IHH, Istanbul,unloading, loading

Morning brings a meet up with our brothers Babu and Hassan at breakfast as we are all staying at the same place. The hotel is a short walk from IHH offices and we get up there before 10am. Nalan says there is a minibus going to the cargo port right now - only two spaces so Babu and I go immediately. Have to leave Darryl and Hassan. Darryl has a flight to catch from an airport that is advertised as Istanbul by Easyjet but turns out to be 60km away with no simple way of getting there. A little later I hear from Darryl to say he's got a coach to the airport. Well done and thank you so much Darryl for dropping everything for a random and exhausting journey.

So Babu and I get into the cargo port and join a line of 10 lorries (we're the smallest). During the day I see around 20. The ship is enormous and has two massive cargo holds. The scale of the operation being mounted by IHH is absolutely massive and hugely impressive. There is an enormous crane lifting items constantly into the cargo hold. There are huge industrial size brand new generators waiting on the port wrapped and ready to go. There are lorry loads of timber, tiles, cement, bed/ sofa sets lining up to be put on.

Babu moves the truck around so we are in a good location to unload and repack the cargo from UK. There are pallets that turn up eventually but before this we get the chance to have a look around the vessel and meet the captain. There are multiple volunteers working on the ship. During the day welders come to fix a platform onto the ship which they say will support the crane that needs to lift the goods out at the other end - as there is no viable port in Gaza yet. Everything seems to have been thought of and where there is a problem a practical solution will be found.

We need to get on with the job of repacking the donated items from UK. There is a mixture of things from 125 shoeboxes of small items such as toothpaste, socks, toys each suitable for a boy or girl. These have been put to gether by children in Bolton UK. Other larger items include a dental chair, a baby incubator, patient monitors, dialysis machine, hospital bed. There are also boxes of medical consumables surgical gloves etc. We get everything out onto pallets and wrap it in protective clingfilm. Only Babu and I are allowed into the cargo port because are with the vehicle, Hassan is not able to get in, so we are helped by various IHH workers who are in the port to load the other cargo. The main organiser brings IHH t shirts, cling film, protective gloves, big clear tape, trays of water bottles and at lunch time (ends up around 3pm..) sandwiches and pop. By 6pm we have repacked and labelled everything with Hayfa Medical Centre, Gaza Tofa and leave it on the side of the port to be winched into the ship.

At the end of the day we are knackered and I'm a bit sunburned but apart from that very satisfied.

Lorry to Launch final leg

As the ferry does not depart until 1.30pm its not a rush in the morning - lucky because we needed the 9 hours sleep to catch up. Its pretty easy to get the lorry on - just expensive - €590. The man is not negotiable on price - I try three times. So we get onto the lorry - I am driving and reversing it down the line nearly kills my left leg on the clutch. With freight tickets you automatically get a cabin and discount on food which is good (but thet least you'd expect for the price). Its a very comfortable ferry with wifi onboard, hot shower, sun deck etc. A truck driver chats to us and is very friendly and supportive of the trip - it seems he wants to talk and his wife asked him for a divorce 20 days ago. He's going to see a counsellor tomorrow. Its hard to advise really! He asks whether or not he should stop the phone calls and presents - I think definitely yes - take the pressure off - let her come to you if there's any chance.... but it sounds like it may be a bit far gone. What are the main arguments about - MONEY!! The driver is Greek and both he and one of the waiters mention the Greek financial crisis - its obviously made them worried.

I try to get some emails and updates done then make the most of having a cabin and get more sleep. Arriving in Greece we need to head for a service station - its a beautiful morning and there's a very friendly mongrel bitch with a puppy playing while we get some breakfast - enormous fresh bread cheese and coleslaw sandwiches and great coffee. Can't hang around too long so its onto the beautiful A2 road all the way across Greece to the Turkish border. Its very uneventful and easy - apart from a diversion for 30 minutes that takes us onto a very bendy road with hills and a small bridge that I really don't like the look of - but get over it.

