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Report From the Gaza Freedom March (guest article, by
Leila Zand)
By mickielynn on 2010-01-10 16:52:04
Report from the Gaza Freedom March in Cairo In January we're featuring a couple of guest articles on Waging Peace.
This one is from Leila Zand, the Iran program director at the Fellowship of Reconciliation. It's her report from the Gaza
Freedom March that took place at the end of December 2009. [Here's a little contextual information: The march was meant
to commemorate the one year anniversary of the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli military. The original
plan was for 1,300 participants from all over the world, including Pulitzer-winning author Alice Walker and Pink Floyd
musician Roger Waters to gather in Cairo and cross into Gaza to hold the ceremony in occupied Palestine. They were also
carrying humanitarian aid, including school supplies and winter jackets for Gaza's children. The Egyptian government
prevented the group from crossing but eventually allowed one bus to enter Gaza. The rest of the group found ways to bring
Gaza to Cairo and to express to the world and to the Egyptian people that the blockade needed to be lifted. Previously, on
Christmas eve, The third Viva Palestina Convoy arrived in Cairo after having traveled from London on Dec. Sth, with 200
people, 64 truckloads of humanitarian aid and 16 ambulances. The convoy was welcomed and grew as it crossed Europe,
Turkey, Syria and Jordan. They expanded to 500 people and 210 vehicles . Some participants came from as far as Malaysia.
Their plan was to enter Gaza on Dec. 27th both to deliver the much needed aid and to break the blockade. After a previous
agreement to let them cross, the Egyptian government decided to allow 139 vehicles to enter Gaza, but said a remaining 59
vehicles would have to pass via Israel. Eventually after some negotiations and some violence on the part of Egyptian police
the entire convoy was allowed to enter Gaza but all such convoys are now banned by Egypt.] Colleagues, I took a trip to
Cairo with Gaza Freedom March. I just came back with a lot of experience and energy to work for justice. I wrote some
reflections on my blog www.forpeace.net Also see the photos at our flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/forpeace This
morning following our Gaza Freedom March planning meeting, we headed to Tahrir Square in Cairo. We waited for the sign
of a flag waving to let us know that it was time to get together on the right side of the square. A big crowd was already there.
Mark Johnson [executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation] and I joined the crowd. I took my sign of “Free
Gaza” out and started to chant “Free, Free, Gaza.” Then suddenly I noticed that the Egyptian police were attacking us. This
was my experience: I am in the back row. An Italian woman, standing next to me, starts to talk to me in Italian. I can’t
understand her, but from the motion of her hands I understand she is asking us to sit down. We sit down, but the police are
agitated and begin pushing us off the street. The police pull people by their legs and their hair. I see my new Iranian friend,
Reza, being pulled by his legs on the ground, and a woman being pulled by her hair. I take videos of some of these
disturbing moments. Watching these scenes makes me shout louder. It is my turn to be pushed and pulled by the police. They
get to me and pull me toward the sidewalk. I start to shout, and suddenly I realize that I am shouting in Persian, “Marg bar
dictator” (death to the dictator). For a moment I forget I am in Egypt and fighting for Gaza freedom. I feel I am in Iran with
my brothers and sisters, fighting for justice there. I guess no matter where and when, fighting for justice provokes the same
feelings. A dictator is a dictator, whether in Cairo or in Tehran. As they are pulling me off, I also receive a heavy blow on my
back. I am still shouting “marg bar dictator” as if all I had felt about the events in Iran during the past 6 months was coming
out of my heart. I shout for my country, for Gaza, and for Freedom. As I am being pulled by police, I see Father Louie Vitale
in the middle of the crowd. The police are pushing him as well. I suddenly remember he has been on a hunger strike for 4
days now, and I get worried for him as an older man (he is almost 80). I shout to the police “stop pushing him, stop pushing
him,” and then I receive another blow on my back. The police trap us on the corner of the street, where we had placed a
small tent and named it Gaza Embassy, and called the sidewalk “Gaza Freedom Square.” We keep up with chanting,
dancing, and singing for hours. We hold signs and do all we can do to get attention. Police surround us. I just came out to
write this note, and am going back to the “Gaza Freedom Square” to spend the New Year Eve with my passionate brothers
and sisters there. Happy New Year. Leila Zand Iran Program Director, Fellowship Of Reconciliation www.forusa.org
www.forpeace.net P.O.Box 271, 521 N. Broadway Nyack, NY 10960 845-358-4601 Ex. 27 Keep Your Language. Love its
sounds, its modulation, its rhythm. But try to march together with men/women of different languages, remote from your own,
who wish like you, for a more just and human world. Dom Helder Comara
