Caravan for Palestine : Call for the organization of local comittees
Jaya | 05.06.2005 16:05 | London | South Coast
A caravan constituted by more than 100 vehicles will leave Strasbourg (seat of the European Parliament) on July 4, 2005 and will reach Jerusalem on July 19.
75 persons (about 20 vehicles) are already registered for the journey, whose route passes through great cities like: Geneva, Bologna, Ancona, Patras, Athens, Thessalonica, Istanbul, Ankara, Damas and Amman…
75 persons (about 20 vehicles) are already registered for the journey, whose route passes through great cities like: Geneva, Bologna, Ancona, Patras, Athens, Thessalonica, Istanbul, Ankara, Damas and Amman…
Hi im planning to travel from the Uk on the 1st July to arrive in for Strasbourg the start of the caravan.
If any other people with vehicles wants to travel with me then please e-mail
jaya_nyanajoti@yahoo.co.uk
(Sealink at Dover are doing long returns for £50 car and £25 motorcycle).
A great and ambitious project is under construction in France. A caravan constituted by more than 100 vehicles will leave Strasbourg (seat of the European Parliament) on July 4, 2005 and will reach Jerusalem on July 19.
75 persons (about 20 vehicles) are already registered for the journey, whose route passes through great cities like: Geneva, Bologna, Ancona, Patras, Athens, Thessalonica, Istanbul, Ankara, Damas and Amman…
The team is a melting pot of people who believe in the power of human relationships and solidarity. We are convinced that the application of international law is the key to resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
We decided to travel just under this simple and consensual demand in order to forget our disagreements on the Palestinian questions, and to make it possible for the civil society to be united and strong.
The project is meant to meet the population, to call out for media cover, and to exercise pressure on governments. All these purposes can only be reached if the movement is well-known and supported by the civil society all over the world… and, obviously, all the more, in the countries visited by the Caravan.
If you want to help joining good wills and energies in your country, you can do a lot for the Caravan, for Palestine and for the future of mankind.
For a better organization, we need contacts in the countries we cross. So we are looking for associations, parties or individualities who engage themselves to organize the event in each town.
We can not still ask for precise events. We have thought about a maximum of communication with local media (radio, newspaper), maybe kind of concerts, demonstrations or popular dialogues. But the events in your town will be mostly planned by the “local committee” (formed by all those who want to help in solidarity).
If it is possible, it would be kind of you (the committees) to plan our accommodation too.
But it is even more important that some people in your country are prepared to accompany the Caravan to Syria, Jordan, and why not… Palestine.
The caravan will be growing up on the road and you are welcome in this adventure.
Planned schedule:
Day 1 : Strasbourg – Geneva (July 5)
Day 2 : Geneva – Bologna (6)
Day 3 : Bologna – Ancona – Patras (7)
Day 4 : Patras – Athens (8)
Day 5 : Athens (9)
Day 6 : Athens – Thessalonica (10)
Day 7 : Thessalonica – Bosphor (11)
Day 8 : Bosphor – Istanbul (12)
Day 9 : Istanbul – Ankara (13)
Day 10 : Ankara – Cappadocia (14)
Day 11 : Cappadocia – Alep (15)
Day 12 : Alep – Damas (16)
Day 13 : Damas – Amman (17)
Day 14 : Amman – Alleby Bridge – Jerusalem (19)
Our next meeting is in Paris on the first week-end of April (2nd and 3rd) . If you want to attend it, you will be welcome.
We are strongly waiting for answers from you. Please tell us if you want to participate in that great adventure for human rights and particularly in solidarity with the Palestinian people, or just if you know some people who would be interested. Give us as much information as possible about contacts and local possibilities. The more numerous we are and the more media attention we awake, the more successful the caravan will be.
You can find more information on our website:
http://caravane.palestine.free.fr
Our charter is already translated into 15 languages.
See you soon.
Fraternally yours
Caravane pour la Palestine
If any other people with vehicles wants to travel with me then please e-mail
![](/img/maillink.gif)
(Sealink at Dover are doing long returns for £50 car and £25 motorcycle).
A great and ambitious project is under construction in France. A caravan constituted by more than 100 vehicles will leave Strasbourg (seat of the European Parliament) on July 4, 2005 and will reach Jerusalem on July 19.
