Gaza Freedom March - My Report from Cairo, December 2009-January, 2010

I boarded the midnight flight to Cairo, Egypt on December 25, 2009 to meet up with 1,362 other delegates from 42 countries to take part in the Gaza Freedom March. We never made it to Gaza. But, if we couldn’t go to Gaza, then we would bring Gaza to Egypt.

I traveled to Gaza in May 2009 with the peace group Codepink. We focused on the children of Gaza. We delivered medical aid, toys, and supplies and built some playgrounds. I stayed with a Palestinian family during my stay. They have since become my “family in Gaza”. My reason for joining the December delegation as part of the Gaza Freedom March was to help bring awareness to the international community about the devastating destruction that “Operation Cast Lead” (a name coined by the Israeli military) had inflicted upon the people of the Gaza Strip during the December 27, 2008-January 17, 2009 siege. We were there to help bring much needed humanitarian aid to the 1.5 million people, to help break the siege, and to march in solidarity with the people of Gaza and with peace groups in Israel.

When word came from the Egyptian foreign ministry that we would not be granted access to Gaza, we began a historical week of non-violent actions that culminated with our own Gaza Freedom March in the “Times Square” of Cairo. Why? Why were 1,362 peace delegates, armed with only humanitarian aid and goodwill, turned away from a war-torn state at the Egyptian border? The reasons were clear to us before we landed in Cairo. Egypt is a country with a devastating economy. It receives approximately 3 billion dollars a year in aid from the U.S. The President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, is bowing to pressure from both Israel and the U.S. He along with the U.S. corps of engineers is on the payroll to build a 60 foot steel wall that will extend from the Mediterranean Sea and will serve to block off the tunnels (Gaza’s main lifeline) and further strangle the people of Gaza. Money and power talk. The Egyptian government claims that this is strictly for security reasons and to stop the flow of arms smuggled into the territory controlled by Hamas. Egypt is helping to close off the world to 1.5 million people. The border doesn’t need a barrier.

Our delegation was not prepared to leave Cairo without a fight...or at least a struggle. So we made our voices heard for more than a week. One such struggle happened at our own U.S. Embassy. A group of US delegates in a show of support had accompanied Codepink co-founder Medea Benjamin and Gael Murphy to the embassy to discuss the possibility of U.S. aid and support in our quest to enter Gaza. The only support that was shown that day was the Egyptian riot and secret police joining forces and detaining 30 U.S. nationals in the courtyard of the U.S. embassy and 8 women (including myself) on the sidewalk of the embassy. My two roommates and I were slightly more fortunate in our detainment. We happened to be with a very experienced non-violent trainer and activist. As we entered the U.S. embassy grounds, Egyptian Security Forces wasted no time in attempting to throw us into the “pen” with the others. The reason for this was to keep us out of public view as much as possible. The Egyptian government was fearful that the media and citizenry would be sympathetic towards our situation. By this time, however, we had already amassed a fairly large and supportive following, and we were determined to keep the momentum going. The 8 of us held our space on the sidewalk for 3 ½ hours. We sang, we chanted, we waved the peace sign. We did all that we could to garner attention to our situation. In the meantime, the talks with our U.S. embassy officials upstairs had produced no results. Yes, our U.S. embassy. How comforting to know that in a foreign country we would be treated in this manner. After numerous negotiations Egyptian Security Forces finally let us go, but only one at a time and in intervals of 5 minutes. This was just the beginning of several non-violent demonstrations we held in Cairo, the first the country had witnessed in their entire history.

