Onward to Victory, Peaceful March to end blockade of Gaza
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"Onward to Victory!
Activists plan March to break Gaza siege
07.01.2009 | The Daily Star
By Richard Hall
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BEIRUT: A coalition of activists belonging to various Palestinian solidarity organizations are planning an international march in Gaza aimed at ending the blockade of the territory. The event will aim to bring thousands of demonstrators from around the world to march alongside Gazans as they breach the blockade imposed upon the population since the election of Hamas in 2006.
“This march draws inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi,” said a draft statement of purposes and principles written by the “Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza,” obtained by The Daily Star. “Those of us residing in the United States also draw inspiration from the civil rights movement,” it added.
The statement also outlines plans for the march, which will take place on January 1, 2010. “We will march the Long Mile across Erez checkpoint alongside the people of Gaza in a nonviolent demonstration that breaches the illegal blockade,” it said, adding that “We conceive this march as the first step in a protracted nonviolent campaign … If we bring thousands to Gaza and millions more around the world watch the march on the internet, we can end the siege without a drop of blood being shed.”
Professor Norman Finkelstein, a political analyst and author of several books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, is one of the organizers of the march. “We want to send over several thousand people from around the world to march alongside several hundred thousand Gazans,” he told The Daily Star.
Finkelstein hopes that large numbers of international activists and world leaders will attend the march, and as a result, prohibit a violent response from Israeli authorities. “If the likes of Jimmy Carter, Noam Chomsky, Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela are at the head of the march; if behind them are students holding high signs of the schools from which they hail - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge; if behind them are the ill and the lame, the young and the innocent of Gaza; if behind them are hundreds of thousands of others, unarmed and unafraid, wanting only to enforce the law; if around the world hundreds of thousands are watching the internet to see what happens - Israel can’t shoot,” he said.
“The first formal organizational meeting of the coalition is set for July 13,” said Finkelstein. “We hope then to create an umbrella steering committee. Right now the working group consists of individuals who belong to organizations that have been active on the Israel-Palestine conflict such as CodePink.”
Members of the coalition are now contacting Palestinian solidarity groups around the world in preparation for the march."
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/onward-to-victory/
Activists plan March to break Gaza siege
07.01.2009 | The Daily Star
By Richard Hall
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BEIRUT: A coalition of activists belonging to various Palestinian solidarity organizations are planning an international march in Gaza aimed at ending the blockade of the territory. The event will aim to bring thousands of demonstrators from around the world to march alongside Gazans as they breach the blockade imposed upon the population since the election of Hamas in 2006.
“This march draws inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi,” said a draft statement of purposes and principles written by the “Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza,” obtained by The Daily Star. “Those of us residing in the United States also draw inspiration from the civil rights movement,” it added.
The statement also outlines plans for the march, which will take place on January 1, 2010. “We will march the Long Mile across Erez checkpoint alongside the people of Gaza in a nonviolent demonstration that breaches the illegal blockade,” it said, adding that “We conceive this march as the first step in a protracted nonviolent campaign … If we bring thousands to Gaza and millions more around the world watch the march on the internet, we can end the siege without a drop of blood being shed.”
Professor Norman Finkelstein, a political analyst and author of several books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, is one of the organizers of the march. “We want to send over several thousand people from around the world to march alongside several hundred thousand Gazans,” he told The Daily Star.
Finkelstein hopes that large numbers of international activists and world leaders will attend the march, and as a result, prohibit a violent response from Israeli authorities. “If the likes of Jimmy Carter, Noam Chomsky, Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela are at the head of the march; if behind them are students holding high signs of the schools from which they hail - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge; if behind them are the ill and the lame, the young and the innocent of Gaza; if behind them are hundreds of thousands of others, unarmed and unafraid, wanting only to enforce the law; if around the world hundreds of thousands are watching the internet to see what happens - Israel can’t shoot,” he said.
“The first formal organizational meeting of the coalition is set for July 13,” said Finkelstein. “We hope then to create an umbrella steering committee. Right now the working group consists of individuals who belong to organizations that have been active on the Israel-Palestine conflict such as CodePink.”
Members of the coalition are now contacting Palestinian solidarity groups around the world in preparation for the march."
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/onward-to-victory/
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Norman Finkelstein discussing the upcoming March to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClAHlumNO6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9UxXMspQXM
yes i do think it starts with isreal but if they step up so do the pal. people.
This will end when the U.S stops vetoing Resolution 242, and when Israel ends the occupation.
At the moment the Israeli leadership are calling for a new round of peace talks and the focus is being placed on ending settlement expansion. This is all just pure horseshit however, and is just the same old Israeli/U.S stalling tactics designed to postpone a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 border and a complete dismantling of all the illegal settlements.
Very good article here:
The Great Middle East Peace Process Scam
Henry Siegman
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n16/sieg01_.html
Norman Finkelstein - Why I resigned from the Gaza Freedom March coalition:
The original consensus of the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza was that we would limit our statement to a pair of uncontroversial, basic and complementary principles that would have the broadest possible appeal: the march to break the siege would be nonviolent and anchored in international law. I agreed with this approach and consequent statement and decided to remove myself from the steering committee in order to invest my full energies in mobilizing for the march. During the week beginning August 30, 2009 and in a matter of days an entirely new sectarian agenda dubbed "the political context" was foisted on those who originally signed on and worked tirelessly for three months. Because it drags in contentious issues that--however precious to different constituencies--are wholly extraneous to the narrow but critical goal of breaking the siege this new agenda is gratuitously divisive and it is almost certain that it will drastically reduce the potential reach of our original appeal. It should perhaps be stressed that the point of dispute was not whether one personally supported a particular Palestinian right or strategy to end the occupation. It was whether inclusion in the coalition's statement of a particular right or strategy was necessary if it was both unrelated to the immediate objective of breaking the siege and dimmed the prospect of a truly mass demonstration. In addition the tactics by which this new agenda was imposed do not bode well for the future of the coalition's work and will likely move the coalition in an increasingly sectarian direction. I joined the coalition because I believed that an unprecedented opportunity now exists to mobilize a broad public whereby we could make a substantive and not just symbolic contribution towards breaking the illegal and immoral siege of Gaza and, accordingly, realize a genuine and not just token gesture of solidarity with the people of Gaza. In its present political configuration I no longer believe the coalition can achieve such a goal. Because I would loathe getting bogged down in a petty and squalid public brawl I will not comment further on this matter unless the sequence of events climaxing in my decision to resign are misrepresented by interested parties. However I would be remiss in my moral obligations were I not humbly to apologize to those who, either coaxed by me or encouraged by my participation, gave selflessly of themselves to make the march a historic event and now feel aggrieved at the abrupt turn of events. It can only be said in extenuation that I along with many others desperately fought to preserve the ecumenical vision that originally inspired the march but the obstacles thrown in our path ultimately proved insurmountable.
i know one person who is participating, and i wish her and everyone else the best of luck, and thank them for being a voice for so many others that can't be there.
i'm hoping everyone will be allowed to go into gaza, and i will be keeping positive thoughts that no one will be hurt or put in jail. i really hope the media covers the march, and they have the courage to give a true account of the appalling conditions the Palestinians have been living under after sixty years of physical and psychological violence and oppression.
lastly and mostly, i pray that the inhumane injustices against the ordinary, beautiful people in the West Bank and their children, will not be ignored, that the truth will finally be seen and exposed, and somehow it will be lessened.
may your hopes and prayers be answered in the season of reflection
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8425232.stm
from what i understand from emily, a lot of the participants are already in cairo and they are still planning to go peacefully to the Rafah border, hopeful that the Egyptian officials will change their mind and let them through. they can't give up now, and will continue to be a voice for the million and a half people who are illegally imprisoned in gaza.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
This will definitely not be covered by any Mainstream news channel in the U.S.
'The Egyptian foreign ministry said the march could not be allowed because of the "sensitive situation" in Gaza.'
The 'sensitive' situation in Gaza. I suppose that's one way of looking at it. And imprisoning 1.5 million people is the best way to deal with this 'sensitive' situation?
Shame on the Egyptian's.
'...According to a recently leaked report by the UN office of the humanitarian co-ordinator, Gaza is undergoing "a process of de-development, which potentially could lead to the complete breakdown of public infrastructure". A report released today by a group of 16 humanitarian and human rights groups further spells out the effects.
Family homes destroyed in the invasion lie as shattered as ever. The embargo on construction materials means they will stay that way. Local hospitals and clinics were left devastated by the invasion, and those suffering health problems wait longer than ever to get out of Gaza for treatment. Many have died waiting. Bed-wetting and nightmares are endemic among children.
Half of those under 30 are unemployed. These young people are trapped in a broken land with little hope of economic opportunity. The blockade's restrictions on Gaza's fishermen mean they can sail only three nautical miles from the coast, impoverishing their families. Meanwhile, 80m litres of raw and partially treated sewage is pumped out into the sea every day.
Most disturbingly of all, the lack of access to materials means that basic water infrastructure simply cannot be repaired or improved; 90 to 95% of Gaza's water fails to meet WHO standards. The extremely high nitrate level in the water supply is leaving thousands of newborn babies at risk of poisoning...'
UPDATE
December 21, 2009
We are determined to break the siege
We all will continue to do whatever we can to make it happen
Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the
Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that the Rafah border
will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that
there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do
not feel threatened, and that if there are any risks, they are risks we
are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300
delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now. We
both agreed to continue our exchanges.
Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we’ve encountered-and overcome–before. No delegation, large or small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.
Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the siege of Gaza and march on December 31against the Israeli blockade. We are continuing in the same direction.
Contact your local consulate here:
The Consulate General
2 Lowndes Street
London SW1X 9ET
Tel: 020 7235 9777
020 7235 6562
Fax: 020 7235 5684
E-mail: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:info@egyptianconsulate.co.uk">info@egyptianconsulate.co.uk</a><!-- e -->