Freedom march delays entry into Gaza

source: NST 2009/12/28

By Minderjeet Kaur

KUALA LUMPUR: The two Malaysians and other members of the Viva Palestina convoy are still struggling to enter Gaza.They are also frustrated that some of their team members have been turned away at the Cairo Airport as the authorities fear they would participate in the Gaza freedom march to mark one year of the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

The Malaysians, Juana Jaafar and Ram Karthigasu, who are also Perdana Peace Global Organisation (PGPO) members, tweeted yesterday that the group should be allowed access into Gaza.

"It has become a battleground when focus should be on Israel," Juana tweeted.

Since they could not join the march to mark the start of Israeli bombing last year, the convoy went on a hunger strike at 11.25am.

They also tweeted, asking everyone to write about their delays and the problems they faced.

"Help us move forward. Also, please write to the Egypt embassy in your countries."

The convoy are still waiting for an approval from the Egyptian government to enter Gaza.

Biting cold caused discomfort, made worse when some of the members received letters which stated that they would have no access to food.

But Juana tweeted: "That is not true. The locals have been very kind to us. We get free lunch and dinner at our meeting point if we do not want to eat out.

"Also some tea."

The delay in entering Gaza is also causing the convoy to dig deeper into their pockets. This is because the Jordanian dinars, Juana said, was more expensive than euro at the moment.

Most of them are just waiting and surfing wifi.

"Hope we get some good news tomorrow. Can't go on hanging about like this."

Perdana Global Peace Organisation members Juana Jaafar and Ram Karthigasu are driving an ambulance donated by the organisation to the people of Gaza.