“I hope the Palestinians will use Nonviolencein their fight for human Rights and freedom.”

Mairead Corrigan Maguire. Nobel Peace Prize winner 1977

On October 28th, 2008, the Free Gaza movement set sail with the boat SS Dignity from Larnaca (Cyprus) en route to Gaza. On board were 27 international passengers representing 13 countries, including Mustafa Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, five doctors and jurists specialized in human rights, etc. I felt privileged to be a part of this group. On this second trip to Gaza to break up the blockade we brought six square meters of medicine and confidence that arriving to Gaza by sea (it was only the second time in 41 years) would bring hope to the people in the Strip and that the world would break its silence regarding the tragedy of the suffering in Gaza and thus would also act to help break up the blockade.
 
It’s difficult to imagine that in the 21st century a country can be so isolated from the exterior world.  Sixteen months ago, when the citizens of Gaza voted for Hamas via free elections, Israel’s reaction wasn't to open up dialogue with the elected representatives (as they should have done) but to enforce a policy of collective punishment  against the entire population, something that has resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel said that it was ending the Gaza occupation, but in reality it maintained it by closing all of the borders and by isolating its inhabitants from the rest of the world. The Strip is like an open air prison in which the keys are in Israel’s hands. But it’s even worse, at least in prison the inhabitants have food and basic necessities covered.  The population of Gaza drinks contaminated water and doesn’t have enough supplies to survive.  In the words of a citizen of the zone:  "They are slowly suffocating us with this blockade."

Before setting sail, the Israeli government advised us that it would not allow us to arrive to Gaza.  We were intent on going there, but when we were 20 miles from Gaza’s coast we had to hold our breath:  two Israeli patrol boats were approaching us but didn’t  detain us.  They had acted sensibly and we hope that that is a sign for what is to come, that in the end the Israeli government will realize that this is a dialogue and that patrol boats and F-16s are not the only way to resolve this long and painful occupation.

We arrived to Gaza exhausted and seasick.  Dozens of heavily armed Palestinian police officers received us, and although while I was there I asked to not have so much protection, the Hamas government informed us that it wanted to guarantee our security.  So during our four day stay there we had an armed escort from the Palestinian police.

The welcome we received was moving.  The gratitude of Gaza's inhabitants for the Free Gaza movement was translated into warmth and hospitality.  And there was even more excitement at the fact that Dr. Barghouti was able to come from the West Bank and Gideon Spiro from Tel Aviv (returning home, Spiro was detained by the Israeli authorities at a security checkpoint in Erez, they kept him there overnight and they accused him of entering Gaza illegally)  Throughout the next four days there were moments of great happiness, like at the concert where children from Gaza sang with an Italian opera singer, a member of our group, who captivated all of us with his voice.  But we also experienced times of profound sadness, as with the visit to the hospital of Shifa.  At this center, the doctors told us about the lack of medications and instrument parts due to the Israeli blockade.  We saw patients dying of cancer and from illnesses that could have been prevented if the medicine and equipment needed had been available. A hospital still half under construction was disintegrating because the cement, wood and other basic materials of construction hadn’t been able to enter Gaza for the last 16 months, leaving a hospital literally falling to pieces.

There is a real desire for peace here, the people have suffered quite a lot and want the peace they deserve

The next day we visited the airport that had been bombed during a period of 2 years both by air and by Israeli tanks.  We also wanted to visit the electrical plant where we saw the evidence of Israel's bombing of the enormous generators that haven't been able to be repaired due to the lack of parts and the legal debate about who is responsible for the damage.  The Israeli bombardment of the electrical plant has resulted in the instalation only being able to work at 50% of its capacity, so that there are electrical shortages between 7 and 8 hours a day, including in the hospitals.  The treatment plant has also been effected.  Israel didn't allow for the damaged pipes to be replaced and so the sewage is sent directly out to sea and is causing the area to be on the brink of an environmental disaster. In Jabaliya it had rained hard and the water had washed the road away, leaving the broken pipes exposed. The black water covered the street where many children were playing unaware of the disaster.  We visited houses flooded by the rain and the water from the sewage system so that the inhabitants had to go live with relatives in other overcrowded houses, they too being victims of poverty. The poverty is terrible in this zone. People don’t have anything, the hunger and malnutrition effects 80% of the population, but the international community remains silent while the Israeli government collectively punishes half a million people, half of them under the age of 21.

Some colleagues of the group went out with Gaza fishermen and were attacked by Israeli navy ships with water canons, not only intimidating them but shooting around them with real ammunition.  Many fisherman have died from being shot by the Israeli navy when they only wanted to fish six miles from the coast in order to feed their families.

