Getting ready in Jerusalem
Collecting supplies at Erez Checkpoint for Gaza residents
Canadian volunteers presence
Collecting supplies at Erez Checkpoint for Gaza residents
Canadian volunteers presence
This past weekend we had the opportunity to participate in a peaceful protest that was organised to bring food and supplies and to show solidarity with the people of Gaza under the slogan “Stop the siege on Gaza: A demonstration for Gaza and Sderot”.
Some background: During the past week and a half, Israel tightened a 7-month blockade of the Gaza Strip preventing supplies from entering the area, claiming it to be a response to the Hamas rocket fire into the community of Sderot in Israeli territory. However, it has been seen by the broader community as collective punishment.
The prevention of basic food, water, baby formula, iodized salt necessary for healthy growth, medical equipment, and fuel has put the innocent majority of the 1.5 million Palestinian residents at risk. As well, Gazans desperately in need of cancer treatment have been prevented from leaving Gaza to get to Augusta Victoria Hospital, the only centre in Palestinian territory that has a linear accelerator for radiation treatment. The siege has also made the militants more popular because everyone is being thrown together as victims.
So on Saturday, January 26, a cold drizzly morning, we gathered in West Jerusalem to join up with a convoy coming from various parts of Israel to converge upon the Erez Crossing into Gaza. We drove through heavy rainfall, a blessing for the near drought conditions we’ve been experiencing this fall and winter, only to join the rest of the convoy under clearing skies and slightly warmer temperatures. As one woman expressed, “Rain for the soil and sun for the soul!”
It was a moving experience to be part of more than 1000 people—Israelis, Palestinians, internationals, the young, old, and all ages in between—converging on a meeting spot just outside the Erez Wall. As we followed a truck carrying many of the supplies that we’d brought for the Gazans, people waved flags and shouted slogans to “End the Siege”.
It was shocking to see the huge wall with the ferocious pit bulls and German shepherds guarding it. The Israeli police and military were out in large numbers but it was truly a peaceful demonstration.
Under the same slogan a demonstration was being held by Gazans inside the Strip. Speaking by phone from the Gazan side, the demonstrators were told that “We are joining hands today in the pursuit of peace, justice, and security for all—for Palestine, Israel, Gaza and Sderot”.
A 17-year-old resident of Sderot told of the stress of living under the threat of the Kassam rockets and expressed her thoughts, “I don’t trust either my government or Hamas to bring peace; but the fact that we are here together, Arabs, and Jews might be a beginning and it brings me hope.”
As of today, Thursday, the supplies are still housed in a Kibbutz on the southern side of the Gaza wall awaiting clearance by the Israeli authorities. To read more about the demonstration, go to www.aljazeera/eng.net ; click on Middle East; then Israel bars aid convoy to Gaza.
Some background: During the past week and a half, Israel tightened a 7-month blockade of the Gaza Strip preventing supplies from entering the area, claiming it to be a response to the Hamas rocket fire into the community of Sderot in Israeli territory. However, it has been seen by the broader community as collective punishment.
The prevention of basic food, water, baby formula, iodized salt necessary for healthy growth, medical equipment, and fuel has put the innocent majority of the 1.5 million Palestinian residents at risk. As well, Gazans desperately in need of cancer treatment have been prevented from leaving Gaza to get to Augusta Victoria Hospital, the only centre in Palestinian territory that has a linear accelerator for radiation treatment. The siege has also made the militants more popular because everyone is being thrown together as victims.
So on Saturday, January 26, a cold drizzly morning, we gathered in West Jerusalem to join up with a convoy coming from various parts of Israel to converge upon the Erez Crossing into Gaza. We drove through heavy rainfall, a blessing for the near drought conditions we’ve been experiencing this fall and winter, only to join the rest of the convoy under clearing skies and slightly warmer temperatures. As one woman expressed, “Rain for the soil and sun for the soul!”
It was a moving experience to be part of more than 1000 people—Israelis, Palestinians, internationals, the young, old, and all ages in between—converging on a meeting spot just outside the Erez Wall. As we followed a truck carrying many of the supplies that we’d brought for the Gazans, people waved flags and shouted slogans to “End the Siege”.
It was shocking to see the huge wall with the ferocious pit bulls and German shepherds guarding it. The Israeli police and military were out in large numbers but it was truly a peaceful demonstration.
Under the same slogan a demonstration was being held by Gazans inside the Strip. Speaking by phone from the Gazan side, the demonstrators were told that “We are joining hands today in the pursuit of peace, justice, and security for all—for Palestine, Israel, Gaza and Sderot”.
A 17-year-old resident of Sderot told of the stress of living under the threat of the Kassam rockets and expressed her thoughts, “I don’t trust either my government or Hamas to bring peace; but the fact that we are here together, Arabs, and Jews might be a beginning and it brings me hope.”
As of today, Thursday, the supplies are still housed in a Kibbutz on the southern side of the Gaza wall awaiting clearance by the Israeli authorities. To read more about the demonstration, go to www.aljazeera/eng.net ; click on Middle East; then Israel bars aid convoy to Gaza.
1 comment:
The break in the wall has been big news over here in Cambodia. Well, we're hearing all about it on the international news media. It is good news to hear in your report that Arabs and Jews are voicing their concerns together.
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