At the Greece-Turkey border it seems there is some messing about to do. Greek customs take a copy of the medical invoice and stamp our export slip so that is no problem. Turkish customs want a bit more time and paperwork. We have to get visas, straightforward - then in order to get the van through I have to get some sort of transit paperwork completed which guarantees that we are taking the stuff straight through Turkey not stopping to sell it etc anywhere. This includes the vehicle which gets associated with my passport so I need to be with it empty at the next border in order to get back a large cash deposit they said I needed to make - in Turkish Lire the equivalent of almost £600. Finally we get away and on to Istanbul. Nearing the city I ring Nalan to find out where we need to go. She lets cargo workers from IHH know and they are going to meet us on one of the main roads into Turkey. She explains we need to be on the green road (there are two main roads into Istanbul the autobahn (toll) and the freeway (non-toll)) this sounds fine however one road is green on the map and the other blue, the road signs are the opposite colour scheme. We work out we need to be on the toll-road and finally meet the IHH contacts at the toll at around 10.30pm. They escort us to the port and the lorry is able to get parked in the cargo port.

We get dropped to sleep at a hotel in Fatih area of town and the paperwork and cargo will all be dealt with tomorrow. I text Babu to let him know the good news that we are safely at our destination. He rings and tells me he and Hassan have just landed in Istanbul so we are all going to be here tomorrow to work on the cargo.

Lorry to Launch...

It is my last day of work on Friday but I check my timesheet and it shows lots of hours owed to me therefore taking Friday off will not be a problem. It's just likely to be a bit of a sudden goodbye to my team. So on Thursday I go into work and let everyone know. I don't know how she does it but Caroline B somehow has organised to get my leaving card and present together a day early and everyone gets together in the kitchen so say good bye. Its a very strange feeling after four years, they are a lovely bunch and have been very generous and give me some cash, coffee and vouchers showing Oxfam donations they have made (what not Viva Palestina!!!!! ;) ) . During the afternoon I hear from Babu again, he now says he does not think they do want me to take the vehicle any more but he's waiting for one of his group to return who he wants to discuss it with. There's still a chance so I decide its best to continue as if I am going and get ready in case. There is quite a lot to do at work to finish things off so I end up staying in the office until almost ten in the evening. Luckily I'm there with Amy who is working late when we both leave and start to walk towards my car I first realise the car is now locked in the car park due to the hour and I also don't have my jacket or any keys. I must have either left them at Civic Centre offices where I went earlier in the day or in the boss's car who I got a lift with. Thankfully Amy invites me to crash at hers and we both get in knackered and share a beer, chocolate, crisps and a good chat before a welcome sleep (comfy sofa bed).
Friday's first mission is to try to find missing jacket and keys. I head to the Civic Centre in Enfield and up to the relevant floor - not there. I leave a message for the boss on his mobile. Then I have nothing much to do so I go to the Civic hotdesk area where I can still log on to the computers and make the most of it by putting my cv up on a website that recruits for Multi-Systemic Therapy programmes. At around 11.30 I am just finishing my cv when the alarm goes off in the Civic centre and the entire building has to evacuate. At the same time I hear from the boss - thankfully he has my jacket in his car and he is not far away from where I am so I can pick it up in an hour. It turns out the alarm at Civic is because there was a call made to the Youth Offending Service by someone claiming to have put an explosive device in YOS offices and Civic centre. Whilst evacuating I bump into Barbara A from our Panel and we go for a cup of coffee until the drama is over. During coffee time Babu calls again and says the mission is back on so this is great. By 1pm I have my jacket and keys back and head home to pack for the trip. I am a bit stuck for a co-driver as Joti would not be able to get back in time for work and other volunteers have had to pull out for various reasons. I text Darryl who is a friend who has supported Gaza campaign in the past and attended my Feb convoy event - I know he is self-employed and therefore may be able to be flexible. After around half an hour he confirms he's able to come - brilliant! Having been on convoy in December I know I will only need a few essentials - notepad, pens, torch, soap, toothbrush, light jacket, couple of t-shirts, socks, headtorch, passport, driving licence. Everything fits into a mini-backpack. Then to quickly catch up with nearest and dearest in London before set off tomorrow - meet Jess for a couple of small beers and an early night.
Saturday morning I have to get some keys cut and buy a Europe satnav which should make all the difference for the journey, with these accomplished I meet Jess for a bite to eat and then head to Euston to get train to Bolton to pick up the vehicle. I'm there by 5.30 and meet with Babu and Imran for final organising.

Babu shows me round the truck. They spent last night packing the items into the vehicle - because they were doing this outside his shop and it was late apparently someone called the police who came to investigate in case his shop was being burgled! At Imran's we make copies of the detailed customs manifest list, photocopies of essential documents like log book, passport etc.

We also try to work out how the tachometer works so I won't get a fine in Europe for not following the drivers' hours rules. By the time we have done this and gone for delicious hot food at a nearby restaurant it is 11pm and I need to get back to London so I can set off in the morning. I follow Babu and Imran to the motorway and wave off. As I go to change gear the gearstick comes off in my hand!! But it goes back on no problem. The vehicle has 6 gears so once travelling Ican stick it in the cruise gear quite comfortably. It does occasionally slip out of this gear it seems but it is nothing major. I will have to park the truck outside the low emission zone as it is over 10 years old 7.5 ton and this class is now banned in town. This shouldn't be a problem as I can park it next to the station in Cheshunt which is easily accessed by train from liverpool st. I realise I am not going to make it to London before 3am and by then I will have missed public transport into town. I ring Tufty and he is a star and says he will meet me - I have to meet him to make sure he gets into my flat to get his tools out as well. So at just gone 3am I make it to the empty car park meet Tufty and go home to pick up what he needs. It turns out I might be able to say hello and goodbye to a few people who are at a big birthday party in Dalston where he is going - so we both go there and I see lots of buddies for an hour. Then its time to go home and sleep for a few hours before setting off.

8am and two hours sleep later its time to get going. I meet Darry at Liverpool St station and we head to Cheshunt, jump into the cab and after filling up head towards Folkestone setting off at about 10 - using satnav for the first time is a novelty. What I have noticed this morning is that I haven't worked out the tachometer correctly - it has not registered my journey at all last night. It the services I ask a man who's just filled up a pick up if he knows any thing. He tries to explain but either he's telling me conflicting advice or its not sinking in. I try again with the tacho paper. Its really clear and its a smooth run until on M20 we are selected by police motorbike to take part in a VOSA spot check.

I am quite confident we should be ok as the vehicle has just been MOT'd and serviced - and I am a new expert on the tacho..... However when the inspectors have a look at the vehicle it seems there may be one or two problems. I show the inspectors the thick file of paperwork and explain to them what our trip is about and the deadline to get to Turkey. First the tachometer man has a look and sees that the paper has not been recording correctly, secondly the nearside inside tyre on the back seems to be punctured, thirdly we appear to be overweight from the weighbridge slip. Hmmmm. The tacho man goes off to consider, the tyre man issues me with a prohibition notice - until the tyre is fixed I'm not allowed to continue. As luck would have it there is a mechanic lurking around the car park - how convenient... and how busy he must find himself having to deal with the issues that may be arising in the car park on this sunny VOSA check afternoon. We get into the back of the vehicle where there is a tyre - however this one does not appear to be in excellent nick either and its not on a rim. He makes a call and checks with a colleague about wheels they have and goes off to pick one up. He also works out that the weighbridge slip appears to have recorded the overall weight twice therefore in fact we are not 16 tons we are 8 tons - which is fine. The tacho man comes back with some good news - because our vehicle and contents is 'humanitarian aid' we are exempt from all drivers' hours restrictions in the EU. This is great because it would have been really fiddly to have to try to use it on this journey - and it doesn't seem to be working either. They give us the piece of paper that explains that we are humanitarian aid and exempt from EU rules - fantastic. There is a slight panic when the tyre VOSA inspector says he is leaving at 3.30pm and the mechanic is not back. Then he offers to come and meet us to inspect after hours so we can get moving! Wow more fantastic.

While waiting for the fixing to get done I chat to the police officers who are sympathetic to the situation in Gaza. One of them has a daughter who is doing psychology so we talk about that and I suggest she might enjoy youth offending work. We also talk about The mechanic returns, the tyre gets changed and we are signed off. A couple of hours delay but it is good overall as otherwise we would have been fiddling with a tachometer all the way ax Europe plus if we had not detected the puncture we could have easily had another blow out in Europe but more seriously and with much more expense.

So on the road again we get to Folkestone and get into the freight office to buy a ticket - I ask about getting the invoice stamped for the medical hardware a charity in Bolton has bought so they can prove export and claim VAT back. It seems this cannot be done at the Channel Tunnel freight office but they advise we go to Dover if we really want the proof. It is worth it for the £700 or so they could reclaim so we go to Dover to a customs agent to process this piece of paper, getting charged £25 for the privilege.

Finally onto the Channel Tunnel freight train at around 6pm for the short dash across the sea.

It feels like we have not got very far in one day. I decide we are going to have to drive straight through to Ancona without stopping if we have any chance of making the ferry so we start off with me driving. The stereo doesn't work properly and we give up on that. We set the satnav and it gives us a route through Switzerland into Italy. The roads are clear and the satnav indicates we should get to Ancona port late morning. However as we drive along the eta is getting later and later obviously as we are slower due to size. It is going to be tight.







During the night Darryl and I swap shifts in driving and sleeping for two hours each and by 6.30 am we have reached Basel border with Switzerland. Due to being in a lorry we have to go through the freight section and we look pretty hilarious in a 10+ year old ex-refrigerated van which is only 6.5 m long amongst all the new Scania road trains. I have to take the paperwork into the offices on the border to explain the situation and find out what we have to do.

The Swiss customs man is very helpful but indicates there may be a problem on Italian border due to the Italian customs requiring a 'Transit Form' for any vehicle wishing to cross Switzerland without stopping because they are not in the EU. Therefore because I will have technically crossed out of EU then back into EU so apparently this is a problem. Anyway he helpfully stamps all of the paperwork in terms of the Customs manifest and sets us up to travel across Switzerland, he asks if it is all humanitarian and second hand which I confirm it is - therefore he says we should be ok. He also takes a deposit of £650 from my card and promises this will be refunded onto my card at the other end. The whole process takes about an hour and a half because we had to record mileage and register before crossing Switzerland. The Swiss customs guy maybe didn't know what the border security or services would be like.....but then again maybe he did because he had a little smile when he sent us through....

Everything is going smoothly until we try to leave Switzerland at Chiassi where we arrive at around 11am. We attempt to drive out of the exit for cars and empty vans. The security stop us and ask what we have in the van. I get out and explain that we have humanitarian aid destined for Palestine - the Italian customs lady will not hear my explanation that the load is non-commercial and they request us to go to the freight customs processing area. So duly we do this, when there it appears the Swiss customs man was right. I go from Swiss customs to Italian customs officers in the same building several times with our paperwork. The Swiss officer says he does not have a problem letting us through from Switzerland but it is the Italian customs that are requesting a 'Transit form'. The Italian customs say it is a Swiss problem because they are not in the EU but despite this they have allowed us through. We apparently need a Transit form to give to Italian customs. This should have been set up by an agent in UK or somewhere previously. There may be a company that can assist us in a building near the freight area. I go to investigate and after a considerable amount of messing about including being told the wrong floor, no boss being there and the assistant making a call I am told that the charge for doing the form here will be €350!! I thank them for the kind offer and decline. I return to Italian customs and explain the situation again, 1. We have paid to come through Switzerland, 2. Swiss customs have passed us through, 3. the cargo is all humanitarian and second-hand/ donated, 4. we have a ferry to catch, 5. we cannot afford €350. Finally they go away and discuss the situation for ten minutes. I am then advised that my best bet is to go and make my case at the head office of Italian customs at Chiassi. This is a 7 minute walk away so duly get there with paperwork and story in hand. I am met there with sympathetic ears and the man in charge asks me a bit about the vehicle - everyone has a good look at the customs manifest and he comes up with a plan. He will personally take us through a smaller crossing in the town, he says he is sorry but the original customs officers at the non-commercial crossing should have let us through, in future to avoid any issues he advises go to get something called a Carnet from an agent in London. By 2.30pm we are through the border and on the way to Ancona. We have missed all the ferry options by now though.

Its straight through to Ancona and we are in town by 8.45pm. Locate a youth hostel for €17 and park up the lorry in the dock area. We grab some very decent pizza before crashing out exhausted after what has been in effect a 36 hour journey so far.

