THE GAZA CHRONICLES: Muslimah Writers Alliance and Aishah Schwartz on Gaza

Join Muslilmah Writers Alliance in Asking President Obama to Support 'No Gaza Student Left Behind'

Sign the Muslimah Writers Alliance (MWA) 'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Petition Today!

GAZA STUDENTS: Border Crossing Media Double-Talk?

MWA Launches 'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Campaign

MWA Welcomes Return of Freedom Flotilla and GFM '09 Delegate David Segarra

Muslimah Writers Alliance Joins D.C. Mobilization Responding to Israeli Attack on Gaza Flotilla

MWA Joins Jewish Voice For Peace in Condemnation of Israeli Attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla

MWA Joins International Advocates Calling for Safe Passage of Gaza Flotilla Cargo and Crew

Visa Secured: MWA Welcomes U.S. Visit of Palestinian Journalist, Mohammed Omer

MWA IN THE NEWS: U.S. Muslims Back Jewish Candidate's Gaza Stance

MWA Commends Jewish NY U.S. Senate Candidate, Jonathan Tasini on Support of Gaza

MWA Rejects Ideological Exclusion as U.S. Delays Visa of Palestinian Journalist, Mohammed Omer

Rep. Brian Baird's OpenCongress Blog Gives Nod to Gaza Support from International Activist, Aishah Schwartz

MWA Commends Action of 54 U.S. Congressmen in Supporting End of Siege and Embargo on Gaza

GAZA UPDATE: MWA Director, Aishah Schwartz Echoes Baroness jennifer Tonge, "What are we doing to these people?"

VIDEO: Gaza Freedom March December 31, 2009 - Eizbet Abed Rabo to Erez Border Crossing

VIDEO: Aishah Schwartz and Gaza Freedom Delegates in Gaza. Dec. 30, 2009 - Jan. 2, 2010.
http://gallery.me.com/angela7dreaming#100047

ARABIC Media Covering Gaza Freedom March Delegate, Aishah Schwartz

Initial report on Four-Day Gaza Siege Breaking Visit of International Activist, Aishah Schwartz

Aishah's Journey Continues...GAZA: Never Forget

MWA Director, Aishah Schwartz Among 100 Chosen to Join Gaza Freedom Solidarity March Departing from Cairo Dec. 29

MWA Director, Aishah Schwartz to Join Gaza Freedom March TODAY!

MWA Director, Aishah Schwartz and Gaza Freedom March Delegates Meet with Cairo's AlWafd Editor-in-Chief, Said Abd El Khalek

Gaza Freedom March Update: Activities in Cairo, Dec. 27, 2009

A Message of Solidarity with the Gaza Freedom March
(Photos taken by Aishah Schwartz)

Egyptian Security Forces Detain Gaza Freedom

Gaza Freedom March Update from Cairo, Egypt and Delegate, Aishah Schwartz

Support the Gaza Freedom March - Send YOUR Letter Today, Insha'Allah!

BBC: NO GAZA OPTIMISM OVER EASING BLOCKADE

BBC: NO GAZA OPTIMISM OVER EASING BLOCKADE

"What about the blockade on people for starters?" - "One-and-a-half million people are trapped in a prison unable to leave."

Don't be duped by reports that students are being allowed to pass through borders!

Read this: GAZA STUDENTS: Gaza Border Crossing Media Double-Talk?

And then sign the petition and send your letter to President Obama today!

Here is MWA'S/my letter!

JUN. 20 Israeli 'internal' investigation result: "The investigation found that under the circumstances the officers acted appropriately..." duh huh...and we expected anything less? NOT...

ISRAELI/MAINSTREAM MEDIA: 'LETHAL WEAPONS DISCLOSED' - Laugh from the bottom of your heart, and don’t let your imagination take you so far...

AND SHARE THIS POST, INSHA'ALLAH!

JUNE 19 OCTOBER WEEKLY: American Activist Aishah Schwartz

IN JUNE 19 ISSUE OF OCTOBER WEEKLY MAGAZINE, CAIRO
American Activist Aishah Schwartz
ON FACEBOOK (w/Photo)

ONLINE (ARABIC)

CORRECTIONS: Congressmen 54 not 65, Delegates 86 not 68, Arrived Egypt 2007 not 2008.

ADDITIONAL ARABIC ARTICLES ON AISHAH'S JOURNEY TO GAZA
AlWafd Article 1, AlWafd Article 2, AlWafd Article 3

ENGLISH Post-Gaza Initial Report

SIGN THE 'NO GAZA STUDENT LEFT BEHIND' ONLINE PETITION

GAZA STUDENTS: Border Crossing Media Double-Talk?

Today AP included this language in a report titled: Israel agrees to ease Gaza land blockade

"However, Egypt is only letting in people with special travel permits, such as students and Gazans with foreign passports. In the past two weeks, 10,000 Gazans have crossed into Egypt though many more want to leave. A senior Egyptian security official has said the loosened restrictions will remain in place indefinitely."

QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING A 'SPECIAL TRAVEL PERMIT'? Does this require an embassy visit? And if so, how does a non-permit holding student obtain permission to cross the border to get to an embassy to get a 'special travel permit'?

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THE UK INDEPENDENT 

Published a story on June 12, 2010 indicating the following: "Although Egypt opened the crossing in the wake of the lethal Israeli commando raid on a pro-Palestinian flotilla last week, apparently to escape some of the blame for the closure, it has restricted passage mainly to students with visas to study abroad, serious medical cases, and those with foreign residency or passports." NOTE: "students with visas" - THAT IS NOT APPLICABLE TO THOSE STUDENTS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET TO EITHER CAIRO OR JERUSALEM TO COMPLETE REQUIRED PAPERWORK OR SECURE VISAS.

QUESTION: 'Students WITH visas' - how does a student get a visa in the first place? And if the student does not have the visa but needs to GET OUT to GET the visa, how does the student do that?

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IN THE UK GUARDIAN June 11, 2010

The Egyptian authorities have restricted passage to Gazans who also hold foreign passports, those needing medical treatment and those trying to pursue studies abroad.

QUESTION: 'Those trying to pursue studies abroad' - is a broad statement, it does not specify, are they allowing students who NEED TO OBTAIN VISAS, or restricting it to students who ALREADY HAVE visas, and if they could not get out to get visas in the first place, how is it that any of them have visas??

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BOTTOM LINE: Is the issue of students needing to cross the border to GET VISAS being lost in the double-talk about 'exceptions'?

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LASTLY: All of the above relates to the border crossing at Rafah. What about those who need to pass through Israeli borders to reach embassies in Jerusalem? The border crossing issue may/does not necessarily to students residing in Gaza...

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NO GAZA STUDENT LEFT BEHIND
Press Release

Also online at Congress.org
Also online at The American Muslim
Also online at MyCrescent
More at Aishah's Journey (enter GAZA in search box on right)
More at Facebook
ALSO CHECK EGYPT'S OCTOBER WEEKLY MAGAZINE (SATURDAY, JUNE 19)

Sign the 'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Petition 
http://tinyurl.com/sign-gaza-student-petition 

HOW TO SEND YOUR LETTER (OR A COPY OF MWA'S LETTER)
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Email: http://www.emailthepresident.com

Join the Muslimah Writers Alliance (MWA) NO GAZA CHILD LEFT BEHIND Campaign Today!

Sign the 'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Petition
ALTERNATE LINK

http://tinyurl.com/sign-gaza-student-petition

Muslimah Writers Alliance Launches
'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Campaign
Press Release

AMERICAN CITIZEN ALERT! How Much Military Aid to Israel Do YOU Provide?

Between 2009-2018, the United States is scheduled to give Israel--the largest recipient of U.S. aid--$30 billion in military aid. Through its illegal 42-year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, Israel misuses U.S. weapons in violation of U.S. law to kill and injure Palestinian civilians, destroy Palestinian civilian infrastructure, blockade the Gaza Strip, and build illegal settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem.

How much of this total will your community provide?  Is this a good use of your tax dollars? What else could your taxes be used for in your community? Find out on the interactive map found here.

UPDATED: Response from the White House - Join Muslimah Writers Alliance in Asking President Obama to Support 'NO GAZA STUDENT LEFT BEHIND'

UPDATE: It only took 9 months...but I finally received a letter back from the White House (click on image to view full size): 

CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW FULL SIZE

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION DATE OF THIS BLOG POST: June 16, 2010

FULL LETTER AT CONGRESS.ORG HERE

Sign the 'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Petition

ALTERNATE LINK

http://tinyurl.com/sign-gaza-student-petition

Muslimah Writers Alliance Launches

'No Gaza Student Left Behind'  Campaign

Press Release

Abbreviated version of letter included in Petition and Press Release - this version works in the emailthepresident online email platform.

Muslimah Writers Alliance Launches 'No Gaza Student Left Behind' Campaign Press Release - http://prlog.org/10738126

June 15, 2010

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Email: http://www.emailthepresident.com

Re: Supporting Students in Gaza Seeking Exit Visas in Pursuit of Higher Education

Dear President Obama,

The ongoing saga of Gaza scholarship-holding and international university-enrolled students waiting and losing hope of being able to secure exit visas that would allow them to fulfill their educational aspirations, is yet another heartless byproduct of the illegal siege and embargo on Gaza.

In a spring 2008 report, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit Director, Khalil Shaheen, indicated that nearly 700 students had been unable to pass through either Egyptian or Israeli borders to secure exit visas needed to pursue the dream of a brighter future through educational opportunities offered abroad.

Now, as a result of the tragic events of May 31, 2010 when the humanitarian mission of the Freedom Flotilla from Turkey was deterred by Israeli gunfire, resulting in 9 fatalities, including one American, we have begun, at long last, to see an ease on the restrictions imposed by the Israeli blockade of Gaza, to include Egypt's opening of the Rafah border crossing to those with special needs, etc.

We call on you Mr. President to intervene on behalf of the students of Gaza, now, while the opportunity is ripe for inclusion of this issue on the current agenda of negotiations where lifting of the embargo on Gaza is concerned.

Students holding legitimate scholarship and university enrollment documentation have a right to guaranteed passage through open border crossings from both Israel and Egypt to secure exit visas to their future; and the future of Palestine.

While the list of options for lifting the embargo on Gaza continues to be ironed out, and humanitarian relief efforts between borders broadens, we hope you will embrace the opportunity to renew the faith placed in you by Muslims world-wide when you were elected as President of the United States.

The students of Gaza need your support. Can they count on you to intervene on their behalf in guaranteeing their right to free passage between Israeli and Egyptian borders to secure the exit visas needed to fulfill their aspirations for a brighter future?

Sincerely,

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