After the Israeli military operation in Gaza, many organizations have been involved in getting aid to the people living there. Viva Palestina is a group which sends convoys to break the siege of Gaza and, in their opinion, they "are unwavering in [their] determination to provide medical and humanitarian aid to the people who immediately won [their] hearts with their kindness and strength."
Students for Justice in Palestine at UIC hosted two events for Viva Palestina last semester. The first event involved Viva Palestina alumni reporting back on what they saw and encouraging other students to take the trip (which our SJP president did over winter break). The other event was a fundraiser for Viva Palestina and was known as "Café Intifada." Clearly and undeniably, SJP is a supporter of Viva Palestina.
In response to a previous article I wrote for the Flame in which I accused SJP at UIC of being radical, anti-Semitic, and supportive of terrorism, Salwa Shameem had this to say: "Comparing social justice groups to 'terror organizations' and overtly stigmatizing them as anti-Semitic by linking them to distant, and unfounded claims of supporting 'radical' groups overseas is exactly how our media has created a culture of ignorant acceptance of media" (On the record: A failed media 1/18/2010). Shameem, it is unclear to me how much more founded these claims could get.
George Galloway, a British MP and the founder of Viva Palestina, has been banned from entering Canada on the grounds that he funds Hamas, a group classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, among others. A fundraising event with Galloway caused the Muslim Students Association at the University of California - Irvine to be investigated for funding Hamas.
Viva Palestina advertises itself as a group that brings humanitarian aid (specifically medical aid) to the people of Gaza. This is not exactly a difficult goal if you follow established procedure. Medical aid can be taken into Gaza by the Rafah crossing in Egypt. According to a fact sheet distributed by Egypt's State Information Service, the Foreign Ministry sent at least four messages to Galloway briefing him on Egyptian procedure for receiving aid to Gaza. They were all ignored.
The Egyptian Daily News said that, to begin with, they tried to enter through the wrong Egyptian port. Next, the 250 trucks and ambulances with which they arrived were carrying pickup trucks, sedans, generators, and other equipment which is not allowed to pass through the Rafah crossing in Egypt, but must go through Israel. At the Rafah crossing, only medical aid and people are allowed through. Galloway knew this. If the goal of Viva Palestina and its supporters was truly to help the people of Gaza, their path forward would have been to go through the border with their medical supplies. Instead, the group began to riot. As reported in the Egyptian Daily News, as many as 15 Egyptian police were injured by the group as they pelted them with rocks. Furthermore, they abducted four harbor police who were later traded for seven protesters who were arrested. Their riots triggered more riots on the Gaza side of the border that resulted in the death of an Egyptian crossing guard.
All members of the convoy have now been banned from entering Egypt. In addition to this, Egypt now refuses to allow any aid convoys for Gaza to enter through Egypt, regardless of who organizes them.
I feel all the more confidant now in my past assertion that SJP is not the group to support if you truly want to see the lives of the people of Gaza improve. It is necessary to look through SJP's indignation and self-righteousness and see the facts. SJP supports and funds Viva Palestina. Viva Palestina supports the internationally condemned Hamas (a repressor of its own people as well as a terrorist entity), kidnaps crossing guards, and has now gotten all aid convoys bound for Gaza banned from crossing through Egypt. How exactly is this helping anyone? Continue to incorrectly paint yourselves as a "social justice" organization if you must, but there are still many of us that are not fooled.
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