Activists try to break through Israeli-Egyptian siege of Gaza
2010Andrew Pollack 2010-01Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 12 →
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At year’s end almost 1400 activists from 43 countries gathered in Cairo with the intention of marching on the border with Gaza to try to break Israel’s genocidal siege. Timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Israel’s massacres, the Gaza Freedom March (GFM) sought to draw attention to the continuing trauma, hunger, unemployment, and homelessness facing Palestinians in Gaza. At the same time, George Galloway’s third Viva Palestina convoy was wending its way toward Gaza.
Almost no rebuilding of the thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals flattened by U.S.-paid-for bombs and missiles has been possible because of the blockade. Now even the tunnels from Egypt, an essential lifeline, are threatened with closure by an underground wall being financed and designed by the U.S.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced just days before delegates began arriving in Cairo that the march would not be allowed to go forward, citing ongoing tensions at the border. When GFM delegates arrived in Cairo, the government began constant harassment and repression to make clear they were serious about blocking the march. After initial skirmishes on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, protests began in full force to demand the march be allowed to proceed.
On Dec. 29, several hundred French activists took over the street in front of the French embassy, stopping Alaa al-Marjani / AP Marty Goodman / Socialist Action (Above) Gaza marchers, including Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein (ctr.) rally in Cairo, Dec. 29.
(Below) Close to 1000 rallied in solidarity with Gaza marchers, Dec. 27, in New York.
diers to serve in the Israeli military, and the prosecution of Israeli war criminals; support for the Goldstone Report.
Said Greg Dropkin in introducing the declaration: “We don’t just want to tell people, ‘don’t buy Israeli vegetables’; we want to go to the workers selling these vegetables … to people running the warehouses where they’re stored [and] people transporting them.”
Another sign that the momentum generated by the GFM will continue is the statement issued by the US Palestinian Community Network. It noted that the siege is “in violation of the wishes of [the Egyptian] people,” who have a proud history of support for the Palestinian people “and led the Arab nation to confront colonization and economic domination.”
USPCN called on Egypt to allow in the marchers as well as participants in the VP convoy; to end its siege of Gaza; and to scuttle the “Wall of Shame” (the new underground wall). In this effort they will certainly find support among the thousands who demonstrated in dozens of cities around the world to mark the anniversary of the massacre and in support of the GFM. One of the most vibrant was the march on Dec. 27 of almost a thousand in New York City, organized by AlAwda NY and local Arab community groups.
During the attacks last year we noted the massive protests in Arab nations and predominantly Muslim countries. We wrote in the January 2009 issue of this newspaper: “A universal target of ire at these rallies has been the Egyptian regime for its collaboration with the Israeli blockade and attacks.”
A year earlier, Palestinian militants blew open a breach in the Egyptian wall, soon widened by the masses of Gaza. This time the GFM used the (slightly) higher visibility of non-Palestinians in the media to try to tip the scales in favor of Palestinians’ own actions.
In the end it is those actions—and support from the Arab masses—that will not only end the siege but lead to the complete liberation of Palestine and the Arab nation as a whole. A greatly expanded international solidarity movement like the one envisioned in the Cairo Declaration can serve as an important means of support for such struggles. n