There is a real desire for peace here, the people have suffered quite a lot and want the peace they deserve, the end of the occupation and the right to decide their future and that of their children.  In the following days we were received by the Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyah, who let us know that they would give us Palestinian passports and that the Free Gaza movement would receive a small gift.  He also later announced the release of Fatah prisoners.  In addition to this he promised that there would be no more political detentions (while they were waiting for a similar response from President Abbas regarding the Hamas prisoners).

At the Sagrada Familia school we had the privilege of witnessing how a hundred political representatives from every political party, including Hamas and Fatah, conspired to work for national Palestinian unity and promised to send their leaders to the conference in Cairo in November.  The meeting was close to an enormous mural of President Arafat.  Mustafa Burghouti, a man of peace and a great politician, headed over to some colleagues that he hadn't seen in two and a half years because of the isolation that Gaza and the West Bank suffer, a result of the Israeli policy of apartheid that divides the Palestinian country and makes the viability of a Palestinian state much more difficult.  I was invited to visit the political parties and I gave my support to their Nonviolencecampaign for the end of the occupation and for a free Palestine.  I encouraged them to achieve national unity and reminded them that there is strength in unity.  I also asked them to continue the nonviolent fight which is what the entire world supports.

We also visited  the Palestinian Parliament where the spokesman talked about the suffering of the Palestinians subjected to siege and occupation, as with the political prisoners (around 40 elected Hamas representatives are in Israeli prisons).  During my intervention I also asked for the liberation of the Palestinian held prisoners such as Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier detained in Gaza for practically two years.  There is a total of 11,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, including members of the parliament, ill and handicapped prisoners, women and children.  I emphasized the need to keep up the nonviolent fight and stressed the need for dialogue, forgiveness and reconciliation, a lesson learned during the peace process in North Ireland.

Being the human family that we are we have to learn to face our fears in a nonviolent way

The border between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah is still closed and separates the citizens of Gaza from their relatives and friends that are just at the other end of the street.  A Palestinian woman had arrived to Cyprus from Jerusalem and didn’t have any other way to get to Gaza except by our boat.  She passionately hit the border fence and screamed "I want to see my family".  Egypt is also partly responsible for the isolation of Gaza, not only from their loved ones, one of the cruellest forms of torture, but in basic living needs, medicine, food and construction materials in order to rebuild infrastructures bombed by Israeli planes paid for by American taxpayers.

In a desperate attempt to feed their families or to escape from that immense pressure, the Palestinians excavate dozens of tunnels that head toward Egyptian territory.  The day we were leaving we found out that 3 men had died and another was missing after being buried in a tunnel that had caved in.  Thousands of Palestinian women are separated from their husbands who have stayed in the West Bank.  In addition to this, 700 students that have earned a place in foreign universities can’t leave Gaza to continue with their education.  As if that weren’t enough, the worst of the tragedies is that governments and the Western media keep quiet despite this silent destruction of the Palestinian country with some racist politicians that violate the Geneva Convention and the Convention of Apartheid.  

However, when we were leaving Gaza I felt very hopeful.  It was hope for the immerging resistance of the Palestinian state.  The great Irish poet W.B. Yeats once wrote that “too long of a sacrifice turns the heart to stone” but an Irish prayer states:  “Take this heart of stone away and give us hearts of love”.  In my travels to Israel, Palestine and Gaze I have found many hearts of love.  A Palestinian man asked me to take the following message to the world:  “Let us love our Israeli brothers and sisters, we have lived with them, we want to do it, but we don’t believe that the Israeli government wants peace as their politicians are destroying us”. Another father of a Palestinian family’s plea to us that was etched in our memories was:  “If I give you money will you bring milk for my children in the next boat?  We don’t have any”.  

I emphasized the need to keep up the nonviolent fight and stressed the need for dialogue, forgiveness and reconciliation, a lesson learned during the peace process in North Ireland

I believe there is a lot of hope for peace in the Middle East because there is a political solution to the political problem.  The Israeli government and the United States can, with real political will,  resolve this political conflict that has its roots buried in the occupation.  We recognize the Israeli State and understand its need for security.  We understand that many Israelis fear ethnic annihilation, but being the human family that we are we have to learn to face each other and our fears in a nonviolent way and realize that the best guarantee for security is not the occupation and blockade, but to achieve justice and turn the enemy into a friend. Salaam Palestine, Shalom Israel

www.peacepeoplecom
www.freegaza.org