Being besieged under the abominable yoke of the Israeli blockade, Gazans alone, albeit heroically, are suffering not only from the siege, but also from the indifference of the international community to their just cause.
However, people all around the world have decided not to acquiesce the continuing injustice imposed by Israeli war criminals on the beleaguered Gaza strip.
By January 2010, three separate international campaigns (Code Pink's Gaza Freedom March, George Galloway's Viva Palestina March, and Gaza International March of the International Movement Against Globalization and the American-Zionist Hegemony) will enter Gaza in an international popular move of solidarity with Gazans aiming at breaking the illegal Israeli siege and the world silence on the Israeli war crimes.
IslamOnline.net's Politics in Depth interviewed Mr. Mahmud Gaber, the official coordinator of the International March of Gaza of the International Movement Against Globalization and the American-Zionist Hegemony.
IslamOnline.net (IOL): Please, tell us about the International March for Gaza and its plan to head for the besieged Gaza Strip at the end of December 2009?
Mr. Gaber: It is an internationally based march announced in May 2009 by the International Movement Against Globalization and the American-Zionist Hegemony. The march's aim is to break the Israeli siege of the people of Gaza and highlight the dangers of judaizing Al-Quds and the Israeli attempts to erode its Arab and Muslim history.
The movement called all political, social, cultural, human rights, humanitarian organizations and NGOs to join in the march that will congregate in Cairo from December 10 to December 25, 2009, and will set off on Monday December 28, 2009 to commemorate one year after the Gaza Holocaust of 2008.
However, many Zionist organizations and individuals tried to divert the attention away from our march.
Code Pink's (US Women for Peace) Gaza Freedom March is completely unrelated to ours.
Code Pink has two groups; after already obtaining the permission of the Egyptian authorities, the first one will enter Gaza from Egypt, and the second one will enter the capital of the Zionist entity, then to Gaza through Erez Crossing to meet with the first group.
The March organized by the International Movement Against Globalization and the American-Zionist Hegemony is the one that adopts the Muslim and Arab position of opposing normalization with Israel, the judaization of Al-Quds, and the concession of Palestinian refugees' rights of return.
No Israeli citizen is allowed to participate in our campaign.
Unfortunately, many Egyptian politicians are intentionally trying to underestimate the International March for Gaza for political reasons.
IOL: So, does the International Movement Against Globalization have a special website for promoting its march for Gaza, especially amongst English-speaking populations?
"The entire people of Gaza were punished by Arab regimes."
Mr. Gaber: We do not have a specific website; we just publish our announcements and declarations in Arabic, English, and Latin languages in most websites of organizations and individuals that will participate in our march.
In Europe and the United States, there is a lot of sympathy with us. For example, in Germany, there was a huge conference organized on December 11 to celebrate the start of the International March for Gaza from Germany.
The conference was comprehensively covered by media agencies and attended by many political activists. The conference succeeded in spite of the Israeli lobby's efforts to undermine it.
Actually, the International March for Gaza started from Germany as the main office of the International Movement Against Globalization and the American-Zionist Hegemony is located in Germany where Mr. Fadi Madi, the organizer of the march, resides.
The Movement has a website on the FaceBook, personalized websites, and blogs of those who are going to participate in the march.
IOL: Why does the Movement choose Gaza in specific and why will the campaign particularly enter Gaza by January 1, 2010?
Mr. Gaber: Some accuse Arabs and Muslims of easily forgetting the Gaza Massacre.
The two months of December 2008 and January 2009 witnessed the Gaza holocaust, and no one tried to save the people of Gaza.
The Arab League's urgent summit of March 2009 called for the reconstruction of Gaza on condition that Hamas has to negotiate with Israel and accept previous peace agreements signed between the Palestinian National Authority and the Zionist entity.
When Hamas and other resistance groups rejected those conditions, aid facilities were withdrawn from Gaza.
The entire people of Gaza were punished by Arab regimes while Hamas only represents a group in Palestine, not all the Palestinian people.
Now each Palestinian is suffering from the lack of water, food, energy, and medical care.
Most of Gaza's institutions lack necessary requirements to function properly because of the despicable siege.
We want to revive the memory of Gaza holocaust in the minds of Arabs and Muslims, and to reinforce the support for Gaza and the Palestinian cause.
IOL: What will you do after the announcement of Egypt's Foreign Ministry that Egypt's Gaza crossings will not be open to either foreign or Egyptian marches?
Mr. Gaber: We will go ahead with our planned march unless we are convinced by the Egyptian Government that there is a logical reason why Gaza crossing will be closed.
