Sentimentality isn’t really my thing and as a rather hard-bitten and hard-biting political columnist I do have a reputation to maintain. So there was no-one more surprised than me to note that every time I think about the 100-vehicle British aid convoy that left London for Gaza on Feb. 14 my eyes become, strangely, damp.
But then I knew deep inside why this journey is so special and why it has touched so many. It means so much more than the transportation of urgently required essentials to Gaza and signifies more than a gift of love from Britain to Palestine.
The fact that 300 extraordinary ‘ordinary people’ made this trip along with their ambulances, fire-engines, trucks and vans – not forgetting a caravan and a boat – across Europe and North Africa for the sake of those less fortunate is a testament to the higher, finer side of human nature. My own belief in human nature has been a bit shaky recently but this has definitely restored it.
Let’s be honest. How many of us, even if our hearts are in the right place, would drop everything at a week’s notice to embark on a journey of unknown duration across continents in the middle of winter? And especially if we first had to dig deep into our own pockets and persuade friends, family and well wishers to do the same. How many of us would take off without a clue where we were going to sleep or shower or even how we were going to get home again once our vehicle has been donated?
Every member of the convoy has been astounded at people’s willingness to give everything from cash to fully-equipped ambulances, medicines, generators, clothes, nappies, tinned foodstuffs, toys .just about everything.
One participant collected so many items that the bulk has to be shipped in a container.
Organized by Viva Palestina on behalf of several groups, including the Stop the War Coalition and the Arab-Anglo Organization, the convoy’s message is entirely non-political. Those traveling of all faiths and all ages have one thought in mind: to show the people of Gaza who have been abandoned by the so-called international community that they are not alone after all.
Shamefully, this convoy has not been endorsed by the British government.
Instead, it has sent a convoy of its own – British warships to help Israel maintain its 20-month lockdown of 1.5 million Palestinians.
The government-owned BBC has been similarly unhelpful. Criticized for refusing to air a charitable appeal by charities like the Red Cross and Save the Children related to Gaza – ostensibly because it did not want to take sides – it has also refrained from covering the convoy’s progress. Indeed, the only network accompanying the convoy is the English-language channel Press TV.
On Wednesday, I caught up with one of Press TV’s chat show hosts, the award-winning journalist Yvonne Ridley on the telephone just as she was traveling through the snow-capped mountains of eastern Algeria headed for Tunis.
She has been working tirelessly to keep Gaza in the spotlight by covering the issue on her program “The Agenda . She has also braved a journey on one of the Free Gaza Movement boats attempting to break the siege, one of which was rammed by an Israeli gunboat and had to limp into a Lebanese port.
Ridley has been with the ‘Valentine for Palestine’ convoy since day one and describes the experience as “Absolutely amazing . “We’re like one big family, she said. “We love one another, we fight and we complain. Everyone will emerge stronger and more capable from this. One young man told me ‘I think we need the people of Gaza more than they need us’.
“This is all about people power, she says. And truly, it seems that people power has worked a miracle. Incredibly, the border between Morocco and Algeria – closed since 1994 – was opened for a few hours to allow the convoy to pass; a coup that even former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was unable to pull-off.
“Our mission has even melted the hearts of politicians, she says.
But it was the reception she and her co-travelers have received from members of the public that has completely bowled her over. “People everywhere smile, wave and throw money through the windows of our vehicles. One man gave us all the money he had in the world.
When one of the vans broke down in France, a stranger who turned out to be a boxer, promptly purchased a new one for them and insured it as well, she told me. And when the convoy stopped to refuel at an Algerian petrol station, a passing local businessman spontaneously picked up the entire fuel tab, which was no small sum.
One of the drivers Iman Manjra is faithfully keeping a blog. He relates how perfect strangers have bombarded them with “water, bread and other foodstuffs as well as cash and letters addressed to the people of Gaza. In the Moroccan town of Oujda, “we simply could not believe the reception we were getting from the jubilant crowd, he writes.
In another Moroccan town they were invited by a private individual to a feast served under a marquee. “A number of waiters came with plateaus of food raised above their shoulders. These were placed on our table. Lifting the lid revealed a whole lamb.22 lambs in all were served, he says.
As this Valentine for Palestine continues its journey through Tunisia and Libya, all eyes are on Egypt where it is expected to arrive sometime during the first week of March.
It would be a tragedy if this caravan of love, which serves as an ambassador for thousands of British donors, wasn’t helped to complete its humanitarian mission. They don’t want a red carpet but they do want the doors of Rafah to be opened long enough for their precious cargo to reach those who desperately need it. I would, therefore, make this appeal to the Egyptian authorities: Please, please don’t let them down.
Linda S. Heard is a syndicated columnist specializing in Middle East affairs. She can be reached on [email protected]
