Yet, alas, as we were all gathered strong-willed and united in Cairo, the Egyptian government made the decision to ban our Free Gaza mission. Mubarak declined to grant us the permission to enter Gaza through the Rafah border-crossing, banned all bus companies from taking us there and denied us all rights to assemble in Egypt in groups larger than six people, giving the Egyptian police straight orders of surveillance. It was clear that Egypt was terrified of the scope of the Gaza Freedom March project as it had turned out, and could not risk letting 1400 international civil disobedients pose a threat to their national security. Instead Mubarak nobly offered us to remain in his capital to do tourism and discover the wonders of the pyramids, the Sphinx, and the mystery of the missing Rosetta stone in the Egyptian museum.
Disillusion, drama, tension, claustrophobia, anger, frustration, desperation. The atmosphere was heated at the reception of the news that we were all stuck in police-state Cairo. Our unified solidarity with the Gazans was firm and non-negotiable. Yet that was the only way in which our unity remained, and as soon as the bad news spread the 1400 scattered into volatile disunity, chaos and emotional anarchy. Alas, had we all stayed united in Cairo fighting for our cause together with one voice, maybe things would have turned out differently. ALL possible methods were taken by the respective delegations of activists to carry out the planned “breaking of the siege”. Some started making their own way to El-Arish and the Raffah border, either by bus/train or taxi, only to either be stopped halfway, put under hotel arrest or deported back to Cairo by Egyptian police escorts. Back in Cairo, all our attempts at peaceful protests were infiltrated by egyptian police; demonstration in front of respective national embassies, candle-light vigil by the Nile River, peace camp in front of UN World Trade Centre were barricaded, occupied, besieged, violated and broken up. Hunger strikes started beginning with Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein.
Some even took innovative methods out of desperation by starting negotiations with the director of the Egyptian Museum. Could there be a potential link between the re-launch of the campaing to return the Rosetta stone from the British Museum in London to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Egyptian involvement in the siege of Gaza? Children of Egypt are denied their right to education, as the Rosetta stone is the key to the understanding of Egyptian culture, language and the reading of the hieroglyphs. Children of Gaza are denied their rights to education because of the blockade, deprived of basic school supplies and taking places at universities abroad. Could one violation of the human right to education be removed as a condition for the removal of the other? Is this innovative international negotiation or just artificial bullocks?
Meanwhile the organisers were in constant negotiation with Egyptian government officials. After several attempts, Code Pink played the “we’re women for peace” card, and a compromise was brokered by supposedly feminist Suzanne Mubarak. Only a 100 delegates were allowed into Gaza the next morning. An incredibly unfair deal, that should have been opposed straight away based on false grounds of women’s rights promotion, taking the focus away from the humanitarian issue we came to fight for – the siege of Gaza. Yet, the Code Pink organizers gave in, perhaps worried of losing face by letting their mission fail entirely. They gave the 1400 people crowd only a few minutes to chose their delegates, there was no transparent consultation, and the final election procedure couldn’t have been more top-down and undemocratic. The disunity of the crowd became even more remarked. Several delegations boycotted the deal with the strong message “NO ONE to Gaza or EVERYONE”. It’s was a matter of pure Realpolitik. Yet the final Schindler’s Apartheid list of the ‘chosen few’ was made, and Kat and I were on it by pure luck.
The departure at the bus station the morning after was an emotional turbulence. Cope Pink announced they would no longer take any responsibility of people’s individual decisions to get on the busses or not. This turned it all into an anarchy of self-interest. People were going on and off the busses. People standing by the busses screaming “traitors” at the people on the busses. Palestinians crying because they simply wished to go to reunite with their families in Gaza. The initial notion of the altruistic noble aim to break the siege for the people of Gaza was nowhere to be seen.
Kat could not cope with it all no longer, she could not go under such circumstances. As we had sworn not to separate, no matter what, finally deciding to go on the bus to Gaza without her was one of the toughest decision I have ever made. However, my decision was driven by the fact that now the deal was sealed, the busses were there, Palestinians in Gaza were expecting us. Did no one get on those busses, there would be no Freedom March. Within this reality, there was no space for “no one or everyone” egalitarian doctrines or democratic principles. It was no longer relevant discussing the means by which we were going to break the siege of Gaza, the fact was that it needed to be done. Even if only a small step towards breaking the siege would be made by a small minority of us, unable to represent the strong commitments and contributions of everyone. In this context, a few people going was crucial and better than no one. Thus, we couldn't let the busses leave without at least one of us being on it to go to Gaza, so Kat decided to stay and I to go.
