we are all going to embark on a fast. We will all fast for as long as it takes for us to get into Gaza with our aid."
Unfortunately, they're only show ponies; so they'll be celebrating with a New Year's feast in Aqaba.
It will all be blamed on Israel. Bet on it.
BHG
Here is an opinion from my favourite Arab blogger:
http://bujassem.blogspot.com/2009/12/closed-zone-gaza.html
You may notice that there is not even a pretense in dealing with the Egyptian side of Gaza. I wonder how they explain this to themselves.