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Hamas Besieges the Gaza Freedom Marchers

(Ha'aretz) Amira Hass - 1,361 people came to Cairo from 43 countries to participate in the Gaza Freedom March, 700 of them from the U.S. "If we can't go to Gaza, we'll bring Gaza to Cairo," said one American peace activist. And indeed, for an entire week, more than a thousand foreign citizens, the vast majority of them from Western countries, scurried around the Egyptian capital looking for ways and places to demonstrate against the blockade of Gaza. A large percentage of those present were Jews, as well as Palestinians who are citizens of Western countries. At the request of the president's wife, Suzanne Mubarak, 100 people were allowed to enter Gaza on Dec. 30. The international organizers of the march coordinated it with NGOs with connections to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which had organized lodging for the guests in private homes. When the Hamas government heard this, it prohibited the move "for security reasons." The next morning, the activists discovered a cordon of stern-faced Hamas security men blocking them from leaving the hotel (which is owned by Hamas). Security officials accompanied the activists as they visited homes and organizations. During the march itself, when Gazans watching from the sidelines tried to speak with the visitors, the security men blocked them. "They didn't want us to speak to ordinary people," one woman concluded. After the march, another said, "We came to demonstrate against the siege, and we found that we ourselves were under siege." In meetings without the security men, several activists got the impression that non-Hamas residents live in fear, and are afraid to speak or identify themselves by name. "Now I understand that the call for 'Freedom for Gaza' has another meaning," one young man told me.
2010-01-08 08:32:37
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