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At
year’s end almost 1400 activists from 43 countries gathered in Cairo with the intention of
marching on the border with Gaza to try to break Israel’s genocidal siege. Timed to
coincide with the one-year anniversary of Israel’s massacres, the Gaza
Freedom March (GFM) sought to draw attention to the continuing trauma,
hunger, unemployment, and homelessness facing Palestinians in Gaza. At the same time, George
Galloway’s third Viva Palestina convoy was
wending its way toward Gaza.
Almost
no rebuilding of the thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals
flattened by U.S.-paid-for bombs and missiles has been possible because
of the blockade. Now even the tunnels from Egypt, an essential lifeline, are
threatened with closure by an underground wall being financed and designed
by the U.S.
Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak
announced just days before delegates began arriving in Cairo that the march would not be
allowed to go forward, citing ongoing tensions at the border. When GFM
delegates arrived in Cairo, the government began
constant harassment and repression to make clear they were serious
about blocking the march. After initial skirmishes on Dec. 27 and Dec.
28, protests began in full force to demand the march be allowed to
proceed.
On
Dec. 29, several hundred French activists took over the street in front
of the French embassy, stopping traffic for hours. Meanwhile, Egyptian
cops encircled 600 marchers in front of the UN building. Later that
day, U.S. marchers went to the U.S. embassy to seek aid in
their efforts to reach Gaza, but the embassy called
Egyptian cops to have them dispersed. Responding to the obstruction and
repression, a group including 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein began a hunger strike.
Meanwhile,
the GFM Steering Committee was negotiating with authorities. South
African GFM organizer Sayed Dhansay wrote in the Electronic Intifada that organizers informed marchers that
an agreement had been reached allowing 100 of them to go to Gaza. The Egyptian government
had even demanded they declare their purpose to be humanitarian, not
political. Delegations from South Africa, France, Canada, and Sweden—and a section of the U.S. delegation—rejected the
agreement, “refus[ing]
to legitimize the policy of occasionally allowing small aid convoys
in.”
Hedy Epstein arrived and announced her rejection of a
slot on the bus, saying, “1400 Palestinians were killed in the massacre
last year, and all 1400 of us need to go.” Hearing these statements,
some of the 100 got off the buses. In the end, 87 people did go to Rafah, but said they did so in their individual
capacities to meet family members and bring aid.
The
GFM Steering Committee then issued a press release announcing, “we
flatly reject Egypt’s offer of a token gesture.
We refuse to whitewash the siege.” They admitted their earlier decision
had been a mistake, and pointed out that actions in Cairo were “reaching new
audiences.”
This
effect was documented by Chris Hutchinson, GFM delegate and Socialist
Action member, who wrote on his blog: “Our
actions have gotten considerable coverage, and people throughout the
city are aware of what is happening.” Hutchinson wrote that marchers were
having an impact on the people of Cairo, even among security
forces. “I was shocked to see how many officers were showing
solidarity. ... Some even cried. Even police clapped and chanted along
with protesters: ‘hurriya li
Gaza’ (Freedom for Gaza).
“Workers
in a restaurant say all they can do is pray
for the freedom of Palestinians due to heavy repression. … Everywhere
we went people would ask, ‘Are you here for Gaza?’”
He
also paid tribute to the militancy and organizing of the French
marchers, saying that they “had the strongest abilities and ideas when
it came to tactics and strategy. Each day the camp looked more and more
like a structured community with new banners, media board, sharing of
resources, and frequent marches and chants.
“It
was impossible not to leave with a heavy heart and inspiration from the
clarity of their actions and democratic decision-making process.” The
latter was in the face of government actions that meant that for the
GFM in general “organization is nearly impossible as the government has
revoked permits for mass meetings.”
Last
tango in Cairo
On Dec.
31, which was to have been the day for marchers to arrive at the
border, hundreds instead converged on central Cairo. Those able to escape
police barricades around their hotels traveled to the gathering point
in small groups. At a secret signal they swarmed together and began
marching, stopping traffic for 45 minutes.
