Two Australians join Gaza protest at Erez border crossing

This is a media release we sent to Australian media today:

While a group of 40 Israelis and internationals waited at the Erez border crossing with a playground and toys for the traumatised children of Gaza, 300 Palestinians come together on the other side to demand an end to the siege and occupation.

The mostly US and Israeli delegation, organised by the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace and international peace organisation CodePink, has been trying to enter Gaza from Israel for three days and each time have been refused access by the Israeli government. They will move next to protest in Tel Aviv at the US Embassy and the Israeli Ministry of Defence.

Inside Gaza, Australian women Emma King and Jessie Boylan joined a few other internationals and about 300 Palestinians to support the delegation and protest the ongoing siege and occupation of Palestine. The demonstration was organised by the Palestinian NGO network (PNGO). King and Boylan entered Gaza with one of 4 recent Codepink delegations through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

King spoke to the crowd to convey messages of solidarity and support from Israel, CodePink and Australia.

“People around the world are watching what is happening in Gaza and know that the siege and occupation are illegal under international law,” Ms King said.

“People in Israel are on the other side of the border right now, demanding an end to the siege. Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and freedom to decide for yourselves how you will live.”

Other speakers from PNGO spoke about the importance of Palestinian people working together to build peace and democracy, as well as about international solidarity and support.

The crowd included members of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, Union of Palestinan Workers, womens rights groups and the Union of Disabled Palestinians.

Chants expressed the desire for Hamas and Fatah to come together to make peace, and “no more siege, no more blood”, “bring back one Palestinian people and one community”.

One of the banners read “all the sick people are screaming, all the students are screaming, all the Palestinian workers ask all the people of the world to break the siege”. (Many people need to be able to leave Gaza for medical treatment and to study).

Emma King
Ph: +972 598336288
blog: glimpsesofgaza.wordpress.com
see also www.codepink4peace.org and www.pngo.net

Emma King speaking at the rally on June 9

Members of PNGO led the march

days merge… learning, thinking, crying

I sat on a bank of dirt beside a makeshift football field in the middle of a farming area, having escaped from the group for a few minutes of solitude. We were about 1km from the eastern border and I looked to the west from my perch and saw the ocean.

For just a moment, I could feel the prison walls, a glimpse of what it must feel like to live on this tiny piece of land beside the Mediterranean, filled with 1.5 million other people, and not be able to leave.

We take our ability, our right, to travel as I am doing now, for granted in Australia – as we should.

'the right of return'

Article 13 of the International Declaration of Human Rights reads: “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

The restriction of people’s movement in and out of Gaza is just one example of how the siege and occupation breaches international law. I visited the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights with a group of delegates on Monday and heard a bit about their work. I went there again today by myself and talked to them about doing a research project for them – and coming back to Gaza to do an internship next year.

It is so clear and unequivocal that what is happening here is wrong – and is it also clear and unequivocal that the rule of law is not being applied here. And we have heard many times that the people of Gaza are losing hope in the ability and desire of the international community to enforce international law. It feels strange to be talking about the rule of law and its enforcement – so many times in my activist work in Australia I have ignored the rule of law – trespass, property damage, obstructing traffic, loitering – in pursuit of peace, environmental protection, social justice.

But in this context, when the rule of law should protect such fundamental rights as self-determination, freedom of movement, the right to farm or fish without being shot at, freedom from arbitrary detention, upholding the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war – the list goes on, the rules of international law must be upheld and defended to protect the people of Gaza.

american international school, gaza

We heard from the International Solidarity Movement the other night – they are an amazing group of people who put their lives on the line to accompany, bear witness and perhaps help to protect farmers and fishers who regularly come under fire from the Israeli Defence forces (IDF). We could hear fishermen being fired on last night from the hotel. Why do they do this?… I can only come up with intimidation and control as an answer to that.

The 1994 Oslo Accords contain an agreement that Palestinians are free to fish up to 12 miles from the Gazan coast. Over time this has been slowly reduced to the current 3 mile limit – not an official limit, but one that has been communicated with gunfire. There have been cases of the Israeli navy coming in as close as 30 metres and seizing boats and their crew.

