Viva Palestina

Viva Palestina ("Long live Palestine") is a British-based organisation formerly registered as a charity. The body came into being in January 2009 with the initial intention of running a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Its aims are the "provision from the UK of food, medicine and essential goods and services needed by the civilian population" [of the occupied Palestinian Territories] and "highlighting the causes and results of wars with a view to achieving peace."

Viva Palestina was established during the Gaza War in January 2009 by a group including British politician George Galloway.

On 14 February 2009, after raising over £1 million-worth of humanitarian aid in under four weeks, hundreds of volunteers launched the first convoy comprising approximately 110 vehicles intended for use in Gaza. Among these were a fire engine donated by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), twelve ambulances, a boat and trucks full of medicines, tools, clothes, blankets and gifts for children. The 5,000-mile route passed through Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

On 20 February, Galloway condemned Lancashire Police after they arrested nine of the volunteers under the Terrorism Act a day before the convoy's launch. He said: "The arrests were clearly deliberately timed for the eve of the departure of the convoy. Photographs of the high-profile snatch on the M65 were immediately fed to the press to maximise the newsworthiness of the smear that was being perpetrated on the convoy." Viva Palestina reported an 80% drop in donations following the BBC's broadcast of the arrests and allegations. All those arrested were subsequently released without charge.

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Wikipedia