Video of the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla

Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara, May 31st 2010 // 15 min. from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.

"On the night of Sunday, May 30, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. On the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli commandos opened fire on civilian passengers, killing at least 9 passengers and wounding dozens more. Others are still missing. The final death toll is yet to be determined. Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee was aboard the besieged ship and has since returned home safely."

Cultures of Resistance

Tony Blair receives the 2010 Louis Vuitton Middle East peace prize

Tony Blair receives the 2010 Louis Vuitton Middle East peace prize, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Remember kids, propaganda begins at home.

Latest updates on the Viva Palestina relief convoy

Video from Press TV via the Reading Palestinian Solidarity Campaign

The latest news from El Arish, Egypt is looking bad with riot police attacking the Viva Palestina aid to Gaza convoy after participants protested the decision by the government to allow only 157 out of the 450 volunteers to enter Palestinian territory. Iranian based Press TV correspondent Hassan Ghani who has travelled with the convoy says that some of those delivering the medical supplies have been sustained serious head injuries, and that both sides are in a stand off. Other Viva Palestina volunteers have also spoken of police violence and injuries sustained via Twitter, As the Irish Viva Palestina site stated last night;

"We spent almost 3 hours in a blind panic unable to locate our people, only their phones were found on the ground and answered by strangers. Some people are STILL missing. THIS is what it was like for us on this blog as it happened. God knows what tomorrow will bring after this attack. Hopefully the Egyptians have had enough fun and games and will now let them get on with their work of delivering the ambulances and aid to those who are in need of it."

They also posted footage taken from Turkish TV here. For the latest updates check out their Twitter feeds here and here.

Ironically, some of the medical supplies destined to help Palestinians in Gaza is now being used to treat those who wished to provide aid.

Egyptian riot police attack and injure UK aid convoy volunteers

Just before Christmas I reported on the Viva Palestina aid convoy that was delivering medical and educational supplies from UK to the Gaza Strip. I talked with those taking part and was deeply impressed by their commitment to their mission.

However, the latest news is not so gratifying. After being given the runaround by the Egyptian authorities and being told that they could not enter the country via Jordan they tried to get their supplies through via a Syrian port. Also the Israeli government attempted to stop the ferry the convoy reaching Egyptian territory using naval exercises as a pretext though this plan was thwarted thanks to the intervention of a Turkish warship which escorted them to their final port of call.

The latest hurdle thrown in their path are new restriction placed on who can and cannot enter Gaza placed upon them by Cairo which has said that only 150 of the 450 volunteers who have come from all over the world to help can go through. The Egyptian responded to protests by sending in the riot police who are attacking convoy members as I write this.

Follow the latest Twitter update here and here.

Help Viva Palestina - send a email to the Egyptian government

At this moment the Viva Palestina aid convoy lies stranded on the Egyptian-Jordanian border (follow their progress on Twitter) unable to proceed with the delivery of much needed humanitarian aid as the Egyptian government has so far refused the hundreds of volunteers who've raised thousands of pounds in order to buy medical and educational supplies entry.

Please feel free to copy the template below and send an email to your local Egyptian embassy or consulate. For those in the UK:

eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg


To the people and government of the Arab Republic of Egypt,

I, like many others around the world, have been following the progress of the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy as it has made its way from countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Turkey and Malaysia in order to bring medical and educational supplies to those in need in the Gaza Strip. I would like to call upon the Egyptian people to alllow the convoy to enter their territory and so complete their mission to help the Palestinian people.

Yours faithfully

****************

For those in other locations a complete list of Egyptian embassies can be found here.

Viva Palestina - video from Greece

Finally got round to editing and uploading video footage of the Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy arriving in Thessaloniki, Greece last weekend. The convoy is part of an effort to get aid from Britain and other parts of the world to the Gaza Strip. Currently, they are in Turkey and will be travelling through Syria, Jordan and Egypt before arriving in Gaza on 27th December.

You can follow their progress via Twitter and find out more about the convoy at vivapalestina.org.

UK - Gaza aid convoy reaches Greece - Viva Palestina

UK - Gaza aid convoy reaches Greece - Viva Palestina, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

With just over half their journey completed the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid covoy reached the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki en route from the UK to Gaza. The collection of 80 plus ambulances and other vehicles carrying medical supplies stopped in the Greek city to raise awareness of the situation in the Gaza Strip which has been subject to a strictly enforced Isreali blockade since 2007.

After this evening's stopover the convoy's itinerary will take it through Turkey, Syria, Egypt and eventually to Gaza. If permitted to enter, the group which comprises of volunteers from over a dozen countries intends to donate the vehicles and supplies to Palestinian aid organisations.

The Egyptian government in conjunction with the US army engineers of has recently begun erecting a 11km steel wall aimed at cutting supply lines into Gaza. For latest updates check out their Twitter page here.

More photos on Demotix.com

Protests in Bristol over Gaza

Protests in Bristol over Gaza, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Saturday see protesters across the globe demonstrate against the Israeli invasion of Gaza. I happened to be in the Bristol when I came across a "die-in" outside various shops in the Broadmead shopping centre.

The idea of those involved was to bring to wider public attention to the fact that some stores have strong economic ties with Israel and are, according to anti - war organisations helping the war effort.

Concert for Palestine

Concert for Palestine, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Tonight there was a concert in the centre of Thessaloniki in support of Palestinians under siege in the Gaza Strip. For the latest news updates from Al Jazeera click here and from the BBC click here.

Gaza Strip invasion - protests in Greece

"Israeli ground troops have started to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials have confirmed, a week after the offensive against Hamas began.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the intention was to "take control" of areas from which Palestinian militants have been firing rockets into Israel"

BBC just now

Earlier today there were mass protests in Athens and demonstrations in Thessaloniki. See here for the news in Greek from Skai.gr

UPDATE

The video below shows the protests in Athens yesterday. There were also demos in Britain, France, Australia, Turkey, Holland, Israel and Spain.

Palestinians and Greeks protest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip

Palestinians and Greeks protest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Taken during a demonstration by Greeks and Palestinians in Thessaloniki over the recent bombing campaign by the Israeli government. For more details on the latest events in the Gaza Strip click here.