Under International Law a country’s territorial waters extend 12 miles from the coastline, and the exclusive economic zone extends 200 miles. Restricting Gazan fishers to only 3 and often less is a breach of the Law of the Sea. However, Israel is not a signatory to the Treaty which codifies these laws.

Restricting the fishers to this small strip of ocean means the area, which includes fish spawning grounds, is being overfished. It is also too small an area to sustain environmentally or financially viable fishing, and much of the fish in the area, for example the annual sardine migration (yes really!) passes the coast much further out to sea. We heard that during the 3 weeks or so the sardines are running Israel cracks down on the fishers, keeping them close to shore.

And then there’s farming in the border areas. Israel did a leaflet drop only 10 days or so ago telling Gazans that if they come within 300m of the border they may be shot. Much of the border areas are fertile agricultural land, and people continue to farm there to provide food for the community and also in restance against Israeli threats. Two farmers and a child have been killed and 15 injured in the border areas since the assault by Israel ended in January. Two 17 year olds have been injured while we have been here.

http://fishingunderfire.blogspot.com

http://farmingunderfire.blogspot.com

I will post this now. There is so much more to write, and now I will be in Gaza for a few more days to learn more. And I will write more.

Emma

abed rabbu area, east jabaliya

first glimpses

Its hard to put words together so fast – but here are some, these really are just glimpses of gaza..

I start talking to her amidst the chaos of 40 ppl being assigned to a dozen or so young Gazan’s for homestay over the coming days. “Hi” “Hi” “I like your style, i hope you’re with me”. I’m flattered, thinking my fezza hair – self-chopped in the bathroom mirror a few days ago – would be ridiculous by Gazan standards. But its only the start of preconceptions slowly shifting into seeing pieces Gaza’s reality. We are in luck, and a few minutes later my 17-yr-old host is shouting arguments at our groups Hamas security entourage at the hotel gates. Stunned, gaping jaw, i look on.

In the taxi she tells us, kind of ashamed, that they have a problem with the electricity at her house – its been cut since the attacks and they rely on a generator which is sometimes unreliable. We reassure her that its fine, taken aback that she is explaining this out of concern for us. As we arrive at her apartment block she points to the empty block on the other side of the (dirt)rd, directly opposite her building, “it was destroyed in the last war”. Peering in the dark i notice the concrete remnants. Her house is nice, normal, if it had a yard and wasnt on the 8th floor it could well be the inside of small Australian suburban home. Except that all the windows on one side of the house are missing, patched up with garbage bags.

Her family are ridiculously lovely, almost like in the brady bunch. The siblings – a funny one, a shy one, a smart one, and a helpful one. Her mum smiles and laughs at the funny one and our miscommunications, and won’t hear of us going without second dinners. Her father – perhaps a little shocked that we actually showed up – is warm, friendly and clearly excited to have foreigners to talk his perfect english to. He first explains the windows – they have the money to fix them but theres no glass in Gaza to do it with. He is a surgeon, used to work in Jerusalem, but originally from Gaza. Their family has land here – grape vines, olive trees, chickens, tomatoes, he says he’ll bring eggs for us tomorrow. I double-take realising, and commenting that these will be the first free-range eggs i eat in the middle east. I smile, he says they always taste better than eggs from a cage. “Happy chickens” i say, he laughs. Then, naively, the question i need to confirm – can they leave? “mm, if you get permission from Egypt or Israel, have the right papers and a passport, a medical certificate and evidence of the appointment, maybe you can go” Like the question of leaving Gaza for any reason other than medical necessity is irrelevant, doesn’t even enter the realm of possibility. Naively – “what about to visit family in the West Bank?” “No way! No way. Look – my wife had an appointment with an egyptian doctor, a specialist, she tried for 4 days to leave, everyday she went, and eventually she succeeded, she went but it took 4 tries”.

In the morning i look out the window over the stunning Gazan coast line, yellow sand and blue sea, scattered with medium-size apartment blocks amidst unbelievably productive urban farms – rows of olives, vegetables, shade-houses, chickens. It gives me so much hope. And thats something i never expected to wake up to in Gaza. This city-sprawl has so much potential.