Several delegates on The Gaza Freedom March started a hunger strike to focus attention on the plight of the people of Gaza. Hedy Epstein was one of them. Hedy, an 85- year- old holocaust survivor and activist, is known for her work with the International Solidarity Movement and for her support of the Palestinian cause. One of our many activities was to join local organizations at the Journalist Syndicate in Cairo to protest the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Mubarak. Egypt is a police state. Egyptian citizens who protested with us on the steps of the Syndicate risked being detained, tortured and possibly killed. They wanted to make their voices heard, however, so they stood with us and even out-numbered us at times. As long as we were there to stand in solidarity with the Egyptian activists, the secret and riot police would not attempt to arrest them. For hours, as the police barricades went up and 3 lines of reinforcements came in, the Egyptian citizens made their voices heard. As I stood there amidst my fellow activists from 42 countries and those from Egypt who risked detainment, I felt a rush of adrenaline and a lump in my throat. I didn’t know whether to rejoice or to cry. Here was a cacophony of voices from 42 countries including our friends from Egypt chanting, “Free, Free Gaza”. What a beautiful and amazing show of courage and solidarity.

Our international delegation took part in actions and strategy meetings all week. One such action was at the Israeli Consulate, a tall non-descript structure that resembled that of a high-rise apartment building. Our only clue that it was indeed the consulate was the Israeli flag that waved from the top of the building. Close to 500 of us began a two-hour vigil. Our actions were loud but civil. The demand was for Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes and that the siege be lifted. Once again we were met by rows of riot and secret police, but our message was delivered and passersby showed support by waving the peace sign and honking their horns.

1,362 international delegates were supposed to march in Gaza on December 31, 2009. Only 80 did after some negotiations and a phone call between Codepink co-founder Jodie Evans and Egypt’s first lady, Suzanne Mubarak. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry tried to skew the story and told the media that those that went to Gaza were chosen because they were the “peaceful ones” and that the rest of us were “hooligans”. This was simply not true. So we decided that we would march through the streets of Cairo and head towards Gaza on December 31^st as planned. If we got stopped along the way we would claim the street. On the morning of December 31^st, despite the attempts of the Egyptian secret and riot police to barricade all of us in our hotels (in one hotel several of our organizers were held for several hours), we left in 2s and 3s dressed in civilian clothes and made our way toward the Egyptian museum. Anything larger than 6 is considered an illegal protest in Egypt. Small groups waited for a secret signal. Then we swarmed together creating a flash mob situation for 15 minutes before the secret and riot police moved in on us. They proceeded to drag, grab, and in some instances, hurt some of the delegates as they shoved us off the street and onto the sidewalk. They tried to intimidate us with 3 rows of reinforcements but we stood our ground. “Free Gaza Square” became the name we gave to the space we held for over 7 hours. We hung banners, we gave speeches, we sang, we chanted, we danced, we hugged. Egyptian civilians passed us food and water through the police lines. We vowed to keep the struggle going. We had achieved some of our goals: to alert the world to the situation in Gaza and our pledge to help break the siege and to stand up to the Egyptian government. Several hours later we gathered for an emotional New Year’s Eve candlelight tribute to those who had lost their lives in the siege.

On January 1^st we gathered in the later hours of the evening in Tahrir Square to discuss the week’s events and the plans ahead. Although most of us did not get into Gaza, we felt that the non-violent actions that we had participated in in one week throughout Cairo were more than we could have imagined. Various representatives from the different countries spoke, culminating with the South African representative who outlined what is now known as The Cairo Declaration, www.cairodeclaration.org, which identifies practical steps which global civil society can utilize to pressure Israel to abide by international law and respect Palestinian human rights.

On my previous trip in May/June 2009 I was able to get into Gaza and to stay with a family that I now call “my family”. This time I wasn’t so fortunate but with the help of some I was able to get them some supplies, a much needed blood pressure monitor and some trinkets for the children. “My family” is doing well. They are one of the luckier ones. But there are thousands of others who still live in refugee camps, who still cannot feed their families, who still need safe drinking water, who still need to rebuild their homes. The list goes on.

1,362 Gaza Freedom Marchers brought Gaza to Egypt on December 31^st 2009. Now, let us bring Gaza to the world.

Shae Popovich, Associate Director, Office of the Americas