VIVA Palestina arriva!

At 8.45 GMT today, I received this message on my mobile phone:

Congratualtions Viva Palestina! convoy is IN GAZA!!! THEY MADE IT!!! TEAR THE WALLS, BREAK THAT SIEGE, FREE FREE PALESTINE!

Azura, one driver with Viva Palestina Malaysia, has been maintaining a blog on the viva palestina 5 website. Here is one of her most recent entries:

Salam and hi my dearest family and friends,

At 10pm, Malaysian time today, we, the Viva Palestina 5 Land Convoy is destined by the Al Mighty to be standing in the land of the Prophet, Palestine.

To be exact, Gaza....

I cannot express my feelings as we were nearing to the Border moments before.

When I saw the sign, 5 km to Rafah Gate... I was like.... someone pinch me....

I snapped 2 photos of the road signs and sent them to my super girls- Zab, Jem and Azian.

And as expected, all the 3 cry babies started crying....

Haiyo....

Guys, stopped crying ok... you are not helping me here..... I cannot go into Gaza crying.... not especially when I have Mr Malaysia Tough Man (who was selected among the 30 to be on the cargo vessel to El Arish Port) beside me- Dr Musa!

Then, suddenly..... I saw the infamous Rafah Border- the yellow brick shaped like an upside down half-U that if we get passed it, will bring us all to Palestine...

This is the same gate that I have been seeing all these while in the news, video clips and youtube videos...

My heart just beat so fast.

Then at 22.10, Malaysian time, I sent out a message to my 3 beloved darlings...

** Oct 21 Thu 22:10 **

Azura: We are standing in palestine !! Alhamdulillah

Seeing thousands of jubilant, welcoming Palestinians , Kevin Ovenden, the convoy director, expressed his joy at being in Gaza once again. "We have driven more than 3,000 miles to bring this essential aid and to break this illegal siege of Gaza. We have been joined by supporters from Morocco and Algeria and from the Gulf States and Jordan, to make this the biggest convoy ever to break the siege of Gaza. We are absolutely overjoyed to be here and to bring with us the soil from the graves of those who were massacred on the Mavi Marmara which will be used to plant trees as a memorial to their sacrifice."

The convoy set out four weeks and five days ago from London. It travelled through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Syria. Everywhere the convoy was welcomed and overwhelmed by the generosity of well-wishers. Towards the end there was a frustrating delay in Syria while negotiations "at the highest levels" were conducted with the Egyptian authorities. In the end it was all worth it as the Egyptian authorities decided to allow passage of the whole convoy; unfortunately excluding just 17 members of the convoy including George Galloway - although one of them, Lifeline 5's spokesman Zaher Birawi, managed to pass through .

The convoy - transport and contents - will be handed over in its entirety to the relevant bodies tomorrow and the members of the convoy then expect to leave Gaza and return home in the next 48 hours after celebrations and formal thanks are given.

Convoy leaders have been keen to correct inaccurate reports that had appeared in the New York Times and elsewhere. These claimed that the convoy had entered Gaza through Israel.

Meanwhile, the struggle for survival continues. Freedom Flotilla, in May, was famously carrying cement for rebuilding, a vital material denied, of course, to the Gazans by the Zionist regime. Recently, three Palestinians have been shot and injured by Israeli troops while collecting rubble near the Gaza Strip's border with Israel. Young Palestinians regularly scour the area for anything that may be recycled for building material.