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Viva Palestina - mission accomplished, more to come

The convoy members have now left Gaza, but 20 have stayed to assess needs for future missions. They have held meetings with the families of people in Israeli prisons among other things.

From the Viva Palestina website
A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED... FOR NOW

Many were in tears, some of them inconsolable at having to leave their new-found family. Today, a large number of the convoy members and the activists who joined them in Gaza made their way to the infamous Rafah crossing to leave Palestine and head home.

George Galloway, who met with Prime minister Ismael Hania last night, was due to leave today too. It was a warm meeting where the PM thanked Viva Palestina for breaking the siege and, by doing so, gave a moral boost to the people of Gaza and hope to every Palestinian child. On leaving, George described the destruction as 'unbelievable' and a siege of 'medieval' proportions.

Prime Minister Hania handed George his personal Prime Minister's passport as a symbolic gesture of gratitude and appreciation for his stance with the Palestinian people. Other gifts and souvenirs were handed to members of Viva Palestina.

A proposal from Viva Palestina Manchester is being considered by the Gaza officials to twin Cheetham Hill with Rafah, as a symbolic gesture and a show of unity. Cheetham Hill was the departure point for the Manchester contingent and where the Palestine Solidarity Campaign was started in the city many years ago.

About twenty stayed behind today to tour the area and to meet with various bodies and officials - in order to assess and evaluate the urgent needs of the Gaza population.

Talat Ali, the only convoy leader who decided to stay behind, visited an orphanage housing between 100 to 150 orphans. They listened to harrowing accounts of the slaughter that took away the lives of their loved ones.

Some children are so traumatised after spending days and nights under the rubble of their demolished homes, with the bodies of their parents, that they cannot speak.

Then, the Viva Palestina members visited an area where tents were erected to house the destitute who lost their homes after the bombings. Each tent has a capacity of between 10-15 people. In These extreme weather conditions, whole families sleep on hard ground, struggling to keep themselves warm in the freezing nights.

Last night, F16s bombed Gaza again making martyrs of eight souls. An activist told me that one of the bombs exploded only 200 yards from where they were sleeping. She said ' I went back to sleep '.

That is the measure of Viva Palestina and the measure of the people of Gaza, who daily say to Israel, “Your bombs do not scare us and they will NEVER defeat us!”

Prepared and translated by Farid Arada


Medical Aid convoy led by Scottish Member of the Scottish Parliament Pauline McNeil should be in Gaza in the next few weeks but as we reported last week the Israelis are obstructing its supply of medical aid, forcing consignments to be routed through Tel Aviv.
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