THE OUTPOURING of world concern for the beleaguered Gazans continues, as Lifeline 5, the latest Viva Palestina convoy, nears its goal. Led by British former MP George Galloway, the convoy began its journey to Gaza Strip last month from the British House of Commons, crossing into Turkey on 27 September. Along with convoys from Turkey, the Gulf, North Africa and the Maghreb, Viva Palestina 5 proceeded by ship from Lattakia on Wednesday, carrying buses of aid. It is expected to arrive at Arish port in Egypt on 10 October. The convoy then intends to proceed overland to the Rafah border crossing to deliver its precious medical and humanitarian aid. Around 400 activists, including trade union leaders and representatives of charity and rights groups from several countries are bringing 65 trucks carrying medical and hospital equipment, medicine, agricultural supplies, school supplies, and building materials worth $500,000. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official said the goods of the largest land convoy for Gaza ever "must be unloaded at Arish" where the Egyptian Red Crescent will take over. Egyptian authorities have said that Galloway, Viva Palestina's founder, was not welcome after the previous convoy, though he will arrive at Arish and hopes the Egyptian authorities will reconsider. "I was not deported from Egypt and I am not persona non grata there. No official notification of either has ever been conveyed to me," he said. "I have no wish to have a fight with the Egyptian government; my fight is with Israel." He joined the convoy after a speaking tour in Canada, where he won a case against the Canadian government, which refused him entry last year, calling him a terrorist for supporting the Hamas-led government of Gaza. Viva Palestina has organised three massive land convoys to Gaza in the last 18 months in reaction to Israel's siege of Gaza. The governor of the Syrian region of Daraa, Faysal Kulthum, who greeted the Jordanian and Gulf states' convoy crossing into Syria, declared that the continuation of aid convoys is a form of resistance, and that these convoys serve to uncover the true nature of the Israeli occupation, its arrogance and its defiance of international laws. He praised the growing international participation in support for the Palestinian cause and pledged all the help his regional administration was capable of providing. Activists from dozens of Asian countries are already planning to organise yet another convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. The Turkish charity IHH, which organised the Mavi Marmara effort in May this year, said about 500 of its members and supporters are planning a new Gaza-bound Flotilla at the end of the year.
