Help Needed! « Viva Palestina Cork

I know this is long but please read through it and take action!

One day after Christmas and one day before the anniversary of the Israeli assault on Gaza which left over 1,400 people dead we are stranded in the Jordanian port town of Aqaba along with over 500 other people trying to get to Gaza and over 200 vehicles loaded with aid for the people there. We were informed late on Christmas Eve that the Egyptian authorities would not be letting us enter Egypt and have now come up with three unacceptable conditions:

We hand over the vehicles and aid to UNRWA
We must try and find a way to get to the Egyptian port of El Arish on the Mediterranean coast rather than Nuweiba which is 4 hours from us here in Aqaba.
We coordinate with Israel our crossing in to Gaza.

The ambulance, aid and money donated is for the people of Gaza, we intend to deliver it to them. To say we must hand it over to UNRWA proves that despite many protestations to the contrary, Gaza is under siege. The people of Gaza deserve more than to be drip-fed their water, fuel, electricity and medical supplies. They have a right to freedom of movement, dignity and life.

Even if all the convoy members somehow manage to get the money together to pay for the ships needed to bring us through the Suez canal to El Arish adding over 450 nautical miles to our journey and using funds that would otherwise be given to people and organisations in Gaza that need it badly there is no guarantee that no last minute unforeseen circumstances would see the Egyptians changing their minds and refusing us entry again.

To say that we must coordinate with Israel is finally an open admission that it is Israel that controls the borders of Gaza. We will not collaborate with nor ask permission from the occupying power to enter Gaza.

Please contact the Egyptian Embassy, politicians and media as shown below. If you can do only one then contact the Egyptian embassy but it’s easy to contact a lot of politicians at the same time using the website below and media contact is also important especially as tomorrow (the 27th of December) marks the anniversary of the 22 day assault on Gaza – if you don’t think you have the time to contact them or don’t think it will make any difference just remember how you felt when you saw what was happening in Gaza one year ago. Every email you send helps and works!

We are asking you to contact the Egyptian Embassy by email and phone (every day if you can) asking them to assist fully the delivery of aid to Gaza. Don’t let them tell you that the convoy is welcome under their conditions, it is a delaying tactic employed as they know convoy members will have to return home eventually. Below is a draft email, please personalise it, send it on, respond to any replies then contact them again!

Dear Sir / Madam,

I would like to express my hope that you will help the Irish and other citizens who have driven ambulances and other vehicles filled with medical supplies to enter your country and complete the journey to Gaza. The Viva Palestina Aid Convoy has enjoyed the support of all the other countries on their long journey across Europe and the Middle East. The convoy’s objective is to deliver medical items, such as ambulances, bandages and wheelchairs to your brothers and sisters in Gaza. Please let this convoy cross the border in a timely fashion. Please do not redirect or hinder the convoy to make this long journey even more difficult for the hundreds of volunteers on a journey of aid and goodwill.

Regards

Egyptian Embassy in Dublin: +353-1-6606718 / +353-1-6606566 / consular@embegyptireland.ie

Egyptian Embassy in London: 0044-20-7499-3304 / eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg / consulate.london@mfa.gov.eg

That you contact your local politicians asking them to do everything in their power to pressure the Egyptians to help us. The website http://contact.ie allows you to easily email, TDs, Senators, MEPs and the press officers of the main political parties. Be sure and put your home address in the body of your message as many politicians delete emails which contain no address.

That you contact as many media outlets as you can letting them know about the situation of the convoy and asking for more information. At the moment there are nine Irish people travelling on the convoy and there has been little, if any media awareness. We spent our Christmas day in a car park in Aqaba, which is nothing compared to the dire situation of the Gazans and are now sitting of millions of Euro worth of aid. Please contact us with the contact details of more media outlets and we will add them here. We know there’s a lot of contacts here but you can copy and paste the email addresses and put them in the “To:” part of the email so as to email them all at once.

RTE: (edit – RTE has started to pick up the story: http://bit.ly/rtegypt, please keep emailing them to make sure it gets more attention)

newsdesk@rte.ie

Morning Ireland: morningireland@rte.ie

News At One: newsatone@rte.ie

Drivetime: drivetime@rte.ie

World Report: worldreport@rte.ie

This Week: thisweek@rte.ie

http://www.rte.ie/news/contacts.html

Prime Time: primetime@rte.ie

The Frontline: thefrontline@rte.ie

Nuacht: nuacht@rte.ie

Newstalk: