First US Grassroot Convoy of Gaza Aid lands in Egypt

Sunday July 05, 2009 22:26 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The 'Viva Palestina' Movement reported Sunday that a plane carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip from US grassroots support groups landed in Egypt after a flight from New York. The convoy will be heading to the Gaza Strip in two days.

The convoy includes 100 people, including British Parliament Member George Galloway. An additional 150 supporters are expected to land in Egypt in the coming days.

The Egyptian Authorities reportedly facilitated the entry of the convoy.

Some convoy members, including Americans of Palestinian descent, wore shirts with Palestinian flags along with the words 'Viva Palestina' (which means 'Long Live Palestine' in Spanish).

Fatima Mahmoud, an Iranian-American, said that the person in charge of the convoy’s finances is a representative of a church in the United States, and that the amount donated is 2 million USD.

The money will be used to purchase medicine and medical supplies to be loaded on trucks that will be driven into Gaza in the coming days.

Maher Abu Hamda, a Palestinian-American, said that this convoy is a declaration that the people of the US, and their civil society institutions, support the Palestinian people, and demand an end to the Israeli siege.

Abu Hamda added that this first convoy would not be the last, and that a bigger convoy would be organized to head to Gaza before the end of this year.

The 'Viva Palestina' convoy idea began in Britain, with a truck convoy of 200 trucks which drove from Britain to Gaza to break the blockade earlier this year. Now, the organizers have moved to the US to drum up support among grassroots organizations for breaking the siege on Gaza.

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