Gaza Freedom Movement Remains Determined Despite Challenges

The convoy is trying to break the siege of Gaza that Israel, with the help of Egypt, has held fast since 2007.

Viva Palestina Convoy http:ihh.org

(CAIRO/SALEM) - The Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza left London on December 6th and its tireless group of activists have received serious challenges on this journey, at every bend in the road.

Their goal is the delivery of vehicles, food and medicine to the people of Gaza who were decimated during Israel's several week long attack one year ago, that targeted schools, hospitals and thousands of people's homes.

Israel used white phosphorous to burn through the roofs of homes and start fires. More than 1,400 people died while thousands received serious injuries.

The two countries refuse to allow any realistic amount of food or aid into Gaza and Israel totally refuses to allow construction material to enter the badly deconstructed city.

Many Israelis are open about their desire to see every man, woman and child in Gaza killed. In a recent Salem-News.com story, a video shows Israelis saying in regard to the people of Gaza:

"Nothing good is going to come out of it unless they keep fighting all the way with it and wipe them out"

"There is only one way to deal with a cancer, you burn it out or you remove it"

"I think they should just clear off all the city, just take if off the ground"^[2].

Other Israelis conversely, are more interested in an open dialog. They want the colonializing "settlers" to be pulled from Palestinian land, and they represent a growing percentage who want real peace.

Convoy of Gaza Freedom Movement Map

Then there are growing numbers of Israeli military defectors who refuse mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Forces^[3].

The chief reason they cite, according to previous articles, is the brutal occupation of Palestine.

What is important to remember is that virtually all of the land that Israel now occupies belonged to the Palestinian people at the close of WWII.

Instead of moving in and building their own homes and cities, the Jewish settlers, along with help from the UK mostly, simply killed or drove the people from their land and homes^[4].

Over the years the procurement of Palestinian land continued, and then they took the majority of the land after the Six Day War with Egypt.

As Egypt willingly works for Israel, we recall that it was Egypt that led the Jihad against Israel for years. Now, the land of the Sphinx is in the pocket of its former enemy.

In fact, Egyptian Police initially blocked the GFM at their border.

Their troubles have been consistent. They were also held at the Jordanian port of Aqaba. Time has drug on and the convoy, which is made up of more than 200+ vehicles, really had planned to reach Rafah on December 27th.

The update from Derry’s Gaza Five about Israeli Naval maneuvers on the Convoy ship’s route has lit up the Twittersphere.

Viva Palestina Convoy

At 8:12 a.m. Cairo time, the ship carrying the convoy vehicles was still delayed, and it is reported that weather seems to be the primary cause for any delay.

The Derry to Gaza Team reported, "The boats were loaded with aid today and ready to leave for Al Arish; the plan was that we would meet them there, as we would fly to Al Arish and arrive before the boats."

"However, the update is that the Israelis have just announced that they will be performing military operations in these waters and therefore the aid has no way of passing through these waters."

Israel's Naval military operations in the area have yet to be confirmed, but we do know the Jewish state has consistently gone to great effort to prevent aid from entering Gaza, particularly after its attack on Gaza one year ago that left over 1,400 Gazans dead and 4,000 homes destroyed.

It is noteworthy that this international effort between Israel, Egypt and probably the U.S.A. also to keep the hunger and poverty-stricken people of Gaza from receiving aid, has absolutely no military (or moral) merit; the Free Gaza Movement is 100% peaceful and is no threat whatsoever.

Press TV report on the Gaza Freedom Movement

The only purpose of the outrageously expensive effort is to provide food and vehicles and medicine to Gaza.

This is what Israel is working very hard to prevent.

This group of well over a thousand concerned people has had to put up with one obstacle after another.

We reported yesterday that Hedy Epstein, the 85-year old Holocaust survivor & peace activist for Palestine working with the Free Gaza Movement, likely would have been trampled and injured by Egyptian police yesterday if members of American Veterans for Peace had not come to her aid^[5] .

Exactly why Egypt is turning its back on the people of Gaza is unknown.

The humanitarian activists with the Gaza Freedom Movement are trying to accomplish a generous feat, the world should be cooperative, such as we sometimes are when natural disasters strike.

But instead, we're reminded that the idea of Western countries caring for the well-being of people who fail to fit the proper political or religious affiliation, is a big waste of time^[6].

The Real Images of Gaza, music: Michael Heart & Yusuf Islam

As the U.S. media mainly ignores the efforts of these dedicated people from all over the world, they press on and are receiving more coverage than ever, through Internet channels.

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^[1] The Real Images of Gaza (VIDEO) - Tim King Salem-News.com

^[2] Remembering the Tragedy of Gaza - Tim King Salem-News.com

^[3] Israeli Women Serving Prison Time for Refusal to Join IDF - Tim King Salem-News.com

^[4] The World Should Stop Israel's Killing Machine (VIDEO) - Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.com

^[5] Hedy Epstein Begins Hunger Strike to Open Gaza Borders - Salem-News.com

^[6] The Palestinian Counter-Holocaust - By Daniel Johnson Salem-News.com

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com