When
riot police encircled them, Marchers sat on the ground. Police beat,
kicked, and pulled them by the hair to get them out of the road. There
were broken ribs, bloody noses, cuts and bruises, and destroyed
cameras. After a verbal confrontation with police at a separate
location, one French marcher, Marie Renee, died of a heart attack.
After being pushed off the road, the protest continued for the rest of
the day.
Commenting
on their overall impact, Hutchinson wrote: “Our actions in Cairo can only provide cover for
the workers and students to join these protests. As one student stated,
‘although the people want Gaza free, they are afraid of
the government.’ For the few Egyptians and Palestinians who braved the
heavy hand of the law to join us, it was a chance to express their
anger toward both the government of Mubarak
and the policies of the U.S.
“While
we never made it to Gaza … we forged international
alliances and created a space where the millions of people of Cairo could feel comfortable
cheering and waving in solidarity with Palestinians.”
Meanwhile,
at the Gaza border, Palestinians were
gathering. Hamas allowed only 6000 to rally,
citing security concerns—although clearly the real reason was Hamas’s own disinterest in independent mobilization
by the Palestinian masses. At the same time, the Viva Palestina convoy was stranded in Jordan after the Egyptian
government had refused permission for its trucks carrying medical
supplies to make a four-hour trip over land and insisted it take a long
detour by sea.
How
will the siege be broken?
As
its concluding act, the GFM issued a “Cairo Declaration,” initiated by
South African trade unionists on the March. The declaration denounces
not only the siege of Gaza, but a broad spectrum of abuses and
atrocities by Israel, as well as “the Zionist ideology which underpins
Israel.” It calls for “a global, mass, democratic anti-apartheid
movement to work in full consultation with Palestinian civil society to
implement the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).” Among
the steps proposed toward that end are:
• A
speaking tour by Palestinian and South African unionists and other
activists;
•
Participation in Israeli Apartheid Week;
• A
unified approach to the boycott involving consumers, workers and their
unions in retail, warehousing, and transportation;
•
Divestment of union and other pension funds from companies implicated
in the occupation and/or Israeli military industries;
•
Legal actions targeting external recruitment of soldiers to serve in
the Israeli military, and the prosecution of Israeli war criminals;
support for the Goldstone Report.
Said
Greg Dropkin in introducing the declaration:
“We don’t just want to tell people, ‘don’t buy Israeli vegetables’; we
want to go to the workers selling these vegetables … to people running
the warehouses where they’re stored [and] people transporting them.”
Another
sign that the momentum generated by the GFM will continue is the statement
issued by the US Palestinian Community Network. It noted that the siege
is “in violation of the wishes of [the Egyptian] people,” who have a
proud history of support for the Palestinian people “and led the Arab
nation to confront colonization and economic domination.”
USPCN
called on Egypt to allow in the marchers as
well as participants in the VP convoy; to end its siege of Gaza; and to scuttle the “Wall
of Shame” (the new underground wall). In this effort they will
certainly find support among the thousands who demonstrated in dozens
of cities around the world to mark the anniversary of the massacre and
in support of the GFM. One of the most vibrant was the march on Dec. 27
of almost a thousand in New York City, organized by Al-Awda NY and local Arab community
groups.
During
the attacks last year we noted the massive protests in Arab nations and
predominantly Muslim countries. We wrote in the January 2009 issue of
this newspaper: “A universal target of ire at these rallies has been
the Egyptian regime for its collaboration with the Israeli blockade and
attacks.”
A
year earlier, Palestinian militants blew open a breach in the Egyptian
wall, soon widened by the masses of Gaza. This time the GFM used the
(slightly) higher visibility of non-Palestinians in the media to try to
tip the scales in favor of Palestinians’ own actions.
In
the end it is those actions—and support from the Arab masses—that will
not only end the siege but lead to the complete liberation of Palestine
and the Arab nation as a whole. A greatly expanded international
solidarity movement like the one envisioned in the Cairo Declaration
can serve as an important means of support for such struggles.
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