A couple of girls were going round the market yesterday morning advertising a fund raiser in the Globe for Palestine that evening, starting at 5pm.
I didn't go down at 5pm, because I know from experience that events like this at the Globe rarely start on time, and so it proved. They were having a bit of trouble with the electrics, and started quite a bit later than advertised.
The speaker was Neil, who works for an international Quaker organisation which reports to the UN. Last year he was in the West Bank - he came home in September, just before the latest round of violence in Gaza began.
The Quakers do not take sides. They are there purely to report on human rights abuses, and to try to protect local people from harrassment. For instance, the Israeli men who stopped every morning on their way to work to chuck stones at a Palestinian shepherd's donkey. That sort of harrassment has been going on for years on the West Bank, around the illegal Israeli settlements (which also take much of the water locally). The Israeli authorities have also been knocking down Palestinian houses for years, claiming that they have been built without a permit (which, of course, it is almost impossible for a Palestinian to get). The speaker showed photos that he'd taken of these things happening, and also of an olive grove that had been burnt by Israeli settlers - and lots of pictures of heavily armed soldiers, police and settlers.
After the talk, there were lots of young musicians who were going to play while other activities took place around the Globe - designing placards for protests, writing to MPs and so on.
When I went to visit my mum recently, she gave me a Palestinian keffiyah which had been given to her partner about ten years ago by members of the Free Gaza movement, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to wear it. (Her partner has just died, which is why I went over to see that she was okay).
When they first went to Cyprus they stayed in a hotel in Larnaca while they looked for an apartment to rent. Members of the Free Gaza movement were staying in the same hotel while they were planning the convoy that sailed from Cyprus to Gaza with supplies that were not allowed through the Israeli checkpoints. It was front page news at the time, especially when the Israeli navy stopped the convoy from getting through.
The Free Gaza people arrived back at the hotel despondent and hungry, and the hotel kitchens had closed for the night - which is when mum's partner took over the kitchen (he got on well with the hotel management) and put together a buffet for them, so at least they'd have something to eat. That's when they gave him the scarf.
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