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Open Letter to President Mubarek
Dear President Mubarak;
We, representing 1,362 individuals from 43 countries arriving in Cairo to participate in the Gaza Freedom March, are pleading to the Egyptians and your reputation for hospitality.
We are peacemakers. We have not come to Egypt to create trouble or cause conflict. On the contrary. We have come because we believe that all people -- including the Palestinians of Gaza -- should have access to the resources they need to live in dignity. We have gathered in Egypt because we believed that you would welcome and support our noble goal and help us reach Gaza through your land.
As individuals who believe in justice and human rights, we have spent our hard-earned, and sometimes scarce, resources to buy plane tickets, book hotel rooms and secure transportation only to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza living under a crushing Israeli blockade.
We are doctors, lawyers, students, academics, poets and musicians. We are young and old. We are Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and secular. We represent civil society groups in many countries who came together and coordinated this large project with the civil society in Gaza.
We have raised tens of thousands of dollars for medical aid, school supplies and winter clothing for the children of Gaza. But we realize that in addition to material aid, the Palestinians of Gaza need moral support. We came to offer that support on the difficult anniversary of an invasion that brought them so much suffering.
The idea of the Gaza Freedom March-a nonviolent march to the Israeli Erez crossing-- emerged during one of our trips to Gaza in May, a trip that was kindly facilitated by the Egyptian government. Ever since the idea emerged, we have been talking to your government through your embassies overseas and directly with your Foreign Ministries. Your representatives have been kind and supportive. We were asked to furnish information about all the participants-passports, dates of birth, occupations-which we have done in good faith. We have answered every question, met every request. For months we have been working under the assumption that your government would facilitate our passage, as it has done on so many other occasions. We waited and waited for an answer.
Meanwhile, time was getting short and we had to start organizing. Travel over the Christmas season is not easy in the countries where many of us live. Tickets have to be purchased weeks, if not months, in advance. This is what all 1,362 individuals did. They spent their own funds or raised money from their communities to pay their way. Add to this the priceless time, effort and sacrifice by all these people to be away from their homes and loved ones during their festive season.
In Gaza, civil society groups-students, unions, women, farmers, refugee groups-have been working nonstop for months to organize the march. They have organized workshops, concerts, press conferences, endless meetings-all of this with their own scarce resources. They have been buoyed by the anticipated presence of so many global citizens coming to support their just cause.
If the Egyptian government decides to prevent the Gaza Freedom March, all this work and cost is lost.
And that's not all. It is practically impossible, this late in the game, to stop all these people from travelling to Egypt, even if we wanted to. Moreover, most have no plans in Egypt other than to arrive at a predetermined meeting point to head together to the Gaza border. If these plans are cancelled there will be a lot of unjustified suffering for the Palestinians of Gaza and over a thousand internationals who had nothing in mind but noble intentions.
We plead to you to let the Gaza Freedom March continue so that we can join the Palestinians of Gaza to march together on December 31, 2009.
We are truly hopeful that we will receive a positive response from you.
We thank you for your kind assistance and understanding.
Tighe Barry, Gaza Freedom March coordinator
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK, USA
Olivia Zemor, Euro-Palestine, France
David Torres, ECCP, Belgium
Germano Monti, Forum Palestine, Italy
Ziyaad Lunat, Gaza Freedom March, Europe
Ehab Lotayef, Gaza Freedom March, Canada
Alessandra Mecozzi, Action for Peace-Italy
Ann Wright, Gaza Freedom March coordinator
Kawthar Guediri, Collectif National pour une Paix Juste et Durable entre Palestinens et Israeliens, France
Mark Johnson, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Thomas Sommer, Focus on The Global South, India
24 Comments so far
Show AllIt is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere we go...look at Gaza then, look at Gaza now, and find some hope somehow!
May God bless these peace keepers and advocates and may the Egyptian government show some decency by offering unconditional support and hospitality to these wonderful and courageous human beings! I pray for the success of this most noble march in support of the Gazan's who have been so mercilessly brutalized!!
risingdawn - DITTO, DITTO, DITTO to your prayer.
May this march/gathering achieve goodness and may all be safe while they are there together, Palestinians and Marchers alike, and safe home for the latter too.
peace to all, cm
Ineffectual haters.
DaMiddleRoad - Who are you talking about?
You sound more like you fell off a cliff and landed on the rocks rather than DaMiddleRoad.
???????
/cm
It may be spelled "DaMiddleRoad", but it's pronounced "DaMirror".
It'll be back once it gets fresh talking points.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Oh come on DaMiddleRoad surely you can do better than that? If you are going to make a comment make a real comment. Tell us how it is all the fault of the Palestinians for being in Palestine in the first place. What right have they to the home they have lived in for millenia? Why should they stay there when it is clearly the home that God has designated for the Zionists? And why do they not just go away when they are told to? What a strange people?
I saw no hate in the words of this letter - but I do see it your comments. And if the marchers will be so ineffectual why do the US sponsored powers want to stop the march?
Good Luck with this American government sponsored butcher. You'll need it.
I was wondering if someone had mentioned this. Egypt receives money and, I believe, military weapons, ... from the U.S., which is protector of psychopathic Israeli leadership, political and military; oh, and "intelligence".
We know it's why Arab countries of the Middle East stay very silent, non-oppositional, regarding Israel's crimes against and holocaust of the Palestinians. BIG MONEY and military weapons "deals" with the U.S.!
I don't know what the magnitude of the "deals" between Egypt and the U.S. are, but there are some big "deals" in the near future for Saudi Arabia and other countries of the region.
Quote: "Saudi Arabia is attempting to promote its own version of extremism in Yemen as it did earlier in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is currently doing in Iraq. Far from the U.S. and its Western allies expressing any objection, the Saudis and their fellow Persian Gulf monarchies will be in the forefront of what is estimated to be $100 billion worth of Middle East arms purchases from the West over the next five years. "The core of this arms-buying spree will undoubtedly be the $20 billion U.S. package of weapons systems over 10 years for the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council - Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain." [7] Saudi Arabia is also armed with state-of-the-art British and French warplanes as well as U.S. missile defense systems."
That's quoted from the following article.
"Yemen: Pentagon's War On The Arabian Peninsula"
by Rick Rozoff, Stop NATO, Dec. 15, 2009
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16571
Egypt has important-scale "deals" with the U.S., but I don't know what the numbers are.
I admire how much time and effort people put into this march. We will join a support demo in Ottawa, Canada,tomorrow. Looking back at the assault on Gaza last year and seeing the blockade of Gaza still going on is painful and infuriating.
From: Just Foreign Policy (naiman@justforeignpolicy.org)
Sent: Wed 12/23/09 5:30 PM
Just Foreign Policy News, December 23, 2009
Just Foreign Policy News on Break Until January 6
The editor of the JFP News is going to Gaza for the Gaza Freedom March – if the Egyptians let us in.[The Egyptian government has announced that it will not allow internationals to enter Gaza. Write the Egyptian Embassy in Washington and ask them to reverse the decision - http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gaza-march ]
If Egypt does not let us enter Gaza, we will protest the blockade from the Egyptian side of the border. In either event, you can follow our progress by blog here –
http://bit.ly/naiman_gfm
and by Twitter here: @naiman.
The Palestinian people in Ghaza needs all the help it can get and what the Israelis have done to them is criminal.
Mubarek doesn't want unneeded confrontation with Israel about your objective. He has more pressing problems to worry about without introducing an extra unneeded one.
The logical thing for you to do, is for you to pressure Washington to pressure Israel to let you through to Ghaza from Israel!.
Under the radar, Obama pushes for Patriot Act renewal
http://joshfulton.blogspot.com/2009/12/under-radar-obama-pushes-for-patriot.html
Your link does not work - the message is that no such blog/blogger exists
Live Simply So That Others May Simply Live
I hope that Israel and Egypt will allow those from all the many groups going to Palestine to allow them to take in their humanitarian wares and goods for the sake of simple humanity. More than a million starving people need the food, medicine, all the necessities of life that Israel and Egypt have blocked since Israels wanton massacre of nearly 1500 Palestinians a year ago.
Mr. Netanyahu says he is worried about the Goldstone Report and the indictment of Ms. Livni. Yet Mr. Netanyahu continues the crime of siege against the people of Gaza. Does he really believe that he can forever escape the docket if this behavior continues and indeed if he repeats past Israeli aggressions on an even larger scale?
