Egyptian Impediments To Gaza Aid Convoy Draws Criticism From Boston Activists

BOSTON/The Common corner of Tremont and Park Streets – Members of the Boston area branches of International Socialist Organization Veterans for Peace and other activist groups gathered across from the entrance to the Park Street MBTA station on Tuesday to show support for a humanitarian aid convoy attempting to go from Egypt into Gaza. About two dozen activists made speeches handed out flyers and engaged commuters tourists and passersby in conversation about the situation in the Middle East. Following a standoff with Egyptian border police at the Rafah checkpoint earlier this week a group of more than 200 European American and Palestinian citizens were permitted to enter Gaza Wednesday evening to distribute medical and other relief supplies. Previously Egyptian authorities refused to allow the caravan with its 47 trucks – filled with what convoy sponsors said was a million dollars worth of supplies - to cross the border. As of this writing there were reports that some of the trucks had been confiscated by border police. At one point during negotiations with Egyptian authorities leaders and members of the convoy including British MP George Galloway former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Vietnam veteran and author Ron Kovics and at least four people from the Boston area were told that American participants would have to sign and pay for documents called “Gaza affidavits ” according to the website Viva Palestina US a blog set up to track and support the movements of the convoy. The affidavits according to convoy participants stated that travel to Gaza was done at their own risk and any American entering Gaza should not expect help from the U.S. government. According to various international organizations that have attempted to help Gazan citizens in the aftermath of last December’s Israeli bombardment of the territory these documents had not been required by Egyptian or U.S. officials previously. Writing in a blog posted Thursday on the website of the United for Justice With Peace organization Dorchester People for Peace member and convoy participant Jeff Klein described the situation this way: “At the US Embassy [in Cairo] we had to swear before a vice-consul that we have read and understood the travel warning by the US Department of state regarding travel to the Gaza Strip; that we assumed all the risks understanding that we could expect no help from US official if we ran into difficulties. “And they charged us $30 for the privilege -- our tax dollars (not) at work! After being told no one would be admitted to Gaza without this piece of paper not surprisingly no one asked for it at the Rafah crossing. It is no more than an expensive souvenir.” Several voice mail messages left at the office of the spokesperson for the Egyptian embassy in New York City this week by Open Media Boston requesting clarification of the Egyptian position on the aid convoy were not returned. At the demonstration on the Boston Common near the Park Street “T” station several speakers expressed outrage at what they called complicity between the governments of the U.S. Egypt and Israel to isolate and starve people living in Gaza. In an interview following the rally Alpana Mehta an organizer with the International Socialist Organization (ISO) said “Yes we are saying they are colluding not only to restrict this convoy but to intimidate future activists and future convoys.” OMB AUDIO: Alpana Mehta Palestinian activist Layla Cable said she believes Israel plans to remove all Palestinians from the Occupied Territories eventually and noted the Hebrew phrase “Eretz Israel” or Greater Israel. Describing harsh conditions in Gaza since the December 2008 battle between the Israeli Defense Force and Hamas militias – with Israeli forces crushing Gazan resistance to the invasion – Cable said “right now the Gazan people are starving they have malnutrition amongst children they have deaths in infancy they have women aborting due to lack of nutrition due to lack of vital minerals.” OMB AUDIO: Layla Cable Cable said she believes the Viva Palestina convoy and others like it could help thousands of Gazans. Not everyone in the crowd on Tuesday thought that activists had sincere intentions. Two or three opponents of the aid convoy engaged rally organizers in heated conversations following the end of the planned speeches. Phil Davis of Westwood MA expressing his anger towards members of the aid convoy called George Galloway and Cynthia McKinney anti-Semitic and racist. He denounced the convoy as a “propaganda ploy conducted by anti-Semites. Galloway and Cynthia McKinney are known anti-Semites. “For example would progressive people allow an aid convoy led by David Duke? [a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan] I hardly think so ” he added. Davis had sharp criticism for any person or organization that would support Hamas elected by Gazans to lead that territory several years ago but whose leaders are considered terrorists by the Israeli and U.S. governments. Pictures of George Galloway embracing former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya were posted to the internet this week as the aid convoy inched closer to the Egyptian-Gazan