Galloway: The Despots' Collaborator

Shiraz Maher..
Gatestone Institute..
15 June '12..

Viva Palestina is a charity that was started in the UK and which has spread to several countries around the world, including the United States. Conceived by George Galloway after Operation Cast Lead, the group is ostensibly concerned with delivering aid – which, according to the Israelis, could include weapons to be used against them – to Gaza.

The charity also claims to support the promotion of peace between Palestinians and Israelis, although little has been done in this regard. On the contrary, far from promoting peace, the group has frequently provoked conflict – not least in 2010 when it supported the illegal and ill-fated flotilla led by the Mavi Marmara to enter Gaza by sea.

The sixth Viva Palestina convoy left Britain last month bound for Gaza, revealing the organizers' overwhelming obsession with Israel. Without a hint of irony, it was announced that their supposedly urgent humanitarian convoy would be passing through Syria en route to Gaza. There was no discussion, however, of aiding the tens of thousands of Syrians who have been systematically tortured, abused, or displaced in that country. The convoy is to pass straight by the thousands of Syrians who are now forced to live in refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.

Marquadt-Bigman - Viva Palestina: the Syrian connection

Petra Marquadt-Bigman..
The Warped Mirror..
09 February '12..

After hackers managed to obtain access to the e-mails of some high-ranking officials at the Syrian Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Ha’aretz got hold of some of the mails and posted them together with relevant background information. One of the articles focuses on the correspondence between “Viva Palestina” organizer George Galloway, a notorious former British MP, and Assad’s media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban.

Ha’aretz correctly notes that Galloway is “identified with the extreme left in Britain” and is well known for his “close contacts with dictators and extremist elements in the Arab world.”

Given Galloway’s history, it is hardly surprising that in August 2010, he contacted Assad’s media adviser to ask her for Syria’s support in organizing an “aid” convoy to Gaza. Indeed, it turns out that the Syrian regime provided “outstanding assistance” to Galloway’s “Viva Palestina” campaigns “on previous occasions” and Galloway showed his appreciation by praising Syria as “the last castle of Arab dignity.”

Assad’s media adviser responded warmly to Galloway’s request, assuring him that she was “happy to put my time and energy to help with this most important cause of the Twenty Firtst [sic] Century.” Pathetically, she added: “I hope you are following my writings in Counter Punch.”

Of course, Counter Punch is viciously hostile to Israel, but the fact that a supposedly left-wing and progressive newsletter would happily feature contributions from the spokeswoman of Syria’s president is still a great illustration of the depths to which the assorted Israel-haters are ready to stoop.

Smackdown: Convoy vs. Flotilla

J. E. Dyer
Contentions/Commentary
20 September '10

Perhaps the biggest recent news in Gaza-blockade busting is the lack of enthusiasm for it shown by some regional governments. Beirut delayed the departure of the Lebanese “women’s flotilla” flagship, M/V Maryam, for much of July. After Maryam was finally allowed to leave Lebanon, the authorities in Greek Cyprus, the staging point for Maryam to pick up additional passengers, denied the ship permission to depart for Gaza. The flotilla organizers have so far been unable to mount the effort by any other means. A separate aid ship departing from Syria this past weekend simply headed for the Egyptian port of El-Arish, near the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza, rather than attempting to break the naval blockade.

Three vehicle convoys are now preparing to converge on Gaza, but they, like the Syrian ship, will assemble near Rafah in Egypt. One convoy, arranged by the Hamas-linked Viva Palestina activist group, left from London this weekend. Departures are planned from Morocco and Qatar as well. Reporting suggests that the convoys from Europe and Africa will be composed largely of passenger vehicles, reinforcing their character as publicity stunts rather than humanitarian aid missions.

The convoy from Casablanca has already hit a snag, however, and some elements of it are currently delayed in Morocco. Algeria has granted permission to cross its territory only provisionally and unofficially, a posture that Moroccan factions consider unsatisfactory. The Egyptians, meanwhile, refused to allow a Viva Palestina convoy to use the Rafah border crossing in January 2010, deporting British activist George Galloway and banning him from further activities in Egypt. Cairo’s foreign ministry has reiterated the ban this week, emphasizing that aid-convoy vehicles will not be allowed to use the border crossing. Any cargo they bring will have to be reloaded on an Egyptian-managed official convoy.

