The Welsh Peace Activists Preparing To Walk To Gaza And Break Israel’s Criminal Aid Blockade
Cover image:
Activists Tasmin Nash, Jim Scott and Jo Barrow prepare to march to Rafah
The “All eyes on Israel” march organisers hope to begin the three day hike from Al Arish in Egypt this weekend.
The US backed blockade of Gaza is causing starvation of Palestinians, as hundreds are killed by Israeli forces as they wait for food.
60 year old among the marches, who say “I cannot rest, I cannot stay silent.” A separate 7,000 strong convoy also on route from Tunisia as citizens of the world take the power into their hands.
In response to the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, an international collective calling itself ‘The Global March to Gaza’ has coordinated to organise a March which will involve over 4 thousand people from 54 different countries around the world.
The group plan to start walking on foot through the Sinai desert to the Rafah border crossing at Gaza with the aim of demanding a stop to the genocide and demanding that Israel re-opens the border to allow a humanitarian corridor to be established.
Several activists from Wales, as part of delegation from the CND, are among over 300 people travelling from Britain to join the march, which will involve a 3 day, 30 mile hike from Al Arish in Egypt to the Gaza border. They aim to reach Rafah by June 15th.
Pembrokeshire campaigner Jim Scott along with several others have already arrived in Cairo and were due to begin the march on Friday June 13th.
Upon his arrival in Egypt Scott published an ‘open letter’ sent to Pembrokeshire’s Labour MP, Henry Tufnell and other elected representatives including First Minister Eluned Morgan MS and secretary of state for Wales Jo Stevens. The letter heavily critices the politicians for their inaction over the Gaza genocide.
The letter begins;
“I am writing to inform you that as one of your constituents and as a citizen of the United Kingdom, I feel I must act where you have not acted, and take steps to prevent the further genocide in Gaza where your Government has failed to do so.”
“In fact worse, the UK government has been actively complicit and assisted the genocide, by continuing to authorise RAF flights over Gaza for Israel and continuing to arm and fund them despite the confirmed slaughter of over 60,000 innocent civilians”
“As the British government and yourself have failed in your international duty and legal obligation to effectively oppose and prevent war crimes, ethnic cleansing and Genocide in occupied Palestine over the last 19 months, I feel I have no choice but to take action myself.”
The letter also makes reference to the potential dangers the marchers will face, adding:
“I am aware that by marching 30 miles on foot through the Sinai desert to the Rafah border we may face arrest, detention, deportation or imprisonment. A worse outcome might be that if we do reach Rafah which is a militarised zone, we may face military aggression and could even be killed ourselves by the Israeli army which first threatened to militarily attack ‘The Madleen’ Freedom flotilla, a humanitarian ship which was attempting to reach Gaza by sea to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza and which had Greta Thunberg and 11 other humanitarians on board.”
Israeli forces seized the Madleen and detained its crew early on Monday, about 100 nautical miles (185km) off the coast of Gaza, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organised the journey. It was carrying humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, to Gaza, in a bid to raise awareness about the blockade.
As well as starvation and famine in Gaza, more than 220 aid seekers were killed by Israeli forces in the space of two weeks. On Thursday alone, at least 26 aid seekers were killed in Israeli drone attacks.
Scott’s letter concludes by imploring Labour MP Henry Tufnell to demand his party’s government push for a humanitarian corridor to be opened via Rafah, saying; “History will judge you harshly for the actions you take or fail to take at this precious moment, as thousands of innocent Palestinians are starved and massacred by Israel with the active support of our UK government and Military.”
Many of the 4,000 global marchers have signed up in the last few days and have been frantically organising last minute travel to join the march.
Pembrokeshire local, art curator & mother of 4, Tasmin, described herself as an ‘empathetic human’, when asked why she’d travelled to Egypt to join the delegation, saying;
“Yesterday I saw 4 bewildered children bleeding on a hospital bed, from another bomb attack. How can I carry on as normal? With tens of thousands murdered as Israel continues to destroy and burn people alive, I cannot rest.”
“I cannot stay silent. We have witnessed atrocities enacted with impunity for 20 months. Poets killed, journalists assassinated, children snipered, fathers murdered for being hungry, newborns denied critical care and left to die, children orphaned, women shot – the crimes are colossal. I have protested, lobbied, fundraised, talked, disrupted.”
“Now is the time to mobilise our passion and humanity. Alongside the 12 hearts aboard the Freedom Flotilla I endeavour to do what our governments have failed – rise and move to show it’s the people who will make the difference.”
Jo Barrow, 60, has also travelled to join the march. “I could have been born in Palestine and had my home torn down, or in Gaza where I would live in a daily hell surrounded by death, trying to survive against all the odds,” they said.
“My children, my grandchildren, could be any one of the children we see on our screens, from the safety of our hand held devices on social media maimed, hungry & dying.”
A spokesperson for CND Cymru, who are supporting the march, said the people travelling to Egypt carried ‘hope’ that Israel’s genocide can be stopped.
Adam Johannes, of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, hit out at Welsh Government for its complicity in arms sales to Israel.
“The Welsh Government is welcoming arms companies into our communities – including those linked to the oppression of Palestinians – under the banner of “economic development.” This is not the Wales we dream of,” he said as he applauded the marchers.
“We must remember the radical imagination of Lucas Aerospace arms factory workers in the 1970s, who proposed building kidney machines instead of killing machines, wind turbines instead of weapons. That spirit lives on in Campaign Against Arms Trade, whose Arms to Renewables research shows we can move from militarism to green, socially useful jobs without job losses.”
The delegation say they have been very moved by the high levels of support offered from many people who have pledged to donate to a crowdfunder to help with the costs of attending the march. They hope that with a separate 7,000 strong aid convoy also heading to Gaza from Tunisia they believe the global tide is turning against the genocide.
However the difficulties in even beginning the march have become apparent, with a Dutch delegation being turned back by Egyptian authorities.
On Friday, the day the march was due to begin, Israel escalated its war across the region by bombing Iran, hitting civilian areas and killing children.
