The march is the result of the collaboration of the international initiatives of Sumud for Palestine, the Way to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla. The first announcement of the initiative, dated 21 May, describes the situation in Gaza as follows: “In its genocidal campaign against the Gaza Strip, Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war of mass destruction. It has now been 11 weeks since a severe blockade on the entry of food, medicine, water and other essential supplies into the Gaza Strip, and all international organizations present have warned that they have run out of reserves. The Israeli army has also destroyed most of the farming areas and cattle, massacring local production. The most vulnerable are children, tens of whom have died of starvation, pregnant women and infants, and all Palestinians on the List are threatened by starvation. Half a million at imminent risk of death, according to UN data.”

Agus Gorbea, from Vitoria-Gasteiz, one of the pro-Palestine activists who will participate in the march, explains to us the details of the initiative. On June 12, the Egyptian capital will meet with the rest of the international activists in Cairo, on the 13th they will travel to the city of Al Arish, from where they will start the march. “There are about 50 kilometers from the city of Al Arish to the Rafah Pass through the Sinai Desert. There is only one road from which we will make our way, we will travel 17-18 kilometers every day. We have been told by members that we will walk first and/or at the last hour because otherwise the heat is excessive.” The pedestrian march will not be the only initiative of those days. “In principle, in those days a ship will also depart from the sea.”

It is planned to remain at the border for two days in order to make two main demands: “End the genocide, and extend the border without restrictions or limitations.” The organization of the march recalled that “there are three thousand trucks waiting at the Rafah crossing, overflowing with food, medicine and other essential supplies, and more than two million Palestinians hungry on the other side of the fence.”

A dozen activists from the Basque country, for the moment

The Basque Country has so far organized a dozen militants to attend the march, some 2,200 from the international community, from 32 states. Gorbea says that they have started with preparations, but that they are bringing new people together and that those who have not yet done so have the opportunity to do so, since the goal is to gather as many people as possible in Rafah.

All the information about the initiative is available on this Telegram channel (for citizens of the South Basque Country, which is the channel of the Spanish State) and on this website, from which the interested party can register.

Interpellation of embassies

The participating citizens have sent a letter to the embassies of their states so that they can announce the action and help obtain authorization to carry it out. Several parliamentarians have also been asked to contact the embassies to press them for the same purpose. In the last week, in the face of the massive famine and the hardening of the military offensive, it seems that the states that have unconditionally supported Israel or the European Union are putting themselves at a distance with the Zionists. At least for the moment, Gorbea thinks it's a matter of appearance: “There seems to be tensions between Netanyahu and Trump that are being relocated. The rats are abandoning the ship, but they're still rats. We’ll see it.”

Egypt has not yet taken a position on the march, and Gorbea has little confidence in the role she can play: “Egypt is a military dictatorship, it has relations with the Zionists, and on the border with Rafah there are Israeli soldiers.”

The danger, of the Palestinians

The latest attempt by the Freedom Flotilla to break the blockade was cut off by Israel, in European waters, with total impunity, with the Conscience bondardado. Last Thursday, diplomats were shot by Zionist soldiers in the West Bank. When asked about what might happen to the participants in the march, he says that interrogations, arrests or deportations are likely to occur, “we don’t expect bombings or anything like that, but given the sightings, no one can say anything.” In any case, he wanted to focus on another place: “We don’t know what can happen to us, but it will surely be far less than the children of Gaza suffer.”