www.GazaFreedomMarc
The Long Mile: International Coalition Plans Nonviolent March to Erez
Crossing
WHAT: International march in Gaza to break the siege
WHEN: January 1, 2010
WHERE: Cairo; Gaza; Erez Checkpoint
NEW YORK CITY – On January 1, 2010 the Coalition to End the Illegal
Siege of Gaza will be sending people from around the world to Gaza. They
will march alongside the people of Gaza to break the illegal siege.
This nonviolent action draws inspiration from the rich Palestinian
traditions of nonviolent resistance as well as the Salt March of Mahatma
Gandhi and the Selma March of Martin Luther King.
Gandhi maintained that nonviolence requires more courage and is more
effective than violence. We agree. We are not afraid, we won’t turn
back, we won’t let Gaza die.
The Palestinians have a long and quietly heroic history of nonviolent
resistance. Even as you read these lines, Palestinians in the West Bank
continue nonviolently to resist the encroachments of the wall Israel is
illegally building on Occupied Palestinian Territory. Regrettably Israel
has responded to these nonviolent protests with lethal force.
Were Gazans to march nonviolently across the Israeli blockade a
bloodbath would surely ensue. But if people carrying foreign passports
can bring to bear their unique immunities, then Israel will be less
able—perhaps unable—to retaliate with violence.
The success of our undertaking depends on galvanizing people abroad to
descend en masse on Gaza. Since Israel defies international law
then—just as federal marshals were sent in to enforce federal, U.S. law
against racist southern sheriffs—we must provide nonviolent marshals
from around the world to enforce international law in Gaza.
We take no sides in internal Palestinian politics. We side only with
international law and basic human decency.
“The Israeli attack [on Gaza] came after eighteen months of a crippling
blockade that had already left the Palestinian population hungry, sick,
weak, and suffering from a catastrophic situation,” says Medea Benjamin
of CODEPINK, which is part of a broad coalition that is coordinating the
march. “We must not only provide massive humanitarian aid, but lift the
blockade that is keeping the people of Gaza under siege.”
The march has already been endorsed by a wide range of notables,
including Nobel Prize recipients, renowned authors, and elected
officials.
http://www.gazafree