(Read full post)

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CAMERA Responds to Galloway Coverage in Boston Paper

Dexter Van Zile
CAMERA Media Analysis
12 February '10

George Galloway appeared in Boston on Feb. 1, 2009 to raise money for his group Viva Palestina. Boston radio personality Michael Graham covered his impending appearance during his show earlier in the day, but most of the local media ignored Galloway’s speech despite his role as an apologist for murderers and dictators in the Middle East.

Galloway spoke at the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace in Allston, a neighborhood of Boston. Prior to its incarnation as a mosque and a Palestinian cultural center, the building was owned by a congregation of Brazilian Protestants, and before that, a congregation of the United Church of Christ.

One local newspaper, The Allston-Brighton Tab, did cover the event.

Unfortunately, the coverage left out a few important details about Galloway’s career and his group, Viva Palestina. For example, the article failed to report that an Egyptian border guard was shot dead by a Hamas terrorist during a disturbance that erupted when Galloway’s caravan reached the Egyptian-Gaza border in early January. The article merely stated that “Fifty people were injured” as a result of the disturbance.

(Read full article)

For those who are not familiar with George Galloway "Peace Activist", I've added this Youtube in order that you can become acquainted. Y.


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Hamas' 54 Democratic Congressmen

Daniel Greenfield
Sultan Knish
26 January '10

Keith Ellison, widely hailed as America's first Muslim congressman, could more accurately be described as CAIR and Hamas' man in Congress. Congressman Ellison has been a regular presence at CAIR fundraisers and at pro-Hamas rallies in the United States. As a former member of Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, Ellison has enough anti-semitic and Islamist credentials to satisfy anyone, and had expressed openly anti-semitic beliefs in the past.

Since Ellison got his start with CAIR , his attempt to provide support for Hamas is completely unsurprising. Both Hamas and CAIR are projects of the Muslim Brotherhood, which also helped birth Al Queda. Organizations like CAIR do the same work in America that Hamas does in Israel. The difference is that CAIR does its work on a political level, while Hamas functions on both a political and a military level. Like CAIR, Ellison is careful to cloak his pro-Hamas agenda, which he does by mentioning that all violence is wrong and that Israelis probably shouldn't be shelled-- but the thrust of his agenda is to force Israel to open its border with Hamas.

The entire "Free Gaza" movement is a Hamas propaganda project that allows it to demand that Israel open its borders, without actually using the P word, for peace, since Hamas doesn't even believe in phony peace negotiations. So Pro-Hamas activists, whether it's former Saddam supporter, George Galloway's Viva Palestina or their American flavors talk only about "The People of Gaza", deemphasize Hamas and emphasize the supposed "suffering" within Gaza.

(Read full article)
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Reactions in the Arab Press to British MP George Galloway's Viva Palestina 3 Aid Convoy

MEMRI
19 January '10

The Viva Palestina 3 humanitarian aid and solidarity convoy to Gaza, organized by British MP George Galloway, arrived at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza on January 5, 2010.[1] The convoy, 163 meters long and carrying 590 tons of humanitarian aid, departed from the U.K. on December 7, 2009, and made its way from Europe through Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. The organizers asked Egypt to permit the convoy to sail from the port of Aqaba in Jordan to the Sinai port of Nuweiba on the Red Sea, from which it would proceed to the Rafah crossing. However, Egypt decided that it must enter its territory via Al-'Arish on the Mediterranean coast. This forced the convoy to retrace its steps to Latakia in Syria and from there to Al-'Arish. When it arrived in Al-'Arish, clashes broke out between convoy members and Egyptian security forces, who would not permit some of its vehicles to continue on to Gaza.

Egypt has been the target of harsh criticism, both at home and abroad, because of the convoy's forced wanderings and also because of its construction of an underground barrier along its border with Gaza aimed at blocking the smuggling tunnels into the Strip. In effect, it is being accused of tightening the siege on Gaza. Among the critics was Galloway himself, who accused Egypt, which he called a dictatorship, of strangling Gaza, and called on Britain to reexamine its relations with it.

In response to the criticism against Egypt, senior Egyptian officials attacked Galloway, and also said that Egypt had not tried to prevent the convoy from entering into Gaza, but had only insisted that its entrance be in accordance with guidelines and accepted security arrangements. In fact, the Egyptian authorities declared Galloway a persona non-grata and announced that he would not be allowed to re-enter the country. [2]

On the other hand, opposition elements in Egypt and some writers in the Arab world praised Galloway's efforts for the Palestinians, contrasting them with the Arab and Muslim helplessness in the matter.

The following are excerpts from interviews given by Galloway to the Qatari Al-Jazeera TV and to Iran's Press TV, as well as translated excerpts from articles in the Arab press about Galloway's Viva Palestina 3 convoy.

