Greater Manchester Stop the War would like to congratulate the Viva Palestina convoy on crossing into Gaza.

Over 100 hundred vehicles left England on the 14th of February and travelled thousands of miles to deliver £1m worth of badly needed aid including medicine, food, clothing and toys from the UK, has entered
Gaza.

The Gaza Strip is facing a humanitarian crisis following Israel’s recent three-week offensive which resulted in a loss of 1,300 people and the blockade which as been in force since 2007.  Over 80 aid trucks enter Gaza each day but aid agencies say they need at least 400 trucks of aid daily.

Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children, said "Some 90% of the population is depending on food aid. Around 100,000 people have been displaced, many of them are now living in tents - the aid is
getting through, but much more is needed."

The convoy passed through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt but it has not been without incident.  Nine of the volunteer drivers were arrested when several vehicles were stopped on
the M65 near Preston at the start of the journey, all of who were latter released and met up with the convoy to continue their aid mission.

One of the highlights of the aid convoy was seeing the border between Morocco and Algeria which has been shut since 1994 temporarily opened to allow it to pass through.   It is heartening to see that whatever
people’s differences they have come together in their support for Palestine.

This was never expected to be an easy journey for the convoy but no one was expecting it to be attacked in Egypt with little intervention by the authorities.

After a days’ delay in Egypt it was only allowed to enter Gaza through the Rafah border once they agreed to remove all non-medical aid from the convoy.  This aid will now be taken into Gaza by the Egyptian Red
Cross via an Israel check point so that the Israeli's can inspect it.

This is a shocking indication of how Egypt is helping Israel enforce its illegal blockade on Palestine.

But this has not stopped the aid getting through.

Well done to everyone who supported the aid convoy, whether by donating, fundraising and awareness building.  But a special thank you and congratulations from behalf of Greater Manchester Stop the War to
the many volunteer drivers who made the journey.

In peace and solidarity,

Nahella Ashraf

From Oxford Road, West Bank, Gaza. Globalise the intifada!