In short text messages from Cairo, Egypt, Macy Jones, 38, a Codepink activist from Sequim, WA., appealed for an outpouring of solidarity with the Global March to Gaza, which she has joined, and for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“Twelve were arrested today,” she wrote in one message on Monday, June 16. She and the other marchers were attacked by goons hired by the Egyptian government.
She writes, “I was knocked to the ground.” Her cell phone was ripped from her hand and scooted across the ground, she continued. “I crawled over and retrieved the phone—my victory for the day.”
Among the images she sent is a video she shot in the dark of a mass rally somewhere in Cairo, hardly visible, but the sound is of hundreds, if not thousands, of voices shouting in Arabic. appealing for worldwide solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Another video sent by Jones is of a young Palestinian woman, speaking in heavily accented English, thanking people for speaking out to demand that Israel end its blockade of food, water, medicine, and other humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
Participants in the Global March to Gaza include members of parliament (MPs) from Ireland, Turkey, and South Africa. A video now circulating shows Turkish MP, Faruk Dinc, with his head covered in blood from being clubbed by Egyptian security goons. Huge marches in solidarity with the Global March to Gaza took place over the weekend in Belgium, France, Brazil, and the Netherlands. And solidarity with the Palestinians was widespread in the 2000 “NO KINGS” marches by five million people, some wearing kaffiyehs and displaying Palestinian flags.
The Egyptian government is blocking the attempt by the peace marchers to cross the Suez Canal and march across the Sinai Peninsula to besieged Gaza. The aim of the march by thousands of peace activists is to pressure Israel to halt the siege in which nearly 60,000 Palestinians have died at the hands of the Israeli army, which ruthlessly targets people lined up at food distribution centers and medical centers where thousands of wounded children, women, and men are treated.
Jones reports in one text message, “We’re headed for Tunis, not Suez. Probably leaving day after tomorrow.” The Global March to Gaza originated in Tunis with hundreds of Tunisians joining the march, endorsed by the Tunis Labor Federation and other progressive organizations in Tunisia. The march has crossed Northern Africa on a road along the Mediterranean Sea, but the Libyan government has denied them passage.
In another message, Jones urged people to contact the office of Democratic Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, who is demanding that the governments of Israel, Egypt, Libya, and other nations protect the lives of the Gaza marchers. Welch met recently with the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. to demand that Israel end its blockade of humanitarian assistance to the starving Palestinians.
Jones writes, “We have a member at the U.S. embassy right now. Sen. Welch has advocated to the Egyptian government for our protection….If anyone feels like taking a five-minute positivity break, thank Sen. Welch for having our backs or ask your friends at home to send him some love. This is no guarantee, but it’s good news for the U.S. team.”
Welch authored a Senate resolution signed by 45 of his colleagues calling on Israel to end the siege of Gaza, “calling for the delivery of lifesaving food and humanitarian aid for starving children of Gaza.”
After an 11-week blockade by the Israeli government, Welch’s May 21 press release states, “93 trucks entered Gaza yesterday, but according to the UN, no aid has been distributed. An estimated 600 trucks of food, baby food, and medical supplies are needed, and the UN warned yesterday that 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours without aid.”
The Unanimous Consent Resolution declares, “It’s not right for aid to be withheld as an instrument of war. And regrettably, that appears to have been made by the Israeli government. It’s… extraordinarily harmful to innocent children, to innocent mothers…”
The Senate Republicans came to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s rescue and voted to kill the resolution. Netanyahu followed suit by arresting in international waters all the unarmed activists aboard the Madleen, the sailboat of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
Then Netanyahu ordered a pre-emptive, unprovoked attack on Iran in which untold numbers of innocent Iranians were murdered. Iran ordered a counterattack on Tel Aviv, which also inflicted death on untold numbers of Israelis.
Messages of thanks—and appeals that he do even more to protect the Global March to Gaza—can be sent to Sen. Welch by phoning (202) 224-4242.
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