In a press conference conducted earlier this evening, the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit announced some threats, warnings, surprises as well as some good news. The press conference that aired on Egyptian official TV a few hours ago was boiling with Aboul Gheit's very firm and angry answers to the journalists' questions who did not spare him a topic. They asked about the peace process, Hamas, Rafah tunnels and the Iron Wall besides the questions about the Gaza Freedom March and Viva Palestina.

To my surprise, it seems that the mainstream media are so far ignoring this press conference and no one has published any of the surprises or the good news which he carried for the Gaza Freedom March and the surprise he had for Viva Palestina. Not even those directly concerned, the activists themselves. Instead, searching the mainstream media today you will only get news about Egypt's arrest of activists in Cairo, the activist hunger strike, Viva Palestina's redirection to Syria, and so on.

Therefore, to be fair with Egypt and Egyptians, I'll try to translate the important parts of the press conference.

To start with the good news, Aboul Gheit announced that the Egyptians approved a limited number of Gaza Freedom March members to pass through and reach Gaza, Palestine, in the coming few days. He said (translated from Arabic here):

##start##

. . . On the demonstrations held by activists from 42 countries and their appeal to President Mubarak to allow them to cross into Gaza Strip, Aboul Gheit said, "This issue has been on the Egyptian state agenda for several months, there is a non-governmental organisation that heads six non-governmental organisations below it with 200 other organisations, and there are groups of activists, idealists and those of different directions. We have asked them early on, so as to heed their wishes, to provide us the details of their names and passports, and to tell us to what extent they wish to go. Some did, and others decided not to respond because they reject the right of the Egyptian state to use its territory to allow or not allow. They said, "we'll impose on the people of Egypt to accept that we only have the right to impose conditions for those who want to enter our state. You can not (pointing to the journalists) get a visa for Italy or France just because you defend them, or some of you at least. So Egypt has decided that this is matter that needs to be looked at carefully, and then we identified that some of them want to reach the Egyptian Rafah to exercise unlawful acts which deal with the Egyptian construction (referring to the Iron Wall), which means demonstration against Egypt, and some tried to hold contacts in Egypt which we do not accept, and intervened in a clash with the Egyptian state, so Egypt decided not to allow either of these groups to move deep into Sinai, however, as a result of the appeal, the Egyptian state has decided as per instructions from Mr. President to consider allowing a limited number of representatives of groups that we feel are genuine groups, and stands with the Palestinian people, such as ours do with them, in order to express advocacy of the Palestinian people and will allow them to enter in the next few days."

Aboul Gheit added, "Those thousands of people trying to conspire against Egypt, all that we will do is to let them in our streets, seeking to provoke the Egyptians, but the Egyptians are wiser, especially after we saw that all these demonstrations have been limited to those foreigners who tried to invoke the Egyptian security, who had not provoked, stressing that these will be in the hospitality of this magnificent sun, until the end of their desire to stay and they leave."
. . .
##End##

That was the good news. At least partly.

As for the bad news, or should I say surprise, Aboul Gheit explained in detail the claims of Viva Palestina's block to enter Egypt as they planned and provided copies of a letter that was delivered to the Viva Palestina convoy which clearly states Egyptian approval of their entry, but through Al-Arish port, as they did before, twice. The surprising part was the dates of these letters. The first one dates back to Nov 10th, 2009 and another reminder from Dec 10th, 2009 (copies below as available from source).

I think this is a very embarrassing day for activists around the world. At least for those who follow and support both, Gaza Freedom March and Viva Palestina.

Both of them either lack coordination and transparency, or have intentions for uncalled propaganda against Egypt which all activists and Palestinians are better off without.

Gaza Freedom March seems not in control of who joins and who is not supposed to, especially since it is clear that many of them did not comply with the Egyptian request of providing the details they requested ahead of time.

Egypt, like any other country in the world, has the right to approve or deny the entry of anyone to their land. However, it allowed anyone to arrive into Cairo and welcomed them like any other visitors. At the same time, in situation like borders with Palestine and Israel, no one can blame Egypt for being extra careful in accepting or denying who will travel into Sinai and who will not.

