Special Peace Team to Gaza, February 21, 2009

THIS VIOLENCE WILL ONE DAY END!

Our presence as a special MPT Peace team to Gaza continues to take us to the gates of Erez Crossing into Gaza where daily Israel refuses to admit us, and, because we are also trying to get into Gaza via the Rafah Crossing through Egypt, it brings us to Cairo. Significantly, to date we have not been able to get a single Egyptian to comment on the Israeli bombing and invasion of Gaza or on the “peace talks” happening right here in Cairo between Egyptian mediators and negotiators for Israel and Hamas.

The war on Gaza continues to fill us with shock and dismay as we reflect on the destruction and carnage there. In Cairo, we also experiencing intense disappointment in over the failure of the Egyptian mediated peace talks between negotiators from Israel and Hamas. Here in Cairo it appears that Israel abandoned previously agreed upon ceasefire commitments and demanded unilateral compliance new issues. Imagine what our friends must feel in Gaza who are overwhelmed by 20 months of blockade and three weeks of bombardment and invasion!

We will soon be within yards away from our friends imprisoned, hungry, and homeless across the border and we still hope to be with them.

We are encouraged by the way Gazans carry on their beleaguered daily lives,

Unlike one taxi driver and many others who believe there will always be a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, we believe that it will end. Nonviolence is the source of our strength and hope for a true and just resolution to the conflict.

-- Peter and Liz