Bristol Convoy Start To Return From Gaza

Thursday, January 14th 2010 00:00

Sakir Yildrim, the driver of a 44 tonne lorry is back in Bristol after a month on the road.

Members of the Bristol aid convoy are still travelling back, but some have managed to send pictures and reports of their experience in Gaza. They crossed into Gaza late on Wednesday night 6th January.

Sakir Yildirim says of the whole trip "The good-will all along the trip was amazing, the truck was repaired for free, we were given food and accommodation, and people collected money. It was amazing to be driving along with crowds lining the roads cheering and waving flags"

Sakir was driving the massive 44-tonne truck loaded with medical aid from Bristol. This was handed over safely to a representative of a local hospital in Gaza.

Describing Gaza he said "It was shocking to see the bomb-damaged buildings looking much the same as on my last visit. They've been tided up but there's been no real rebuilding work.

He goes to say "We arrived in the middle of the night but people were waiting at the crossing to welcome us. Our truck is the biggest on the convoy, so they were getting very excited. People were coming up and shaking hands and saying thank you, thank you.

I enquired about the ambulance I delivered last winter and was pleased to hear it's being used by a local clinic. I also managed to meet the student who had one of the donated a laptop computers and he was delighted to see me again. But our time was cut short by the Egyptian authorities so I was sorry I couldn't meet more people.

We were shocked by bombing raids on Gaza while we were there. There was one raid during the night and another the next day. We could feel the ground shake from each explosion.

I'm especially proud the Bristol Truck. It will be really useful inside Gaza. When outside trucks aren't allowed to cross into Gaza, the goods have to be off-loaded and our truck will be useful for this. Also I like to think that people will admire the murals and the Wallace & Grommit characters. A special message from Bristol to Gaza.

Siba Mohammed, aged 23, has been working in Bristol for the last year on a student placement from her architecture course at Manchester University.

Siba drove one of the Bristol mini-buses to Gaza. Siba says "Words can not really explain my emotions as we drove through the Rafah Crossing into Gaza.. It had been such a rollercoaster of a journey and finally we had arrived!

During her time in Gaza Siba visited an Orphanage. She also visited a UN refugee camp where people were housed in building made of built of earth bricks - the UN is resorting to this method of building due to the current restrictions on modern building materials.

Among others she met a13 year old boy. He recounted the story of the night when the whole family had been asleep in their house when the bombs fell on them. His entire family of 12 perished and he lay buried for a long time under the rubble and had lost a leg.

She also met widows and mothers who described their trauma of losing children. One woman had lost half her family and is now scared to let the others out of her sight.

Siba says "This trip to Gaza was all an incredibly moving experience that will stay with me for a lifetime

I want to go back again and again and help. I remember seeing the news of the attacks on television, but then it seemed so far away. It feels so different now I've seen it with my own eyes".

Monica Margaret Jones writes:- While in Gaza with the Viva Palestina aid convoy, Monica (Margaret) Jones was able to meet briefly with Isam Farah and Farid Ayad of the Gaza Baptist Church, to present them with a message of friendship from Bristol Quakers. She also gave them a framed copy of the Quakers' five main principles, of Peace, Truth, Simplicity, Equality and Justice.

Bristol Gaza Link has donated an 8-seater Ford minivan to the church, part of the aid which came with the Viva Palestina convoy, and in which Monica and fellow-Bristolian Cliff Hanley made their 4000-mile journey from to Gaza..

The Baptist church is well known for its practical charities in Gaza to people of all faiths, including a women's organisation and a counselling service. There are about 70 active members. The church building sustained bomb damage during the attacks on Gaza last winter.

On behalf of the church, Mr Farah expressed regret that he was able to meet with Monica for only a few minutes, before the convoy group were all whisked away in buses to the Egyptian border. Viva Palestina were in Gaza for less than 24 hours, before having to leave. However, both Bristolians and Palestinians have promised to keep in touch. 'I'm so glad we were able to meet them at all, given that the time was so short,'

Monica said. 'This is a very special link between the Quakers and Baptists in Bristol and this Baptist community in Gaza'

Cliff Hanley is a Bristol artist. He arranged a meeting with the Gaza political caricaturist, Majed Badra - a well-known Palestinian cartoonist, provides daily cartoons to various news and media outlets. He was presented with many achievement awards by Palestinian, Arab and Muslim organizations. Badra's cartoons focus on the daily life of Palestinian people and their suffering under Israeli occupation.

Cliff says:

"Our all-too brief time in Gaza was fired by the overwhelming hospitality and inspiring activity, intellectual, artistic and social, of the Gazans. This is not the end of our connection with Gaza: many of us will be keeping in regular touch with the people we were able to meet. And we hope one day soon to be able to welcome them to our country, too, as free people."

Siamak Alimi, IT coordinator and a UNISON officer at UWE, was the driver of one of the Bristol vans. He met the head of a local educational institute and they were very grateful to receive the donation of computers and boxes of stationery. They also promised to deliver Peace-messages/Christmas cards to a local school. The medical supplies were donated to the Union of Health Work Committees that provides health services to all sectors of the Palestinian people with emphasis on the more vulnerable members of the society such as women and children.

Siamak says "I was able to spend time with ordinary Palestinians. I am grateful to these people for receiving me so warmly and being so generous with sharing their hopes and aspirations with me. My great regret is that the Egyptians gave us so little time to spend in Gaza. I will certainly try very hard to get back to Palestine again and spend more time getting to know the people."

Members of the Bristol to Gaza aid convoy are travelling home this week. However they have suffered delays and harsh treatment from the Egyptian authorities. When leaving Gaza through the Rafah Crossing they were intercepted by Egyptian police who escorted them to the airport. At the airport they were corralled and kept short of food, water, and toilet facilities. They have had problems booking return flights and in some cases have been forced to buy expensive flights.