On the other hand, Viva Palestina never mentioned anything about Egyptian pre-approval to pass through Al-Arish. At least not to the mass followers, supporters and activists, if at all we assume that the convoy organizers coordinate well enough and know well ahead what is their approved route. Instead, after they reached Aqaba they issued appeal after appeal and calls for support, even went as far as asking Turkey to help. The Turkish official who went and met with Egyptians must be embarrassed after he discovered what Viva Palestina hid and did not tell him (or anyone else) about the Egyptian letters.

I think this is a lesson for the activists to learn from. Viva Palestina and Gaza Freedom March made a mess and they involved everyone in it. It is embarrassing to act in such a way.

The only thing that must be remembered so as to forgive them this blunder is the genuine reason they are claiming to be working for, which is helping Gazans. Otherwise, Gaza Freedom March and Viva Palestina lost their credibility because of their lack of transparency and misleading messages which reach to creating propaganda against Egypt and Egyptians.

Only apologizing to Egypt in a public press conference can make one forgive these fatal mistakes which made Egypt sound as THE enemy deflecting our sight from the real enemy and the real reason behind all this atrocities that Gazans and Palestinians live in, ISRAEL.

Related posts:

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By Stuart Littlewood* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Dignitaries, emissaries, human rights delegations, fact-finding trippers... they come and go, but Gaza's suffering continues and day by day gets worse, thanks to the corrupted leadership of the international community who are the scandal of our age.

But here's a spot of Christmas cheer for the starving, desolated Palestinians imprisoned in the tiny coastal enclave.

Sometime in February they are likely to get a visit from none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. At least, that's what his office at Lambeth Palace says. Yes, archbishops in England live in palaces and hang out in the House of Lords.

The top religious figure in England hopes to call at the Al-Ahli Hospital for which he has raised several thousand pounds in the past year. Al-Ahli is an 80-bed facility providing emergency care and mobile clinics in the Gaza Strip. During the blitzkrieg a year ago it dealt with many of the badly wounded. "Clearly the situation in Gaza is desperate," says the Palace. With fellow Anglicans in the region under the leadership of the Bishop of Jerusalem Suheil Dawani, they are actively engaged in humanitarian relief and advocacy.

That may be. But there is little mention of it here in England.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams

"Why not visit the Strip?" I suggested. "Ask Brown and Blair to fix it, and don't take 'no' for an answer. Galvanise the government and remind them of their Christian duty to defend and protect the weak: somebody should. Of course, that is the duty of all decent men, Christian or not."

Will the archbishop bring a smile to the face of God?

On past performance, however, Gazans needn't get too excited. I have seen no statement about Gaza on the archbishop's website for nearly a year. And while Israel was planning its infamous Cast Lead operation, which resulted in the cynical slaughter of hundreds of Palestinian women and children, the archbishop accompanied Chief Rabbi Sachs to Auschwitz to preach against extreme hostility and genocide. The archbishop called it "a place of utter profanity" and spoke of the collective corruption and moral sickness that made the Holocaust possible.

If and when he arrives in Gaza he'll witness a holocaust of another kind. The irony of his remarks about Auschwitz were not lost on the besieged Gazans, who are still under daily bombardment by their mad-dog tormentors. Unfortunately Lambeth Palace has given no further details of the archbishop's trip. Whom will he meet? Will he also visit the exhausted Al-Shifa hospital, which has taken the brunt of the casualties? Will he shoot the breeze with Ismail Haniyeh, the (legitimate) Palestinian prime minister, bishop to imam? Will he see the health minister, Basem Na'im? Will he look up Fr Manuel Mussallam, the redoubtable old priest who has been a mainstay of the Christian community thoughout Gaza's darkest hours? Fr Manuel, a man of true grit, recently retired but is probably contactable in the West Bank.

Will he paddle on Gaza's beach? Will he cast his net upon the waters with Gaza's fishermen, and scorn the machine-gun fire from marauding Israeli warships?

Gazans might perhaps write with helpful suggestions to publicaffairs@lambethpalace.org.uk

Will Rowan Williams bring a smile to the face of God? I hope so, for it is not too late.

He will have already done more than the Pope. That expensively frocked individual, who has a bigger stake in the Holy Land than anyone else in the Western world, earlier this year "refrained" from visiting the smoking ruins of Gaza to show solidarity with his terrified flock, and instead played the tourist in the Occupied Territories next-door. He chose the word "refrain" in his excuse to the media. It smacked of abstinence, as if abstaining from sex, and infuriated those who had suffered so much.

If this Vicar of Christ is a force for good, where is the armada he should have sent to bring relief to his Christian community and to his Muslim brothers and sisters?

'Salt of the earth' aim to break the siege for human decency's sake

British MP George Galloway speaks to reporters in Damascus December 21, 2009, during his campaign to aid Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It seems that the salt of the earth from our city back-streets - assorted Christians, Muslims, atheists and even Jews - who organized, joined or supported the convoy, have more understanding of compassion and the teachings of Christ than all the learned navel-gazers in the Vatican.

I can find no specific reference to the human tragedy of the Holy Land on the Vatican's website. The Pope "refrains" from mentioning it even in his New Year's Message celebrating the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2010.

Nor do I see Christmas greetings to Gazans on the Lambeth Palace website.

When Archbishop Rowan gets home from his historic visit, what will he do? He and 25 of his colleagues sit in the British parliament's House of Lords. They have clout. But in a quick search through theyworkforyou.com I could find no recent record of these 'super-clerics' raising questions about Israel's murderous onslaught, the unending persecution of the Christian and Muslim communities and the unlawful restrictions imposed on the Holy Land generally. No criticism of the British government's inaction either.

When its leader has seen and heard the awful truth at source, and reported it, what will the Anglican church as a whole then do to begin the process of improving the human condition in the Holy Land and safeguarding its spiritual legacy?

* Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Read other articles by Stuart, or visit Stuart's website.

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How Those Who Kill Can Enter Canada While Those Who Save Lives Are Barred
By Joshua Blakeney

World renowned, award winning journalist John Pilger commented on George Galloway's autobiography: "Galloway's work has saved countless lives, particularly in Iraq". This is an accurate statement about the record of the five-times elected British MP who was described by Canadian Minister for Immigration Jason Kenny as "a threat to Canada's security" and subsequently banned from entering Canada during March of this year. Juxtaposing the blood-soaked records of George W Bush and Bill Clinton - especially in relation to Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Somalia and elsewhere - with the unimpeachable record of George Galloway MP, the patent rudderless and deceptive nature of the current Canadian government and its media accomplices becomes transparent. The Canadian government evidently embraces the inane ethos: "if your going to kill, make sure you kill millions." In other words, the tin pot tyrants like the Taliban and Saddam Hussein are to be demonized, subjected to show trials and marketed as a ‘threat', while those who massacre and torture millions like Bush, Clinton, Rice and Cheney are to be venerated, ingratiated and granted VIP treatment if they choose to come to Canada at any time during their lucrative speaking tours.

The Canadian parliament in its history has never stood in such public execration as it does contemporarily for both its tacit and overt support for some of the worst mass murderers ever to afflict humanity. War criminals emanating from Canada's behemoth southern neighbour are apparently welcome to spread their malicious propaganda, leaving with a hansom speaker's fee, all for the pleasure of the wealthy few who can afford the ticket to enter the Gestapo protected venues. In the past eight weeks there have been visits by George W Bush to Calgary (hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce), Condoleezza Rice to Calgary (hosted by the so called U of C School of Public Policy) and imminently George W Bush and Bill Clinton plan to descend upon Canada again, as if it were merely the fifty-first state of the U.S.A, rather than a sovereign country with its own laws and international obligations.

If Canada is indeed still a sovereign country certainly many of us are finding the boundaries opaque at best.