Let us remember that the term "never again!" should not apply to only one ethnicity, to only one religion or to only one philosophy of life. Men, women and children of all the human cultures are equally valuable and so it is the greatest scandal and tragedy that rich and poor nations alike turn their backs on those who are just like themselves in all but the most superficial ways, the Palestinians.
What is Mr.Netanyahu planning with his recall of the worldwide Israeli diplomatic corps back to Israel. Is it time for a new Israeli military and propaganda offensive? It seems that Mrs. Netanyahu and Obama are working hand in glove in their plans vis-a-vis Iran.
Who will be slaughtered this time? Will the only regional nuclear power in the Middle East strike Iran? Will Israel seek to expel the Palestinians from the occupied territories and Gaza? Is not Israel threatening to invade Gaza on a large scale again?
Will there be another Nakba? Will their be another war against an advanced nation in the Middle East, ie. Iran or Syria?
And who can doubt that Obama and Clinton write the music while Israel and Egypt play the tune? It isn't so much about religious rhetoric as basic human justice versus the imperialist and domination of both Palestine/Israel and Egypt.
Keep in mind that Mubarak is a shrewd dictator who also fears the worst case scenario in regards to a hostile reaction by Israel. Your intentions are indeed noble, but unfortunately Israel has a very close minded and racist leader now in Netanyahu. His deep mistrust of all Arabs and his belief that jews are a "superior race" who have an obligation to set the standards of what is acceptable and what is not, will lead him to do his best to disrupt anything he feels that will generate bad publicity for him and his country.
The odds are stacked against you, but nevertheless... good luck!
More related news about the same thing happening to Viva Palestina (VP) and associated convoys of humanitarian aid being held back is available via the VP UK and VP US websites linked in the VP homepage.
www.vivapalestina.org
VP also has a Facebook group we can join to receive regular email updates.
Looking over the homepage of Uruknet.info to try to find the excellent international appeal of Palestinian Christians, I didn't find the article linked in the homepage any longer, but did get to see that there are several articles about Israel clearly including Christians of Palestine and Israel in its war, so the Muslim Palestinians aren't alone anymore and solidarity has been growing between the two. I like solidarity when it's for good cause(s).
Oh, and Uruknet has a few articles about war on Iraqi Christians, in Iraq. It's not good, but I hated seeing Muslims being the only people warred on.
Anyway, I found the article I was searching for by going to the next level of the index, for the immediately preceding set of articles.
"Christians of Palestine Decry 'Absence of All Hope'"
by Nicola Nasser *, mathaba.net, Dec 21, 2009
http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=61319
This is for the Palestinian Christian's or also Muslim's "Kairos Palestine Document", for which there are separate links at the end of the article and for full text copies in Arabic, Dutch and French. The English copy is in the above Uruknet page; unless there's also a separate link for it.
I'll excerpt from the first part of the above article.
EXCERPT:
"In the absence of all hope, we cry out our cry of hope. We believe in God, good and just. We believe that God's goodness will finally triumph over the evil of hate and of death that still persist in our land. We will see here 'a new land' and 'a new human being', capable of rising up in the spirit to love each one of his or her brothers and sisters," concluded a document "Kairos Palestine Document" released by Palestinian Christian leaders on December 11, 2009.
Palestinian Christian leaders, representing churches and church-related organizations, meeting in Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ, which is under the Israeli military occupation since 1967, have launched a "landmark campaign" aimed at enlisting Christians worldwide in proactive efforts to end the occupation of Palestinian territories. The unprecedented initiative, called "Kairos Palestine-2009: A moment of truth," appeals to churches worldwide to treat Israel in the same way they had treated the erstwhile South African apartheid regime.
The authors of the 13-page document include such religious leaders as Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem Munib Younan, Archbishop of Sebastia Atallah Hanna from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, as well as the heads of various other denominations.
"We, Palestinian Christians, declare in this historic document that the military occupation of our land is a sin against God and humanity and that any theology that legitimises the occupation is far from Christian teachings because true Christian theology is a theology of love and solidarity with the oppressed and a call to justice and equality among peoples," reads the document.