(Continue article)
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Israel in the Teeth of the Storm

Daniel Greenfield
Sultan Knish
19 January '10

Gaza has become the cause celebre of the European left, and there are no shortage of activists, left wing celebrities and politicians eager to get their own Jane Fonda photo op with the Muslim Brotherhood derived terrorists of Hamas, who in any other forum would be chopping their heads off.

In the name of "human rights" the presses churn out cartoons that recall the best work of Nazi Germany's Der Sturmer and the USSR's Krokodil, in all the splendid pornographic iconography of anti-semitism mingling the Star of David with the Swastika, greedy Jews controlling the government, monstrous Jews devouring Arab children, when they aren't crucifying them.

To go by all this torrent of hate, this sewer flow of bile and boiling cauldron of rage, one might imagine that Israel was conducting a non-stop military invasion of Gaza, complete with ruined buildings and charred rubble. You might picture a Sharon style bulldozing of Hamas compounds and squads of Israeli paratroopers firing in all directions. And you would be wrong.

The simple summary of the situation is that in response to the Hamas takeover of Gaza, Israel closed its border with Gaza. Yes, all the lamenting shrieks, the mangled carols and the Red and Brownshirts screaming madly about the Zionist cancer is in response to Israel exercising its most basic right of self-defense by building a wall and getting behind it.

Naturally in the eyes of the left, this refusal by Israel to have open borders with a blatantly terrorist entity that was trying to bring back crucifixion, was considered the worst Zionist war crime yet. And the European left developed an all encompassing concern for what they called, "The People of Gaza", by which like "The Russian People" in 1928 and "The People of Iraq" in 2003, they really meant the murdering thugs at the top whom they supported. Calling them "The People" is always safer, particularly when really you mean the Muslim Brotherhood, the Bolsheviks or Saddam Hussein, and by the twisted progressive logic of the left, homicidal mania directed at the forces of capitalism makes one a genuine representative of the workers and peasants, e.g. the People.

(Read full article)
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Code Red on Code Pink

Caroline Glick
carolineglick.com
15 January '10

Oh the shame of it all. Last month, 1,300 pro-Palestinian activists from the US and Europe came to the region in the name of peace and social justice to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Led by the self-declared feminist, antiwar group Code Pink, the demonstrators' plan was to enter Gaza from the Egyptian border at Rafah and deliver "humanitarian aid" to the Hamas terrorist organization.

But it was not to be. Led by Code Pink founder and California Democratic fund-raiser Jodie Evans, the demonstrators were not welcomed by Egyptian authorities. Many were surrounded by riot police and barbed wire as they demonstrated outside the US and French embassies and the UN Development Program's headquarters. Others were barred from leaving their hotels.

Those who managed to escape their hotels and the bullpens outside the embassies were barred from staging night protests in solidarity with Hamas on the Nile. In the end, as the militant Israeli pro-Palestinian activist Amira Hass chronicled in Haaretz last week, all but 100 of them were barred from travelling to Gaza.

The lucky few allowed into the Strip included neither Evans nor her friends, former Weather Underground terror leaders Bernadine Dohrn and William Ayres. But they bore no grudge against Egypt. The Egyptians were mere puppets of the real culprit: Israel. As Evans said, "It's obvious that the only reason for [Egypt's treatment of the demonstrators] is to make Israel happy. Israel is behind the refusal [to allow the demonstrators into Gaza] - what other excuse could there be?"

(Read full article)
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Being George Galloway

The former Labour MP's adventure in Gaza and Egypt is all about his own glorification.

Wall Street Journal
11 January '10

When it comes to George Galloway, where do we begin? In recent years, the former British Labour MP—now representing the Respect Party for the district of Bethnal Green and Bow—could be found lauding Syria as a force for stability in Lebanon, defending the fraudulent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and denying Hezbollah's long record of international terrorism. In response to a question in 2006, he said that the assassination of George W. Bush and Tony Blair would be "morally justified," while carefully adding, "I am not calling for it."

And last week, he was deported and banned from Egypt after leading an aid convoy to the Gaza Strip whose transit through Egypt left dozens wounded and at least one Egyptian border guard dead. Mr. Galloway, for the record, denies that he is or has ever been a supporter of Hamas, just as he always denied knowingly lending aid and comfort to Saddam Hussein, or being a beneficiary of the dictator's largesse.