We visit Northern Gaza – the areas most devastated by the attacks. A faint smell of burning rubber, later explained as the explosive residue, a donkey and its calf taking cover in the rubble of a flattened international school, a mangled plastic slide, english and math exercises blowing in the wind, wrought iron and electricity wires dangle loose from smashed up concrete barely recognisable as the remains of walls. I think – maybe i sat next to the guy who flew the plane and pulled the trigger on my way to work in January, drank beer next to the officer who ordered it, ate hummus with the intelligence guy that made the decision to destroy it. A flood of memories from life in Tel Aviv during the attacks comes back, flashing against the reality before me, the sunny afternoons at streetside cafes, drinking fresh-squeezed orange juice, evenings tipsy by the beach, the jam-packed trains carrying soldiers to and fro. And i see this street how it was then, dust blowing, plane screaming, people running, nowhere to go, earth shaking, building falling.

I snap back and approach the group crowding around the school’s principle “.. absolute lie that the school was ever used for rockets, its completely ridiculous. We teach openness, free expression, the American curriculum the same as you, absolutely unbelievable that it was targeted. I think the reason is that the Israelis want to maintain the image of Palestinians as the militant holding a machine-gun. We have students who study at Harvard, at other US universities. This doesn’t please the Israelis, they want to maintain that image and fear of Palestinians… We haven’t yet received a single dollar, not from the government in Gaza, not from the government in Ramallah, not from USAID… It was intentional not a mistake. The Israeli’s didn’t deny that they bombed it – they said it was targeted because weapons were stored there and rockets launched from there. The $10 million question is why they bombed the school. Its completely insane. This question you should ask the Israelis.”

A family living in the bombed out ruins of their former home offer us tea off their 44 gallon drum fire. It feels ridiculous taking anything from these people who have lost everything. Even the tent city that rose out of the rubble here has succumb to the 3-month continuation of the blockade, now just remnants – wisps of material, barely standing, slowly drowning in the sands of Gaza. And yet, still, nothing has been rebuilt.

We visit a Palestinian Medical Relief Society rehabilitation centre. A father talks with us, his 2 sons on either side, one holds crutches. The father tells that he lost his house and 2 of his four sons in the attacks, the two by side were badly injured. The boy holding the crutches, about 12, gets up – only then do i notice that he’s missing a leg. His brother, maybe 8, rolls up his pants and shows a shrapnel wound gouging a deep hole in his upper thigh. The wounds are healing. But the kids faces tell otherwise. They try to smile at us, we try to smile at them, hoping to give support, solidarity, hoping to give strength and not sympathy.

danya

Day 3 – North Gaza

Reflecting on yesterday, my mind fills with a multitude of images and sounds and stories… Children singing, an Israeli tank kicking up dust in the distance, frustration with bureaucracy, flowers in an alley, free Gaza graffiti, destroyed homes, women’s tears, smiles and anger…

I’m writing this from the Marna House Hotel – I decided to move from my homestay to be with more of the delegation and be able to access the internet easier – they have wireless here!! Its becoming an addiction since I have been away! And it is so good to start the day with such lovely messages of support and solidarity from home, to chat with my sister-in-law on facebook about my family, and email my neighbour in Darwin about weed control on my block! It helps to make what I am doing here more real somehow, to feel the connections between this place and home, that we are all living our lives as best we can…

Visiting organisations yesterday, meeting people and going to Jabaliya near the border to see some of the destuction from recent the Israeli assaults gave me some idea though of just how difficult it is to just live a life here.

The group I was with visited five organisations focussed on women and children, with a range of programs from childcare to craft to education to support groups. I can’t begin to describe everything we did and saw – I will just write some glimpses…

A few of the places we visited had classes of primary school children who sang for us. We joined in where we could – causing much amusement when we tried to copy the actions which went with some of the songs. At one of the centres one of our Palestinian support crew translated a song – ‘If I get killed by an Israeli bullet I will go to heaven, it is not worth being a child if we can’t live in Palestine’.

babies in childcare at one of the centres we visited

One of the women’s program centres in Gaza had what we would describe as a women’s support group meeting when we were there. They had a lawyer with them yesterday giving information about divorce law, which apparently is quite good legally, but there is still a lot of cultural barriers to things like custody and property settlements. The women talked to us about the problems the blockade has caused for their families, with no work for their husbands, financial stress and frustration.

