SCMer eyewitness account from Gaza Freedom March

by Jean Lee
SCM Senior Friend, member of SCM Endowment Committee
(interviewed by General Secretary David Ball)

SCM alumnus Jean Lee journeyed to Egypt in December 2009 to join a massive international delegation expressing its solidarity with the Palestinian people, by attempting to cross the Egyptian border into blockaded Gaza Strip.

Over New Years 2009/10, activists from around the world – 1,400 of them – assembled in Egypt to break the blockade of Gaza and bring relief supplies and support to thousands of Palestinians trapped there. The blockade, however, is maintained not only by Israel, but also by Egypt, with the support the the U.S. military. The activists were prevented from marching, and detained by police for eight days in Cairo. SCM Senior Friend Jean Lee was among them.

All but 100 of the thousand-plus group were allowed to deliver their aid into Gaza. Jean sat down in the SCM office to share her thoughts on the trip. As Canadian campuses are mid-way through the extremely controversial Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), we wanted to contribute a first-hand account from the Middle East.

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Jean, how are you connected to the SCM?

My real education in the 50’s at university came courtesy of the SCM. We brought in amazing speakers, wonderful potluck suppers and discussions, work camps – all all led to my education within the church and world.

[The SCM] helped me know that, as life changes, the world changes – and my view of activism changes too. I always need to speak up and say where I am today, and not be afraid to comment on things.

How does your faith connect to your activism?

When I was baptized [as a baby], I am told that I screamed the whole time in the church. I like to think I’m still there screaming to this day.

It’s important for people to realize that within the church one can be an activist; one can be a Christian and a concerned citizen. The SCM still offers that. It was an amazing experience!

Why did you join Gaza Freedom March?

My goal was to go to Gaza – which we of course didn’t get to do. The feedback from those who did [get into Gaza] was that Hamas was containing that hundred [activists] as much as the Egyptian police were containing us. Hamas wouldn’t allow the women to march.

They thanked the hundred who did go, but it’s important for people to know that not good things are happening under Hamas.

What is the situation like in Gaza now, with the Israeli blockade?

There are 45,000 people – a lot of them kids – registered with the trauma clinic, and those are just the ones who know about it. Young people said they don’t have any choices – some received scholarships [to study abroad] but weren’t allowed to leave. In a war situation, young people have few choices and some are really quite dreadful.

What were the pro-Palestinian demonstrations like in Egypt?

In Cairo, we made the front page everyday in local papers. We were regularly hemmed in by military police. [Laughs] They were gorgeous, good looking guys – I still wonder what they were thinking about us.

But we were having a good time, with clowns, harmonicas and guitars. While confined, we were also having fun. There were all these white people demonstrating on behalf of Muslims – that’s important to say.

How do you feel about the Egyptian government’s response?

Code Pink [the feminist organization planning the march] had arranged for us to board boats and set candles on the Nile to commemorate civilians killed in Gaza. But permission was withdrawn – the government didn’t want us to function.

Why?

Egypt is just as much involved as Israel in cutting off the route to Gaza – in the blockade. The new electric fence they are building at the border is courtesy of the U.S. military – it was designed by an American military engineer.

What impact did the Gaza Freedom March have?

What was important was that there was such a big outcry. 1,400 people decided to give eight days of their life – and several thousand dollars – to go and protest about the Palestinians’ situation.

So that was inspiring for you?

Yes, it was. And the Kairos document [a Palestinian Christian statement from the Sabeel centre for liberation theology] was our challenge to go home and implement this vision.

Were you scared for your safety during the march?

On the first of January, we went to protest at the Israeli embassy, which is right across from the Cairo Zoo. While everybody was demonstrating, I went to the entrance to the zoo. Egyptians were eager to take the pamphlets. Suddenly I had several plainclothes police at my side and the Egyptians were no longer taking my pamphlets. I realize that it put them at risk, and I was alone and was anxious for a time; I went back to the demonstration.

Have you been involved in Middle East peace activism before?

I chair the Holy Land Awareness and Action Thinktank for Toronto Conference of the United Church. My involvement goes way back to the 70’s, when I went to Palestinian solidarity demonstrations.

What motivates you to act on this issue? And how do you respond to accusations of anti-Semitism from supporters of Israel?

As Christians, we’ve forgotten the Palestinian Christians. Nobody’s backing them, they’re all alone. The church never says boo. I presented to a women’s group on Sunday. I started off with presenting the statement passed by the United Church of Canada in 2006, which says every conference and congregation of the church must pray, study and develop an action plan [on Israel/Palestine peace and justice].

I then talked about anti-Semitism in Canada – where I grew up in the 1930’s, there were signs that said “no dogs or Jews allowed.”

And then I talked. We need to deal with the fact that anti-Semitism is a part of us – but what is it? We can’t just say it was German or Russian. But what’s really going on now?

The relationship between Aboriginal people and land here in Canada is raised. When the Jewish people were told by the UN they could go there [to Palestine], they didn’t go to an empty land.

As Europeans, we were guilty of the Holocaust – it was a product of us. [But] we were asking another people to pay for our guilt – the Palestinians. In actual fact, they’d gotten along well over the years. The new Zionists coming in in the 1900’s were a different breed.

Can you tell us about more about your experience of the Gaza Freedom March?

In all honesty, it was really interesting. Everybody was on their iPod, laptop, Blackberry… I would go into the common room and read a book! It’s a new age in activism. It was wonderful to get to know amazing people. I wasn’t the oldest either.

Can you tell us about one of the amazing people you met?

Hedy Epstein [a prominent participant who led a hunger strike on the march; she is a Holocaust survivor]. Hedy was amazing. One day was the hottest day and we were confined to a small cement island. She’d gone on a fast to protest, and some activists were worried about her [because of the heat]; they wanted to get her out past the police because they were concerned. But she said, “You should stay, I help keep you all safer.”

What most inspires you to support the Palestinian cause?

War is dreadful. To deny young people choices for their whole future – this is also what we do to First Nations people. It’s just wrong. Whether it’s in Haiti or Palestine – or on a Reservation in Canada – it’s just wrong. And it’s hard to come up with a solution. The hatred has been building for 60 years.

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Jean Lee is a Senior Friend of SCM Canada, a former member of the General Board, and today is active on SCM’s Endowment Committee. She was interviewed here by SCM General Secretary David Ball.