Viva Palestina

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.

[3] 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.

[5] Iranian television news channel Press TV travelled with the convoy via embedded reporters, while Hassan Ghani and Yvonne Ridley made a documentary about it.

The convoy arrived in Gaza via the Rafah crossing on 9 March 2009,[6] accompanied by approximately 180 extra trucks of aid donated by Libya's Gaddafi Foundation and the International Organization for Peace, Care and Relief (IOPCR).

To allay fears that the US volunteers would encounter legal difficulties upon their return home, Hamas agreed to allow the aid to be delivered directly to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) rather than through their government.

[17] Subsequently, in an 11 January 2010 interview with Anas Tikriti on British-based Arabic diaspora television channel Al Hiwar, Galloway said that the Chavez link was less likely to happen than it had been, but that Viva Palestina would enter Gaza harbour by sea.

[18] Fatima Mohammadi, