Free Gaza volunteers accompany Palestinian woman seeking medical attention for a tumor

Erez Crossing, by Donna Wallach:

"I along with others from Free Gaza Movement decided not to return with the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty to Cyprus and instead to remain in Gaza Strip for a while to continue the work of breaking the siege. Throughout the time I am staying here I will participate with the others in various actions in Rafah, Gaza City, and other areas throughouth the Gaza Strip, including going out in fishing boats to challenge the Israeli Navy preventing the Palestinian fishermen from fishing more than 6 miles out.

In addition, we are re-organizing ISM Rafah, to do Palestinian led solidarity work here.
"This past Friday a 64 year-old Palestinian woman from Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip arrived to the Erez crossing accompanied by all of the remaining members of the Free Gaza Movement. She has been suffering for seven months with a tumor on her spine. Without the necessary surgery granted her by St. Joseph Hospital in Jerusalem, she will become paralyzed and will live in contant pain, from what I understand. We, FGM members, walked in front of her as a protection for her to not be shot by the Israeli soldiers guarding their border. She was being pushed in a wheelchair. Slowly we approached the Israeli side, holding our arms in the air and many of us clutching our passports.

"A Palestinian man was the liason between Dr. Mona El-Farra and the Israeli "authorities". Dr. Mona El-Farra was the main organizer for this action of bringing this 64 year-old woman to cross the Erez checkpoint.

The Palestinian man kept on telling us that we needed to stop because the Israelis told him they were going to shoot us. We decided it was more important to challenge the Crime Against Humanity of Israel not permitting this woman to receive the urgent medical treatment she needed, so we continued to walk towards the Israeli gate with our arms up in the air. We finally reached the Israeli gate without a shot being fired, not a bullet not a tear gas cannister or a sound bomb. In the end though, the Israelis heartlessly told the woman she had to go back home, but could return an 8th time.

"On Sunday 31st August, we from FGM arrived at about 9:00am from Rafah, the southernmost area in Gaza Strip, to Erez crossing, the northernmost area in Gaza Strip. We came to continue standing in solidarity with the woman from the village of Beit Hanoun. We arrived late and she and Dr. Mona El-Farra had already left for the border. We gathered inside the crude fenced in area where all Palestinians and others wait for permission to cross the dirt pathway to arrive to the Israeli gate. We waited hours, then we heard that the woman was turned back again, with ridiculous excuse that a member of her family must accompany her into Israel to the hospital. This woman came back, yet was not defeated. Almost all the members of her family have been wrongfully blacklisted by Israel, meaning that they cannot enter the Apartheid State of Israel. Finally the woman's 75 year-old husband was granted permission to enter Israel with her. After he arrived to Erez and the paper work for him was filled out, they went off to the Israeli side. We continued to wait in the heat to hear that she had crossed and was inside the Israeli ambulance that would take her to the hospital and to her surgery which was supposed to have started on Sunday. Dr. Mona El-Farra told us that she continued to tell the Israeli authorities that members of the Free Gaza Movement were waiting at Erez to ensure that the woman would enter this time and that we were willing to die, we would walk again to the border even if the soldiers would shoot and kill us, we would do what it takes so that the Israelis would allow her to enter, which they finally did. The 8th time was the charm for this very brave and courageous woman sitting in a wheelchair who defied the Israelis with all of their gunpower."

31 August 2008

Donna Wallach, Free Gaza Movement
http://www.FreeGaza.org

Free Gaza - internationals accompany fishermen; Israeli army fires "warning shots" at them

The Free Gaza Movement volunteers who have stayed in Gaza, are accompanying Gazans who need medical attention and fishermen who have long been harrassed by Israeli soldiers, who shoot at them as they fish the waters off Gaza.

The following report was prepared by the Free Gaza Movement and International Solidarity Movement volunteers in Gaza Strip:

Yesterday, 1 September 2008, the first day of Ramadan, several volunteers with the Free Gaza Movement and the International Solidarity Movement accompanied a small fleet of seven fishing vessels from Gaza City port.

The fishermen exercised their right to fish in Gazan territorial waters, providing them with a livelihood and food for the besieged people of Gaza.

The fishing fleet reached approximately nine miles offshore and began trawling along the Gazan coast, well within international limits. Usually the Israeli Navy prevents Gazan fishing vessels from accessing beyond six miles and in many cases only three miles by attacking the boats, sometimes lethally, or by arresting the fishermen. However, this day’s fishing resulted in a highly successful catch due to the ability to access richer fishing grounds further offshore.

Two Israeli Naval gunboats approached the fleet soon after leaving port and began firing "warning shots" shortly afterwards. They were aware that internationals were on some of the boats. The Israeli Navy continued shooting multiple times at the fishing vessels, one of which was fired upon at least seven times. They also deployed explosive charges in the water and attempted to de-stabilise some of the boats by creating a strong wake. Communication was established with the Israeli Navy via VHF radio, informing them that everyone onboard were unarmed civilians and requesting that the Israeli Navy stop shooting.

The volunteers will continue to join Gazan fishing expeditions on a regular basis and will monitor Israeli aggressions towards the fishermen.

Video and written documentation will be posted publicly and made available to journalists. The Israeli Navy will not be informed as to when the volunteers will join the fishermen, nor the ports they will sail from, since this is not within their jurisdiction. Also no indication will be made as to which vessels have internationals onboard. Read more: www.fregaza.org

Hebron's tourist market closed and shuttered - BBC story

This picture tells the story of commerce in Hebron--Palestinian shopkeepers' stalls shuttered and welded shut by the Israeli government, stars of David spray-painted on the closed doors, streets empty. In June, we visited a Hebron that had lost all its tourist visitors--the main market, Shuhada Street, closed by Israeli soldiers for the "safety," because Jewish settlers, who move into apartments above the Arab market, regularly attack and harass Palestinians and anyone shopping at their market stalls. One shopkeeper told me his goods have been ruined when the settlers poured bleach out of their windows above his stall.

Yesterday, Tim Franks of the BBC wrote in his Jerusalem Diary about the British government's plan to help tourism in Hebron. They invested $40,000 in the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee to fund horse-and-carriage rides through the Old City. However, the plan has not brought more tourists to Hebron and one carriage driver still waits to begin his business.

Carriage driver Said Ali Ahmed told him, "We got the permits from the Israelis to bring in the horse and the carriage into the Hebron area," he told me. "But we need an additional permit to move around. And I'm still waiting for the Israeli captain to give me it." So for weeks Said has waited, unable to drive his carriage because he cannot get the permit to move about in Hebron. He is confined to the streets open to Palestinians, which do not allow him to take tourists through the Old City. Read his story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7587828.stm#startcontent