Another group of women talked about their children, one woman saying her son had finished school with high grades, but they couldn’t afford for him to go on with his education – even the cost of getting him to school was too much, let alone the tuition fees – and there is no work here, so he is getting depressed and bored and frustrated.

Another group talked about their family members in prison in Israel. Its been over two years since they have been able to go to Israel to visit them. We were told of a man who was imprisoned 16 years ago when his wife was pregnant – his 16 year old son was killed by Israel in January without ever having met his father.

Everywhere we went, women said ‘we just want peace and to be able to live our lives with freedom and justice’. One of the delegation asked a group if they would like to see Hamas and Fatah working together. When the question was translated, there was a general outcry which even without translation was obviously ‘of course!!!”. These women said they want Palestine to be a united and peaceful country that is left alone by Israel.

We also visited one of the most devastated areas, Jabaliya near the northern border. This was really sad and confronting for me, bringing tears and anger. Everywhere we had been driving, we had seen destroyed and damaged buildings, but this area had been wiped out by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in the recent attacks, and we heard many stories of injuries and deaths. The area had been occupied by the IDF before it was destroyed.

a family's tent set up beside the ruins of their house in Jabaliya

One story was of a man who was called out of his house by the IDF and brought his daughters out with him as he had been asked to do previously. They were shot – two of them died and the third is still recovering from her injuries.

We met a woman who had gone into labour on January 12 during an Israeli attack. It was hard for them to get an ambulance and she eventually gave birth in the ambulance on the way to hospital. They said ‘as long as one Palestinian woman gives birth, we will lot leave our land – women are the strength of Palestine’.

There were quite a few tents and makeshift homes among the rubble – most people slept elsewhere with families or in rented houses and came back during the day to begin the backbreaking task of clearing the rubble without machinery – using sledgehammers and hands instead. And amongst the rubble people are planting gardens and crops again.

these men were beginning to dismantle a destroyed warehouse

As we walked around the devestated areas we saw a cloud of dust in the distance – and Israeli tank patrolling the border.

the dust in the distance marks the passage of an Israeli tank

——————————–

I wanted to upload this before we headed off for the day but there is so much to say – I will finish yesterday and post it before I start on today…

The three groups we had split in to for the day gathered again at the Rehabilitation Centre for the Visually Impaired where artisans had gathered to sell weaving and embroidery to us. There was also food for sale which was a refief as we hadn’t eaten all day. Jess, Danya and I sat in the shade of a tent to eat and some women came and sat with us and one painted henna flowers onto my hand. She was going to put it on the back of my hand but it has too much hair. I never thought of myself as particularly hairy, but they asked me if I wanted to get my hands and arms waxed!! I said ‘la, la, kwiesa’ (no, no, its good) and then showed them my much hairier legs. The reaction was hilarious – she recoiled in shock and they all laughed!! I’m not sure if they understood the feminist statement implied in having hairy legs!!

Our last official meeting for the day was with members of the Parliament. I must admit that at the end of a long day I didn’t take much in. And it was pollie-speak pretty much. I will try to listen to the recording I made and write more of it another time.

We returned to the Marna House Hotel where I sorted out a bed and then met with Amer whose flat I had slept in the night before to go back to his place to pick up my bag. Sounds simple but the Hamas security men have been reluctant to let any of us go anywhere without an escort or official permission from …??? It took a good half hour of negotiation before we managed to get away. The security here has been intrusive, making it hard for people to leave the group to spend time with locals. Apparently the head of UNWRA John Ging likes Codepink too much and has asked them to take good care of us – which they are interpreting as a need to shadow us everywhere… Perhaps that is the reason anyway.

It was finally sorted out however, and I spent time processing my photos and writing and talking and was happy to find my bed about midnight…

Right now the strongest feeling I have is that the people here need to feel that they are not forgotten. All the reading and talking I had done before we got here did not come anywhere near giving me the understanding of life here for ordinary Palestinians.

More soon from today.

Emma

ps: I was also still trying to help get Mai and Nadia in with help from Gael from CodePink. But not luck. They have gone back to Alexandria.

