Julie Webb-Pullman: Final Preparations in Gaza for GMJ

The final preparations for the Global March to Jerusalem took place this afternoon in Gaza City, with several youth groups collaborating in an activity near the square of the Unknown Soldier, where they painted a wall with the graffiti for which Gaza is famous.

There were representatives of Hamas youth, as well as of the KAFA Youth Group, and others also participated.

Rashad Abu Mudalalla of the KAFA Youth Group told me that his group was founded on the 15 March 2011 with the aim of reconciling the divisions between the Gaza factions. He said they have ‘been asleep’ for a while, but reawakened on 1st January 2012, and have been actively seeking reconciliation of the social and political divisions in Gaza, as well as holding activities relating to other problems such as youth, unemployment, graduates, and prisoners.

Ezzedin Kasab of the International Youth Organisation of Palestine warned Israel that the uprisings in the Arab world are also uprisings in support of the Palestinian cause, and that no matter how long it takes, they will get their land and their capital back.

Meanwhile outside the International Red Cross, the sit-in in support of hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoner Hana Shalabi and the 50 plus other prisoners who have also joined her strike, continued unabated.

Some hours after these photos were taken, Reuters reported that Hana Shalabi’s lawyer had announced that a deal has been struck in which she has ended her hunger strike and accepted deportation to Gaza for three years. However, it is unknown when the transfer will take place because of the fragile state of her health.

Shalabi’s exile will provide tomorrow’s marchers with yet another reason to demand “the non-negotiable & inalienable rights of the Palestinian People including their families to return to their homes and lands from which they were uprooted.”

Click for big version.
AlAqsa Mosque is at the center of everyone's thoughts

Click for big version.
Young women paint the town in Gaza

Click for big version.
The flag gets some final touches

Click for big version.
The mood is sombre outside the IRC

Click for big version.
Only hours before the hunger strike is called off

ENDS

© Scoop Media