Paki Wieland: June 6 -15, 2009 Updates

Please circulate widely, thanks, paki

June 6, 2009

Dear ones,

I am writing at the end of our first day of protest at the Rafah, Egypt border with Gaza.
With assistance from our friends here, we departed our house at 7 a.m. taking a route which avoided every checkpoint between al Arish and the border (about 25 miles), arriving at the border before _ and catching all the authorities off guard. We subsequently lived our first day supporting the myriad Palestinians who so desperately wanted to enter Gaza. There was Sami, a young pharmacist who éé days ago accompanied his sister-in-law into Egypt. He has come to the border for the past 21 days at the border, trying but unable to cross,A mother and her three daughters who are now Swedish citizens, waited patiently, but in the end were, as we all, turned away. Everyone was called at about 1:30 p.m. to turn in our passports. This was something new and hopes were raised that we would be allowed to enter Gaza. Earlier in the day we encountered a Palestinian American family who live near Dallas Texas. The couple went to the University in Texas, deciding to settle in the U.S. years ago in part because of the violence escellating inGaza at the time. This family of parents, and four children have generations of history in Gaza.
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