"Despite the Gaza 'ceasefires,' children continue to suffer,

and remain in a precarious state of insecurity."--Radhika Coomaraswamy

Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict

Viva Palestina Lifeline from Britain to Gaza Convoy Approaches Algeria As Global Fundraising Continues!

On Saturday, February 14, a convoy of over 100 vehicles--a fire engine, 20 ambulances, a boat, and trucks and vans, all full of vital aid--left London for the Gaza Strip. In four weeks, Viva Palestina Lifeline from Britain to Gaza raised £1 million (approximately $1.42 million). The mile-long convoy is currently traveling through Morocco, as Algeria prepares to greet them and others prepare more aid trucks that will fall in at various points along the way.

Meanwhile, Viva Palestina fund-raising continues. Everything raised until the convoy reaches the Rafah crossing will be used to purchase more aid, particularly building material, in Egypt. The goal is £50,000 ($71,370), but hopefully we can surpass that.

To make sure that everything possible is delivered to Gazans, members of the convoy have been sleeping in their vehicles when they aren't put up by communities. There are no administrative costs: all organizing and preparations have been volunteer efforts, labors of love for Gazans. That means that very nearly 100% of donations goes to direct aid for Gazans!

After Hurricane Katrina, when New Orleans lay in ruins from the flooding of 85% of the city and tens of thousands of its citizens had been displaced, there was one story of generosity that pierced my heart more than any other. Women of an African village took up a collection for New Orleanians, because, they said, they knew what it was like to lose their home. When gifts are made with such empathy and sacrifice, they are impossible to reciprocate, but they can be passed on to others, with the hope that they'll be multiplied.

Viva Palestina Lifeline to Gaza is "a movement of the streets," said Tony Benn MP just before the convoy took off from London. This extraordinary convoy has been organized by a group of British citizens under the leadership of George Galloway MP and journalist and activist Yvonne Ridley, and supported by people throughout the world who are motivated by their compassion for Gazans, whose suffering has been treated with calloused indifference by our governments, while accurate news about their hardships due to Israel's continuing siege of the Gaza Strip has been suppressed by the dominant Western media. 

Ordinary people are defiantly doing what our governments have refused to do, and have been making sacrifices to take life-saving aid to Gaza. Every pound, every dollar, every peso that is contributed to the Viva Palestina Lifeline to Gaza will be put to immediate use by Gazans so they can begin rebuilding their lives. Please make a contribution, if you haven't done so yet, even if you can only spare a few dollars, and write a note with your donation to members of the convoy and to Gazans.

Please go to vivapalestina.org and vivapalestinanola.org for more information and videos, and to keep up with dispatches from members of the convoy. Please also help us spread the word about the Viva Palestina Lifeline from Britain to Gaza convoy and the Viva Palestina global movement. Thank you!

With prayers for peace and justice,

Delia LaBarre

New Orleans