The Viva Palestina convoy is a phenomenon of an entirely different order, a meta-motorcade that has been lifting hearts and hopes internationally for almost three weeks now. It was a mile long when it left London on Valentine's Day to drive all the way to Gaza, south through France and Spain and then across North Africa; it was three miles long as it crossed the border into Egypt yesterday, supplemented by convoys organized in Libya.
The hundred-plus vehicles that originally headed out of London are all independently community-supported, and most of them will be left in Gaza once they deliver their supplies. They are led by a splendid fire engine donated by the UK Fire Brigades Union (or they were; not sure how the fire engine has been doing in the desert), and they include two dozen ambulances, a flatbed with a ginormous generator, another with a fishing boat, and buses and lorries filled with medicines, cash and clothes and blankets and tools, and best of all (we know what really counts), toys for the traumatized children of Gaza.
Some of us first heard about Viva Palestina from lagatta at Bread and Roses, and Alison mapped out the trip a week ago at the Beavers and at Creekside.
Mainstream media silence on this historic mission, which should be joyous -- is joyous, to anyone who knows about it -- has been, um, notable. We don't need them though, do we. To follow the convoy, just click through to the Viva Palestina site, sign up for their email updates, or join their Facebook group.
Extracts stolen with thanks from http://www.pogge.ca/archives/002251.shtml#more
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