Scotsman rallied international activists in Middle East march

An Edinburgh activist assumed the leadership of an international convoy confronted by a hostile Egyptian blockade during the new year march from Cairo to Gaza, The Journal can reveal.

Mick Napier, chair of the Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), was one of 1400 activists from 43 countries around the world that was taking part in the march from the Egyptian capital to the Gaza strip.

Ziyaad Lunat, spokesperson and member of the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March, one of the delegations that took part, described the Scottish delegation, led by Mr Napier, as “excellent”.

Mr Lunat told The Journal: “There was a very active Scottish delegation. They took the leadership in Cairo, they were very very visible.”

As the many delegations arrived in Cairo on 26 December they were forced to settle in the city often miles apart and with poor communication and no facilities to hold meetings in.

“We had our own steering committee but at one point we took a back seat and we were following the new personalities and leaders. I am telling you, the Scottish delegation was excellent,” said Mr Lunat.

The peaceful protest was organised to coincide with the first anniversary of the Israeli bombing of Gaza—named 'Operation Cast Lead'—in which over 1400 Palestinian and nine Israeli's were killed.

After initially being granted permission by the Egyptian government to cross the border into Gaza, this was refused on arrival.

“We had no plans to stay in Cairo,” Mr Napier told The Journal. “The focus was very much on getting to Gaza as part of a massive march to break the siege.”

What was expected to be a brief stay in Cairo to organise the delegations, which had travelled from as far as Japan and the United States, turned into an assembly lasting around ten days.

Mr Napier said: “We weren't allowed to go [to the border], we were penned inside Cairo by the authorities.

“By some miracle, helped by some very astute organisers, we started to work together, to stay together.”

The Egyptian authorities were intent on separating the delegation by allowing only 100 people to travel at a time. The delegation leadership, assumed by the SPSC chair decided to stay unified.

“It's a tremendous achievement that these individuals, unknown to each other, were able to stage such a protest in the capital of a military dictatorship,” said Mr Napier, who was nicknamed 'Braveheart' by other activists.

Meetings, discussions and protests were held, many of which were illegal due to a law preventing more than six people meeting in Egypt without a permit.

The groups were under intense police surveillance throughout their time and on occasion they were confronted with violent local law enforcement.

Another Scotsman, George Galloway MP, was there with Viva Palestina and was arrested by authorities before being sent on a flight back to London after an official declared him “persona non grata”.

“We were very roughly handled by the Egyptian police, women were dragged across the the street by their hair" Mr Napier said.

“However, the Egyptian students held a protest and they were treated much more harshly than we were.”

Egypt's leader, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, has been criticised for effectively running a one-party state. Mubarak has maintained power by introducing laws which ban religious parties and in some cases he has tailored amendments to prevent high profile opposition candidates from standing in elections

By the end of their time in Cairo, the delegations had put together the Cairo Declaration, a document outlining conditions and initiatives to work towards ending the Israeli siege of Gaza.

“Similar to South Africa, I guess this [the Cairo Declaration] is what we actually need at this time, because the governments are not willing to respect international laws, they are not willing to respect human rights, it has been left to us,” said Mr Lunat.