(Read full article)

Related: Why no "Viva Somalia"?
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Gaza News You Might Have Missed

Honest Reporting/Backspin
10 January '10

Hamas "hijacked" George Galloway's delegation of international activists. Haaretz's Amira Hass reports from Gaza:

Also "for security reasons," apparently, on Thursday morning, the activists discovered a cordon of stern-faced, tough Hamas security men blocking them from leaving the hotel (which is owned by Hamas). The security officials accompanied the activists as they visited homes and organizations.

During the march itself, when Gazans watching from the sidelines tried to speak with the visitors, the stern-faced security men blocked them. "They didn't want us to speak to ordinary people," one woman concluded . . . .

In meetings without the security men, several activists got the impression that non-Hamas residents live in fear, and are afraid to speak or identify themselves by name. "Now I understand that the call for 'Freedom for Gaza' has another meaning," one young man told me.

If this is how Palestinian supporters are treated, imagine the lengths Hamas goes to when it comes to keeping tabs on what Gazans tell journalists -- or people like Judge Goldstone.

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The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable (or the other way round)

Melanie Phillips
The Spectator
06 January '10

Which is more objectionable – George Galloway’s behaviour in Gaza, or the way the Guardian chose to report it?

It appears that clashes took place in Gaza today between Egyptian forces and a Viva Palestina ‘aid’ convoy, including George Galloway, which was bringing supplies to Gaza. In Hamas-inspired riots following the delay to the convoy, an Egyptian border guard was shot dead and several others injured, along with a number of Palestinians. It appears that Egypt has finally decide to put an end to the smuggling of weapons (along with food, electrical goods and just about everything under the sun) through the tunnels under its security wall with Gaza, and is trying to seal the border by constructing an underground steel wall to cut these tunnels off.

Note: Egypt’s security wall; Egypt’s attempt to seal it; because Egypt controls that border with Gaza; Egypt is ‘blockading’ Gaza.

But Galloway chose to blame not Egypt as the villain of the piece but... how did you guess? It seems that Egypt had insisted that some of these supplies should enter Gaza via Israel – and it was that to which Galloway objected. He said:

‘We refused this,’ said Galloway. ‘It is completely unconscionable that 25% of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza. Because nothing that ever goes to Israel, ever arrives in Gaza.’

But of course this is totally untrue. According to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since the end of Operation Cast Lead a year ago some 668,393 tons of aid and 100,645,680 litres of fuel have been delivered to Gaza:

(Read full article)
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Viva Palestina: A Convoy For Hamas

Habibi
Harry's Place
04 January '10

Viva Palestina’s latest convoy to Gaza has found some wonderful partners between Turkey and Jordan.

Turkey
In Turkey, Viva Palestina has teamed up with a Turkish Islamist charity, IHH, as reported here. IHH is very close to Hamas and has been banned by Israel for that reason.

Never mind, the alliance gives Viva Palestina access to Turkish politicians, including Numan Kurtulmuş, the head of the hard line Islamist Felicity Party. At a reception for convoy leaders he hosted in Ankara, he must have warmed Holocaust mocker George Galloway’s heart with this barb:

“Israel is continuously keeping the Holocaust on the international agenda. Well, what about Israeli actions in Gaza?”

Here is a lovely picture from the Turkish meetings. Kurtulmuş is the third from the right of the men seated at the table. On the left is Kevin Ovenden of the “Respect” party, sporting a “resistance” look. Next to Ovenden is Mohammed Sawalha, a fugitive Hamas commander who has also beennamed on IslamOnline as “manager of the political committee of the International Organization of the Brothers [i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood] in Britain”.

Syria
On to Syria. Guess who was waiting to greet the convoy?

(Read full article)

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Blindness in Cairo

Yaacov Lozowick
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
29 December 09

The story of the 1,300 demonstrators stuck in Cairo continues not to attract much attention. The Guardian, generally exuberant in seeking vehicles to cast mud at Israel, doesn't seem to be noticing: I think this is because they're embarrassed. Even the editors of the Guardian don't see how the tale can be told without somehow attracting attention that it's the Egyptians, not the Israelis, who are doing the blockading. The BBC visited the story yesterday, but seems not to have returned today. Been there, done that.

The Mondoweis universe is, of course, bursting: Electronic Intifada, Antony Loewnstein, those folks (but not Richard Silverstein, for whatever reason). I continue to be fascinated by Mondoweiss itself. Yesterday they offered us the reflections of Emily Ratner:

We remember the more than 1,400 that were murdered. We remember the hundreds more who have died as a result of this horrific siege. We remember the tens of thousands who are still homeless, one full year later. And we remember our sisters and brothers on the other side of the Rafah border who have breathed life into this historic march every day for months, who have guided our feet to Cairo, and who light the shadowy path to Gaza. Most of all we remember that they will still be caged in Israel’s massive open-air prison long after we’ve safely returned home.