The authors said they hoped that the document would raise the conscience of Christians worldwide on the enduring Palestinian plight. "We hope, as Palestinian Christians, that this document will be the leverage for the efforts of all peace-loving peoples in the world, especially our Christian sisters and brothers. We hope that it will be welcomed positively and will receive strong support, as was the case with the South Africa Kairos document launched."
One author of the landmark document, Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, told the Egyptian Al-Ahram Weekly (17 - 23 December 2009) that the main aim of the initiative was to alert Christians worldwide to the critical situation in occupied Palestine. "We are a peaceable people, we are not terrorists because we first and foremost are victims of Israeli terror. We love freedom, we love justice, we love our country, we love Jerusalem and we insist on living with human dignity."
Rifat Kassis, a spokesman for "Kairos Palestine-2009," told Al-Ahram: Christian leaders in occupied Palestine have been deliberating the initiative for several months. "Ultimately we hope that Christian institutions, including churches around the world, will endorse this document and act on it in the same way churches related to the anti-apartheid regime in South Africa in 1985. In the final analysis, apartheid can't be wrong in South Africa and right in occupied Palestine."
Asked by Al-Ahram why the initiative is being launched now, Kassis said the situation in occupied Palestine had reached a crossroads. Quoting from the document, Kassis said: "... because today we have reached the dead-end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people. The decision-makers content themselves with managing the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of finding a way to resolve it. What is the international community doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and the Arab world doing? What is the church doing? The problem is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be of concern to the church."
In Christian theological terminology, the word "kairos" means "moment of truth" or "time for action."
END OF EXCERPT
"Palestine/Israel: A Single State, with Liberty and Justice for All, regardless of Religion"
by Susan Abulhawa with Ramzy Baroud, Dec 26 2009
http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=61470
Excerpt:
Prior to the establishment of Israel, Palestine had been a multi-religious and multi-cultural country. Christians, Muslims and Jews, Armenians, Greek Orthodox, to name a few, all had a place there; and all lived in relative harmony. Other nations fought wars and waged epic struggles to attain the kind of coexistence that was already a reality in Palestine.
End of excerpt
"Israel Declares War on Peace NGOs"
by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler, IPS, Dec 24, 2009
http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=61474
EXCERPT:
JERUSALEM, Dec 24 (IPS) - One year after the devastating attack on Hamas in Gaza a new wave of reports castigating Israel for war crimes has emerged.
Now, Israel is fighting back with a report on the reports, picking on international NGOs such as Amnesty, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Trocaire , Finn Church Aid, Diakonia and Cordaid.
The immediate target of Israeli ire is a collective report entitled "Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses,’’ issued by these NGO, based in Europe.
"These organisations continue to exploit moral, legal and humanitarian principles in order to promote political warfare against Israel. Many of the claims in this report are not supported by credible evidence, and reflect double standards,’’ says Gerald Steinberg, president 'NGO Monitor', the right-wing Israeli NGO.
"Through this systematic bias regarding Israel, these NGOs have lost respectability, and the European governments that fund such attacks share responsibility for this abuse,’’ says Steinberg.
END OF EXCERPT
Either that guy's a complete nutcase, or he's a "plain" liar.
Egypt answers to the U.S. because it is getting conditional aid (on the condition it assists Israel to punish the Gazans).
Don't blame Israel. Blame the U.S., the superpower which arms and funds Israel and encourages its fanaticism!
www.dangerouscreation.com
President Mubarek gets about $2 billion of our tax money each year.
How our tax money is spent seems to be controlled by Tel Aviv.
Mubarek doesn't want unneeded confrontation with Israel about your objective because it means that he will be confronting the United States too, the only super-power in the world!. He has more pressing problems to worry about without introducing an extra unneeded and unwanted one.
Yes, the Palestinians in Ghaza needs all the help they can get and what the Israelis have done to them is criminal.
So, the logical thing for you to do, is for you to pressure Washington to pressure Israel to let you through to Ghaza from Israel and pressure Israel to change its policies and negotiate in good faith with the Palestinians.
So, don't beat around the bushes and go to the source.!
,
commoner3
The Gaza Freedom March is one of the very few international actions that the international community can have some pride in. Almost everything else is shameful. Please let the world have at least one humane and hopeful event this holiday.
Mike Corbeil,
The question is: Are we actually going to collect for our military transfers to Arabian States or are we going to forgive all debts incurred for military transfers, as we do for Israel?