border. OMB AUDIO: Phil Davis [For the complete unedited audio interview with Phil Davis please see our “Below The Fold” sidebar at the bottom of this story] Following this exchange Alpana Mehta of ISO was asked why when addressing the conflicts in the Middle East supporters of Palestinian rights rarely address head-on the issue of attacks on Israel by members of such military and political groups as Hamas and Hezbollah. ”That’s a really good question. I can’t speak for the other organizations because I do think it’s a debate inside the anti-war movement and the pro-Palestine movement. I can only speak for my organization the International Socialist Organization and while we don’t support Hamas we do support the people of Gaza actually democratically deciding who their government is. “So I think in terms of a press conference or rally with a broad number of groups I think there are a variety of voices on that front. But I think it has to be said in terms of what you are bringing up in terms of the firing of Katyusha rockets there was a six month cease fire that was brokered between Hamas and Israel that was only broken when Israel actually began to bombard some tunnels.” OMB AUDIO: Alpana Mehta Many international human rights organizations acknowledge that while rockets have been targeted at Israeli settlements and towns the balance of force in the region heavily favors Israel. While rights groups say no killing of civilians is justified they note that Palestinians almost always bear more than ten times as many casualties as Israeli’s. photos by Liz Washburn (copyright 2009) _________________________________________________________________________ "Below the Fold" Sidebar: Interview with Phil Davis (July 14 2009) It's an occupational hazard I suppose. When a reporter covers an event sponsored by an organization with a particular political viewpoint he or she risks being dismissed as "biased." Journalists working for corporately-owned media outlets face this criticism sparingly because they usually don't seek out these groups for comment. But here at Open Media Boston we try not to ignore any group; especially those that have a stake in the story we are covering. Our idea of fair journalism is to go after (in the words of one Carl Bernstein) "...the best available version of the truth." So I'm not sure why I took it personally when Mr. Phil Davis of Westwood MA accused me of being a participant rather than a legitimate reporter in the ISO and Vets for Peace sponsored rally held this week on behalf of the Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza. Perhaps because I've been called a "self-hating Jew" so many times it's beginning to erode my sense of self-confidence. Instead of saying to Mr. Davis 'ok if you don't want your opinion about Israel and Hamas aired I don't have to talk to you' I plunged into our conversation determined to get his side of the story. Hearing what happened that's what my wife suggested I should have done. And I value her opinion quite highly. But noticing Mr. Davis yelling out behind me while I was recording the pro-Palestine speeches I was anxious to interview him in order to get the pro-Israeli side. Maybe a little bit too determined as my questions in hindsight could have been perceived as less than completely objective. On his objection to the convoy because in his words Cynthia McKinney is a racist: I did a thorough internet search (equivalent of 18 pages of WORD documentation) and couldn't find references to statements of an anti-Semitic nature made by former Congresswoman McKInney. Can she be bombastic sometimes? Absolutely yes. (She refers to predatory lending by banks as "ethnic cleansing.") Is she opposed to Israeli policy towards Palestinians? Yes and so are many people who don't hate Jews. I looked at both sympathetic sources (Workers World) and critical sources (Fox News). But the only reference to racist remarks I could find were made originally on the website of the Anti-Defamation League in August of 2006. And those questionable comments were made by body guards following a Mckinney concession speech the year she lost her bid to win back her Georgia seat in Congress. Supporters of Israel also have accused her father of blaming Jews for her electoral losses. For reasons I can't fathom Mr. Davis notices that the Open Media Boston office resides on Harrison Avenue (in Chinatown) and comments derisively on that. Here's the bottom line: both as a journalist and a human being I believe it's important to report on abuses of power against vulnerable peoples. Banks have been acting less than cooperative in helping homeowners facing foreclosure. Am I compromised if I use use an ATM card? And does my Bar Mitzvah get rescinded if I report that IDF snipers routinely fire guns at Palestinian construction workers trying to get water from wells near checkpoint towers? I don't think so. Here's the unedited interview I conducted with Phil Davis on Tuesday evening July 14th on the edge of the Boston Common near the Park Street T stop. Any comments or questions may be directed to info (at) openmediaboston (dot) org and/or radioview (at) ibisradio (dot) org. -- Dave Goodman News Editor OMB AUDIO: Phil Davis Interview Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati