SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty break the siege of Gaza

by TD - FPC Sun Aug 24, 2008 16:41

3

by Mary Kelly Sun Aug 24, 2008 19:45

Well done to all involved in helping these determined people to bring medical aid, and the unquenchable spirit of solidarity and resistance by boat to Gaza.

by jenny Sun Aug 24, 2008 20:27

heroic people of the world, doing what governments dont do.

ballina man, derek graham, on board, ss free gaza.

by Alan Lonergan Sun Aug 24, 2008 22:06

We are all so proud. Well done

by Ciaron - Catholic Worker/Ploughshares Mon Aug 25, 2008 07:10

Good to hear they landed safely.

Dear friend, and founding member of the Plowshares movement ,Sr. Anne Montgomery 81
http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=passengers&id=...fset=
was on board. Getting reports over the last daze of the electronic jamming the boats basics was disturbing.

Sr. Anne is one of the surviving members of the Plowshares 8 (Elmer Maas and
Phil Berrigan have since passed) http://www.plowsharesactions.org/webpages/plow8.htm
Anne taught for 30 years including elite U.S. Catholic schools and more inventive education programs with the poor
in Harlem. Anne has served federal prison time for multiple plowshares actions and other forms of nonviolent
resistance to war preparations and war making. Over the past decade she has
lived and worked as a witness for peace in Hebron.

From memory, Anne's father was an Admiral in the U.S. Navy so maybe she picked up some helpful seagoing tips
in her youth! I remember having chats with her about growing up in San Diego before it was the huge metropolis and
hi tech Naval base that it is today.

by TD - FPC Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:35

Two days after the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty arrived to a jubilant welcome in Gaza, accompanied by six Palestinian fishermen’s boats, 20 to 25 of the human rights watchers went 8-miles off the coast of Gaza on SS Free Gaza in a show of support for their struggle to keep their industry productive, this morning they were circled by three Israeli Dabur naval vessels. No shots were fired. The fishing boats are continuing to exercise their right, but the SS Free Gaza turned round at 10.15 AM (the emails I've been receiving give no reason for this).

The Oslo Accords allow Palestinian Gazans a 20-mile limit off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Currently the Navy is enforcing a 6 mile limit, so the Free Gaza Movement has broken that naval blockade, too.
According to a recent article in The Guardian, "in the 1990s, the Gazan fishing industry produced an annual income of around £5m. That had halved by 2007 and is still shrinking fast. Under the Oslo accords, which in 1993 were supposed to herald the coming of an independent Palestinian state, Gazan fishermen were to be allowed 20 nautical miles out to sea, where they could catch sardine as they migrated from the Nile delta up towards Turkey during the spring.But Israeli naval ships in recent years have imposed their own, much-reduced limits, sometimes fewer than 6 miles out."

"What gives Israel the right to take away the livelihood of these fishermen, and why does the world allow them to destroy an industry that used to provide for thousands of Palestinians?" Said Greta Berlin, one of the five organizers of The Free Gaza Movement. "We intend to challenge that right, backed up by warships and machine guns, just as we challenged Israel's right to prevent us from coming here on Saturday."

The Free Gaza Movement feels that, since they sailed to Gaza with no interference from the Israeli military, they have established a precedent to press for the human rights of Palestinians, who want nothing more than to be free to make a living, go to school, and receive medical treatment.

Sr. Anne Mongomery commemorating 14 Gazan fishermen killed since 2004

In memory of the 14 fishermen and 34 USS Liberty sailors killed by the Israelis in 1967

by Sandra K - Free Palestine Campaign (UK) Mon Aug 25, 2008 13:17

“Nothing that any of us will ever do again in our lives will live up to what we saw yesterday” (Greta Berlin, Media Team, Free Gaza Movement)

Heroes & Heroines

by Con Carroll Mon Aug 25, 2008 15:01

congratulations to one and all.
solidarity speaks louder than words
the elected members of European parliment who remained silent. dancing to Americas tunes should be ashamed of themselves

by Con Carroll Mon Aug 25, 2008 15:23

nice one to all.
standing in solidarity. speaks louder than words

those elected members in the European parliment. who dance to America political tune
instead of speaking out should be ashamed of themselves

by jenny Mon Aug 25, 2008 18:16

taken just before leaving port in larnaca.

showing irish solidarity

by TD - Free Palestine Campaign Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:52

al-Jazeera's; Inside story, has two excellent pieces (one a hot debate) on the breaking of the siege of Gaza.

Tim McGirk writes humorously; High Seas Hijinx near Gaza, on a Spinal Tap effort to rendezvous with the siege-breaking boats on the sea

Caption: Video Id: aUPA0z2zRHQ Type: Youtube Video
Embedded video Youtube Video

Caption: Video Id: C-DGBHPMe5c&feature= Type: Youtube Video
Embedded video Youtube Video

by TD - FPC Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:00

Forgot to give the link to the Tim McGirk article.

by TD - FPC Tue Aug 26, 2008 14:20

For whatever reason, the Related Link didn't display the necessary the last two postings?. http://time-blog.com/middle_east/2008/08/high_seas_hijinx_near_gaza.html

by Fred Johnston Tue Aug 26, 2008 17:40

Israeli spokesman Dr Ranaan Gissen acts like a character from 'The Sopranos,' a Jersey mobster shouting 'If they want war, they're gonna get war.' Is this the sort of political face the Israelis put forward to the Palestinians? Not politics but a sort of hysterical gangsterism? The boat people were terrific. Gissen has no response for them but tired clichés shouted abusively.

by Michael Ryan Tue Aug 26, 2008 17:43

In the photograph, Palestinian artist, Laila Shaheen, presents Jeff Halper, coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and participant in the breaking of the Gaza lock down with a copy of Carlos Latuff's cartoon.

by eva ,damian - gaza Tue Aug 26, 2008 20:59

standing in solidarity.we are so proud .derek and all
eva damian

by gaza - gaza Tue Aug 26, 2008 21:08

well done everyone.nobody can forget what you have done .we are so proud of you.eva and family

by gaza - gaza Tue Aug 26, 2008 21:12

we dont know you but we know eva and damian and they are so proud of you derek.please get back safe .fitzpatricks dungannon

by eva ,damian - gaza Tue Aug 26, 2008 21:17

eva damian
well done you brave people.derek

by avi15 Thu Aug 28, 2008 12:13

They broke nothing, as the Israeli navy deliberately let them in. That's why the publicity value of the whole thing is almost zero.

by Tom Thu Aug 28, 2008 14:11

Avi,

The objective was to deliver the aid to the hungry people who have very restricted phyiscal access to the outside world.

by Fred Johnston Thu Aug 28, 2008 14:52

The Israelis, it is true, are much better at breaking things, such as agreements on settlements, Palestinian homes and heads, peace accords, UN resolutions . . . their breakage list is endless. But Avi is not alone in his wretched moral blindness about this.

by jenny Thu Aug 28, 2008 16:49

The 2 boats, freegaza and liberty have left gaza and are on the return journey to cyprus.9 volunteers have stayed behind .7 palestinians are on board. The free gaza movement will return shortly to gaza.

safe journey!!!

by jenny Fri Aug 29, 2008 20:43

the boats, free gaza and liberty have arrived safely back in larnaca, with for the frist time, palestinians on board.

by Gaza Hope Fri Aug 29, 2008 20:43

" The objective was to deliver the aid to the hungry people who have very restricted phyiscal access to the outside world. "

You are not correct in saying that, Tom.

The aid brought in was purely symbolic, hearing aids and balloons, some medicine. Stuff of little material value to the general populaiton.
It was the procedure that they went through that bears the real signficance. The boats were checked by the Cypriot Authorities and the boats were checked in Gaza. When they left to go back they were cleared by Palestinian officials to leave they will be checked in Cyprus. Israel continues to claim that by not stopping the boats they take the wind out of their sails, turning their media firecracker into a damp squib, so to speak. But nothing could be further from the truth.If Israel continues to observe it's legal responsibilities and not interfere or impede with international sea-faring traffic then the Gazans have just been theoretically liberated. All it takes now is for a rich Arab state(s) or company(s) or individual(s) to observe their Muslim responsibilitiy to aid their Islamic brothers by building a passenger terminal in Gaza and start to send ferries from their own countries to Gaza. That means the Gazans can live free lives but it means so much more than that also. Theoretically, it also means that Gaza can become a thriving tourist destination to which we can all go and enjoy Sun,beaches and Arab Culture (possibly not a beer for the time being, however). Gaza could become rich very quickly. And completely unattackable from Israel's POV.

What you will have then is the population of the West Bank demanding of a powerless Fatah that they be allowed to go to Gaza to enjoy the freedom of their Gazan brothers. They will either have to deliver the land link to Gaza that the Palestinians are entitled to or they will face certain annihalation. Either in the polling booths or on the streets.

If Israel does not stop the precedent which they claim is not being set, but which most certainly is, they are quite possibly looking at the begining of the end. The end of the war on Hamas (the siege) and the end of their annexation of the West bank via their complicit Fatah Cronies.This is an extraordinary problem not only for Israel but ultimately for the US who has failed to deal with Hizbullah and is now facing a jubliant Hamas victory in Gaza.

These two tiny boats are potentially the Pandora's Box that Israel and the US have always feared would wreck their plans in Palestine for good.

by MichaelY - IPSC Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:40

FREE GAZA MOVEMENT announces the arrival at 20:30 (10:00 PDT), Friday 29 August, 2008 of the FREE GAZA and LIBERTY vessels, in Larnaca Harbour, returning from Gaza, and a successful end to this first of such missions.

For more information, please contact:

Cyprus: Greta Berlin: +357-9908 1767 - iristulip@gmail.com
Cyprus: Osama Qashoo: +357-9779 3595 - osamaqashoo@gmail.com

Jerusalem: Angela Godfrey-Goldstein: +972-547366393 angela@icahd.org
Website: www.freegaza.org

The historic return voyage represents the first time ever that Palestinians have been able freely to enter and leave their country. The Free Gaza Movement will mark this historic moment with a reception at Larnaca Harbour, as will Palestinians in Gaza, as both boats return safely from Gazan and international waters after a calm and uneventful crossing.

Organiser Paul Larudee: "This endeavour has been a huge success, far more significant and wide-reaching than anyone ever dreamt it could be. It has had obvious beneficial effects on the Palestinian people, but also on Israel. In fairness, credit must go where credit is due -- despite threats or obstacles, a responsible decision was made by Israeli authorities not to interfere with our mission and this is a model for the future."

As reported by the world press, news has travelled worldwide of the Free Gaza Movement. Supportive messages have come in, including from UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the OPT, Richard Falk, who wrote:

"The landing of two wooden boats carrying 46 human rights activists in Gaza is an important symbolic victory. This non-violent initiative of the Free Gaza Movement focused attention around the world on the stark reality that the 1.5 million residents of Gaza have endured a punitive siege for more than a year. This siege is a form of collective punishment that constitutes a massive violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The siege, the coastal blockade, and overflights by Israeli aircraft all bear witness to the fact that despite Israel's claimed 'disengagement' in 2005, these realities on the ground establish that Gaza remains under Israeli occupation, and as a result Israel remains legally responsible for protecting the human rights of its civilian population. By severely restricting the entry of food, fuel, and medicine the economic and social rights of the people of Gaza have been systematically violated. There is widespread deafness among the people of Gaza that is blamed on the frequent sonic booms produced by over-flying Israeli military aircraft. For this reason the peace boats brought 200 hearing aids to Gaza."

Mr. Falk strongly urged the international community to take action to uphold human rights in the Gaza Strip. "Above all, what is being tested is whether the imaginative engagement of dedicated private citizens can influence the struggle of a beleaguered people for basic human rights, and whether their courage and commitment can awaken the conscience of humanity to an unfolding tragedy."

Or, in the words of Palestinian voyager, Musheir El-Farra, originally born and raised in Khan Younis in Gaza but currently living in Sheffield, UK: "For the first time in my life, I went to Gaza without being humiliated, without having to ask Israel for permission. We did it. We finally did it. And now others must join us and do it as well."

www.freegaza.org

www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

Well done to all of you

by Jacqueline Fallon Sun Aug 31, 2008 14:24

Well done to the valiant crew of SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty on their humanitarian mission to bring aid to the besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip - it is great to hear some good news and a flicker of hope for future free movement.

Perhaps, hearing aids/tests could also be supplied/arranged for the Israeli Government, the leaders of member countries of the EU, the USA and others around the globe that have failed so far to hear the cries of the Palestinian people imprisoned in the Gaza Strip.

I hope some day Israel will open its heart and mind and alleviate the incredible suffering of its fellow human beings imprisoned and trying to survive in dire conditions in the Gaza Strip. No nation is worth respecting nor can any good come from any such nation that denies the most basic of human rights to fellow human beings, fundamental rights those lucky enough to be living in democratic societies take for granted, i.e. freedom of movement, food supplies and fuel.

Well done to all on this successful humanitarian voyage to the Gaza Strip!

Comhghairdeas daoibh go léir! Congratulations to you all!

by Reporter12 Mon Sep 01, 2008 09:46

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The Gaza activist, unarmed and defenseless are being fired upon by the attack ships of Israel. Peace activists in Gaza waters with the Gazan fishermen are currently under attack, probably as we speak. In there last transmission the weapons could be heard in the background.

" The international peace activists on board are George from Greece, Donna and Darlene (USA), Adam from Denmark, Andrew from Scotland and Vik from Italy. Inform your embassies, more news follow. '

http://www.freegaza.org/

by JayCeeme Wed Sep 03, 2008 15:16

According to Reuters Batty Booth is stuck in Gaza. Egypt would not let Booth through its Rafah terminal with Gaza on Saturday so she was turned away along with two other activists, Booth said. "We were all turned back by the Egyptians."

The Israelis wouldn't let her in either - what fun!! Perhaps she will have to spend the rest of her life living under the Hamas that she likes so much. I do hope so!

by Mitch - None Wed Sep 03, 2008 16:52

I have read the interesting comments but am confused about some of the claims regarding sonic booms. This was the first that I have heard that they can cause miscarriages and deafness, and tried researching the medical background for such advice. I cannot find anything, other than in articles about Gaza, and quoting the residents. Can anyone find anything medically reputable and reliable that confirms a link? or even the vague possibility, because at the moment, there is nothing available from any other source. It is important to get our facts straight, and we undermine our arguments if we just quote supposition.
Perhaps someone on the ground there now can get some video and sound of the booms, as well, just to show that they are going on.

by joywol Thu Sep 04, 2008 00:10

How ludicrous to suggest two boats with a crew of publicty seeking nobodies allowed to sail peacefully into Gaza was "breaking the siege" or a fictitious blockade.
What siege?
With daily convoys of supplies going in to Gaza from Israel and with Fatah members injured and threatened by Hamas attack allowed into Israel for medical care and protection, just what siege have these people broken. Certainly not the one between Gaza and Egypt which firmly resists giving any assistance or a haven to their Palestinian brethren.
As for medical evidence that sonic booms etc cause deafness or miscarriges, of course you can't find any because there isn't any, and in any event there is absolutely no evidence of sonic booms over Gaza and this has never even been mentioned before.
Maybe the deafness could be caused by home made bombs being made in people's homes and transported in cars on the way to their deadly mission going off prematurely, killing and wounding their own families and othe civilians.
This mission has done absolutely nothing for the Palestinians and the cargo of balloons was a clear disappointment when humanitarian aid and medical supplies had been anticipated

by Sean Og Thu Sep 04, 2008 09:17

It will be interesting to see how much weight LAUREN BOOTH loses while in Gaza .

This self seeking publicist rarely does anything which is not to benefit what she thinks is her

own "career " .

Her other causes get left by the wayside in other to further her "celebrity "

status .

Any serious cause could well do without her .

by Reporter12 Thu Sep 04, 2008 17:53

" I cannot find anything, other than in articles about Gaza, and quoting the residents. Can anyone find anything medically reputable and reliable that confirms a link? "

Maybe that should tell you something in itself if you are really interested in knowing whats going on. Nowhere else are Sonic Booms used as a terror weapon other than by Israel on the Palestinians. The fact that they cause terror is undisputed. When on one occasion an Israeli terrorists let off a sonic boom that was heard a couple of hundred kms away in Israel it caused widespread panic.
Maariv newspaper described it as sounding "like a heavy bombardment. The noise that shook the Israeli skies was frightening. Thousands of citizens leapt in panic from their beds, and many of them placed worried calls to the police and the fire department. The Tel Aviv and central district police switchboards crashed." The military apologised for frightening the Israelis.

Imagine what it sounded like to the Gazans right below it. The terror tactic was depolyed more often at night , one an hour, to continually wake the people and cause psychiatric destress.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency said a majority of the patients seen at its clinics as a result of the sonic booms were under 16 and suffering from symptoms such as anxiety attacks, bedwetting, muscle spasms, temporary loss of hearing and breathing difficulties.The number of miscarriages had increased by 40%, according to Jumaa Saqqa, a surgeon and hospital spokesman. "There were no other symptoms and the rise happened after the sonic booms. We can see no other explanation. The number of patients admitted to the cardiac care unit doubled. Some of them proved to have suffered serious harm."
Dr Saqqa said one overflight occurred while he was operating. The Palestinian health ministry estimates the sonic booms have caused at least 20 miscarriages.

One thing that is known to cause miscarriages is shock and terror. The fact that the sonic booms cause terror is not in question , the fact that terror causes miscarriages is not disputed. Put the two together.
It is interesting to note that the use of sonic booms as a weapon of terror came into practice in Gaza shortly after the evacuation of the Colonists. They wouldnt dream of subjecting the Israelis to terror, deafness and the danger of miscarriage.

The UN's Middle East envoy, Alvaro de Soto, wrote to the Israeli high command saying he was "deeply concerned at the impact on children, particularly infants, of the use of sonic booms".

by Eli Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:50

Do you have any link or proof other then 'it was reported in Ma'ariv"? Cause I live in Tel Aviv and I don't remember anything of that sort.

by Mark C Fri Sep 05, 2008 16:06

Palestinians 'terrorised' by sonic boom flights
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/pal....html

Sonic boom attacks spread trauma across Gaza
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/sonic-boom-attacks-spr....html

Demons in the skies of the Gaza Strip
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/641839.html

Dare To Compare - Israel
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18455.htm

by Mitch Fri Sep 05, 2008 17:41

I am still looking for something medical. Thanks for trying to help Reporter 12 and Mark Conroy, but what you have provided is not scientific. That's what I am looking for and the only articles that I have found regarding miscarriage all conclude that stress and shock will absolutely not cause a miscarriage. I am afraid that there is still nothing that I can find that shows any medical bases for the miscarriage and deafness statements. I am fearful that we are going to be left with the blood libel fiasco of the poisoned wells claim again, unless there is something medically provable behind this. That was uncomfortably embarassing, and I ended up looking like a medieval racist to some contacts, so I want to be scientifically correct on this one. Unfortunately, we cannot just quote residents as undisputed medical evidence. Dr Saqqa's linkage is just too vague to quote to an "independent". Has anybody else got anything from a study or textbook?

