LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
Los Angeles, Alta California
July 1, 2009

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY TO DEFY
ISRAEL’S ILLEGAL SIEGE JULY 4; VIVA PALESTINA US

Attorney Reem Salahi - Southern California Viva Palestina leader

A 52-member Southern California delegation will depart for Gaza by way of Cairo on Saturday, July 4 as part of a nationwide Viva Palestina US delegation of over 220 persons. Since May, the Southern California community alone has raised nearly $1 million for medical equipment and medicines for the people of Gaza. Once in Egypt, Viva Palestina US will purchase approximately 100 small trucks and vans filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical equipment and medicine to take into Gaza.

Viva Palestina US is led by Vietnam War veteran and peace activist Ron Kovic, and British MP George Galloway. Viva Palestina formed after Israel’s December assault on Gaza in which over 1,400 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority of which were civilians, and more than 5,450 injured.

Southern California Viva Palestina leader, attorney Reem Salahi, who traveled to Gaza in February on a legal delegation to assess the implications of Israel’s onslaught stated, “Israel brutalized a people and literally got away with murder. Rather than punish Israel for its breaches of international law, the international world continues to punish Gaza by allowing Israel to maintain its siege. If the US and other countries will not demand an end to Israel’s siege, we Americans will defy it until the people of Palestine are free.”

Viva Palestina US will challenge the two-year long Israeli siege on Gaza, which has brought Gaza on the brink of a humanitarian disaster, by driving 100 trucks of medical goods through the Rafah Crossing. Said John Parker, a Viva Palestina coordinator and activist, “after a military attack, all communities are helped to rebuild. Yet the Palestinians in Gaza have been ignored and are now forced to build their homes with mud rather than cement. They lack basic medicines and foods. Even books and toys are prevented from entering Gaza.”

Israel’s siege on Gaza is illegal and in contravention to the Geneva Conventions. International law forbids collective punishment and guarantees freedom of movement for all people. “While we will only take in a token of what is needed by the Palestinians in Gaza, our actions are symbolic more than charitable. We will go to Gaza to show our solidarity with the Palestinians and to assure them that even though they are imprisoned, they are not alone and not forgotten,” said Salahi. Viva Palestina US will be the largest US delegation to Gaza to date.

After transporting its donated assistance to Gaza, participants of the Viva Palestina US convoy will spend three days in Gaza visiting neighborhoods, schools, orphanages, and medical facilities. They will document their experiences by blogging, photographing, filming, and writing.

For more info on the convoy, visit :

www.vivapalestina-us.org