75 persons (about 20 vehicles) are already registered for the journey, whose route passes through great cities like: Geneva, Bologna, Ancona, Patras, Athens, Thessalonica, Istanbul, Ankara, Damas and Amman…
The team is a melting pot of people who believe in the power of human relationships and solidarity. We are convinced that the application of international law is the key to resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
We decided to travel just under this simple and consensual demand in order to forget our disagreements on the Palestinian questions, and to make it possible for the civil society to be united and strong.
The project is meant to meet the population, to call out for media cover, and to exercise pressure on governments. All these purposes can only be reached if the movement is well-known and supported by the civil society all over the world… and, obviously, all the more, in the countries visited by the Caravan.
If you want to help joining good wills and energies in your country, you can do a lot for the Caravan, for Palestine and for the future of mankind.
For a better organization, we need contacts in the countries we cross. So we are looking for associations, parties or individualities who engage themselves to organize the event in each town.
We can not still ask for precise events. We have thought about a maximum of communication with local media (radio, newspaper), maybe kind of concerts, demonstrations or popular dialogues. But the events in your town will be mostly planned by the “local committee” (formed by all those who want to help in solidarity).
If it is possible, it would be kind of you (the committees) to plan our accommodation too.
But it is even more important that some people in your country are prepared to accompany the Caravan to Syria, Jordan, and why not… Palestine.
The caravan will be growing up on the road and you are welcome in this adventure.
Planned schedule:
Day 1 : Strasbourg – Geneva (July 5)
Day 2 : Geneva – Bologna (6)
Day 3 : Bologna – Ancona – Patras (7)
Day 4 : Patras – Athens (8)
Day 5 : Athens (9)
Day 6 : Athens – Thessalonica (10)
Day 7 : Thessalonica – Bosphor (11)
Day 8 : Bosphor – Istanbul (12)
Day 9 : Istanbul – Ankara (13)
Day 10 : Ankara – Cappadocia (14)
Day 11 : Cappadocia – Alep (15)
Day 12 : Alep – Damas (16)
Day 13 : Damas – Amman (17)
Day 14 : Amman – Alleby Bridge – Jerusalem (19)
Our next meeting is in Paris on the first week-end of April (2nd and 3rd) . If you want to attend it, you will be welcome.
We are strongly waiting for answers from you. Please tell us if you want to participate in that great adventure for human rights and particularly in solidarity with the Palestinian people, or just if you know some people who would be interested. Give us as much information as possible about contacts and local possibilities. The more numerous we are and the more media attention we awake, the more successful the caravan will be.
You can find more information on our website:
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Our charter is already translated into 15 languages.
See you soon.
Fraternally yours
Caravane pour la Palestine
Jaya
Comments
Hide the following 15 comments
Seafrance not sealink.
05.06.2005 16:41
Jaya.
jerusalem
06.06.2005 17:00
second thing its israel you are going to give it its proper name nazi
betar boy
Everytime a fascist like betar boy makes a comment
06.06.2005 19:24
He just forgot to take his medication
Good Luck!
07.06.2005 08:18
To all those planning on going, have a good time!
Victory to the People of Palestine!
VTPP
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION CARAVAN
08.06.2005 02:09
Hey, maybe you can be like the Crusaders and harrass along jews on the way!! That way you'll be in prime shape when you finally invade. Oh boy what a bunch of Euro-fun
Conflict Tourism
No offence Betar Boy
08.06.2005 22:24
Have you never heard of PALESTINE? or when you joined Betar, did they kinda brain wash you into kinda forgetting that PALESTINE existed?
You know, the Land that the Ottoman Empire occupied!
You know, the Land that the British Empire occupied after the Ottoman Empire!
You know, the Land that some of which was given by the British Empire to the Zionists!
You know, and i want you to tell me! I'll give you a hint if you need it! It begins with a "P"!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Conflict Tourism
Crusaders, as you put it, where there against the Muslims that lived in the middle east!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ok, back to the real world for me, where PALESTINE exists!
VTPP
Supporting Occupation
09.06.2005 06:19
Crusaders, as you put it, where there against the Muslims that lived in the middle east!"
While that's true, the route that the Conflict Toruists are taking is strikingly similar to that taken by the other Crusaders. The only difference is that the modern version is supporting the Arab invasion, occupation and colonization of the Holy Land. But still, they can abuse some Jews on the way (at least they have anti-semitism in common with their progenators), so they'll be in shape when they get to Israel.
If you recall, Moslems invaded in the 7th Century CE.