The final ‘Gaza delegation’ was full of inspiring people of all kinds. Fareed Bitar, a palestinian phychotherapist musician who especially works with traumatised kids, Pete a british psychotherapist working at the Palestinian Trauma Centre, a woman working at Orphanage in Gaza, two people from UK Amnesty International working at Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 5 anti-zionist Rabbis, a venezuelan film-producer making a documentary on 'ressistance and oppression' for a venezuelanb TV station, photographers, journalists, palestinians coming to reunite with their families, and many many more.
I cannot describe how incredible it felt driven straight past a wide open border. It almost all seemed too easy, “too good to be true” as Walden Bello noted. The two busses of only 100 people passing the Raffah border was no way near breaking of the siege, however it was indeed a step towards opening the borders of Gaza to the rest of the world.
We received an incredibly warm welcome by Hamas. They treated us as their guests of honour served us an extravagant dinner and lodged us into the most luxurious 5 star hotel I’ve ever stayed in in my life. I was in a huge moral dilemma. This was not the kind of Gaza I had expected to see having read about the misery of life under occupation and oppression. Despite being grateful for Hamas’ overwhelming hospitality, trying to make our stay in their land as comfortable as possible, it felt wrong. I could not sleep in my princess hotel bed that night in the hotel suite I shared with Nancy from Lebanon, and I could not take a warm shower in the hotel bathroom the next morning. I smelled of “humanitarian disaster tourism”, and I did not sign up for that.
Day 1:
Today was the Gaza Freedom March, where we crossed the Eretz border together with thousands of Palestinians. The atmosphere at the march was the most empowering and europhoric I've ever experienced. Peace marchers of all backgrounds, all countries, all religions, all ages marching together chanting, singing and playing music with one single humanitarian goal in common: a free gaza and an end of the siege. We marched together internationals and palestinians all the way the border with Israel, when we reached the border the palestinian marchers stopped, but the international code pink delegates continued across the border another 1-200 meters where we sat down withour banners peacefully singing "We shall overcome.. because deep in our hearts, we do believe, that Gaza will be free someday". At the front were the 5 Rabbis, functioning as human shield. Hamas Minister of Social Affairs made a speech higlighting this symbolic border-crossing as a unique historical moment. Suddenly we heard Israeli warning shootings in the distance, and we all hurried back to the busses.
Sadly, however, because the march had been organised by Hamas, all NGOs in Gaza boycotted the march. Notably, the march was clearly male-dominated as all Palestinian women's organisations were prohibited from taking part, which made the march far less powerful than intended. In the very back of the march a bus full of women were following us. We were a group of international women trying to negotiate with Hamas to let them join. Finally they were allowed to march with us with pink banners saying: "Women say Free Gaza." A touching moment. Many people felt the march had been hijacked by Hamas, however I felt this was a arrogant western type of argument. As the democratically elected government, we had the duty to respect Hamas and their hospitality whilst on their territory, namely by focusing on our one common denominator: breaking the siege and fighting for a free Gaza. All other cultural clashes could not fit appropriately into this scenario, even though the female oppression was impossible to turn a blind eye to.
After the march, Hamas took us on a tour around the endless areas of devastation in Gaza. Walking through Gaza City you pass one destroyed building after another, making it seem sick and inhumane that the Goldstone Report has not been implemented when the evidences of israeli war crimes are right in front of you everywhere in there. 5356 palestinian homes were either completely or partially destroyed during Operation Cast Lead last December, and standing inside one of them earlier today the plight went straight to my heart, and could not help bursting into tears. The most ironic sight was the remaining ruins of the International American School; funded by US governement, bombed by US-funded Israeli war crimes and now being cleaned up and rebuild by Caterpillar.
In the evening we celebrated the end of 2009, a tragic year for Gaza, and hoped for a brighter future in 2010. I definitely had the New Years party of my life dancing carelessly with palestinians in a parc in Gaza with performance of the underground palestinian ressitance hiphip band Darg Team: http://www.myspace.com/damcz. Had the 100 of us not gotten on the busses to Gaza, this party organised by Hamas would never have taken place. As our friend Ahmed put it, "you know we normally never have any reason to party and celebrate New Year’s Eve like this in Gaza, but now that you are here are just so happy because we know that you support us." Everyone, kids, young and old, were dancing, singing and laughing perhaps for a moment forgetting about their daily life under blockade. That evening definitely made going all worth it. I cannot imagine how dissapointed people at the party would have been had none of us made it there.