The most criminal and supine of all - and to whom we must channel a large portion of our anger and contempt - are the ‘mainstream' media who invariably negate their duty and responsibility to expose the tyrants' records and to educate the public on the democratically enshrined laws which the current minority government are perpetually glossing over (unless it serves them to do otherwise as was the case with the erudite George Galloway MP in March). The supine, docility of the press has allowed radical extremists such as Bush and Clinton to appear as misunderstood, sophisticated statesmen who had to make ‘difficult decisions' in a ‘dangerous world', whilst peace activists like George Galloway MP are unanimously demonized, traduced and portrayed as a ‘threat to Canadian security.' The Globe and Mail have printed (on a daily basis) a half-page advertisement for the Bush-Clinton visit boasting their affiliation with the event alongside the infamous Bennett Jones legal firm and many other collaborationist conglomerates who seek to make Canada a safe-haven for self-confessed torturers and war criminals. Contrastingly George Galloway MP, who was banned from entering Canada because he delivered wheel chairs, medicine and much needed food supplies to the starving captives of the Gaza ghetto, was described by the National Post's Jonathan Kay as: "Anti-Israel, Anti-American, pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah", all of which are untrue as is evidenced by Galloway's own statements in parliament and in his biweekly radio show in which he confutes such chimeras regularly. Galloway doesn't support Hamas he supports Al-Fatah. Galloway recognizes Israel's right to exist and is widely respected by many Jewish groups throughout the world. As for Hezbollah, Galloway simply expounds the truism that the political force is widely supported by the Lebanese people and that Lebanese democracy should be respected not undermined. He equally promotes bringing home the troops from the illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq so that the young U.S. soldiers could be home and safe rather than at war and in danger. How ‘anti-American' is that? Perhaps Jonathan Kay's warped definition of being pro-American equates to supporting the inept, draft-dodging leaders who order young, impressionable men and women into illegal conflagrations? The pseudo-liberal Kay then fascistically advised that if Galloway entered Canada: "then (opponents should) have police on hand to apprehend him" (http://bit.ly/WEKIb).

Getting accused of supporting terrorism by a government and its bought-and-paid-for media who are prepared to roll out the red carpet for Bush (twice in eight weeks), Rice and Clinton is a bit like getting told to sit up straight by the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Bush, the self-confessed torturer and sadist, should either be barred from entering Canada as Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act allows for, or if he enters Canada, according the Lawyers Against the War: "the Attorney General of Canada must prosecute him for torture or provide consent to private prosecution", as Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act equally allows for. The Canadian government's recent ‘Canada's Program on Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes: Tenth Annual Report' had the ostensible commitment: "to deny safe haven in Canada to war criminals, that is, individuals who may have been either directly involved or complicit in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide." The report concludes: "Canada has proven to be a pioneer in the development of a world-class war crimes program. Its coordinated approach and initiative in the realm of international cooperation and outreach has earned the War Crimes Program acclaim in the global community. Strong legislation reflects the Government of Canada's determination to hold suspected perpetrators of war crimes accountable for their actions"

(see: http://bit.ly/UKA57).

The propaganda surrounding Clinton's legacy has allowed a misperception to coagulate that he was a ‘dove' and ‘the best U.S. president ever'. It must be acknowledged that there exists a plethora of incriminating justifications for banning Clinton from entering the country based on his own illegal rapacity. Some of these include the use of proscribed weapons of mass destruction and the deliberate destruction of Yugoslavian "hospitals and health-care centers, public housing, infrastructure vital to the well-being of civilians, refineries, warehouses, agricultural facilities, schools, roads and railways." (See: http://bit.ly/7VsKy)

George Galloway's courageous solidarity with the Palestinian people by leading the convoy of aide to the Gaza ghetto was a self-styled method of raising awareness about unspoken Holocausts which the media obediently censor from the public domain. Galloway led a similar convoy (this time in a red London bus) to beleaguered Iraq during the 1990s when western governments, spurred on by Clinton, were punishing the Iraqi people with sanctions for having a dictator which western governments had themselves installed, funded and armed to the teeth with chemical and biological weapons. Galloway's humanism thus warrants the kind comments opined by John Pilger that: "Galloway's work has saved countless lives, particularly in Iraq." As Galloway stated: "I've met Saddam Hussein, exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is that Donald met him to sell him guns and maps the better to target those guns, and I met him to bring an end to sanctions and suffering and war" (see: http://www.guba.com/watch/3000067165). Just as Galloway's sanctions busting in Iraq was an attempt to alleviate U.S. (Clinton) imposed suffering, which killed a child every six minutes, so the recent convoy of aide was warmly received by the captives of the Gaza ghetto who are starving as a result of Israeli illegality. Thus the canards of ‘anti-Israel', ‘pro-Hamas' etc, disseminated by the popinjay, armchair warrior Jonathan Kay were, as to be expected, no more than squalid propaganda as is customary from the guttersnipe media outlet which he genuflects at the behest of.