Conflict Tourism
Brief History
09.06.2005 07:12
You know, the Land that the British Empire occupied after the Ottoman Empire!
You know, the Land that some of which was given by the British Empire to the Zionists!"
Short sighted history.
Invaded by the Persians, Greeks, Romans (who named it "palestine" after the 200 year Jewish Wars.)
Invaded by the Arabs (7th century), Byzantium, invaded again by the Kurds (saladin)
At any rate, Arabs still hold more then 80% of Palestine (Jordan) trouble is, it's occupied by the Hashemites.
In reality, there never was a nation called "palestine" but there was a nation called Israel, as there is once again.
Ali ibn Sharmootah
Babble on
09.06.2005 10:08
Babylon
We will be waiting
10.06.2005 13:11
By the way - the Jews were in Israel several thousand years before Islam came into existence. This land was stolen by the Romans
There is no statute of limitation on theft or robbery and the land has been reclaimed, so if you want to go back into history, the earliest claim is the Jewish claim, considering the Caanaites and Babylonians no longer exist.
Israel has offered a Palestinian State (Barak offered the territories and East Jerusalem) but so far this has been rejected. Until such an offer is accepted, the land is called Israel.
Clearly the call of Haj Amin Al Husseini (Hitlers personal friend) to 'push the Jews into the sea' is still the intent and this murderous objective is supported by the Left whose calls of 'Palestine will be free from the Jordan to the Sea' is an echo of the call of Israel's attackers.
Unfortunatly for you the Jews in Israel are not to be pushed around either and we are only going into the sea for a swim.
Jewish and Proud
FACTS
10.06.2005 15:12
Arab and Jewish Refugees
In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same. Arab refugees were intentionally not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
The ArabIsraeli Conflict
The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them with weapons. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs
Of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel. The U.N. was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
Looking at the Middle East from Lebanon, Jordan and the UAE
Susan and Bruce Heitler recently returned from 3 weeks in the Middle East – visiting Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Israel. In the Arab countries, Dr. Susan Heitler was meeting with university and government officials who are interested in utilizing her materials on communication in marriage as part of marriage counseling and marriage training programs. Bruce Heitler was invited to give lectures at the American University in Beirut and the University of the United Arab Emirates on public/private strategies in real estate development. In Israel, Dr. Heitler was publicizing the recently released Hebrew translation of her popular book on communication in marriage: The Power of Two.
The Palestinian situation takes on a different cast after a few weeks in three Arab countries.
The term “Palestinian” refers to a place of residence of an ancestor, not to an ethnic or national group. The migration patterns in the Middle East are in many ways similar to the migration patterns in the western United States – although the cultural background may be quite different. For example, just as the Denver metro area has grown from about 500,000 people to about 2 million people in the last fifty years, the size of Amman, Jordan has grown from about 200,000 to over 1,000,000 in the last fifty years. That growth has been from residents from various areas and countries in the Middle East.
From 1970 to 1990, roughly 700,000 Palestinians and Jordanians took up residence in Kuwait and the Gulf Emirates. In the Arab world, people easily move to where there is employment and opportunity. This is the same kind of migration that occurred as the economy in Israel prospered. For example, the family of Yasser Arafat lived in Egypt, but they had some relatives and business connections in Jerusalem. Hence, Yasser Arafat became a “Palestinian”.
People move around the Arab Middle East as they move around the United States. In this respect, to say that there are 3 million Palestinians in Jordan, Syrian and Jordan should be understood in a similar way as saying that there are 500,000 Nebraskans in Denver. If you count everyone who has a grandparent who lived in Nebraska as a “ Nebraskan”, many Denverites are also “ Nebraskans”.
There have been five events that have resulted in relocation of Palestinians – only two of these have involved Israel.
1) As a result of the 1948 war, some Arabs who had lived in Israel left. When they relocated to Jordan, Syria or Egypt – even though their ancestors may have come from these areas – they became known as Palestinians in their new homes.
2) As a result of the 1967 war, some Arabs who had lived on the West Bank of the Jordan River, left, rather than live under Israeli control.
3) In 1970, in some areas within Jordan which where predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, a criminal element began to set up a militia and criminal organization. When the criminal organization had acquired enough weapons and followers to constitute a threat to the legitimate government of Jordan, the Jordanian government forcefully stopped their activities. This precipitated a further migration of some Palestinians from Jordan to Southern Lebanon.
