Pace e Bene Update

Many Gaza Freedom Marchers Reject Symbolic Crossing; Fr. Louie and Others Freed

December 29th, 2009

Egypt Offers Symbolic Crossing of 100 Marchers; Gazans Ask that The March Maintain Solidarity and Not Agree to Deal; Vast Majority of Marchers Agree to Stay Put

 December 30:

Earlier Report (December 30):

We have been receiving fragmentary information through sporadic emails and press reports about recent developments concerning the Gaza Freedom March.  The Agence France Press account (below) — reporting that march leaders had agreed to the Egyptian government deal to permit a symbolic group of 100 to pass into Gaza — noted that many of the marchers rejected this agreement and were committed to continue protests in Cairo until the entire group was allowed to cross the border.  Now this morning we have received an email from marcher and long-time peace activist Sherri Maurin:

From Sherri Maurin, December 30:

Right now things are happening too fast to finalize.  We got message from people of Gaza not to come because it would break the solidarity of the Freedom March.

Jan Hartsough, Louie Vitale and John Dear were among those who followed the lead of the Gazans and got off the buses.  The vast majority of those who came felt a symbolic delegation would undermine our demand for all to get to Gaza and would be cooperating with the Egyptian government to buy us out.

We all are preparing for the big march tomorrow.  Will get back to you.  Sherri

Pace e Bene: One thing this email confirms is that Fr. Louie and others are no longer being detained.  We at Pace e Bene say: stay tuned! 

 

December 29:

Egypt Apparently Relents — Offers to Allow 1oo Marchers to Enter Gaza after Fr. Louie Vitale and Other Gaza Freedom Marchers Detained

December 29 - Evening

 Agence France Press is reporting tonight that Gaza Freedom March leaders acceptesd an offer from the Egyptian government to allows 100 marchers into Gaza.  This decision comes after widespread international support for the march; demonstrations in Egypt held by the marchers; and a  hunger strike undertaken by marchers, including Fr. Louie Vitale and Heddy Epstein, an 85-year0old Holocaust survivor.

The current wherabouts of those detained on the morning of December 29 is unknown (we have not been notified as to whether or not they are still being held or have been released).  We will continue to post news about them and the march on this page as this story unfolds.

Pace e Bene thanks all who have responded thus far with phone calls and emails to Egyptian and US authorities.

Together, we are working for a just and lasting peace for all parties in the region.  Lifting the blockade of Gaza will be an important step toward this goal.

 

December 29 - Morning

Pace e Bene was notified on the morning of December 29, 2009 that staff imageperson Fr. Louie Vitale has been detained by Egyptian police.

You are invited to take action below.

Fr. Louie is part of the 1360-strong Gaza Freedom March, which is seeking to help lift the year-old siege of Gaza by entering Gaza tomorrows (December 31).  The marchers were diverted to Cairo by the Egyptian government; it has said it will not permit the marchers to cross the border.  Here is the email from marcher Sherri Maurin:

December 29: Louie Vitale On Hunger Strike And Fasting—Detained By Egyptian Police

This morning, Louie Vitale, who is in the second day of a hunger strike joined a large group near the US Embassy with the intention of speaking to our representatives there.  He approached with the first group of 30 and they were surrounded by Egyptian police. People were being severely jostled by the police and there are reported to be several injuries.

There are apparently three separate groups that have been surrounded; they are behind barriers and are not visible to the street. David Hartsough and Jan Hartsough [longtiome peacemakers and friends of Pace e Bene] are both under detention as well, but we are uncertain if they are in the same group with Louie.

Please contact the US Embassy and urge them to support those who have been detained.  Thus far they have offered no assistance to the March, and, as far as we know they have not come to the assistance of those who are detained.

We are texting back and forth inside the circles.  The latest update is that they have been moved into the US Embassy compound and are going in small groups to meet with representatives.  This is not yet confirmed, but if it is accurate we are certain the pressure everyone is applying is helping.  We will keep you updated.

They urge that we focus on the people of Gaza in all of this.

Sherri

 

Pace e Bene invites you to do two things:

1. Contact the US Embassy in Cairo (and the US State Department) to ask them to meet with the marchers and to call for the US government to use its influence with Egypt to permit the marchers to enter Gaza:

2. Contact the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC via this page on the Fellowship of Reconciliation webpage.

Incidentally, Heddy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who is one of the marchers, began a hunger strike, calling on the Egyptian authorities to reverse this decision.  Apparently, Fr. Louie joined in this effort.

For more background on this situation, please see Kathy Kelly’s December 28 article on this situation on Huffington Post: “Gaza Freedom March Members Gain a Small Taste of the Palestinian Experience”

Thank you.

See previous reports from Fr. Louie and Sherri Maurin:

Report #1

Report #2