Again, is there anyway for someone on the ground there to at least get some video and sound of the booms, to show that they are going on?

by Reporter12 Mon Sep 08, 2008 13:03

I'm not sure what you are looking for here. Do you want to see a study conducted under laboratory conditions whereby pregnant women are subjected to a regime of incarceration , occupation punctuated with regular overflights of Supersonic Jets causing deafening sonic booms and the incidence of miscarriage among those women then compared to the same amount of pregnant women who have lunch and go shopping on a regular basis in Dun Laoghaire ? I'm not sure if such a study exists.
It's unfortunate that previous expereiences have proved uncomfortably embarassing, and that you ended up looking like a medieval racist to some contacts in previous conversations on the subject of the Occupation of Palestine. Perhaps you should stay out of such situations and speak with people about issues such as global warming or such like instead.

But back in the real world, the sonic boom strategy against the Gazans was conducted in order to cause terror and psychological trauma among the civilians. Such mass torture acts are crimes of war. Israel was forced to stop conducting the torture under international and Huma Rights pressure.

Heres a quick interwiew with Palestinian Journalist Laila el Haddad describing the situation on the ground in detail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEkbTzscBUg

by Reporter12 Tue Sep 09, 2008 09:41

the Free Gaza Movement anounces it's next step in it's campaign to permanently liberate the Palestinians of Gaza. They are returning on 22nd of this month to Gaza and bringing with them the Post.
Currently the postal service to Gaza must pass through Israel where the Facists will tamper and hinder in whatever way they can. Free Gaza invites us all to write to the Gazans and strike up relationships with the people currently imprisoned there.

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id...fset=

" LETTERS FROM THE WORLD PROGRAM
If you do not know anyone in Gaza, but would like to get to know someone, we want to help you try and find a pen pal. This program is available to people of all ages and from all places in the world. We would especially like to encourage schools to participate in the Letters from the World Program. "

It will be hard for the Israelis to pretend that a few letters are a threat to its security, but of course they will try to use some excuse to stop the process of liberation.
Also from the Free Gaza website is some footage of the Israeli rabble firing heavy machine guns on the unarmed and peaceful Gaza fishermen accompanied on this occasion by the Free Gaza Internationals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTUYivihoTE

by CeeJayme Tue Sep 09, 2008 13:37

Permanently liberate - will somebody explain to me how people in Gaza are occupied? Occupied and imprisoned by whom? There is not one single Israeli there so liberate who from what?

The Egyptian border apparently does not exist, there is no money for food (in spite of having millions of pounds shoveled into the corrupt black hole of the PA) and yet there is plenty of funding for rockets and arms.

Taking about sonic booms being a terrible weapon without a shred of scientific evidence is simply not acceptable. There are places all over the world including the UK where planes create sonic booms quite regularly which has not caused miscarriages or deafness in the local population or amongst domestic animals.

In any case how can sonic booms be compared in any way to targeting the civilian population in Israel with lethal rockets. This argument sound like a load of blockades to me.

by Vincent Tue Sep 09, 2008 16:50

CeeJay

Look at the Youtube clip posted just above your post and explain who are the soldiers firing on the unarmed fishing boat ? Explain, if you will, what they are trying to acvhieve. Identify where they are when they take it upon themselves to open fire on fishermen over whom they have no jurisdiciton.

Please, look at the clip and try to rationalise it with your foolish assertions.

by CeeJayme Tue Sep 09, 2008 18:29

Another Pallywood spectacular no doubt. Just like the Al Dura non happening or the corpse that fell off the stretcher and ran away.l

Nevertheless Occupied by Whom and Imprisoned by Whom is the question still requiring an answer.

Speaking of videos how about the British born Ali and his video where he says "Expect floods of martyr operations against you and we will take our revenge and anger, ripping amongst your people and scattering the people and your body parts and your people's body parts responsible for these wars and oppression decorating the streets."

He said he was "fed up with living in a kuffar [heathen] land". "I'm no one's slave, I'm a free man, those that know me know that I was over the moon that Allah has given me this opportunity to lead this blessed operation."

Note this charmer was talking about English people like us who were horrified but Israeli/Jewish blood doesn't count just "foolish assertions".

by Vincent Tue Sep 09, 2008 19:36

Eli cant believe what is written in Maariv about the Sonic Boom causing terror in Israel, even though it appears in numerous websites on the Net.
Mitch cant believe that Sonic Booms are a danger to civilians and a possible cause of Miscarriage even though the statistics from the doctors are clear , the testimony of the journalists is clear and we know that Sonic booms blow windows out and are illegal over populated areas all over the world.

And now the best one of all, CeeJay wont accept that the Israelis stop Palestinian fishing boats with deadly force in Gazan Waters even though the video is there to prove it from just a few days back.
It is Pallywood, he says.
Perhaps they made it in a bath tub with plastic boats and some clever sound effects.
I dont think there is anything left to prove here. Its clear that if it is only happening to Palestinians , then it aint happening at all for these guys.

Let nobody else be infected with this strange condition.

This stuff really is happening.

by Reporter12 Thu Sep 11, 2008 01:19

It's hard to grasp the depth of lies and propaganda to which the Israeli people are exposed when it comes to rallying their support for the occupation of the Palestinians.
Ynet News, which is one of the only mainstream outlets of information for Israelis that occasionally happens to print something about the occupation, has just given us a classic example of it's own media lies and propaganda as presented to the Israeli people.

