Israel Matzav

Aid convoy barred from Gaza and no one cares

A Gaza aid convoy that includes Cynthia McKinney and George Galloway has been barred from entering the Gaza Strip, but you won't find it on CNN, MSNBC or the BBC. That's because it wasn't Israel that barred this convoy: It was Egypt.

The group's largest-ever aid convoy was stopped at the Suez Canal on Saturday on its way to Al Arish, where the rest of the group and supplies will join them before heading for the border crossing into Gaza.

Viva Palestina activists say despite earlier arrangements, Egyptian border officials are not allowing the medical convoy to pass and have even threatened them with arrest, saying they have not received a list of the names of the members of the convoy.

"We are determined to cross onto Gaza, and no matter what happens next, out of this first small confrontation, we've achieved a success for the movement in support of the Palestinian people. The convoy is going to move on, and we ain't gonna let nobody turn us around," Barron said.

The group, who seek to break the crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza which is home to some 1.5 million Palestinians, spent the night in their buses despite pressure from security officials to return to Cairo.

The convoy consists of at least 200 people -- all Americans, including Charles Barron, a New York City Councilman -- who plan to arrive in Gaza by July 13.

Former US congresswoman from Georgia Cynthia McKinney, who was arrested by Israeli forces earlier this month while heading to Gaza on a humanitarian mission, is also expected to join the convoy.

Subsequently, the group traveled to Cairo, and that's where they apparently still are.

The Viva Palestina members who spent the night in their buses at the Suez Crossing after being stopped by Egyptian authorities on July 11 have now rendezvoused in Cairo with British Member of Parliament George Galloway and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who has rushed to join the convoy following her deportation from Israel on Wednesday.

Galloway, McKinney and the Viva Palestina leadership have been working with Egyptian and U.S. authorities to expedite the passage of the convoy over the Suez Canal and into Gaza.

Egyptian authorities have held up the convoy claiming that it has not acquired the necessary travel permits from U.S. officials in order to cross into Gaza. But the convoy sent copious documentation, on request, to several Egyptian state officials before even setting foot in Cairo.

New York City Councilmember Charles Barron, who led the group at the Suez Canal, says, “Whether these new requirements are genuine or not, we will get around these obstacles. We are going to Gaza.”

Why is it that when the Egyptians stop 'humanitarian aid' from reaching Gaza (and they make it sound like the entire cargo here is medicines) no one cares, but when Israel stops cement from reaching Gaza it becomes an international incident documented by propaganda movies (I won't link it, but there is one) broadcast on all the major television networks in the West?

Hmmm.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:37 PM