KC area residents reach Gaza with Viva Palestina Convoy

To chants of "VIVA! VIVA! PALESTINA!" more than 200 members of the Viva Palestina convoy made it into the Gaza Strip on July 15, 2009.

Four Kansas City area residents traveled with George Galloway and the Viva Palestina US convoy to Gaza. For Bethany Gonzalez of Kansas City, Kansas, having lived in Gaza between 1997 and 2005, the journey was a homecoming. “Today I realized how much I really miss living in Gaza,” said Gonzalez. “The city and the people, everyone is so kind and hospitable, even with all they’ve been through.” She intends to return with the second Viva Palestina convoy from the U.S. in December, scheduled to coincide with the first anniversary of the attacks.

Other area residents joining the convoy included Mohamad Odah, a native of Gaza, who spoke at the Viva Palestina fundraising event in Overland Park; Maher Abu Hamda, another native Gazan, whose wife and kids still live in Gaza; and Mohamad Hussaini, a native Gazan.

Another convoy participant, Mary Harb from California, said "we spent only 24 hours in Gaza, but it was worth every minute of it. We were so frustrated, tired, wasting time, and annoyed of everything in Cairo. But when we stepped foot into Gaza, we forgot all the above." She continued saying "it was a sad and happy twenty-four hours. It was sad to see the destruction, the shortage of everything, no cement, the sewage system is collapsed, they dump it into the ocean."

Thanks again to all the KC area supporters of the Viva Palestina convoy for medical relief. The following links document more of the July 2 fundraiser event.