Tyrone to Gaza

[Norf Tyrone]

Mickey Harte does his bit for gaza... not that Mickey Harte.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmvgVLT6xS0

[The Watcher Pat]

That's actually quite a good song!! Just hope he done it for the right reasons!

[Zapatista]

I really don't know what to say. That's an amazing story of hope John.

[ONeill]

Truly inspiring poster.

[Lar Naparka]

Great stuff, John. You are truly an inspiration to us all.

[An Fear Rua]

got a text last night

"just crossing the Suez Canal on the Peace Bridge, Awesome. 215 km from Rafah, Ye Ha!"

[Norf Tyrone]

got a text last night

"just crossing the Suez Canal on the Peace Bridge, Awesome. 215 km from Rafah, Ye Ha!"

Who was it from?

[Norf Tyrone]

I am kidding by the way.

[gerry]

great stuff john keep her going

[give her dixie]

Well folks, today we were supposed to cross through the Rafah border into Gaza, however, the Egyptians and Israeli Government have now blocked us from not only entering Gaza, but prevented us from leaving the car park we were put into last night.
They have done a complete U turn on their promises, and the latest news isn't good for us.

We arrived in Egypt on Thursday, and man what a reception. However, this reception was not the usual crowds of thousands of people lining the streets wishing us well, but thousands of police and military lining the streets instead!
We were all given numbers on our vehicles, and various stickers determining who we were. Then, we were escorted for 250 miles to what can only be described as a "Prison Camp". It was an hotel for the military, and it was surrounded by military/police, and we were not allowed to leave the compound. It was very intimidating, however, we were very tired, so a bed for the night was a welcome sight.

The following day, under heavy police escort, we were driven another 300 miles. This was one long journey, as the police drove us at about 30 km per hour for hours on end, which was very tiring to say the least. Every 30 km, we would go through checkpoints where at least 10 different people would take down our registration number, and check our numbers which the police had gave us.
This just prolonged our journey, and left everyone shattered.
The extent to which the Government had gone to "protect us" included 1 police man every 50 metres along the road. So, over a 300 mile trip, this equated to a lot of policemen! I would love to tell you what they looked like, however as they stood with their back to us the whole time, it was impossible to see their faces. It was so funny to see them stare into trees, walls, and even the sea along the way. At first, we thought it was funny, however, as the miles clocked on, we felt so sorry for the poor policemen who had to stand for nearly a whole day without food and water in that position.
Again, that night we were under a very heavy guard at our hotel, and again, no one was allowed to leave the hotel grounds.

Then yesterday, again under heavy escort and police men every 50 metres, we headed to Al Arish, our final stop over before Rafah. For the 1st time since we arrived in Egypt, thousands of people lined the streets and gave us an incredible welcome. Having been deprived of any reception for a few days, this was a welcome sight.... We have become very used to people shouting at us along the way, and we were suffering withdrawal symptoms prior to last night.....

It took us 2 hours to get from one end of the town to the other, and when we finally arrived to the car park, we were taxied to a nearby hotel. Again we were not allowed out, however, when 12 of us convinced the manager that we had forgotten our bags, we were allowed back to get them.......
We took the opportunity to head into town and get something to eat. It was a good buzz, and after talking to locals, they told us to watch out for the authorities as they had something planned for us.

That turned out to be true, as today we were not allowed to leave the car park. This was a total turnaround by the Government, and not expected. However, as Egypt is the 2nd largest benefactor of aid from the USA after Israel, what could we have expected? They kept us parked up all day, and got very heavy handed. Some of the convoy tried to move out anyway, and they were met by a heavy hand in the form of a few hundred riot police. They hit the various vehicles with their batons, and a few convoy members were also injured. My safety was secure as I watched for the roof of the lorry sipping a can of Murphys (or 6)....... I had a birds eye view, and it wasn't pretty for a while. However, cool heads prevailed, and order was soon restored.

I then tried to diffuse the situation by recreating the famous football match between the British and German soldiers on Christmas day during the 1st world war! I kitted out our convoy footballers in Derrytresk GAA jerseys and challenged the Egyptian police to a friendly game of football. They politely refused, so we then played against some of the Lybian convoy drivers kitted out in Dungannon Swifts soccer jerseys! That has to be a 1st for a GAA select to play a Soccer select in Egypt. It was 7 a side, and it was some sight. Hundreds of locals and convoy drivers watched on, surrounded by riot police. We were treated to a fantastic game, with Derrytresk excelling at the soccer, and led 7 - 1 at full time. In the interests of sportsmanship, it was decided the game should be settled on penalties. Well, it provided some light hearted relief for everyone, and for the record, Derrytresk won on penalties. The Lybian Swifts accepted defeat, and demanded a game of Gaelic instead for the return leg......

George Galloway then returned from the border and from meetings with the Egyptian Government to inform us that only vehicles with medical aid can now get into Gaza. All other vehicles would have to cross through Israeli borders, which will be unacceptable as they do not want to see us anywhere near Gaza.

The Israeli Government have only allowed some medical aid and bare essential food items to cross into Gaza. At this stage, only half a pallet of aid on the lorry will be allowed in. This folks, is one major set back for me, however, it just goes to show how the people of Gaza are been treated by the Israeli Government, backed by major western leaders. They should all hang their heads in shame. However, tomorrow is a new day, and negations are taking place well into the night, and I go to bed tonight with hope that things will change by tomorrow. Lets hope some common decency will prevail and the aid will get through.

It has been a long hard struggle for everyone to get this far, and to have our promises broken at this late stage is very sad for all concerned. If we are turned away, and the aid doesn't get in, I want each and every one of you to tell your friends, family, politicians, press, and whoever else has ears about this act of inhumanity not only to us, but to the 1.5 million people in Gaza living in terrible conditions. They should not get away with this for sure.
So, lets hope I have better news to report soon, however it doesn't look good. So, for now, good night.

Tyrone To Gaza

John Hurson

[ardmhachaabu]

Hopefully the morning will bring better news.

All the very best

[ONeill]

I then tried to diffuse the situation by recreating the famous football match between the British and German soldiers on Christmas day during the 1st world war! I kitted out our convoy footballers in Derrytresk GAA jerseys and challenged the Egyptian police to a friendly game of football. They politely refused, so we then played against some of the Lybian convoy drivers kitted out in Dungannon Swifts soccer jerseys! That has to be a 1st for a GAA select to play a Soccer select in Egypt. It was 7 a side, and it was some sight. Hundreds of locals and convoy drivers watched on, surrounded by riot police. We were treated to a fantastic game, with Derrytresk excelling at the soccer, and led 7 - 1 at full time. In the interests of sportsmanship, it was decided the game should be settled on penalties. Well, it provided some light hearted relief for everyone, and for the record, Derrytresk won on penalties. The Lybian Swifts accepted defeat, and demanded a game of Gaelic instead for the return leg......

They're burning bonfires at the Hill as we speak. The home-coming will be some craic. Don't harm the cup.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Thanks for the update John, making history at every turn, and better luck with the border crossing tomorrow. Go n-éirí an bóthar leat!

[Doogie Browser]

Keep the spirits (or should that be Murphys) up John. 

[Norf Tyrone]

This probably sounds silly, but what's the best method of us GAA boarders bringing this to the mass media?

Email radio shows, TV, MPs??

Forgive me as I have never been a revoloutionary before but can we call it the Boarders Busting Borders?