Day 2:
Hamas had arranged a football match for us; CodePink versus Hamas. The most surreal experience ever. Yet, my initial positive view of them quickly changed as they 'politely' came up to us female delegates and said " no women on the pitch please, it would be embarrasing for us to play against you". Moreover, meeting up with a women's NGO later this evening, who told me about how Hamas has banned their free operation, closed down their offices, forbidden "lessons about warnings of early marriage" in girl schools in Gaza and introduced hijabs for all school girls, and indirectly increased the amount of domestic violence and multiple-wife marriages, only made me feel more skeptical.
I visited a palestinian family, a big house full of children. I felt so welcome in their house and their hospitality seemed so warm and genuine. They made me the biggest feat of a meal ever and almost ended up giving me more gifts that I had brought for them. Sadly, many of their stories were tragic and heart-rendering, talking about how the war last december affected them, how depended they are on getting things in through the tunnels, how worried they are about the egyptian iron wall. While I was there the electricity went off, as it does for some palestinian homes 4 days a week. The father of the family explained that most palestinian families have at least 5 children, as they know at least 2 out of them will die early. He said that the only games his children ever played were war games of palestinians versus israelis shooting with toy guns and throwing with stones."My kids are not militant terrorists as many newspapers write, they are simply the product of what the Israeli occupation has made them".... He explained that most kids in Gaza are deeply traumatised. Pete, a social therapist from the UK offered me to stay in Gaza a few days longer to assist him at a center working with traumatised kids in Gaza, the same center that Kat and I have decided to donate the money you all helped us raise to. I believe the work they do is some of the most important humanitarian work for the palestinians in post-war Gaza. please read more about the center on their website:http://www.ptcgaza.com/
I don't think I've ever met more ambitious and motivated students than the students from the Islamic University of Gaza. They all had big plans for their futures and were desperate to stay up all night to have long intense intellectual debates with all of us. Ahmed for one, dreams of becoming a Doctor in the UK one day. A bunch of students, including Ahmed Elraai grabbed hold of me and we sat down to talk about setting up a buddy-scheme with students from Warwick and to try to negotiate with our university to grant scholarships and admissions letters to students in Gaza to come study in Warwick. I believe any university in the world would benefit MASSIVELY from allowing them out of Gaza and into their education system - they would make the most out of it, unlike any other student.
The Palestinian people went beyond all my expectations. They are so alive, warm people full of energy, hope and friendliness despite the tragic conditions under which they live. If only they had the right and opportunity to travel the world so that everyone would get the chance to meet the palestinians, I am convinced the world would be a better place. All the palestinians I met both young and older were bright, open-minded, reflective and politicised people with opinions about every single issue in any part of the world. When I told people I was from Denmark, many people told me they really appreciated my support despite the negative view's of my country's islamophobic foreign policy, as was seen during the cartoon crisis. During several visits around Gaza, I managed to convince several palestinians to shake hands and make peace with the 5 rabbis in our delegation, which they to my pleasant surprise had no difficulty with - "The Jews are our brothers, it is the Israeli government that is our enemy", as they righlty clarified. They were full of ambitions and aims they wanted to achieve and believed they could achieve if they fought hard enough for it. I believe one (inofficial) reason for the Israeli siege of Gaza is the Israel's fear of the potential powerfulness of the palestinian people.
By far the majority of all fruit and vegetables (with the exception of amazingly tasty gazan strawberries), as well IT hardware, kitchenware, furniture and many other essential living goods are brought in to the people of gaza through the tunnels. The family i visited pointed out which of their belongings were tunnel goods which ended up being almost everything, such as their one refrigerator. This great dependance on tunnel transportation of fundamental goods needed for decent living standards only makes the building of an egyptian "iron wall" even more disastrous, and many of the palestinians I talked to were very scared of how this would impact their lives, suddenly only having access to an even more limited amount of food, medicine, as well as educational supplies. When talking to egyptians in Cairo, they all explained the building of the wall as a necessary response to the national security threat the Israeli siege of gaza poses on Egypt, by trapping the palestinians in Gaza and indirectly causing a major outflux of palestinians through the tunnels and into egypt. However, whilst some egyptians blamed Israel for this scenario, most claimed that the palestinians themselves are to blame as they were the ones who democratically elected Hamas into power, and because it is Hamas so-perceived "Islamic project" that the Israeli siege is a response to. So it seems like a never-ending ping-pong of accusations and denying responsibility between Israel and Egypt, with the palestinians as the victims.
Alas, just as i had installed myself in the palestinian trauma centre, ready to stay there for the following weak to help Pete with his work their with the children, whilst waiting for Nora and Fred to arrive with Viva Palestina, Hamas gave us all orders to return to Egypt immediately. They announced that there were rumours of the launch of another Israeli war on Gaza, and they could not risk letting us stay any longer for our own security. This was the saddest news ever, and even though we tried for several hours negotiating with Hamas their position didn't change. Even a group of Amnesty people from London had been employed to work at the Palestine Center for Human Rights the next 6 months were forced out. I was in tears when saying goodbye to Ahmed and all the other incredible people we met in Gaza. Yet, when we were driving out through the Raffah border again I was determined to return again whenever the opportunity occurs.
Going with the small delegation to Gaza was nowhere near a humanitarian act of heroism, and it could essentially have been one by anyone. Contrarily what we did by going to Gaza was simply our obligation to show the Palestinian people our solidarity, respect and willingness to help them fulfill their dreams.
After the return from Gaza, my anger towards Israeli war crimes and occupation could not be stronger. However, I was still determined to obtain a balanced view by making my way up to Israel with a group of fellow activists. Yet we were met by a brutal rejection at the Iraeli border by Taba. They kept us in the border control office for 13 hours, from 5am to 6pm. We were strip-searched, and our bags were emptied at least 20 times by 20 different Israeli border control staff - they carelessly spread our stuff all over the place, which meant that we lost several personal belongings, in my case that meant my only credit card. We were interrogated a million times, with questions such as ' are you a member of any left-wing groups' , 'are you jewish or have any jewish family?', 'what do you think is great about our country and why do you wanna visit it?', and of course they asked a thousand questions about why we were in Gaza, which they referred to as 'the southern part of Israel'. When I tried explaining them about the trauma centre they looked at me all puzzled and asked why there was a need for a trauma centre, "Miss, do you believe there is any TRAUMA in Israel!?". It was all kicked off when they found the "Palestine Guidebook" in my bag, after which the israeli staff searching through my bag gave me a cold look asking loudly "Excuse Miss, WHAT IS PALESTINE!? I have never heard of such a thing". During the final interview they took us all into a small room individually. When my friend was in there we suddenly heard loud screams, and stormed to the door together with other tourists waiting in the hall to try to get him out. But we were quickly grabbed by some of the military staff there, who dragged us out of the building outside to the egyptian side of the border with big red "DENIED ENTRY INTO ISRAEL' stamps in our passports. "you will NEVER come back to our country' they said as they left us. Later when our friend joined us at the Egyptian border control, he told us the Israelis had punched him in his face 3 times and hand-cuffed him when he asked them why Gaza and the West Bank weren't on the map of Israel/Palestine in their office.
All in all this trip has been one big ressistance struggle against one oppressive police-state government after another. Experiencing Middle Easter Conflict surrounding the Siege of Gaza up front, with key players such as Egypt, Israel and Hamas. The irony of it all it though, that the one government that gets the worst labels in western media, Hamas, where in the end the ones that treated us by far the best. I definitely believe that the "terrorist" image they have in the international community needs to be changed and world leaders need to cooperate more closely with them instead labeling as extremists. Talking to several palestinians it has become more and more clear to me how much good they have done to help the palestinians of Gaza, and if the international community want to do the same they essentially need to work more closely with Hamas. Thus, I believe the dilemma is how to push the international community to collaborate further with Hamas, rather than regarding their "Islamic project" as national security threats (namely Egypt and Israel), whilst being concerned about Hamas' violations of women's rights in Gaza. Alas, I had wished CodePink as a women's organisation would have made a bigger political statement out of that whilst we were living under Hamas' wings in Gaza. In Gaza I met people who were strongly for and strongly against Hamas' political rule, yet no one mentioned what's perceived internationally as their dangerous "islamic project", but contrarily even those against Hamas liked their strong political connection with Islam, which is something many palestinians use to generate hope in a truly hopeless situation. The divide is approx 60 % for, 40% against, and the head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (www.pchrgaza.com) argued that it is precisely this interna disunity which makes it even more difficult for the palestinians in Gaza to receive internatinal support for their cause.
Peace in the Middle East. Free Gaza.
Marie
