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Viva Palestina

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Viva Palestina (Long live Palestine, in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) is a British-based registered charity which came into being in January 2009 with the initial intention of running a humanitarian aid convoy to the Gaza Strip. Its aims since becoming a registered charity are: "provision from the UK of food, medicine and essential goods and services needed by the civilian population" [of the "occupied Palestinian Territories"], and "highlighting the causes and results of wars with a view to achieving peace."[1]

Background

Viva Palestina was brought about in January 2009 by a group including British Member of Parliament George Galloway in response to the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.

First convoy

On 14 February 2009, after raising over £1 million-worth of humanitarian aid in under four weeks, hundreds of volunteers launched the first convoy comprising approximately 110 vehicles intended for use in Gaza — including a fire engine donated by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), 12 ambulances, a boat, and trucks full of medicines, tools, clothes, blankets and gifts for children. The 5,000-mile route passed through Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.[2]

On 20 February, Galloway condemned Lancashire Police after they arrested nine of the volunteers under the Terrorism Act a day before the convoy's launch. Galloway said: "The arrests were clearly deliberately timed for the eve of the departure of the convoy. Photographs of the high-profile snatch on the M65 were immediately fed to the press to maximise the newsworthiness of the smear that was being perpetrated on the convoy." Viva Palestina reported an 80% drop in donations following the broadcast of the arrests and the police allegations on the BBC.[3] All those arrested were subsequently released without charge.[4]

Iranian television news channel Press TV travelled with the convoy via embedded reporters, and Hassan Ghani together with Yvonne Ridley made a documentary about it.

The convoy arrived in Gaza via the Rafah crossing on 9 March 2009,[5] accompanied by approximately 180 extra trucks of aid donated by Libya's Gaddafi Foundation and The International Organization for Peace, Care and Relief ( IOPCR ) [6]. These trucks were not allowed to cross with the British convoy and were re-directed through Israel. Not all of the British aid was delivered. At Al-Arish the Egytian authorities searched all vehicles taking any aid it did not deem to be medical. All vehicles however did make it across with the exception of the fire engine and boat which were also blocked by the Egyptian government. The boat is to be delivered later in a flotilla of craft which Viva Palestina intends to take into Gaza harbour.[7]

When they returned to the UK supporters welcomed them home.[8]

United States "convoy"

Israel allowed a "convoy of 200 U.S. activists ... to cross into the Gaza Strip via Egypt on" July 17, 2009.[9] It was figure-headed by George Galloway and Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic.

The Anti-Defamation League expressed concerns that the convoy would aid Hamas and requested the U.S. Justice Department to investigate. To allay fears that the United States volunteers would encounter legal difficulties upon their return home, Hamas agreed to allow the aid to be delivered directly to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) rather than through the government.

Third convoy

Main article: Lifeline 3

On 6 December 2009, the third[10] Viva Palestina Convoy departed from London. This convoy, made up of volunteers from several countries (and collecting additional support in Istanbul and Damascus), travelled via[11] France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, back through Syria again, and finally Egypt before entering Gaza via Rafah[12]. The intended date of entry was 27 December 2009, the one-year anniversary of the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, but actual entry took place on 7 January 2010.

On 5 January 2010, scuffles broke out between members of the convoy and Egyptian police in Al-Arish after part of the convoy was barred from entering Gaza. On 6 January 2010 at the Rafah border, during solidarity protests held by Palestinians in Gaza awaiting the convoy's arrival, violence erupted resulting in the hospitalisation of at least three Palestinians and the death of an Egyptian policeman.[13][14]

On 7 January it was reported by Democracy Now! – along with an interview with Galloway – that the convoy had successfully crossed the Egyptian border with Gaza and was beginning to hand out medicine.[15]

On 8 January George Galloway was deported from Egypt and declared persona non grata. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit described the aid convoy as "farcical" and said the country would no longer allow such solidarity convoys into the Hamas-run coastal area.[16]

Gaza flotilla

Fatimah Mahmadi, Kevin Ovenden, and Nicola Enchmarch of Viva Palestina were on board ships of the Gaza flotilla raided by the Israelis.[17][18]

Future work

Viva Palestina founder George Galloway said that he was planning more Viva Palestina Convoys, "Next year we will bring a Viva Palestina Hugo Chavez convoy from Venezuela, maybe one from Iran which we are currently discussing. And people from other countries such as Australia and South Africa are also asking if they can get involved,"[19].

Subsequently to this, in an 11 January 2010 interview with Anas Tikriti on British-based Arabic diaspora television channel Al Hiwar, Galloway said that the Chavez link was less likely to happen than it had been, but that Viva Palestina would enter Gaza harbour by sea. This compares with the projects of the Free Gaza Movement.[20]

Aid recipients and investigations

While in Gaza, AFP reported that Viva Palestina donated more than 100 vehicles carrying aid worth more than 1.4 US dollars to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip.[21] Financial support for Hamas is unlawful in Canada, the United States and most of the EU, because of Hamas' classification as a terrorist organization.[citation needed] The Anti-Defamation League sent an open letter to the US Department of Justice asking that they open an investigation.[22] Britain's Charity Commission concluded that there was no evidence that the Charity’s property was provided to Hamas.[23]

The Charity Commission's inquiry found that Viva Palestina was a charity because the Founding Trustee’s attempts to amend the purposes of the Charity so that it became a non-charitable organisation were not legally effective.[23] They concluded that there was no evidence that the Charity’s property was provided to Hamas based on the material it examined.[23] They found that the Charity had misled the public by claiming to have raised over £1 million during the first convoy because this amount included the estimated value of the goods raised by during the course of the convoy which were donated on arrival in Gaza.[23] They concluded that mismanagement in the administration of a charity had exposed the Charity’s funds to unnecessary risk.[23]

References

  1. ^ Viva Palestina's record at the Charities Commission
  2. ^ "Gaza-bound aid convoy leaving UK". BBC. 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  3. ^ "Galloway Condemns Lancashire Police Action Over Gaza Aid Convoy". OfficialWire. 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  4. ^ "No charges for Gaza convoy trio". BBC. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  5. ^ "UK aid convoy crosses into Gaza". BBC. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  6. ^ The IOPCR organized a free medical day in Gaza/PNN/March 30,2009
  7. ^ "Viva Palestina news". Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  8. ^ This is Lancashire: Gaza aid convoy gets heroic welcome home
  9. ^ "Activists' convoy permitted Gaza crossing". Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  10. ^ "Viva Palestina October convoy announcement/update". Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  11. ^ "Viva Palestina Route map from Reading Branch of PSC". Retrieved 2009-12-19.
  12. ^ "Viva Palestina Route". Retrieved 2009-12-19.
  13. ^ Egyptian guard at Gaza border killed in protest over Galloway's aid convoy; An Egyptian soldier was killed on Wednesday when protests over a Gaza-bound aid convoy led by George Galloway turned violent. 06 Jan 2010 Telegraph [1]
  14. ^ January 6, 2010, Egyptian soldier killed in clashes over George Galloway convoy, Times of London [2]
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/09/world/AP-ML-Egypt-Gaza-Aid.html
  17. ^ "Detained Kiwi is safe, says mum"
  18. ^ http://www.wearechange.org/?p=1942
  19. ^ "Swansea Action for Palestine, Looking ahead and to more convoys". Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  20. ^ George Galloway special interview with Anas Tikriti on Al Hiwar, 11 January 2010
  21. ^ "British MP gives money, vehicles to Hamas in Gaza". AFP. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  22. ^ http://www.adl.org/Israel/anti_israel/letter_galloway.asp
  23. ^ a b c d e "Viva Palestina formerly known as Lifeline for Gaza". Charity Commission. 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
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