Jordan border crossing 22/12/2009

I was on the phone to Nora yesterday. They are well and at the time of speaking to her, she was sat in the van at the Jordan crossing, waiting to pass. They had been there for a couple of hours and Fred has snuck over to another van to play Playstation.

Apparently Syrians received them extremely well, offering accommodation and providing a great morale boost with their generous and warm welcome. The drive through Syria was calm, but Jordan may pose some troubles.

The only Arab countries to have signed agreements with Israel are Egypt and Jordan. The convoy explicitly implies "no deal with Israel", to which Jordan must react. In a way they are obliged to, as a result of the deal with Israel.

Hours later I stumble across this article, which details the events following my phone conversation with Nora. As predicted, Jordan did cause the convoy some troubles.

As not predicted, however, many Jordanian civilians protested against the Jordanian police's treatment of Viva Palestina, taking to the streets to support the convoy. Eventually the police let Nora, Fred and all other vehicles through.

Now our friends are in Jordan, creeping ever closer to the Gaza border. The Egyptians have released this statement:

"any attempts to violate the law or public order by any group, whether local or foreign, on Egyptian soil will be dealt with in conformity with the law"

Is it a psychological threat? Are the Egyptians standing up to us just like Jordan stood up to the convoy? We do not know.

I wonder in amazement at the sheer force and power that collective agreement or disagreement can have, just look at the people in Jordan. Please support the convoy as much as you can through word of mouth or by writing to your local MP or newspaper. The more support it receives the greater its effect.

Thank you for reading!

Katerina