More Malaysians Join "Viva Palestina Convoy" To Gaza

December 22, 2009

From Kuzaimah Idris

DAMASCUS, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Two more members of the Malaysian Perdana Global Peace Organization, PGPO and four Bernama TV crew joined the 'Viva Palestina Convoy' on Tuesday as it continues its 2,000-mile journey to Gaza to distribute humanitarian aid.

The PGPO members are Mathias Chang and Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal, while the Bernama TV crew are journalist Kuzaimah Idris, Assistant Producer Azmawati Azmi, presenter Masrenny Waty Che Masri, and cameraman Mohd Shafiee Abdullah.

The six arrived in Damascus from Kuala Lumpur on Dec 18 to join the final leg journey of the convoy from here with 144 trucks, vans and ambulances loaded with more than US$1 million worth of relief supplies.

Two members of the PGPO, Juana Jaafar and Ram Karthigasu had earlier joined the convoy which embarked on its journey in London on Dec 6, traveling through several towns and cities in various countries.

PGPO is among the participants of dozens of institutions and associations acting in solidarity with Palestinians and in rejection of the siege on Gaza.

The convoy of 416 volunteers from Malaysia, the United States, and United Kingdom will make a six-day journey from here to Amman and Aqabah in Jordan and Nuweiba and border Rafa in Egypt.

According to the Head of Convoy in charge of logistics, Amer Nazir, relief materials as part of the humanitarian package for the Palestinians include medical equipment, food, babies' food and winter clothing.

He said the Palestinians in Gaza were suffering from shortages of clean water, fresh food and medical supplies.

"As far as medical aid, we've got a whole range of medical supplies from syringes, dialysis machines, heart transplant machines, wheelchairs, walking sticks, bandages, from the smallest things to the biggest machines, we have with us," he said.

Amer, a volunteer himself, said the convoy consisted of people from all nations including Malaysia, US, UK, France, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, New Zealand and Australia with diverse background.

"It's a whole wide range of people who work for charity. There are people who have left their jobs to come here, there are people of professional background who see this as the only way they can express how they feel about the issues, there are people who are just normal family men, taxi drivers who left their families and headed out to Gaza," he told Bernama.

Amer said material support for the convoy had been overwhelming so far and there was no shortage of volunteers willing to make the journey.

The Viva Palestina, the British-based charity, is on a mission to provide humanitarian aid for civilians trapped in war-torn Gaza.

Meanwhile, 70-year-old British, Sylvia Wall flew all the way from England to Damascus to join in the convoy in its final leg to Gaza, via Rafa.

She was unable to join the convoy from London as she was not fit to travel 3,000 miles to Syria due to her age and physical condition.

Wall shared her spirit to show solidarity to the Palestinians, related her experience and cause to the Palestinians.

She hoped the huge international convoy to Gaza would signal a strong message that the world communities demanded the Israelis regime to open the Gazans' lifeline to the outside world.

Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, leaving the Palestinians in dire need of food, medicines, clothing and other basic needs.

"Because of the injustice to the Palestinians has been as long as I've lived, I'm 70 years old and for 60 years now, the Palestinians have been treated dreadfully, that word can't explain. I am so angry.

"I have many Palestinian friends in England, in Cyprus. They are lovely people, you know. They are not what the west portrays them as terrorists, in England it's very bad, every time they say the word Palestinian, it is almost always followed by the word terrorist and it's not so, not at all", she said.

Wall, a volunteer, has been involved in the Palestinian cause all her adult life.

She was in Greece right after the Gaza war and dedicated herself to providing help and support to a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who lost his leg during the war.

"I will travel to Jordan and Egypt through the Nile desert along the coast, the coastal roads about 40 kilometers to Rafah and hopefully, InsyaAllah we will go to Gaza".

For the record, each person traveling on the convoy is a self-financed volunteer.

On Dec 27 last year, Israel began a wave of air strikes on the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of stopping the rocket attacks from and arms smuggling into the territory.

Israeli forces killed over 1,400 Palestinians in three weeks and created widespread destruction of essential infrastructure including homes, schools, hospitals and power plants.

Israel had since banned all but humanitarian relief from entering into Gaza, including building materials.