Today it was printed in Ynet of the imprisoned peace activist Lauren Booth (Tony Blair's sister in Law) :

" Unlike her brother-in-law, Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair, who frequently travels from Israel to the Palestinian territories and back, Lauren Booth has found herself stuck in the Gaza Strip. "

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3595097,00.html

Indeed, she has found herself stuck in the Gaza strip as part of an International protest to showcase the ongoing siege of Gaza to an uncaring world. And in an amazing own-goal the Israeli Army have decided to help in this mission by proving the point for her and imprisoning her along with the Palestinians. She reports of Gaza that it is : "the largest concentration camp in the world today. I was startled the Israelis agreed to this.”

But that's just the facts on the ground and not what should be embarrassing YNet News tonight. What really smells rotten now is tonight's Ynet claim that Tony Balir moves freely around the Palestinian Territories when compared to another recent report in Ynet where it claimed that only two months ago :

" Mideast envoy Tony Blair on Tuesday called off what would have been the first visit of a top Western diplomat to Hamas-ruled Gaza "

http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3568489....html

Even Tony Balir "the Peace Envoy" steps not into Gaza.

For the Israeli reader it's made easy by Ynet, Blair cant get in - Booth cant get out.

Must be Hamas ! Except Hamas has nothing to say on the issue.

by JoyWol Thu Sep 11, 2008 23:13

How will Lauren Booth explain away the picture of her shopping in a well stocked Gaza supermarket while she claims there is a blockade, no food and the Gazans are starving? I can supply the photo if Indymedia is willing to publish it.
Also a latest press release claiming she gave up her place on the boat for one of the Palestinians to leave does not tally with the original press release that she and three colleagues stayed to visit Palestinian families. There are so many lies flying around it is hard to give credibility to anything these publicity seekers claim.
Also it was just hearing aids and balloons, no medicine as one poster claims - a fat load of use to alleged starving Palestinians. Pity Egypt refused to life their blockade of Gaza to let her out!

by Vincent Sun Sep 14, 2008 21:39

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_g_7Qy56LNKw/SMKk2FqBJKI/AAAAAAAAAAg/dD5LypVbzCo/s1600-h/booth-shopping.jpg

Oh Dont be shy Joy, here's the photo that causes you such glee and Chatzpah.

I gather, not because you are glad to think the Gazans may be safe and well and adequately fed in their prison, but because you think this is proof that Booth is a liar and the Gazans could well afford to lose many more pounds if they have food of some description in there to stock on shelves.

Is this the photo that proves the UN the WHO and the Gazan Doctors are lying when they say that the siege of Gaza is causing Health deficincies and malnutrition in the Strip?

Please explain how this photo clears the conscience ?

I'm sure Ms Booth wont be embarrassed by you, so let fly.

by Reporter12 Tue Sep 16, 2008 17:24

Yemeni Activists Plan ‘Free Gaza II’ Initiative

" A boat from Yemen with a crew of from around the Arab world will set sail in the wake of the Free Gaza ships and work to widen the cracks in the siege Israel is imposing on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian private news agency Maan reported on Sunday. "

http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=2012

by Reporter12 Wed Sep 17, 2008 16:58

Israeli State Thugs terrorising unarmed fishermen and peace activists in Gazan Waters again.

It's painfully obvious that the blockade exists on all 4 sides of Gaza. Its not credible for supporters of the Israeli Regime to claim that it is merely an embargo between Israel and Gaza when they have blocked off international access from the open sea as well.

Egypt will have to look at it's own conscience for having blockaded the Gazans to the South in order to continue to receive its US bribes.

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id...fset=

" Vittorio Arrigoni was hit by flying glass when the Israeli navy used a
high-power water cannon against the unarmed boats. The water canon smashed
the glass surrounding the steering section of the boat, with shards
lacerating Arrigoni's back. He was taken to hospital immediately upon
reaching shore, requiring stitches. "

by Reporter12 Tue Sep 23, 2008 16:05

The Free Gaza and SS liberty are setting sail for Gaza again tomorrow.This will be a real test of the metal of the activists as they face an ever more agressive Israeli navy. For their part, the israeli navy have spent the last few weeks attacking fishing boats with bullets, water cannons and abusive language and behaviour, including the ramming of one boat. All of these occurrences within Gaza Fishing waters and in contravention of International Law. One Gazan fishing captain reported that he recieved a communication from the Israel Navy stating that : "When the internationals will leave Gaza, our revenge will be dreadful".
That is why the activists have pledged to never leave the Gazan fishermen without the presence of International observers. This time travelling in the boats is an impressive line up of professional and public figures. The Israeli Navy may well take a more agressive stance this time around rather than let the precedent be reinforced for international access to Gaza.

The passengers on board include:
- 5 physicians from 4 countries
- human rights lawyers and monitors
- Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset
- Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
- Mairead Maguire, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work in Belfast

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id...fset=

Huwaida Arraf, the delegation spokesperson and a law lecturer at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, said, “The world cannot stay silent as the Palestinian people are deliberately starved and humiliated; Palestinians have a right to life with dignity. Last month, on August 23rd, our two, small, wooden boats, the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty, sailed to Gaza and did what our governments would not do - we defied Israel’s illegal collective punishment of 1.5 million men, women and children living in the Gaza Strip. On September 24th, we’re sailing back to Gaza to challenge it again. Our boats are very humble, but what they represent is hope, and hope is what mobilizes change the world around.”

by Corrector12 Tue Sep 23, 2008 16:59

This is a different boat, apparently that's travelling tomorrow - The SS Hope.

Is this the Yemeni boat that was mentioned earlier or a completely different boat altogether ?

by JayCeeme Thu Sep 25, 2008 00:24

It would appear that there are even more embarrassing photos taken of Lauren Booth in Gaza that Joy referred to so here are some more along with some observations.

Nobody looks remotely hungry, nobody is dressed in rags, the surroundings are opulent, there is no shortage of food, there is no shortage of guns, rockets, ammunition and Goebbels type propaganda.

Why is it that the Egyptian border and checkpoints are never mentioned? Is it because it does not suit the agenda of the anti-Zionists to talk about them?

Watching “Friends” in Gaza as first ever Palestinian soap opera is postponed

[All notes below by Tom Gross]
BLAIR’S SISTER-IN-LAW: GAZA IS “WORLD’S LARGEST CONCENTRATION CAMP”

In an appalling insult to Holocaust survivors everywhere, British journalist Lauren Booth said last week that the situation in Gaza was just like a “concentration camp,” and added that the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza is on the scale of Darfur.”

Booth’s brother-in-law, Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair, does not share her views. Her sister, Tony Blair’s wife Cherie Blair, once made comments appearing to justify Palestinian suicide bombs against Israeli school buses, but later apologized for the remarks.

Lauren Booth was recently issued a Palestinian passport by Hamas. Here is a photo from AFP (Agence France Presse) of Lauren Booth shopping in a grocery store in Gaza http://www.daylife.com/photo/02uy2JZ8Uw445/gaza a few days before she made her Israeli “concentration camp” comments. Does it look like Auschwitz, or Darfur?

Here she is again in Gaza last week. http://www.daylife.com/photo/0a44grgdw3fJv/Lauren_Booth

And here she is meeting Hamas terrorist leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who presents her with a special Palestinian “diplomatic passport”. http://www.daylife.com/photo/00ns2oO3T97KG/Lauren_Booth

Booth writes for several British newspapers, including the Daily Mail, New Statesman, Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Times, and is often a guest on the BBC.

by Vincent Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:05

JayCem

" Here she is again in Gaza last week." http://www.daylife.com/photo/0a44grgdw3fJv/Lauren_Booth

If the photo was taken "last week" as you claim,then why does it say it was taken "three weeks ago" over it? Your mistake.

Then, In an appalling insult to holocaust survivors everywhere you bring up the persecution of the Jews for the first time in this topic in order to use the suffering of the holocaust to justify the actions of the extremist fascist regime in Israel and it's actions in Gaza. Concentration camps are a very well established method by which the military of extremist regimes concentrate the target people in order to more easily crush revolutionaries and dissidents that could be hiding among them.

A definiton from the Military History Companion of the Concentration camp
" Literally a temporary or permanent encampment where people may be gathered together from a wide area to ‘concentrate’ them in one place. The name was first used by the Spanish in Cuba to describe the technique of withdrawing the civilian population from the countryside to deny support and ‘crowd cover’ to guerrillas. Both Britain and the USA employed the same technique in the Second Boer War and the Philippines insurrection respectively. While not intended, the massing of people without adequate sanitation and medical services led to epidemics in these camps, giving the term an early and ominous link with genocide. Not to be confused with internment camps such as those employed to quarantine Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor, concentration camps are now associated with, at best, punishment and forced labour, as in what Solzhenitsyn called the ‘Gulag archipelago’ of Stalin's USSR. At worst the concentration camps of Nazi Germany were used for the systematic extermination of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Russian prisoners of war, and a variety of others."

If you can find one single word in that definition that is not applicable or relevant to the description of the plight of the Palesintian of Gaza, then please highlight it. Otherwise, please do not cheapen the memories of the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis to placate yours or any other sympathisers consciences by comparing it to anything.

Archbisop Tutu also slated the situation in Gaza as an abomination and compared it to the actions of the Burmese junta against it's people : "My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity, especially on the situation in Gaza, shames us all," Tutu said Thursday. "It is almost like the behavior of the military junta in Burma."

"What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable," Tutu said on Wednesday. "We have already seen and heard enough to move us to tears."

Some of us , perhaps

by DenisMac Thu Sep 25, 2008 20:37

Vincent writes:

'A definiton from the Military History Companion of the Concentration camp
" Literally a temporary or permanent encampment where people may be gathered together from a wide area to ‘concentrate’ them in one place. The name was first used by the Spanish in Cuba to describe the technique of withdrawing the civilian population from the countryside to deny support and ‘crowd cover’ to guerrillas. Both Britain and the USA employed the same technique in the Second Boer War and the Philippines insurrection respectively. While not intended, the massing of people without adequate sanitation and medical services led to epidemics in these camps, giving the term an early and ominous link with genocide. Not to be confused with internment camps such as those employed to quarantine Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor, concentration camps are now associated with, at best, punishment and forced labour, as in what Solzhenitsyn called the ‘Gulag archipelago’ of Stalin's USSR. At worst the concentration camps of Nazi Germany were used for the systematic extermination of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Russian prisoners of war, and a variety of others."
If you can find one single word in that definition that is not applicable or relevant to the description of the plight of the Palesintian of Gaza, then please highlight it. Otherwise, please do not cheapen the memories of the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis to placate yours or any other sympathisers consciences by comparing it to anything.'

I've tried to highlight the appropriate terms, but your system doesn't seem to let me. So here are the words in apostrophes: 'Concentration camp', 'permanent', 'encampment', 'from a wide area' 'civilian population' (unlike any concentration camp in history, Gaza is heavily militarized by its inhabitants — that fact alone makes nonsense of everything said by pro-Palestine activists about it being a concentration camp at all), 'without adequate sanitation and medical services' (there are reasonable medical facilities in Gaza and, as everyone knows, these are well supplemented by facilities in Israel), 'epidemics', 'genocide', 'punishment', 'forced labour' (where on earth are the Gazan slaves?), 'systematic extermination' (where? when? by whom? by what shred of evidence?), 'Jews', 'homosexuals' (or perhaps you hadn't noticed that homosexuals in Gaza are punished or killed, whereas Israel guarantees gay rights).

What cheapens the memories of the Jewish people who suffered at the hands of the Nazis is precisely the fatuous exercise of comparison between their plight and that of the Palestinians, be that in Gaza or the West Bank. Since I was a small boy, I have been familiar with photographs of emaciated inmates of concentration camps, and more recently I have seen photos of emaciated men in Serbian camps. I have seen innumerable photographs and film of Palestinians, and I have not once seen anyone with that degree of emaciation, and I think it the most horrid brass neck for anyone, especially a well-fed Irishman or woman, to compare them. Again and again I have seen Israelis described as 'Nazis', or the Israeli state portrayed as a 'Nazi state'. What sort of feeble-minded weak-willed Nazis are they that they have left millions of Palestinian alive? There are far more Palestinians alive today than in 1948. What of Nazi state operates like that? In France, Holland, Belgium, Poland and elsewhere, anyone who dared fight the Nazis, or sabotage their factories, or hand out fliers calling for their defeat suffered immediate and condign punishment, and as often as not a whole village might be erased to deter others from supporting the resistance. Nazi Israelis would have done as much or worse. If Hamas could be taken back in time to the days of the Reich, just one missile fired on German or annexed territory would lead, not to arrest and time in an Israeli prison, but to firing squads and the noose, for both fighters and the civilian population. If you don't know all this, why are you wasting your time and resources on the perpetuation of so many falsehoods. By creating a tissue of lies and convincing Palestinians and left-wing Westerners that it's all true, you do a monumental disservice to truth. That is a crime against all humanity.

by JayCeeme Thu Sep 25, 2008 21:46

Vincent appears to do his nitpicking very selectively e.g. "last week/three weeks" when I clearly stated that (all notes below were by Tom Gross) not dated.

