Written one year to the day since the Israelis launched "Operation Cast Lead." At 11:20 a.m., 88 Israeli aircraft flew above the Gaza Strip and simultaneously struck 100 targets within a span of just 220 seconds. Thirty minutes later, a second wave of 60 jets and helicopters struck an additional 60 targets. At least 230 Palestinians were killed and more than 700 injured on that one day alone.

This time is clearly different.

I have travelled to Gaza twice this year, in groups ranging from 40-60, and although there was a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved in “greasing the wheels” with the Egyptian authorities, we pretty much sailed in. CODEPINK (the group that organized both of my previous trips) developed a well-earned reputation for being able to pull just the right levers to open the doors to the isolated enclave of Gaza – even more so than George Galloway’s Viva Palestina convoy, which is typically allowed in for only 24-48 hours (vs. our 4 days).

But too many months have gone by with no change in the crippling isolation of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt, and it was time to risk our privileged access to take our efforts to break the siege up a notch. Our numbers had to be massive enough to threaten the jailers’ growing complacence and broad enough to send the message that this is a global movement that won’t stop until the Palestinian people are given the freedom and justice they deserve.  Thus, this time CODEPINK allied with a number of other organizations around the world, and the number of participants quickly ballooned to more than 1,300 from 43 countries. Likewise, while we have collected or purchased thousands of dollars worth of school supplies, winter clothing and electronic devices (such as computers – currently only available via the tunnels and thus too expensive for the average Gazan), our message is also unapologetically political: The borders must be opened, to everyone, all the time. NOW.

We have obviously accomplished our objective. The jailers have taken notice and are running scared. So scared that we not only have been denied entry into Gaza, we have been threatened with arrest and deportation if we so much as carry a sign or gather in groups of more than six. Our reservation with a facility in downtown Cairo for an orientation meeting for delegates was cancelled at the government’s order, and requests to hold educational workshops instead were refused. In an even more audacious move that was aided and abetted by participants’ own governments, consulate representatives were called to a meeting and apparently instructed to warn their residents not to come.  In Spain, that warning was echoed in a news release. In Canada, individuals registered for the march or who had participated in past delegations received emails from their embassies. In Portugal, one marcher was called on his personal cell phone!

As word spread of Egypt’s refusal to open Gaza’s doors – announcing its decision long after thousands of internationals had purchased expensive airline tickets and mere days before they began boarding their flights – supporters around the world inundated Egypt’s embassies with calls, emails and faxes in protest. Many came from legislators and other government officials, past and present.  Egypt only backed further into its corner in response, using the aggressive tone of some of the calls and emails to ignore the overall theme:  the injustice of the collective punishment imposed on Gaza’s nearly 1.5 million Palestinians and its refusal to allow supporters to help.

 
A "solidarity action" held in Bern, Switzerland. And more are planned around the world. Click here to find one near you. 

As I write this, we are still being refused entry to Gaza, and even permission to travel to Al-Arish and Rafah.  Thirty-eight of our marchers tried to get to Al Arish on their own, but 30 were then put under house arrest in their hotel and eight were detained at the bus station.  When the legal support group held a candlelight vigil, they were surrounded by a phalanx of heavily armed Egyptian police. Two marchers said they were beaten when they tried to join their comrades. Meanwhile, when marchers tried to  (peacefully) commemorate  the Israeli invasion of Gaza (exactly one year ago today) by tying hundreds of strings with notes, poems, art and the names of 1,400 killed to the Kasr Al Nil Bridge , the security police broke it up.

However, there are two bright silver linings to this dark cloud: Groups on the left of the sociopolitical spectrum are known for being far less cooperative and cohesive than their conservative, reactionary counterparts. It truly gladdened my heart, therefore, to see the immediate mobilization in our support by groups ranging from the War Resisters League to Jewish Voice for Peace.

Meanwhile, it’s a truism that controversy attracts media coverage. Our missions to Gaza have been ignored by the mainstream media in the past, but this time, Egypt’s defensive and angry response attracted the attention of such MSM pillars as the BBC, Associated Press, Newsweek and the New York Times. I am a communications professional, and Egypt has violated a tenet of PR 101: The more you protest, the guiltier you look.

Just so you know: I am determined to get into Gaza regardless, if not now then later. Here is an advantage of unemployment: I have all the time in the world, and am damn persistent.