4) The Palestinian criminal element began to set up operations in Southern Lebanon. Revenues were derived from drug trade and payments from the oil-rich Arab countries.
The claim of legitimacy of the Palestinian militias was based on demonizing Israel. The growth of armed militias was justified as a means for overthrowing Israel, but the actual effect was to destabilize the government of Lebanon.
By 1982, the Christian sects in Lebanon asked for assistance from Israel because the Palestinian militias were undermining the balance between Christian and Muslim sects upon which stability in Lebanon depended. Lebanon was thrown into a 15-year long civil war which ruined the economy and the infrastructure of Beirut.
The central criminal organization, then known as the PLO, was displaced by Israel, and moved to Tunisia. The civil war in Lebanon continued until 1993 when Lebanon was occupied by Syria. The government of Lebanon since that time has been essentially appointed by Syria.
5) From 1970 until 1991, Palestinians had been migrating in great numbers to the Persian Gulf countries, Kuwait and the Emirates along the Persian Gulf. As oil revenues increased in these areas, employment opportunities were available, and Palestinian moved to the Gulf states. (This migration is quite parallel to the migration of Arabs into the West Bank and Israel as that economy began to prosper in the first half of the 20th century).
In 1991, when the Palestinian Authority supported the invading Iraqi army, about 700,000 Palestinians and Jordanians were expelled from Kuwait and the Gulf Emirates. In a two week period following the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq in the Gulf War, Amman, Jordan had to absorb about 400,000 refugees expelled from the Persian Gulf countries.
This history puts into perspective a number of comments and observations that were expressed to us by our Arab hosts.
The Palestinian criminal and terrorist organization is recognized as a source of instability throughout the Arab world.
In Lebanon, we heard that the PLO had established itself as a terrorist and criminal enterprise, deriving their revenues to support their militia in Lebanon from trading in smuggling, arms, and illegal drugs in Southern Lebanon, and by extracting money for protection, often from their own violence.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the population in Palestinian areas in Jordan and on the West Bank jumped to support Iraq. They had learned that there were no boundaries limiting what could be done, provided that the perpetrator could claim that he was acting against Israel. Iraq claimed that they were on their way to liberate Jerusalem, although no one seems to understand why this made any sense.
In retaliation for the Palestinian support of the invading Iraqi army, the Kuwaitis expelled 700,000 Palestinians and Jordanians who had been working in their country. Now, more than a decade later, Yasser Arafat wants to obtain permission for the Palestinians to re-enter Kuwait. The Kuwaitis are not so eager to receive them.
For example, on June 1, 2001, the Kuwaiti newspaper reported the following reaction to Yasser Arafat’s request to visit Kuwait: (Al-Watan, Kuwait, June 1, 2001, translated from the Arabic by Shira Gutgold.)
Their attitude, particularly that of Yasser Arafat, will never be forgotten. He, his people, his administration and his organization emerged from the womb of Kuwait and fed on its wealth. Crown Prince Sheikh Saed Al-Abdullah Al Sabah even saved Arafat's life.
But the day we needed their support against a tyrannical decision by a tyrannical regime, targeting the rights of Kuwait and its people, we found we had been stabbed in the back. What sort of alliance, ethics or Arab behavior is that?!
Even during the Iraqi invasion they exasperated us by employing all their public utilities in support of Saddam and by calling from their pulpits for Saddam's victory.
Unfortunately, the same people today call in the name of Hamas, but we cannot forget the offensive anti-Kuwait slogans written by Hamas's local leaders on building walls.
Today, after thus infuriating us, Arafat wishes to visit us!
We do not welcome them; separation is easier. We do not welcome injustice, betrayal and ingratitude.
Similarly, a Jordan government official and a keen observer of regional politics commented to me confidentially, “The biggest mistake made by the leaders of the Arab world was made at the meeting of the Arab League in Rabat (Morocco) when it was decided to recognize the PLO and Yasser Arafat as the sole representative of the Palestinians.”
The same Jordanian observer noted that the Palestinian problem in Jordan is the absorption of the Palestinian refugees from Kuwait and the Gulf States not refugees from the migrations from Israel – those people have been pretty well absorbed into the society.
There was a large flow of money into the Palestinian areas from the many Palestinian workers in the Gulf. The flow of revenues from the Gulf -- of more than $1 billion per year – sustained the economy in the Palestinian areas in Jordan and the West Bank. The loss of that revenue after the Gulf War produced enormous problems in the Palestinians areas – in both Jordan and the West Bank. Siding with Saddam Hussein constituted a grievous error of the Palestinian people and their designated leader Yasser Arafat.
Both Lebanon and Jordan have fragile economies. Both countries have been seriously hurt by the Palestinian Authority. Lebanon suffered civil war for 15 years, precipitated by the arms race between the Palestinians and the other non-governmental militias in Lebanon – Maronite Christian, Druze, Shiite, Sunni, Orthodox Christian, and others. The civil war in Lebanon has crippled the main engines of its economy – banking in Beirut and tourism. Both are the casualties of militarism promoted by the anti-Israeli terrorists.
In recent month, the principal issue that has aroused opposition by Lebanese to their Syrian occupiers has been the threat of military provocation by non-governmental militias from Lebanon across the northern Israeli border. More fighting would be a disaster for the economy of Lebanon that already carries a hardly sustainable burden of international debt.
The occupation by Syria carries heavy costs – Lebanon is forced to pay for an occupying army of 30,000 Syrian soldiers. The governmental system has become a puppet government for the Syrians. Substantial taxes are diverted to Syria. Lebanon is burdened by checkpoints manned by Syrian soldiers who often demand bribes from those who want to pass. Syrian immigrants do provide a relatively cheap labor force in Lebanon, but the Syrian population in Lebanon now enjoys special, informal protection from the Syrian army. All this is the price of ending the 15-year long paroxysm of violence which racked the country. In this environment, renewed conflict caused by taunting military adventurism across the Israeli border is a revolting prospect.
In Jordan, a fragile peace was negotiated with Israel after the Gulf War. The government and private investors in Amman made substantial investments in facilities for tourism, which they thought would follow peace. Instead, these hotels in Amman and Petra are virtually empty. Although the newspapers blame Israel – as is the custom throughout the Arab world – the informed observer knows that violence is the problem, and that the purveyor of violence is the Palestinian Authority.
Why did the Palestinian Authority take the disastrous course of supporting Saddam Hussein? Why did Jordan follow? The central question from this perspective is, “Why did Arafat support Iraq?”
Perhaps Yasser Arafat really identified with Saddam Hussein’s methods and objectives. On the other hand, King Hussein of Jordan did not have a choice about whether to oppose the Iraqi tyranny; if he opposed Iraq, he would have faced insurrection from the Palestinians in Jordan.
The situation resulted from teaching hatred, teaching lies, employing criminal methods, investing in weapons, and demonizing Israel. It all backfired. Arafat supported Iraq, because they also endorsed the logic of hatred and brandished the simple, hateful lies that were the staple of the Palestinians intellectual diet. Arafat was caught by his own methods.
The Palestinian population, young and armed, had learned that every enemy of Israel was a hero, that any sacrifice was worth the risk if it attacked the west, the Americans, and the Jews. Arafat is the sorcerer’s apprentice, drowning in the flood of hatred and lies that he has invoked. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have distanced them selves from this foul-smelling morass. Lebanon and Jordan hope that they will not perish in the mire of hatred and lies which has become the nourishment and the sustenance of the sole, legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.
ZIONIST
U might have a longggggg wait!
13.06.2005 17:18
If u look at the planned route of the caravan, it seem that u might have a long wait!
And if you take into account that the planned route goes from Strasbourg to Jerusalem, which is from main land Europe, to the Middle East.
Until Manchester becomes part of main land Europe, you and your Zionist friends will have a very long wait!
VTPP
Good
14.06.2005 08:23
I hope you have a good time in Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, the only country guaranteeing freedom of speech, religion, sexuality, press and which guarantees equality to women and all races; the nation which has produced more agricultural assistance to African nations than any other state in the Middle East; the nation which has used her army to rescue people from earthquakes in Turkey, set up field hospitals in Sri Lanka, assisted victims of the Beslan terror attack; advanced scientific and medical technology and innovation to produce life saving treatments.
J&P
What about this!
15.06.2005 20:04
"agricultural assistance to African nations" - That surely includes Aparthied South Africa!
VTPP
Not quite
16.06.2005 08:43
Without any charge, Israel sent agriculturalists to developing African nations to assist them to develop similar methods to irrigate their land. Israel did this, according to Golda Meir, to assist other developing nations.
That was what I was talking about.
Are you able to name any Arab nations or any of the communist states the VTI suppports who did this?
J&P