Une cinquantaine d'associations européennes en solidarité avec la Palestine, particulièrement avec Gaza ces derniers temps, ont affrété des minibus et ambulances avec l’objectif de les amener à Gaza par le passage de Rafah en Egypte. Ce convoi porte le nom de "Miles of Smiles" (en français « des kilomètres de sourires »). Les premiers chargements sont arrivés à Port Saïd il y a un mois et les derniers la semaine du 12 octobre. Avec Mohamed Ben Fradj, nous représentions l’association genevoise « Droit Pour Tous ».

Le convoi est composé de 103 minibus et ambulances remplis d’équipements médicaux pour handicapés, de médicaments et de matériel scolaire. 58 containers d'à peu près 70 m3 chacun ont été nécessaires pour transporter tout ce matériel.

IJAN Twin Cities is very excited that one of our own – Sylvia Schwarz –is going on the Gaza Freedom March. Schwarz' activism and writing has received local and national media attention.

Sylvia has published two articlesexplaining her motivation for the trip and the purpose of the march. One was published at MinnPost, a Twin Cities daily news journal, and the other at Twin Cities Indymedia, which was picked up by Indymedia nationally.

Sylvia and Ouahib Chalbi, who is also participating in the Gaza FreedomMarch, were interviewed on the TV show BelAhdan, which airs on ourlocal public television station. Click on the following links to watch Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the interview. 

Because Sylvia has taken such an active role in organizing andpromoting the march, IJAN Twin Cities is now involved in a newcoalition focused on the work of the march - before, during and after.This new coalition showed the film “Occupation 101” as a fundraiser onDecember 6, 2009. The evening included the movie and a paneldiscussion. A national organizer for IJAN was a featured panelist. Theevent drew a large and diverse crowd and raised urgently needed funds.Once Sylvia returns from Gaza, we look forward to coordinating manyreport-backs and other activities with the broader coalition.