Last weekend I travelled with Tox and Hasna to Dundalk in Ireland to take a van load of items collected and packed by Slough Team to put onto Free Gaza movement ship MV Rachel Corrie. We packed up the van at Talha's house in Slough by 9pm - then had to leg it to get to Holyhead by 2:30am in order to get across to Dublin. Amazingly we made it thanks to Tox's careful driving and all credit to his dad for lending the vehicle. It was packed to the rafters (if van's have rafters..).

Staff onboard Irish Ferries were brilliant and gave us a 3 berth cabin free of charge for the three hours so we managed to crash out. Hot shower in there was amazing. We arrived in about 6 then an hour and a half later were in the port of Dundalk. It was a lovely sunny morning and very quiet around town. It was easy to find the port which is small and there were two cargo ships there one of which was MV Racel Corrie. Around 8am Jenny emerged one of Free Gaza members and we asked all about the plans. The ship was to be inspected in a few days in order for it to be able to set sail to the Med. Free Gaza had the use of a warehouse near the ship so donations could be unloaded. We went to town to grab some breakfast then to start work to unload. When we got back a large lorry had arrived and various large hospital hardware was being unloaded. This was Dr Hassan who had come from Scotland with his son Adam. Another vehicle also arrived from Dublin and a little later from Cork. Additionally Niamh also Free Gaza in another van.

We spent the rest of the day putting the items onto pallets and wrapping them tightly in large cling film to secure and proteect them. We also labelled the goods to decribe what was in the consignment and record destinations when they had been donated particularly for a certain project. For example a woman Yael had come to my flat the day before with a box of artists materials destined for a particular project in Rafah, I had several boxes of new trainers donated by Tufty of Public Nuisance fame and these are going to the Camps Breakerz. Dr Hassan's medical equipment is going to Al-Haifa Hospital. We had some office equipment destined for the Local Initiative in Beit Hanoun. Much of the other items were generally donated medical items such as tubing, syringes, swabs etc. All the items Abid had driven to Cork the previous weekend from Gloucester were also brought from there including wheelchairs and frames for walking.

It was a really good day. We met local sub-aqua rescue men who are also firemen and report for the local radio station - I was briefly interviewed for Dundalk local radio on behalf of Slough / London team. There was a Norwegian documentary maker present who had been with Free Gaza for several days - he filmed us packing.












The trip was rapid turnaround - at 7pm we headed back to Dublin port to catch the ferry back to Holyhead. Departed at 20.55 and again the crew gave us a berth - angels. The van was low on diesel and we headed off the ferry at midnight with the intention of stopping at the first service station. Unfortunately this was not soon enough.. so we ran out of gas around 20 minutes out of Holyhead. Oh dear, in the dark in North Wales at 1am. A car passing by stopped for us and I went with them to the nearest petrol station. At the garage there was a police car dealing with a minor incident so the driver of the car asked the officers to take me back to the vehicle with the can of diesel. I was duly returned to Tox and Hasna and we waved the officers good bye... somewhat prematurely. We couldn't start the van as there was air in the system now. Had to resort to calling out the AA.... Anyway they eventually got us going and we were on the road again - even if two hours delayed. Tox was a trooper and drove us all safely home to London. We talked and talked! We covered most topics you can think of from art to afterlife. Hasna must have wondered if we were mad. However she herself is mad as today she is jumping out of an aeroplane for sponsorship money for Gaza. So fair's fair.

On Wednesday 12th May I got a call from Babu in Bolton who was on the convoy. Unfortunately they had not been able to get their vehicle full of donations (dental units, baby incubator, dialysis machines) to Dundalk to load onto the MV Rachel Corrie. Therefore the items need to be taken to Istanbul if possible. Can I do it? Well this is my last week at work so I will be available very shortly. Babu reckons we need to leave on Friday. I need a co-driver. Weds is our Hackney Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting. I make it to that and hope that Joti who was on the convoy may be able to step up. She's at home tonight not far from the meeting so I go and see her afterwards and we look at the options. Joti is now back at work part-time therefore she needs to be back by Tuesday morning. Online it looks just about do-able, Googlemaps says its a 34 hour drive....

On Thursday afternoon Babu calls again - not quite sure if it will be ok for me to go with the items. There is concern over trying to get there too quickly, for us as lone females being safe etc.

One day in Gaza

The hosts are trying to get us up and moving. We are given breakfast and tea and the bus to the car park / air strip is waiting for us. We need to take any more personal stuff out of the vehicles and the aid is being handed over. The process seems to take a long time. Some people who already have contacts for their aid are meeting up with them and here is our man for the specialist stethoscopy equipment again this time with his van.

















Its sad to leave this vehicle which I've spent so much time with recently but thats it now. I just have a bag of personal things (all chaotically scattered) and that's all. I leave the sleeping bag, mats, tents, cooker, food, water in the back. Lock up, leave the keys in the ignition and ready to go.
















While wandering around the car park I meet a man in a wheelchair with a large camera. He lost his legs in the bombing last year. He works as a photographer and his wife is also with him she works for an organisation supporting women. While I am speaking to them I meet Nitin and Mond. Nitin has managed to get into Gaza from the Freedom March. He realised the Freedom March was not going to be a viable way to get in after chaos in Cairo and approached the Indian embassy in Cairo for a letter of support. Mond is a Gaza resident and he is walking around with Nitin. We decide to move on together. The next stop after the car park handover is an event at what remains of the Palestinian Legislative Council building.

George G and others are making speeches here. I wander around the crowd and then around the back of the building where a soldier is very helpful and friendly taking pictures for me. I let the young people gathering around us with big grins on their faces borrow a camera to take pics of each other.




















The crowd is moving on the a large conference hall nearby. There we are given commemorative books, a scarf and offered seats for hearing with Ismail Hanya the Prime Minister. I realise that this is another event which may go on for some time and I'd really like to get out and look around a bit if possible.
















Mond asks who I would like to meet. I want to meet music producers or performers as I'd be interested in looking at the possibility of getting Fairtunes to work in Gaza. Mond gets on the mobile and we get out of the conference centre and to a coffee shop not too far away. After a short time some guys arrive who are from CampsBreakerz - BBoys breakdance crew. Shortly after this musicians from a band called Watar. Moh from Camps Breakerz has his laptop and plays footage from some of their past performances. We drink coffee and smoke a shisha and copy some music from my hard drive. When Watar come they play a song about Gaza on guitar which is beautiful. Tom plays some of his music from his band Divine Chaos.

















We don't have a lot of time and soon John 'Tyrone to Gaza' Hurson is meeting members of Gaza City Sporting club to donate kit for Gaelic football. So we walk over as its not too far away.

Finally into Gaza 6th January 2010

The morning after the riot there are lots of people with visible injuries, bandages, arms in slings. We are told to be ready to leave in an hour - this is at around 10 or 11am. However we are in fact milling about the port compound all day. I discover a clean loo and bathroom in the port building, an employee shows me where it is - he offers me and other convoy members tea, bread and apologies for the conduct of the Egyptian authorities towards the convoy. I am a bit surprised by this considering that during the riot the gate has come off the port, some windows have been smashed and some paving broken up - which I say I'm sorry about. This does not seem to be any problem at all to him. He is just warm and welcoming and does not blame anyone in the convoy for any of the trouble.
















Convoy meeting
Nidal's head



During the morning I am contacted by London Evening Standard for an update on what has happened. They have got my number from my brother Charlie who I rang last night when the riot was kicking off. He also gets in touch to say he contacted Press Association, Sky News, Channel 4.

During the afternoon there is gathering in the centre of the compound for George to address the crowd. He offers support to the injured and encouragement to the members for the final leg of the journey. He states his position on those protesters that returned violence to the riot police - his view is that while he has always respected those who are able to turn the other cheek 'it is not in my tradition' and he supports the right of those who threw stones back at the riot police to do this as they have had stones thrown at them. Some members of the convoy are very unhappy about the sequence of events and one even asks if he will resign as a result of the violent clashes. George calls for a show of hands on this and it seems the majority would prefer him to remain leading the convoy.

