The resistance caravan, with some 1,500 activists from Tunisia and Algeria, began its progress on Thursday to Eastern Libyan cities, in the ultimate hope of reaching Gaza. This popular mobilization illustrates the persistence of Arab support for the Palestinian cause, while the conflict enters its second year.
Composed of around twenty buses and 350 vehicles, the convoy was warmly welcomed Wednesday evening in Zliten, west of Libya, before heading towards Misrata. Libyan local authorities have called on the population to show their support for this citizen initiative. However, the future of the convoy remains uncertain in the face of the diplomatic obstacles that stand before him.
Egypt has indeed maintained its strict conditions of access to the border area with Gaza, requiring official requests transmitted by its embassies. Cairo justifies these measures by “the delicacy of the security situation” in this sensitive region since the climbing of the conflict. The organizers of the convoy claim to have attempted, in vain, to establish dialogue with the Egyptian authorities for several weeks.
The initiative also comes up against Israeli hostility. The Minister of Defense Israel Katz explicitly prohibited the entry of these “jihadist demonstrators” – in his words – in the Palestinian enclave, summarizing Egypt from preventing their progress.
This caravan is part of a broader international solidarity movement. In The Hague, demonstrators gathered before the International Court of Justice to denounce the fate of Palestinian prisoners. These mobilizations bear witness to the persistence of a momentum of popular support, despite the diplomatic bongness of the Palestinian file.
It remains to be seen whether this citizen convoy will manage to cross the multiple political and security barriers which still mark its route to Gaza, still under blockade after more than a year and a half of war.
