De Israelische Terreur 1107

Sailing a Liferaft Into Gaza

Tuesday 12 January 2010

by: Pam Rasmussen, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Protesters in Cairo. (Photo: Mashahed's Photos)

As I write this, I am still in Cairo. The Gaza Freedom March is officially over - most delegates flew home January 3-5. There are about 30 of us "die-hard" individuals who have the flexibility to try to wait out the Egyptian government and the dedication/commitment to stay in for the long haul. There are six of us who have planned our lives (at least in the first half of the year) on jobs (paid or voluntary) in Gaza, two journalists/filmmakers, and one whose husband lives there and she hasn't seen him in more than six months. The rest are an eclectic combination of the curious, compassionate, political and adventurous.

The problem is that the Egyptian government is like a "black box." There is no way of knowing what works and what doesn't, or why. There seems to be one type of document that will get you to the border; without it, you'll be stopped at one of the multiple checkpoints between Cairo and Al-Arish (the town just before the border crossing) and sent back. But even that letter won't get you across the border. No one is quite sure what will open that door. And it doesn't help that almost every day there is some report of unrest along the border or in Gaza. The other day it was the shooting of an Egyptian soldier and two Palestinians (casualties of a protest over the delayed arrival of the Viva Palestina convoy) and today it was Israel's bombing attack on the tunnels and other sites.

Gaza Attack

Israeli warplanes carried out a series of raids throughout the Gaza Strip late Thursday night and Friday morning.

I am waiting through a forced period of inactivity (due to three days of government holidays) to hear the status of the application I filed with the Foreign Ministry Sunday night for 12 of us with letters of invitation from NGO's. In addition, I will apply for a press pass. With one or both of those approvals, three of us will head to the border on Monday - hopefully a day when all the hullaballoo has quieted down and the checkpoints have been relaxed.

The unfortunate thing is that as time passes and people with approaching flight reservations get desperate, it becomes increasingly "everyone out for themselves." There is competition for every new little bit of intelligence, and if someone hears of a good route, or a good time, to make it to the border, off they go, without saying a word to anyone else, for fear of too many people coming along and somehow jinxing it. And that brings to mind the dilemma we faced during the march itself.

The situation is rather like the tale about the liferaft. At first, everyone sticks together, with a strong feeling of comradeship and shared purpose - everyone helping each other. But then, once it becomes obvious that not all of you can survive - that one or more must be sacrificed if any are to live (or to achieve their goal), then that team spirit quickly begins to unravel. Should you all prepare to go down with the ship out of solidarity, if that is what is required? If not, how do you choose who is lucky, and who is not?

Lifeboat

This is the dilemma faced by almost every large delegation or convoy that tries to bring aid or moral support into the Gaza Strip. Egypt selectively allows in smaller groups, but any numbers approaching critical mass are stonewalled - and if that doesn't work, riot police. If you still resist after that, they get savvy and try "divide and conquer." And it almost always works.

The Gaza Freedom March is the latest example. Citing reasons that varied from day to day - ranging from security at the border to the mundane "lack of appropriate paperwork" - the Egyptian government announced just days before everyone began leaving home that the 1,300-plus marchers would not be allowed into Gaza. As an added disincentive, consular officials from participants' countries were called in, and during the following days, marchers in Canada, Spain and Portugal were duly notified that they should stay home. When most of the marchers descended on Cairo anyway and began to peacefully protest Egypt's refusal to let them into Gaza, the riot police were brought out. At every location, and every action, the marchers were at first subdued by plainclothes "infiltrators" armed with billy clubs, then surrounded and contained by rows of conscripts.

Egyptian Police

The protests continued nonetheless, and that's when Suzanne Mubarak (wife of the Hosni, the president), made a compromise offer: permission for just 100 of the marchers to cross into Gaza. What followed next is a pitfall that is natural, disastrous and needs to be anticipated (and debated) in advance. Under the pressure of an imposed deadline and fast-changing events on the ground, the offer was rapidly accepted with little consultation with other representatives of the diverse coalition that fed the Gaza Freedom March. When it came time to announce this decision, and to choose the "lucky 100," broad and deep disagreement was instantaneous. Countries ranging from symbolic South Africa to Scotland and Canada declined to appoint any participants at all, and the hard-won unity among the various coalition partners began to disintegrate.

Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/sailing-a-liferaft-into-gaza56004