She sees the Egyptians blocking her, but her hatred of the Israeli prison is unaffected. She's in Cairo, for crying out loud, a city where millions live in squalid cinder-block structures under an undemocratic regime, and in the dimmest way she even knows this, but what comes out is a mishmash of romantic verbiage:

(Read full post)

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Immunity to Facts

Yaacov Lozowick
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
27 December 09

Well below the radar of most media, there's a fascinating drama happening in Egypt. Yesterday the BBC did take note, in a telegraphic tone:

Egypt has rejected a request to allow activists to march across the border into the Gaza Strip to mark the anniversary of last year's conflict.

The Egyptian foreign ministry said the march could not be allowed because of the "sensitive situation" in Gaza.

Over 1,000 activists from 42 countries had signed-up to join "the Gaza freedom march" planned for next week.

Egypt warned that anyone attempting the crossing from Egypt would be "dealt with by the law".

Mondoweiss have been on the story for a while, and Phil Weiss has apparently gone to Egypt, perhaps to convince the Egyptians it's bad PR for them to be on Israel's side, I don't know. Recently they posted a letter from the organizers of the march to President Mubarak, which contains a number of fine demonstrations of pure Orwellian Newspeak:

(Read full post)

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A look at the land of the chinless ophthalmologist

Gaza Convoy "Viva Palestina" arrive in Syria's Damascus

Dave M
Winds of Jihad
19 December 09

An open letter to Viva Palestina!

Brothers and Sisters in the struggle for human rights and the crushing of apartheid!

When I discovered that you will be passing through Syria, my heart leapt with joy!

Nothing would make me happier than to give you some background on the“fortress of the remaining dignity of the Arabs” and its people who stand as one in solidarity behind “the last Arab ruler”, Dr. Bashar Al Assad.

It would be an honour for me to guide you on your way, and share with you all some secrets that aren’t in the guidebooks.

It looks as if you’ll be taking the main North–South route which takes you through Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus and then on to Jordan.

Once you’ve passed through the checkpoint at Turkey, it’s pretty much plain sailing. And if you have some free time (and can get away from your “escorts”), it’s worth taking a drive to surrounding areas in the north of the country.

In the upper northeast of Syria lies the Kurdish town of Qamishle. Syria’s 1.7 million Kurds reside mainly in the northeast.

Kurds? After all Syria is officially named the Syrian Arab Republic.

So how does Syria treat this minority?

Roughly 300,000 of them are denied citizenship thus denying them the right to education, employment, property ownership, and even marriage.

Nor are they allowed to speak, write or print their own language and their culture cannot be expressed openly.

Odd, isn’t it? Mind you, as everybody knows the Zionist Entity is much much worse. Palestinians have no access to education, cannot work, purchase property or get married. It even bans Palestinians outright from speaking, reading and writing Arabic.

Oh wait. I may be wrong here….

Stateless Kurds who try to leave the country for work risk torture and imprisonment.

To be honest, it reminds me of a two-tier political system in which one group in a country is denied the rights which another enjoys. Though I seem to have forgotten its name. Ap… App… Ah! Apartheid! That’s it!

(Continue reading)

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Gaza Freedom March URGENT UPDATE

December 21, 2009

Dear Supporters,

(Enjoy! Each person is free to find that which amuses them the most. However, as this is Egypt, and not Bi'ilin, rock throwing at the border police is not advised and could be fatal. It may also be ingracious to ask your host, Egypt, why they are building a security wall on the border of Gaza, which will prevent the free flow of commerce between Egypt and Gaza. Y.)

We are determined to break the siege

We all will continue to do whatever we can to make it happen

Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do not feel threatened, and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now. We both agreed to continue our exchanges.

Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we've encountered-and overcome--before. No delegation, large or small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the siege of Gaza and march on December 31 against the Israeli blockade. (Question? If they won't let you pass through the border with the requested supplies, does it become the Egyptian blockade?) We are continuing in the same direction.



BTW, if, with all your plans,you fail to leave Egypt, I have an alternative project just up your ally.He needs your help.

Name: Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman
Country: Egypt
Status: Jailed since 2006
Blog URL: http://karam903.blogspot.com/


Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world must hear from our supporters (by phone, fax and email)** over the coming crucial days, with a clear message: Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed. (How about Free Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman?)
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