Six New Zealanders on humanitarian mission to Gaza
Kia Ora Gaza has selected a six-person Kiwi Team to join the land convoy leaving London on 18 September and joining two other convoys from Casablanca and Doha in a 500-vehicle column to Gaza. This land and sea convoys is a coordinated campaign to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and break the Israeli siege which continues to this day.
Roger Fowler, a 61-year-old Aucklander who holds the Queen’s Service Medal for community service, is the Team Captain. His 25-year-old son Hone, of Ngapuhi, Ngati Porou and Pakeha heritage, has also been selected for the humanitarian mission to Gaza. Also on the team are Chris van Ryn, a photo-journalist and campaigner for human rights with Amnesty International; Julie Webb-Pullman, who delivered aid to poor children in the Pacific and served as a human rights observer in Latin America; Pat O’Dea, a longtime trade union and social justice campaigner affectionately nicknamed “Protest Pat” by his workmates and Mousa Taher, who has a Palestinian father and converted to Islam in 2006.
Links: Kia Ora Gaza Song | DONATE | Biographies | Father & son with Kiwi Team to Gaza
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Comments
Apparently some of the people
Apparently some of the people involved in this are Marxists. But none of them seem to be willing to admit it in public.
Who can find out the truth???!!???
Who cares what their
Who cares what their political orientation is, provided they are not some form of neo-facists. Marixists cant be smeared with the usual Zionist tactic of accusing their oppoents of anti-semetism, because Karl Marx himself was from a Jewish family but converted to Christianity.
singular political achievements
Why was the hidden comment hidden?
It only points out what has already been on National radio; that some of the volunteers are marxists, and asks why are they not describing themselves as such.
This objection is somewhat weakened by the fact that it comes from an anonymous poster who won't accurately describe themself, but the question remains.
Roger Fowler and Pat O'Dea are life long - and well known- militant socialist revolutionaries. None of that is in their respective Kia Ora Gaza cvs. Instead, they are variously described as :"QSM for community service" and "social justice campaigner".QSMs for community service and social justice campaigners are actually ten a penny. Staunch revolutionary communists of over 30 years devoted active service are rare. Roger and Pat are entitled to be openly proud of their singular political achievements.A racist advert was placed in
A racist advert was placed in the NZ Herald on Tuesday, concerning the Kia Ora Gaza activists:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Pro-Israel-Herald-advert-sparks-war-of-words/tabi...
Kiwis for balanced reporting
Kiwis for balanced reporting on the middle east is headed by Dr Rodney Brooks and members of the Kiwi Friends of Israel lot.
See also: http://kbrmrebutted.blogspot.com/
No info
I note that there is no information given about the political affiliations of any of the 6.
Possibly because they do not
Possibly because they do not feel the need to do Trevor Loudon's work for him.
Kerry. Shaun Plunket brought
Kerry. Shaun Plunket brought it up. I don't see the need for the paranoia in your response. All the information is up on Wikipedia, its not a lie.
Sarcasm not paranoia, Joel.
Sarcasm not paranoia, Joel.
Kia Ora Commies come clean
It seems they've decided to emerge from the shadows to stand forth proudly in the light. And so they should. They have much in their past to be proud of. It's just a shame where they've allowed themselves to end up...
Cheers,
John
How much extra is it going to
How much extra is it going to cost in fuel, accomodation, vehicles etc with them leaving from so far away as opposed to say meeting in Eygpt buying everything there and leaving from there?
It would seem to me that there are going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted needlessly to support the guys doing a funded OE and European tour. That money should be going to those who need it.
Costs
My understanding is that the volunteers are paying their own way and buying the goods in Britain to save on costs compared to buying stuff in NZ. So in that sense I don't have a problem. I do wonder what point there is in members of the revolutionary left taking such a lead role in a humanitarian event that aid agencies could do. When the first Viva Palestina convoy went, it made a point. When ships try to run the blockade, they make a point. When a convoy of trucks bypasses Israel and enters Gaza through an open crossing point, the impact is lost. I still say good on them but only to the same extent that I'd say good on Oxfam, Christian World Service or any other aid and development agency. There are good agencies involved in good projects in Gaza. The revolutionary left's role should be to support the struggle that will eliminate poverty and inequality and ultimately put the aid agencies out of work. So worthy and supportable though the Kia Ora Gaza project is, my support, material, political and organisational, will go to the PFLP.
Cheers,
John
I note that there is no
and
Maybe they just want to go as aid workers like everyone else, is that something they are allowed to do? Or do they have to fly the flag everywhere they go. I would have thought they had earned the right to take a holiday every now and then from militant revolutionary work to go actually feed poor people.
That is an attractive looking
That is an attractive looking argument, but it misses two points.
One is that the mainstream aid agencies don't reciprocate and take sabaticals to spread revolutionary ideas. The proportion of revolutionaries in politics, especially NZ politics is tiny. When any of those very few expend their political energy on reformist activity, they leave a gap which is not filled.
Which brings me to my second point, most longer serving NZ revolutionaries, myself included, have actually spent a majority of their time footslogging in reformist activity and doing unpaid work in unions. The prevailing political pressure under capitalism insists its never the right time to raise socialist ideas and too often we've bowed to that pressure. This is a bad habit that the Workers Party is trying hard to break, hence some of the opinions voiced on this thread.
Is the Egypt-Gaza border open?
"bypasses Israel and enters Gaza through an open crossing point, the impact is lost"
Is the Egypt-Gaza border open? If so that would render the Israeli seige inefectual.
The point of the convoy, busting the blockade and having people from as many people as possible participate is surely to build a massive campaign in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine in general, not something I would expect the aid agencies to take up.
Rafah Crossing
The crossing was opened on June 2 in the aftermath of the flotilla attack. As far as I know it still remains open although there is no certainty about when the Egyptians will decide it's time to toe the line again and close it. It has made a difference to the siege although I'm pretty sure the Egyptians won't be letting just anything through.
You're right that there is a "solidarity" aspect to the Viva Palestina project, of which Kia Ora Gaza is a part, but that's where I find SW's involvement hard to fathom. Why give generic solidarity (effectively support for Hamas since they control Gaza (and George Galloway is quite friendly with Hamas) when they could give solidarity with the secular left, which Hamas is currently trying to beat the crap out of:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/what-hamas-is-really-afrai...
Cheers,
John
Sorry Kerry. Hard to tell the
Sorry Kerry. Hard to tell the difference on the internet sometimes ;D.