[HCCN] Fwd: Gaza trip, Carolyn Coe, Code Pink, may, 2009

[Judy Robbins]

>>
>> Carolyn Coe
>> 190 Back Ridge Rd.
>> Orland, ME 04472
>> April 25, 2009
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> On May 25, I will leave Maine for Cairo and join a Code Pink  
>> delegation to Gaza. The focus of this particular delegation is the  
>> children of Gaza. Our group, with women and men from several  
>> states and countries, plans to spend a week in Gaza, learning  
>> about the situation in person. We don’t know if the Egyptian  
>> government will allow us to cross into Gaza. If we are denied  
>> entry, we will camp on the Egyptian side of the border until  
>> permission is granted or the week of our intended visit has passed.
>>
>> Since the Israeli attacks on Gaza in December and January, I have  
>> not been able to stop thinking about Gaza or about the Palestinian  
>> people. During some of this bombing, I was in Jordan and Syria,  
>> seeing TV news reports from Gaza and the ever-increasing death  
>> toll scroll across the bottom of the screen. When I walked along  
>> the streets of Damascus and Amman, it was impossible for me to  
>> escape from what was happening in Gaza and Israel. When headed to  
>> an appointment, I happened upon a street demonstration against the  
>> Israeli attacks and on another day, peaked inside a tent in which  
>> aid for Palestinians was being collected.
>>
>> I was in the Middle East to interview Iraqi refugees about their  
>> struggles and in doing this, learned more about the sufferings of  
>> the Palestinians in another land, Iraq. Unlike other Iraqi  
>> residents, Palestinians have not been allowed free entry into  
>> Syria, instead forced to stay in border camps in deplorable  
>> conditions. At some point during this trip, the question for me  
>> changed from if I would do a story on the Palestinian people but  
>> when. It feels right to tell the story of the children.
>>
>> During the May delegation to Gaza, I will record their stories and  
>> share them on WERU and perhaps beyond. If you’d like to write a  
>> message for me to share with the Palestinians I meet, I’d be happy  
>> to bring letters with me. If you are interested in providing a  
>> financial contribution for me to pass on to the Palestinians or to  
>> help pay for my travel expenses, any contribution is much  
>> appreciated. (Please note in which way you intended the  
>> contribution.) My home address is at the top of this email.
>>
>> Warmly,
>> Carolyn Coe
>>
>

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