"Rafah Crossing Closed: CW Peace Team Will Attempt to Enter Gaza in the Morning" first report from CW Peace Team in Gaza
Frank Cordaro
From: Scott Schaeffer-Duffy <there...@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, May 10, 2009
Rafah Crossing Closed: CW Peace Team Will Attempt to Enter Gaza in the Morning
Arish, Egypt
May 10, 2009
We prepared last night to get an early start this morning. Our
Catholic Worker Peace team – Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, Brenna Cussen,
Mark Coleville, Colin Gilbert, Beth Brockman, and Jenny Thomas – had a
common goal of proceeding to the Rafah border, crossing into Gaza,
traveling to the Rachel Corrie Center to give out toys and letters
brought with us from American children, and delivering six large
suitcases of medical supplies to the al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Before we slept, we met with our Egyptian contact, who had arranged
drivers and logistics for us, and who told us of the difficulties we
may encounter in our attempt to cross the border.
Our driver and translator arrived promptly at 7 AM to load the
supplies into the van and take us to the American Embassy to get our
necessary paperwork. We arrived at the Embassy before its scheduled
opening at 8 AM and were first in line. At the Embassy, after
temporarily relinquishing our passports, the sub-Consul had each
member of the team sign an affidavit stating that we understood that
the U.S. Embassy “does not recommend…travel to the Gaza Strip,” and
that the Embassy “cannot provide…consular services in the Gaza Strip.”
After purchasing water, bread, cheese, and dates for sustenance on
our journey, we headed north toward Arish, crossed the Nile, and took
the Mediterranean route toward Rafah. Together, we rehearsed the
hurdles we would encounter: three checkpoints, at any of which we
could be denied passage. At the first checkpoint, we passed freely,
barely slowing the van to be waved on.
The landscape grew less urban; we saw groves of date trees, then
smaller dwellings more sparsely situated on the desert plains. There,
the dwellings appeared less frequently, and the ones we did see were
also more simply built; made of brick and stone, and occasionally from
a type of thatch. Many houses were unfinished, some with partial
walls, and some with room for another storey to be built.
The poverty of the occupants this far north was obvious to several
team members. Colin Gilbert, a twenty-three year-old religion teacher
who has traveled extensively throughout Latin America, commented, “It
made me wonder what it would be like to see life through the eyes of
these people in their poverty.” Still, the landscape was full of lush
plantings in small gardens and drip-irrigation hoses lined and
transversed the garden paths. The arid desert was broken with green
plots and rows of trees separating properties, evidence of hard and
determined efforts to make the “desert blossom as a rose.”
The second checkpoint, as anticipated, was a taller hurdle. Egyptian
security stopped our van at the side of the road and asked us where we
intended to travel after leaving Arish. Not wanting to arouse
suspicion by saying “Gaza,” one of our group told them we were
eventually heading to Israel. This response, unfortunately, seemed to
raise a red flag.
As our group was detained, Scott appealed to the guards at the
checkpoint, explained our mission, and showed our letters of
invitation from inside Gaza. The guards expressed support for our
effort, and offered their services. After about forty minutes of phone
calls, told us they would give us a police escort all the way to the
border crossing at Rafah. Unfortunately, by the time our van and
escort arrived in Arish, the police informed us that the border
crossing was closed for the day. They facilitated a driver to take the
team to the Rafah Crossing by 6 AM Monday morning.
The Peace Team spent the late afternoon walking to the nearby shores
of the Mediterranean. We made our way around Arish, enjoying local
food and meeting a variety of people. Colin and Jenny were invited to
a family’s house for tea and supper. Each family member greeted them
warmly and were eager for conversation. All of us returned to the
hotel to compare stories, eat fresh fruit, and get an early start for
what proves to be an exciting day as we head for Rafah and try to
enter Gaza.
Each team member expressed some level of frustration for not having
made it into Rafah tonight. “It is completely unjust that it is so
difficult for journalists and aid workers carrying medical and other
supplies to travel in and out of Gaza, let alone the injustice of the
absolute restriction on travel for Gazans themselves,” stated Brenna
Cussen.
Still, all in the group expressed hope that we could cross tomorrow,
and many remarked that the results of our trip are ultimately in God’s
hands. As Beth Brockman commented, “Being in the moment takes away
apprehension.”
For more info contact:
Saints Francis and Therese Catholic Worker House
52 Mason St., Worcester MA 01610
508 753 3588
there...@gmail.com
------------------------------------------
Sunday, May 10, 2009, New Haven Register
Working to give a peace a chance in a place that only knows conflict
By Randall Beach, Register Columnist
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/05/10/news/beach10.txt
When Mark Colville sat down with his wife and their kids to tell them
he was going to Gaza and Israel on a peace mission, a dialogue ensued
on the importance of taking personal risks.
³The kids are worried because they¹re aware of the violence of the
situation,² Colville said as we sat at his kitchen table Tuesday,
three days before he began his journey. ³It¹s been a rough go, trying
to get my family together on this.²
His five children, aged 6 to 20, and his wife, Luz Catarineau,
supported Colville¹s previous peace outings, including an unsuccessful
attempt to get into Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and opposing
paramilitary occupations in Colombia.
Although they also support his latest effort, they are more concerned
than ever before about his safety.
³We had to do a lot of talking about the risks,² Colville said, ³and
why take the risks.²
This was his answer: ³We¹re Catholics here, trying to be Christians,
to imitate Christ. You have to take some personal risks, that put
yourself where Christ might have been. We have the freedom to do this;
it¹s important to use that freedom.²
Colville, 47, and his family live at the Amistad Catholic Worker House
on Rosette Street in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven. They run a
community soup kitchen there.
Colville is going to the Middle East with five other members of a
Catholic Worker peace team. They have the backing of Nobel Peace Prize
winners Mairead Maguire and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, as well
as actor Martin Sheen, who is helping pay for a driver and translator.
But Colville admitted, ³We don¹t know exactly what to expect. The six
of us are all experienced in nonviolent conflict resolution. We¹ll go
in that spirit. But we expect conflict and confrontation from
authorities on all sides.²
Colville has never been to the Middle East before and does not speak
Arabic. Compared with his past trips, ³This is a little more unknown.²
Their schedule called for them to land in Egypt Friday and attempt to
enter Gaza. Their 10-day itinerary also includes Israel.
They hope to deliver $20,000 in medical supplies to victims of
bombings committed by both Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian governing
body. Colville said his group wants to speak with victims on both
sides of the conflict.
³Telling the story from the victims¹ perspective is the most important
thing,² he said. ³We want to bring back that personal history.²
Colville explained the person-to-person approach that is the Catholic
Worker tradition. ³In areas of poverty, war and violence, these people
need to be personalized. You go to the person who¹s affected and open
yourself to sharing that person¹s fate. You build relationships and
humanize the situation.²
Colville was careful to say, ³There is no justification for launching
bombs at civilians,² no matter whether the bombs are made by U.S.
military suppliers to Israel or by Hamas members in their basements.
But he also said, when I asked him how the conflict originated, ³The
occupation (of Gaza by the Israeli government) is the cause of the
violence.²
³These are people who are besieged, surrounded, blockaded, starved,²
he said. ³It¹s a slow strangulation.²
These are some of the people he wants to interview. ³It¹s a war zone
and these families are caught in the middle, with no way out.²
Colville stressed his group also hopes to interview Israeli civilians
in Sderot, where many Hamas bombs have landed.
But he said he was enraged and joined protests in New Haven last
December when the Israeli government launched missile attacks on Gaza
which reportedly killed about 1,400 Palestinians. (Israel was
responding to missile attacks from Gaza that killed Israeli
civilians.)
Colville noticed while doing fundraising for his trip that this is a
polarizing issue. ³The general mood around our country is, we stop up
our ears when the discussion comes up about Palestinian rights.²
But he said he cannot accept his government giving $2.5 to $3 billion
every year in unrestricted military aid to Israel.
Colville said he had been doing a lot of praying, asking that his
group be allowed to make contact with the many victims of violence.
³Many religions share that belief in reaching out to others. That¹s
the core of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. All of us need to get
back to the core morality of these great faiths.²
Here¹s the final thing Colville said at his kitchen table: ³My intent
is not to come back with a certain political line. The ultimate goal
is, the violence has to stop. Justice and peace have got to come to
that area.²
Randall Beach can be reached at rbe...@nhregister.com or 789-5766.