Galloway's Gaza mission runs into protests

[bemildred]

:popcorn::popcorn:

George Galloway's high-profile mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has run into controversy, just as his convoy reaches the final leg of its 5,000 mile journey.

Egyptian activists who had been planning to welcome Galloway's Viva Palestina trucks as they cross from Libya into Egypt today will instead be staying at home, after allegations surfaced that Galloway was planning to take part in official receptions with the unpopular Egyptian government, despite having recently called for it to be overthrown.

Rumours that Galloway had agreed to meet Ahmed Ezz, a steel magnate who is a close associate of President Hosni Mubarak and has been caught up in several corruption scandals, caused an outcry among groups opposed to a president Galloway has dismissed as a tyrant.

The mile convoy of 110 vehicles left England on 14 February and travelled through Europe and North Africa. Egyptian opposition groups had been preparing a "red carpet" welcome for Galloway and his caravan, impressed at the British MP's forceful denunciations of Mubarak's stance on the Gaza crisis. The Egyptian government largely refused to open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza during Israel's recent 22-day military assault on the area, prompting Galloway to declare that the "dictatorship" of Mubarak was "jointly responsible for the murder of every Palestinian who has died these last two years".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/04/galloway-viva-palestina-egyptian-government

[number6]

1. Galloway's da Man

:popcorn:

[Tripmann]

2. What a misleading headline.

The convoy will not be running into protests.

And seconded, Galloway is da man. I listen to his radio show religiously.

[oberliner]

3. George Galloway stoned in Egypt

A convoy led by the maverick MP George Galloway carrying supplies for Gaza has been attacked in Egypt, apparently injuring several people travelling in his party.

The convoy, carrying aid worth £1 million, was pelted with stones and vandalised with anti-Hamas slogans after it stopped overnight in El-Arish, a small town around 28 miles from the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5872129.ece

[bemildred]

4. Pissing Hosni off can have it's drawbacks.

But then this is show business, so quiet efficiency is not what it is about.

[geek tragedy]

5. When the despicable latch onto a good cause.

Galloway sucks, and Ridley is even worse.

That doesn't change the fact that Gaza needs help and that Israel's policies have been abhorrent, but Jihadi George isn't a good symbol of the opposition to those policies.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Good points.

Though I'd say Galloway is more Grandstanding George than Jihadi George. Ridley, on the other hand, is explicitly pro-Jihad - not just regarding I/P issues, but e.g. supporting the Chechnyan rebels who perpetrated the Beslan school massacre (not that I'm any supporter of Putin or the Chechnyan occupation, but targeting children is the worst). She was once kidnapped by the Taliban; and seems, since her release, to be demonstrating a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome.

In any case, both just give ammo to the Righties who think that all or most antiwar lefties or opponents of Israel's policies re Gaza are dodgy types or pro-terrorist.

Also, I'm not sure how much I trust them to get enough aid to where it's needed. I'd strongly recommend for anyone who wants to donate to Gaza relief to do so through an established and experienced charity, such as Oxfam, Islamic Relief, Save the Children Fund, or the joint Disasters Emergency Committee (www.dec.org.uk).

[EFerrari]

7. Amy had Medea Benjamin and Alice Walker on this morning.

They went to Gaza for International Women's Day.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/9/pulitzer_prize_winning_author_alice_walker

[LeftishBrit]

8. Very interesting; thanks for posting

[EFerrari]

9. I love listening to Alice Walker. She's got that Berkeley zen going

better than anyone I've ever met. :)

[ohio2007]

10. George Galloway stoned in Egypt

The convoy, carrying aid worth £1 million, was pelted with stones and vandalised with anti-Hamas slogans after it stopped overnight in El-Arish, a small town around 28 miles from the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

..............

Mr Galloway's party confirmed that Egyptian officials had also become embroiled in a dispute with the party over what type of goods they would be allowed to take into the territory through the Rafah crossing.
.....
Mr Galloway's convoy was braced for some hostility in Egypt after the Respect MP earlier this year called for its President to be overthrown in a highly controversial speech at a rally protesting Israel's assault on the Islamist militants of Hamas.

"There are many governments responsible for this great crime in Palestine, but the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak is jointly responsible for the murder of every Palestinian who has died in these last two years," he said.

.......

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5872129.ece

odd... the article didn't go into any detail as to the anti Hamas slogans they were tagged with. Somebody maust have taken a few pics

[bemildred]

11. You just duped Oberliner in the same thread. nt

[Jim Sagle]

12. I don't think Oberliner's the dupe here. Just sayin'...

;)

[bemildred]

13. Am I being pun-ished? nt