(photos by Emma)

Day 2 : Al Arish to Gaza City

egyptian police, rafah

Al Arish to the border

Well I’m writing now from inside the Border checkpoint, we’re waiting for our passports to be stamped with exit stamps so we can move across the the Gaza entry station…

We left Al-Arish about 1½ hours later than expected, apparently a delay on the bus company’s part and made it to the Rafah border crossing without incident – the police escort and the fact that National Security had been notified and approved our passage meant the three mini-buses swept through the 6 or so checkpoints on the 45km trip without being stopped.

We expected some delay before we are allowed to enter the border checkpoint, and all piled out of the buses, got some banners out – “open the Gaza border” – ready for an hour or two of waiting. Amazingly, thanks to the hard work of the CodePink organisers and the other delegations who went in earlier this week and ‘cleared the path’ for us, we were told almost immediately that we could go in – and our Egyptian comrades seemed to be included after their passports were looked at on the bus and we moved off towards the gate.

However, at the gate they were again asked for their passports and told to leave the bus. Our bus was set to move through, but we were not willing to leave Mai and Nadia without trying harder to get them in, so while the other two buses went through, ours with 20 delegates stayed behind to see if we could get them in with us.

The wonderful Ann Wright, one of the delegation organisers and an ex US army colonel, worked with them to try to sort out the problem – CodePink had provided Mai and Nadia’s names along with the rest of ours to the Palestinian Relations section of Foreign Affairs some time ago so that they could pre-check the names and send them to Egyptian security to help facilitate our passage.

problems at the border – thanks to the siege

It seems that Mai and Nadia were not included in the list approved by security. They are going to try again tomorrow with phone and email support from CodePink but it seems that generally, Egypt is reluctant to allow its citizens to enter Gaza – or rather reluctant to let them out at the Rafah border crossing. We speculated about the reasons for this – fear of facilitating support for internal insurgents – or fear of letting their citizens know too much about what is happening in Gaza and Egypt’s role in this?

Border to Gaza City
(We were moved unexpectedly fast through the checkpoints so I am writing again from Gaza City where we will stay while we are here.)

There was much concern about the difficult decision to leave Mai and Nadia at the border. We were in mobile contact until we entered Gaza, and they stayed at the border for some time contacting people in the Egyptian government and other people who might be able to help them get in. I thought about going out to support them and see if having an international with them would help, but they were adamant that no one come out and jeopardise our learning about and work for Gaza. Last contact until I get a Palestinian sim card in the morning was that they were going back to Al Arish and would try again tomorrow.

Gael Murphy in front of media at the border

Despite this setback, it was a revelation to arrive in Gaza, greeted by media, and cheers and smiles from the border staff and security, with reciprocal cheers, chants and smiles from us. We were also greeted by the fiancee of one of the delegates – they have been communicating for 8 years via the internet and were meeting for the first time, and planning to get married in the few days she is in Gaza. The mood of the delegation lifted from the difficult decision of leaving Mai and Nadia behind, and there were many expressions of amazement and emotion that we had reached Gaza, and were going to see and hear and feel the reality of the place we had all been thinking about so much.

wall in gaza border

We boarded buses and again had an official escort – this time the UN rather than police – to Khan Younis Training Centre (KYTC) for our official welcome and briefing. Driving through Gaza felt surreal, buildings with bullet holes and some destroyed completely, amidst what felt like a normal and peaceful community. Almost every inch of land was being used, with crops and fruit trees growing between the houses in the more rural areas. It is hard to imagine that this small stretch of land is home to 1.5 million people.

The reception at KYTC was wonderful, with students from the Centre, UN staff and security all greeting us so warmly. The head of UNWRA (the UN Works and Relief Agency which works with Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan) John Ging was there and welcomed us. He spoke circumspectly about the situation in Gaza, condemning the ‘misinformation’ the global media spreads about Gaza and the people here and talked of the need for action rather than words to alleviate the suffering of the Gazan people. He said that the blockade is starting to erode people’s hope, and belief in justice and the rule of law and moving people towards seeing violence as a last resort solution. It is undermining the possibility of finding a just and lasting peace in the region as well as having direct effects on people’s ability to begin to rebuild their homes and communities after the recent assault by Israel.

john ging dancing dabka

The people we have met here just in this one afternoon have been so welcoming and happy that we have come to see and learn and help to get their stories out. The reception at KYTC saw tables full of CodePink delegates and locals talking, laughing, sharing stories and support. I talked with two nursing students who said they hope to be able to travel and see the world – under the blockade an impossible dream – and expressed wonder that so many of us had chosen to come to Gaza to see and learn for ourselves.

And then the music started and the security people, kitchen staff, UN staff, KYTC staff and students and CodePink delegates danced together, many of the CodePinkers showing much lack of coordination!!

We headed off from there just before sunset, arriving at the Commodore Hotel to be organised into accommodation. After much chaos, I ended up in a homestay with a few others in an apartment just across the road. The place is the almost empty batchlor pad of a 20 year old student – I may move to a hotel tomorrow…?
I look forward to seeing more of this place and meeting more of the people. I expect to cry a lot (I do cry easily). And from what I have seen and felt so far, I expect to meet many warm and wonderful people, to laugh and learn and hear stories I will share with as many people as possible.

Send your love and hope to the people here!

Emma

(Hopefully Jessie will add some photos soon!)

day one : cairo to al-arish

egyptian police escorts

We gathered in a carpark in Downtown Cairo – summoned for 8am, by the time we stopped for a coffee on the way we arrived not too late, and by no means last, people continuing to arrive in groups and alone in taxis and on foot. Neverthheless 68 people were ready to go by the planned depature time of 9am. The gathering hour saw some still waking up, some singing, others meeting the group for the first time, or getting to know people they had met at last nights briefing.

It will be interesting to get to know the group better, many stories and passions emerging already from the mainly white Americans. But I figure that the people who will come on a delegation like this are unlikely to be representing the conservative middle America which has allowed/supported their government’s repressive unjust and illegal actions both at home and around the world. (Not that I think Australians are much different, perhaps its just that our country has less power and a smaller population…).

And we are not all from the US. As well the 3 strong Australian contingent, there are 4 Canadians, three Egyptians, and people from Malta, France, Italy, Spain… and others I haven’t tuned into yet.

As we settled into the two buses – and coach and a minibus – passing the first checkpoint we picked up a police escort of three utes, each with armed police sitting in the covered tray. Were they there to protect us from hijack? Or to make sure we didn’t stray from our declared path? Or corrupt Egyptians with bare skin and information….?

Two of the Egyptians in the delegation, Mai and Nadia, are women Jess and I met in Siwa Oasis soon after I arrived in Egypt in mid-April. We had told them about the delegation and they were really keen to join us. It took some work on their parts to organise it but they have made it – and were targeted by the police for extra questioning on our journey today – it is much harder for Egyptians and other Arab nationals to enter Gaza than for Westerners it seems.

Mai getting hassled by Egyptian police

Once we we arrived at Al Arish, the town closest to the border, and had found our rooms at the Mecca Hotel, a group of us headed to the beach, to the Mediterranean, to see about swimming… and were immediately adopted by Sameh and his family who gave us tea and fairy floss and advised that women baring skin to undies and singlet would draw a crowd. Some of us swam fully clothed, others abstained, and Sameh’s sister-in-law Semah lent a pair of long, baggy shorts for jess and danya to take turns in using because they were fussy about getting their pants wet.

al-arish beach

Showers and relaxing back at the hotel – so many of us seem to be exhausted from travel and preparations and talking today – before dinner of fish and rice followed by an inspiring and unprepared talk from Norm Finklestein – I really recommend those of you who haven’t read or heard him look him up and do so – a clear, fact-based, unequivocal and unapologetic overview of the recent Israeli massacre in Gaza and some of the reasons behind it.

flying a kite, al-arish beach

I/we will try to write more tomorrow about this – we expect to have several hours at the border crossing while we are processed and hope to spend this time writing, talking and getting ready for the intensity of the next few days.

Send us positive thoughts for our crossing into Gaza tomorrow – Insh’allah we will post from there tomorrow evening.

Emma

(photos by jess)

1:12am friday 29th of May, Cairo

Danya, Emma and I have just been bargaining for children’s books in the late night Ataba metro book markets; we leave this morning – in 6.5hrs, to Al-Arish, and then to Gaza on the 30th.

We will be posting daily as of tonight…insha’allah.

Salaam,

Jessie.

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