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Messages to Egyptian Embassy's across the world from Viva Palestina activists supporters. 1.To Whom It May Concern: I wish to express my displeasure to the Egyptian government over the deliberate harassment the Viva Palestina convoy has received by the Egyptian authorities in Al Arish. The convoy which is led by British MP George Galloway was granted permission in a recent agreement negotiated by Turkish and Egyptian government officials which allowed the Viva Palestina convoy in Al Arish to cross into Gaza from the Rafah border. Egypt has gone back on this agreement and is not allowing 520 aide workers from 17 different countries and 200 trucks to cross into Gaza to deliver needed, medical, food, and clothing supplies to the besieged people of Gaza. 1.5 million Palestinians have been suffering under the inhumane Israeli blockade for three and a half years along with the devastating aftermath of the brutal, military assault on Gaza by Israel in January 2009. Why is the Egyptian government adding to the suffering of the people of Gaza with its heavy-handed policy by attacking the Viva Palestina convoy and not allowing it to cross into Gaza and deliver humanitarian assistance? Is Egypt a collaborator with the Israeli genocide being inflicted upon the people of Gaza? Why is Hosni Mubarak acting like a heartless dictator with his Muslim Arab brothers and sisters in Gaza??? I think that Gamal Abdel Nassar and Anwar el Sadat are rolling over in their graves over his traitorous actions! I urge the government of Egypt to end the needless and intentional harassment towards the Viva Palestina convoy and allow it to cross into Gaza and help the suffering Palestinians who are human beings made in the image of God. Please be advised that I am forwarding a copy of this E-mail to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. As an American, a man, a human being, and a believer in the teachings of Jesus Christ, I consider the actions of the Egyptian government towards the Viva Palestina Convoy and the people of Gaza to be unconscionable! I hope Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian government will change their heartless tactics towards British MP George Galloway, the Viva Palestina Convoy, and the Palestinian people of Gaza. Thank you for your urgent and humane consideration in this matter. Sincerely, Andreas Talamas 2.
Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt Tarek Hosny Ahmed Abousenna c.c Stephen Smith Minister of Foreign Affairs. Wednesday, 6 January 2010 Dear Consul General Abousenna,
The following is the report: [“Our situation is now at a crisis point! Riot has broken out in the port of Al-Arish. I follow the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and think it is appalling. The suffering of the Palestinians, especially since the invasion by the Israeli army twelve months ago, must be stopped! The people who have travelled from all over the world to give the suffering Palestinians this essential aid must be permitted to cross over your border with Israel to deliver their truckloads of goods. I am but one of the of citizens of the world who is shocked at the treatment of Kevin Ovenden and the humanitarian activists accompanying him. They have travelled to Egypt to deliver this essential aid, which is being denied to the Palestinians by the Israeli government. The reports are coming through now not only via the Internet, but has also been reported on the main stream media news in Australia which I viewed on SBS and the BBC this evening. Your government must now be made to see - ‘The Whole World Is Watching! Therefore I am requesting they be allowed to enter Gaza now. Should this not be forthcoming within the next twenty four (24) hours I am requesting you inform me why not? I await your reply in earnest. 3. Dear Sir, II wrote to the Egyptian Ambassador to London yesterday expressing how I was very concerned, perplexed and saddened at the obstacles that the Egyptian Government has put in the way of this Humanitarian Aid convoy and I continue to remain totally bewildered as to how the interests of the Egyptian government and the Egyptian people have been served by these delays to humanitarians. Imagine how shocked I was to learn that last night further changes were being made to the agreements that had been reached with high level representatives from Turkey and Malaysia and that nearly 200 riot police were deployed and as a result about 55 convoy volunteers were injured and 7 arrested. I was on the convoy myself until 29th December but had to stay behind in Aqaba as I had to get back to work this week and was told it was too risky to travel back to Syria and be sure of making it for a flight on 1st January - this warning was clearly correct. So with everyone else, I had been stuck for several days in Aqaba, which is less than one day's journey from Gaza. I spent 3.5 weeks with the convoy and met only wonderful people committed to assisting the besieged people of Gaza; people who had, for example, chosen to use up annual leave from work, their own funds and to leave their families behind (at a traditional family time for most of us) out of a commitment to providing not only aid but support and solidarity to people who are living in desperate circumstances. Egypt appears not to care about humanitarian needs - but that cannot be true, surely? I fully understand that Egypt, like any country, is concerned about security but the vehicles cleared customs before most of the volunteers had arrived by plane from Syria. So again, I am left bewildered and saddened for Egypt that at a time when the world needed to focus on the actions of the Israeli government and its army in remembering the bombardment of 27th December - 18th January - instead much of the negative attention had to be focused on Egypt. I do not even understand how it demonstrates support for the US or your working relationship with Israel. Israel said that they were happy for Egypt to let the aid through. I urge you to do all you can to expedite matters and ensure that the aid and the convoy volunteers are allowed through the Rafah crossing into Gaza without further delay. Leah Levane 4. Alice, I have been calling all of the numbers throughout th U.S of the Egyption Consulates. The only one where I was able to reach a real person was at the Washington DC office. I talked for quite a long time to a gentleman by the name of Omar Yussef. I hope I have his name correctly because he had a strong accent. He was very angry and upset by the accusations in the media against Egypt in regards to the convoy. He kept pressing the point that everyone did not have visas. He repeated to me several times that Egypt was a sovereign nation that had rules and regulations like every other country in the world and these rules were not being respected by convoy leaders. I asked him why Egypt refused to let Palestinians into their country when Gaza was being bombed and also why they seemed to always support Israel instead of their Arab brothers. I was surprised at the amount of time he spent talking to me, he even asked me to hold on while he took another call but I felt that I had said all I could say. Anyway, I did the best I could and hope that in some small way I reached him at some level.. This situation has been going on for so long...... Sincerely Irene Ferguson 5. great news.............my emails to the Egyptian embassy were returned!! mail delivery system etc maybe they were getting too many hope so. Patricia |
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