During the gathering a worried sister of one of the arrested members comes up and says the prisoners have been kept in a truck outside with no bathroom or water for 15 hours. I get a tray of water bottles to try to take this to the vehicle - I am not allowed out of the compound but I see Caiomhe is outside and can pass them to her. Within around an hour or so the prisoners are returned to us battered and bruised. A security officer has a bag of their mobile phones and cameras which he gives to me and I track the individuals down to return them. Unfortunately Nidal's camcorder is not there, he says it was smashed anyway. I can't locate the officer who gave me the items to ask about it.

The vehicles are all lining up now to queue to get out of the compound. On my mobile I am hearing from Lena, an Italian journalist who lives in Beirut. She has managed to get transport to catch up with us and will try to travel with the convoy for the final leg and try to come into Gaza. I can't get out of the gate to meet her but she manages to find Caoimhe in a vehicle that's already got out up ahead.

Eventually we get to leave the compound, they're letting us through really slowly in groups of around ten vehicles at a time. Its almost dark. While waiting in the line outside on the road some Egyptian ambulance workers come over to talk. As I have the laptop, hard drive and blank cds I ask one what music he would like - he says something romantic - so I give him a copy of an album of Frank Sinatra. We listen to our copy of Frank Sinatra on the road to Gaza.

We get to the border in slow time still, there are lots of road blocks on the way. Not with security staff but just places we have to wiggle through a bit. At the Palestinian side of the Rafah border we hand over our passports, nobody minds giving their passports to Palestinian border control. I feel very happy that we are going through. Just inside as we move slowly through a man approaches my cab - he is asking after vehicle A12 - he is the doctor who is waiting for the equipment we picked up in Amman! He must have been waiting patiently all evening and possibly all day. Its brilliant to be able to reassure him that the vehicle and its precious content is just behind us.

I can hardly stay on the road for tiredness. Perhaps it is the relief of getting into Gaza finally but I can hardly keep awake. We are driving slowly following whoever is in front. Occasionally a vehicle with armed men in it passes. There are a few people still at the roadside but it is around 3am now so most of the crowds have sensibly gone home. We end up parking up the vehicles together on what turns out to be the old airstrip near Gaza City. A text message tells us that accommodation is provided in teams. However in practice this just causes more confusion as there is not time to organise into teams with buses waiting for us who just want us to get our personal stuff and jump in it is so late. A group of us end up at the Al-Ahli sporting club. The rooms are basic with two beds with a blanket on each and a loo/ shower. The hosts also want to give us food - rice, chicken, salad, bottles of water; I'm almost too tired to eat but manage to and meanwhile get talking to Yousri who is leading our group. He explains the blockade and siege means limits on what is available, power supplies, water. We want to carry on talking but as we have to be up again in a few hours and are so tired its not possible.

Moving on to Egypt 4th Jan - 6th Jan

We head back to the camp in the morning for 10 and catch the meeting informing us of the flight details. First flight to depart at 4pm, bus to get to the airport at 1pm. 8pm flight, bus departs camp at 5pm; 12am flight assemble 9pm, 4am flight assemble 1am.







Fascinated with the proceedings Juana?









First flight: Turkish team 1, VP groups A&B, Team America, VP leadership, Jordanian group, Al Jazeera TV.

2nd flight: Turkish team 2, VP groups C&D, VP leadership, Jordanian 2nd group

3rd flight: Turkish team 3, VP teams E, F, G

4th flight: Turkish group 4, Jordanian Group 3, George Galloway

So its time to leave Lattakia and the lovely people who have been looking after us.

















Its another celebratory send off from the airport.














The flight is short and when we land at the airport it seems as if everything is going to be fine. George G does a short announcement to the press that are waiting that he has been told by the Governor of Sinai that we are going to move on through to Rafah. We are greeted by local members of the Red Crescent - young people most of them under 20 who give us plastic flowers. However a short time later things get a bit difficult. It seems the visas we are being issued with are being stamped with entry and exit at the same time and there is a local General who tells Kevin the authorities are going to hold on to our passports and we can move on and get to the vehicles and take them to Rafah. He clearly does not understand that everyone has their own vehicle and we will not be going anywhere without both our passports and the rest of the convoy members who will not be arriving until tomorrow. We stage a sit down protest for our passports to be returned. In the middle of this chaos we receive news that the second flight has been diverted to Damascus. We are told this is due to engine trouble but we don't know for sure and hope it is not an exercise to separate us. The protest turns noisier as time goes on.