The assumption that each of the various movements going to enter Gaza are conflicting with each other is a false claim devoid of truth. There is no kind of differences amongst different movements, organizations, or individuals participating in any organized march for Gaza. All the movements are united behind one goal, which is to enter Gaza to break the siege.
Regarding the claims about the number of participants, today we have 1.500 participants currently in Cairo. If there are 100 or 200 participants who have not yet completed their official papers, they can be temporarily denied entry into Gaza until their papers are completed.
However, it is unfair to deny the entry of the remaining 1.300 and the other additional 2000 persons registered in the march who will join in.
Denying all movements' participants from entering Gaza will trigger people to think that Egypt tries to cover up its building of an underground steel wall along its borders with Gaza.
On December 27, 2009, we held a silent, candle-lit sit-in in front of Egypt's Lawyer Syndicate, condemning all regimes collaborating with the Zionist entity. Today, we will set off to Gaza as scheduled.
Our marches are not against the Egyptian law or Egypt's regime, and we, as Egyptians, practice our rights as citizens. The participants of Gaza marches (either Egyptians or none) are the most respectful persons ever who come to Egypt, and they are very committed to Egypt's constitution and laws.
IOL: Who are the most prominent figures and organizations participating in the International March for Gaza?Mr. Gaber: In a press conference, former South Africa's president Nelson Mandela has announced that he will head the march for Gaza. However, we are not sure whether he will come to Egypt to take part.
The Palestinian Association for Human Rights, Journalists Without Borders, the Palestinian National Movement, Jenin Media Center, the International Coalition of Human Rights, the Arab Writers Union, the Palestinian Network of 1948, and the Free Encyclopedia are among the institutions that will participate in the march.
Dr. Adnan Sabah; a Palestinian intellectual, Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, and Shereen Amin Al-Husseini are among the notable individuals participating in the march.
IOL: What are the main challenges facing the International March for Gaza?
Mr. Gaber: One of the challenges is the media attempt of mixing our march with that of Code Pink, the Gaza Freedom March.
Nevertheless, we have overcome this challenge using media channels to clarify such misunderstanding.
Besides, the movement lacks financial support needed to match the growing number of delegates and participants of the march.
More than 1.000 participants are registered to march on Gaza, but we have limited resources.
Another challenge is the boycott imposed by some Egyptian political movements against us.
We rejected some offers of contributions from many Egyptian political movements because of their politicized conditions.
This has caused extra pressure on us to provide the necessary transportation fees and decent meals to the march's participants.
IOL: How do these participants take part in the
Mr. Gaber:They either call or email the International Movement Against Globalization and the American-Zionist Hegemony.
We are welcoming any donations, and we provide donators with an official acknowledgment of their contributions. Yet, we do not receive cash money.
Those who are going to participate in or donate to our campaign, their names are published in a document of honor issued by the movement.
I am really inviting everyone to publicize the coming march for Gaza, and encouraging everyone to play an active role in it. Anyone can apply to participate in the march, considering December 25 deadline.
IOL: How will the march be organized with this large number of participants?
Mr. Gaber: On December 28, we will regroup in front of the Egyptian Lawyers Syndicate.
Then we will move to Al-Shawish point in Sinai, and stop there for prayer and lunch. Afterwards, we will move to Al-Arish where we will stop and wait for other late groups to join in.
On December 29, we will go to the Rafah Crossing then to Gaza. We are not sure whether we will smoothly pass through the Rafah Crossing to Gaza as it depends on the situation at this time.
Egypt's government is not the only party responsible for allowing us entry into Gaza because other parties have also to agree. If all parties agree to grant us permission to enter Gaza, we will surely do.
IOL: What are the movement's plans after the march?
Mr. Gaber: Firstly, we plan that humanitarian aid access will be permanently allowed in Gaza during all the year around.
Secondly, a national Arab, Muslim committee has to be established to reconstruct Gaza in order to challenge those governments who link the issue of reconstructing Gaza with their political agendas.
We try to promote the role of civil society organizations in this aspect, break the siege on Gaza, and contribute in reconstruction efforts.
We also hope to hold an international campaign with the cooperation of civil society organizations to indict Gaza war criminals in many countries' courts.
Our goal is to push courts of countries that conduct trials of war criminals to issue warrants of arrest against Gaza war criminals.
Imagine Israeli leaders having a constant fear of being arrested in any foreign country or airport.
However, this requires actions on the ground, because much effort, aid, and money are needed.
IOL: What is your final message out of this march?
Mr. Gaber: I would like to tell all people that the price of silence is expensive. We should no longer remain silent.
By Fred Johnston
Freelance Writer - Middle East Affairs
