Öppet Brev Till Mubarak Gällande Gaza Freedom March

(Det är ganska många som ska delta i demonstrationen i Gaza den 31:a december. Själv reser jag idag till Kairo. Frågan är om de cirka 1300 internationella aktivisterna kommer att få komma in i Gaza för att demonstrera med uppskattningsvis 50 000 palestinier? Idag vet jag inte. Många tecken i skyn har varit negativa. Dock är ironin sådan att det är lättare - om än ej lätt- för mig som västerlänning att komma in i Gaza än om jag haft ett pass utfärdat av den palestinska myndigheten. Bland alla de motiv för att delta som finns är det personliga och politiska, ideologiska och medmänskliga.

Hedy Epstein: I am going to Gaza because I know what it is like to be awakened at night by a knock on the door; to have your home ransacked; not to be able to attend school; to have your parents arrested; not to know if, or when they will return; to hear planes overhead, waiting for them to unload their deadly cargo; to be orphaned at a young age. Yet, I am one of the lucky ones who survived; leading a privileged life, free to travel.)

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUBARAK FROM THE GAZA FREEDOM MARCH

December 26, 2009

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.

s 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, FranceDavid Torres, ECCP, Belgium
Germano Monti, Forum Palestine, ItalyZiyaad Lunat, Gaza Freedom March, EuropeEhab Lotayef, Gaza Freedom March, Canada
Alessandra Mecozzi, Action for Peace-ItalyAnn Wright, Gaza Freedom March coordinatorKawthar Guediri, Collectif National pour une Paix Juste et Durable entre Palestinens et Israeliens, FranceMark Johnson, Fellowship of ReconciliationThomas Sommer, Focus on The Global South, India Vangelis Pissias , Gaza Freedom March, Greek delegation