Some people are catching a bit of sleep on the floor. In the end we are there for 6 or 7 hours before the passports are returned and we move on to crash out for a few hours in a couple of local hotels (dusty, run down).

The next day we are picked up by a bus and taken to the port compound at El Arish sea port. We have to show our passports to get in and these are compared to the list the authorities have. From now on if we want to leave the port compound then we have to hand our passport in and only a small number of people are allowed to leave at a time. By 4 pm the final arrival of members of the convoy has arrived. There have been significant difficulties for the arrivals of all flights and stories of physical struggles with the authorities and bus doors being shut on someone causing injury. The convoy members are by and large exhausted and disorientated after the confusion and delayed long travel.

George G, Zaher and Kevin are going into negotiations with Egyptian authority representative as it has become clear that there is a question mark over some of the vehicles that we are to be allowed to take in. At around 6.30/ 7pm we are informed that the Egyptian representative has left the compound and has left saying the 47 American-bought vehicles (cars) are not going to be allowed through. This is in contrast to the agreement reached at Aqaba. The convoy members are not going to take the reversal of the agreement lying down and a protest is staged at the gates of the port compound about this. It is noisy and one of the gates unfortunately comes off its hinges while the protestors are rattling it.














For several hours from now there are convoy members at the gates gathered, sometimes chanting, sometimes sitting, some walking about the area to the front of the gates which is now surrounded by rows of riot police and a large tanker which is the container of water for the water cannon.





















I eventually leave the crowd as it is sitting peacefully and someone is singing prayers in Arabic. I end up sitting in a vehicle in the port talking to some members who are not happy. I am sitting there when a member arrives at the door and he has a golf club in his hand he says the front of the convoy is being attacked by the riot police. He agrees I should take the golf club away as no-one should be putting themselves in a position where they may injure another, injure themselves or be arrested. I go to lock it in my cab, whilst doing this a member Majid runs past me injured and we both jump in my cab - he tells me to get in the back of the vehicle as he feels the cab will not be safe. We can't do this as the back is full of aid. The fear is that the riot police will enter the compound and start to damage the vehicles. After a short time I decide to get out and walk up to see what is going on. As I walk towards the gate I can see a hail of stones coming down on the crowd at the front, shouting, things being broken and general mayhem. The noise and chaos seems to continue for some time - there are guys running about extremely agitated, some are holding their heads, bleeding, I can see some lying injured away at the back of the crowd being treated under lights by those with some medical experience. A short distance away I can see a convoy member attempting to mediate in a situation where there are some Egyptian security staff that some agitated Turkish members are trying to get to. It appears these staff are nothing to do with the riot police of the authorities but have unfortunately been identified as possible Muhabarat by extremely upset individuals. The situation is calmed down. A Team Leaders meeting is called. I go up and all the Team Leaders VP organisers and George G are gathered. George asks us to agree on what the sequence of events was and it appears that shortly after the Egyptian negotiator left the port compound the riot police and other non-uniformed members of security outside. During the evening it appears that non-uniformed security have gathered missiles in the form of pieces of paving slabs and made piles of these behind the riot police lines. When some members of the US convoy have come in from town surprising the riot police they have been treated in a heavy handed way, this has elicited the convoy members from the front of the protest to move towards the fracas, next the lines of riot police have moved towards the crowd and the agent provocateurs have begun launching their missiles onto the crowd. The crowd responds by defending itself, several members have been caught up and some arrested. There are some Egyptian police who have barracked into a room inside the port compound. While we are having the meeting Ellie comes up to say that we should take action to prevent the conflict from starting up again as convoy members on the ground are paranoid that the police are re-grouping to attack and enter the port and are therefore getting ready to defend, moving forward towards the gate which could antagonise the police and spark further incident. So we go down and move among the crowd calming people down. This for me also involves standing in front of a vehicle and preventing it from driving up towards the gate. I also speak to a group of convoy members who are very agitated to ask them to be patient and calm at this point and they do listen. The main calming point is when the Turkish members return to their vehicles as this provides a significant signal to the convoy as a whole that the incident is over.