When Booth wrote about Concentration camps it was a reference to the camps of Nazi Germany used for the systematic extermination of mostly Jewish people as well as other minorities, so you can highlight that statement for a start. This was indeed an appalling insult and it was Lauren Booth not I or Tom Gross who brought this up. There is no mass killing, no systematic starvation, no torture by the Israelis there is however billions of pounds constantly being poured into the corrupt regime seemingly used to keep Hamas and their guests in wonderful luxury and the purchase of more and more weapons.

Perhaps Vincent could address the question of the abundance of arms and ammunition freely available and used to attack the civilian population in Israel, and why he continuously ignores the Egyptian border and the opulence of Hamas who hosted this charade when Gaza is supposed to be like Darfur. Could it be that the whole basis of this exercise is not humanitarian at all but a well thought out and cunning plan to promote Goebbels type propaganda for anti-Zionists?

Whoever managed to take those photographs has blown the whole saga wide open for all to see and must be very embarrassing for those who have swallowed this story wholesale like Tutu for instance.

by Vincent Sat Sep 27, 2008 15:37

Denis and JayCem

I dont need to really say much about your posts as you have basically said it already for me and everyone to see.The particularly abject aspect of Denis Mac's post was his claims that the Palestinians did not look particularly unhealthy yet and the macabre implication that the international community should do nothing until they start to appear emaciated. Your comparisons of the Israelis to Nazis is indeed an excercise that many have indulged in , not me however, and not Lauren Booth to the best of my knowledge. When you compare the Nazis practice of destroying entire villages and tartgetting the resistance with deadly punishment to Israel's practices of doing the same it is easy to see why many people make the comparison.Or to be more specificto Gaza, the Massacring of whole families in their beds in the dead of night. But one must bear in mind that such comparisons are usually made in order to use the horror of the holocaust to evoke guilt in the reader as opposed to highlight the crimes of the occupation.It is a cheap trick and even amongst the many Jews who oppose Israel, such tactics are often considered dispicable.
Similarly, your comparison of the Gazan siege and the suffering of the people there in what is effectively a large outdoor prison or concentration camp, to the grim horrors of the World War two Nazi death camps is inappropriate. Quite obvioulsy an attempt to juxtapose the Israelis with the Nazis in an effort to use the holocaust to shield Israel from the actual criticism that it rightly does deserve for its continual breeches of international and human rights law.

The comedy in your post Jay Ceem comes at the end when you say : "Whoever managed to take those photographs has blown the whole saga wide open for all to see and must be very embarrassing for those who have swallowed this story wholesale like Tutu for instance."

Whoever managed what ? She is posing for the camera and smiling, Wow that was a tricky scoop that must have been to get! http://www.daylife.com/photo/02uy2JZ8Uw445/gaza
And As for Tutu, hes not swallowing any story. His statements are based on his own observations made first hand in Gaza on a fact finding mission of which he said that what he has seen in the Gaza Strip is beyond human comprehension, and that "the siege on the Gaza Strip is illegal and must end immediately." Thats pretty scary when you bear in mind that this man is a veteran of the horrors of Apartehid in South Africa.Dont forget that Israel barred Tutu,an internationally famous man of peace, from entering Gaza in every way they could.They must know something you dont about the conditions inside.He visited Beit Hanoun to investigate the Massare of the family in their beds by Israeli cannon fire and discovered a town where 3.5% of the residents have been physically maimed by the Israeli military junta. If you apply those figures to Israel, the Palestinian militants will have to maim quarter of a million citizens in Israel to be on a par with Israel's war crimes.

by JayCeeme Sat Oct 04, 2008 18:39

Don't look now but your prejudices and predictabilities are showing. Those who share your views always blame the victims of the Holocaust for provoking guilt in those who perpetuated it. Same thing when denying Lauren Booth referred to concentration camps then twisting the meaning of Denis Mac's observation that nobody in Gaza looked emaciated. You still haven't answered why there has been billions of pounds and dollars poured into Gaza where it is purported there is a shortage of food but no shortage of arms and rockets to fire on the civilian population in Israel.

The greatest hoot of all is that you say the photograph http://www.daylife.com/photo/02uy2JZ8Uw445/gaza was posed. Of course it was Vincent dear, a shop stocked up with food for the starving people in Gaza, Lauren with a great smile and open purse - just what she needed to illustrate how dreadful life is and all because the border is closed - shame most of it belongs to Egypt.

by Vincent Sun Oct 05, 2008 14:18

Jay,

Gaza has about 65 kms of land border. 9km of that they share with Egypt. The rest is shared with Israel. Gaza has about 40km of Coast Israel controls all access to that. So out of a total perimeter of approx. 105kms Egypt shares only 9km with Gaza. However that gives a distorted picture of reality as Egypt may share those 9kms with Gaza but it certainly does not control them. They are controlled also by Israel who shoots people there at will. They disallow access to the border of EU monitors and in turn make it impossible for Egypt to comply with the International agreement document for opening the border, which stipulates that these monitors must be present. If Egypt would open those borders it would be tantamount to an act of War against Israel and would bring severe punitive measures against them through the US and Israel. So you are wrong, Israel controls all access in and out of Gaza.
The UN has recently reported that serious food shortages, extreme poverty and mass food insecurity are present in the Gaza strip. They noted that the situation is worse than in Somalia where people spend 60 percent on average of their income on basic food needs in Gaza it is at least 66 and as high as 73 percent. The Blockade has ended agricultural activity due to the lack of necessary items not being allowed in. The fishing sector is gone due to the fact that the fishermen are not being let out. Gaza is now the poorest place in the middle East and representatives in Jerusalem of the World Food Program are quoted as having said: "At the moment we are less and less able to assist what is a growing need. Hunger today is widespread in Gaza on the ground and it will not be long before we face a growing problem of malnutrition in Gaza."
So you may well get to see the emaciated children that you and Denis are holding out for. It is clear that you are a typical Western Capitalist and expect to see your victims of hunger in rags with bloated bellies with flies in their eyes before you will believe that they are in grave circumstances.
The shop in which Booth is standing in the photograph is obviously where you work.
You know how much is in it and what type of basic essential foodstuffs are available at what price. Eggs milk oil grain meat water fruit etc. you know where it all is and you know that it is plentiful and well affordable to a population that now has 80 percent unemployment and live on an average of a dollar twenty a day. You know all the people who come into your shop too and their children are not the children that the Palestine Children Relief Fund must distribute emergency powdered milk to combat what they see as widespread signs of the onset of malnutrition.
I can only presume that it was you who took the photo of Lauren Booth as even though she is standing smiling at the camera for the photo, you know for sure that she didn’t know she was being photographed. Maybe she was smiling at you because you are such a humourous person.
The UN, the world food program, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Palestine Children Relief Fund among other Food agencies all concur that the purposeful siege set in place by Israeli regime for the stated purpose of " putting them on a diet " is having a devastating effect.

But you Jay Ceeme, a lowly shop worker from Gaza, know different.

by JayCeeme Sun Oct 05, 2008 22:36

Vincent has guessed my occupation. Oh my aching feet I've been standing in the shop all day selling lots of food but not to "victims of hunger in rags with bloated bellies with flies in their eyes" I haven't seen anybody like that, my customers are just the well fed people that I photographed.

In between shifts in the shop and taking all those embarrassing photos I wonder where all the billions poured in by the EU etc., goes to, or more properly who it goes to. I know lots and lots is spent on rockets and arms used to attack Israeli citizens but Vincent does not explain where all the rest of it goes. Very puzzling.

So sorry I have got to run now we are expecting a delivery of caviar, truffles and my new camera with an extra wide lens.

by Vincent Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:12

Billions ?

What are you talking about ? What Billions ?

by Contrarian Mon Oct 06, 2008 13:45

EU aid amounted to about €400 million a year. for well over ten years. That's billions in anyone's language. The much reviled US also chipped in about $400 million per year. [Source: BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4887226.stm]

I wonder how much the Arab world contributed?

by Vincent Mon Oct 06, 2008 17:14

The Reviled US has actually done nothing of the sort. The reviled US had chipped in on average 85 million a year for the last 10 years at that time.

http://www.usembassy.at/en/download/pdf/aid_palest.pdf

Funny thing about the aid that they get is that they dont actually get a lot of it. 80% of the US aid goes to selected contractors - we call it "Jobs for the Boys" you would need to ask their selected contractors "the Boys" were the money went. Its quite possible that some of it got spent upgrading Israeli checkpoints as thats the type of thing that it goes for. The idea being that the Palestinians wont have to stand in line as long in order to have their human rights abused.
Of course there are infrastructural projects too. But the roads and offices in Palestine have a tendency to fall down and get driven on by tanks and shot at by helicopter attack ships. Hard to keep track of the financial damage a couple of stoneheads in a tank or a helicopter can do in an afternoon. You should actually ask where the Israeli billions have gone if you are interested. they have huge poverty problems and housing problems etc. and they've been given 150 billion or such by the yanks.

Any way what the hell am I talking about, this is irrellevant, we are talking about Gaza. You see , Jay wants to know what happened to the billions that went into Gaza. I just told him that they didnt.

Thats what we are actually talking about here, Gaza, Hamas, The Gaza siege. Didnt you bother to read any of the previous posting before you came and posted your irrelevant and mistaken information ?

by JayCeeme Tue Oct 07, 2008 21:40

Vincent you really are predictable Goebbels would be so proud of you. Siege? What siege shop stocked full to bursting, I did send the photographs didn't I? Don't forget that Lauren sailed in with essentials like balloons and hearing aids as well.

Remember Sept 2002 when EU wanted to probe why 10 million euros A MONTH was being diverted to fund terrorist activity, and Chris Patten cried his eyes out and said he wanted the issue investigated "like a hole in the head." ? I do!

A year after he died, Arafat’s wife, Suha, was involved in laundering money in Swiss bank accounts. She and her daughter moved to Paris where she received a stipend from Arafat of millions of dollars per annum, for the rest of her life. Oh, well. What's $10 billion in taxpayer's money over a decade? I am sure no one could suggest more deserving recipients than the Palestinian elite and their terror machine.

by Sean Og Wed Oct 08, 2008 00:50

Egypt police block aid convoy to Gaza, arrest 30
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=16894

By AFP
First Published: October 6, 2008

CAIRO: Egyptian police blocked an opposition convoy carrying medical supplies to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip and arrested at least 30 activists on Monday, security officials said.

Police surrounded campaigners outside the Journalists' Syndicate offices in Cairo, where the convoy was due to leave from, and detained 25 opposition members, a security official said.

They also arrested five opposition members, including the head of the suspended Labor Party Magdi Hussein, who had traveled on their own to Rafah, another official said.

The campaigners, including judges, independent MPs, members of the main opposition Muslim Brotherhood and other parties, want to protest the continued closure of the Rafah crossing by Israel and Egypt.

Police have set up checkpoints on the road between Ismailiya and the town of El-Arish in northern Sinai, about 45 km from Rafah, and were only allowing residents to enter, the official said.

Last month, police blocked a similar convoy headed to the Rafah crossing, Gaza's only exit to the outside world that is not under the control of Israel.

Israel, which sealed off the impoverished coastal strip after Hamas seized power there in June 2007, allows limited amounts of aid.

Egypt occasionally permits people to enter and leave Gaza, but has refused to open the Rafah crossing permanently. –AFP

by Gerry Thu Oct 23, 2008 02:48

This is at least great News. Palestinian unity is the most important aim.

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id...fset=

" Also on board is Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament). Both Palestinians are determined to forge alliances with their countrymen in Gaza, something they have not been able to do, because Israel has closed all land borders to this besieged people."

by Sean Og Sun Oct 26, 2008 09:10

I was in Cyprus last week and a local paper showed a photo of COWS
being brought through tunnel from EGYPT into GAZA
with the co operation of Egypt and HAMAS .

Poor cows