The effect of Kay's and others of his ilk's disinformation is highly pernicious and corrosive for a young democracy like Canada's. The truth about George Galloway was concealed and his reputation in Canada was hence besmirched which then allowed his message of peace and anti-imperialism to be diluted which (no surprises) benefits Kay's own perceived agenda of legitimizing the aggressive warfare which Canada's government are deeply complicit in contemporarily. As part of the same hidden agenda, Bush and Clinton's blood soaked records are obediently concealed by the likes of Kay, and the credibly accused war criminals are being glorified rather than arrested. These hidden agendas and disinformation campaigns prevent the Canadian people from imbibing the realities of the world which has the ultimate effect of allowing the U.S. regime to continue its atrophy of democracy uninhibited.

On April 28th 2009, Professor Anthony J Hall (University of Lethbridge) courageously confronted the baneful Jonathan Kay at a speaking engagement in Montreal (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez1sY5g8_Uo). Dr Hall asked Kay why he uses anonymous sources (such as the anonymous, peddler of propaganda ‘Blackrod' blogger) to commit character-assassination upon respected dissenters such as former Liberal candidate Leslie Hughes who's only real crime was that she dared to cross the invisible boundaries which Kay's National Post, CBC, The Globe and Mail and the rest of the 'mainstream' media are the gate-keepers for. Dr Hall described Kay's efforts as "questionable...shoddy journalism" and accused him of being a "radical, extremist...with access to a large audience through CanWest Global." Whilst Professor Hall was doing all Canadians a service by challenging the National Post's chief propagandist, an interlocutor shouted at Kay: "you are covering up for mass murder...you should go on trial for propaganda and disinformation...you should go on trial like Joseph Goebbels did." At which point Professor Hall invoked international law and the Nuremburg Principles educating the infelicitous Jonathan Kay: "the role of the press in dehumanizing whole populations, preparing public opinion for aggressive warfare, that is what you are a part of, he (the interlocutor) is correct, you are part of the propaganda machinery of aggressive war and incidentally that is outlawed in the UN...we've read your columns for years...the War on Terror is based on psychological warfare...and you have been a very intricate part of that machinery of aggressive warfare." Prof Hall also challenged Kay on his complicity in the disinformation campaign against George Galloway to which Kay replied unabashedly: "I said he was a toxic clown", exposing the lack of intellectual rigor which one can expect from his supposed journalism.

It is clear that Canada is increasingly perceived to be a 'safe haven' for self-confessed tortures and war criminals who have committed what at Nuremburg - reflecting upon the unilateralism and genocidal practices of Nazism - was defined as "the ultimate war crime" of aggressive war. If the ahistorical, Goebellian normalizing of those who have committed the "ultimate war crime" perpetuates from Canada's apologetic government and media then it is the people who will be forced to attempt citizens arrests upon those who are either self-confessed violators of international law, or are credibly accused so, as the Canadian domestic law allows for. One such attempt has already been mounted in Canada by the courageous activist Splitting the Sky who sought to break the police lines in Calgary to conduct a citizens arrest against the self-confessed criminal George W Bush on March 17th. Professor of International Law Francis A Boyle in his book Protesting Power: War Resistance and Law has advised those of us who oppose the impunity afforded to war criminals to deputize ourselves and attempt to implement Canadian law which we respect, unlike Steven Harper and Jason Kenny who have eviscerated the legal system. Splitting the Sky will embark upon a five day trial in March 2010 where, in reality, he will not be in the mindset of the accused, but rather that of the accuser, not the criminal but the interrogator. He was attempting prevent Canada from becoming a safe haven for mass murderers and self-confessed tortures and was arrested for doing so. If the police are aiding and abetting the self-confessed torturers and mass murderers are we to stand by and watch? As Pastor Niemoller regretfully opined: "In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. And then they came for me and by that time there was no one left to speak up." They came for the ‘Communists' during the Cold War - and massacred them in their millions - now they have come for the Arabs and Muslims and massacred them in their millions, who will be next?

© Copyright Joshua Blakeney, Global Research, 2009

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This idiotic ban shames Canada:

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A great speech by the British MP George Galloway speaking at a meeting organised early this month by "Respect Youth" - Tower Hamelets - UK. [Hat tip: Ulla]

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BBC Broadcast 10/01/08:

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