Before our arrival in Gaza, British MP George Galloway asked his Palestinian contacts there what they needed the most. Among other things, they said they needed vehicles, medical aid and school supplies. But the number one thing that they needed, the one thing they wanted above all else, was us. They wanted to see our faces, to have us there with them. They wanted to know that they were not abandoned, that we were fighting for them in the United States, that we were standing with them as they resisted.
We were told that Palestinians see all the pictures from our demonstrations. They know that we are in the streets in solidarity, they know that our movement is dedicated and strong—and growing.
We had to overcome many hurdles placed on our path before reaching Gaza. Our first attempt to just get close to it resulted in a 15-hour standoff at the Suez Canal, where we were ultimately turned around. The very next day, Egypt allowed two Israeli warships to pass through the canal—but not the wheelchairs and notebook paper that we had.
We finally found ourselves at the gates of the Rafah crossing. Gaza lay behind a massive concrete wall, barbed wire and Egyptian soldiers in full riot gear. We passed through the gates to see children waving Palestinian flags. We were in Gaza. We broke the siege—we crossed the hardest border in the world to cross, with aid that the most powerful empire in the world has worked mercilessly to keep out.
I stepped foot in Gaza for all of our sisters and brothers in the ANSWER Coalition, who have worked tirelessly to build the movement against the Zionist colonial project, who were working day and night to show the world that we stood against the massacre in Gaza, and that we stood with all of its people. I stepped foot in Gaza on behalf of all of the dedicated activists in the United States who have been in the streets year after year demanding a free Palestine, who have battled against the Zionists and reactionaries, who have handed out thousands upon thousands of leaflets and marched countless miles under the banner of the right to return.
We were greeted by a crowd of people, smiling and chanting, who have seen our demonstrations, who know of our work and dedication, and who now have seen our faces. I stepped foot in Gaza with all of our comrades in this struggle in my heart, and to deliver a message on our behalf to the people of Gaza. With my first step on Gaza soil, I grabbed the first person I saw and hugged him, as tight as I could.
We will continue to struggle, we will continue to challenge the siege and the blockade, until the day we can cross the border into a free Palestine.
Michael Prysner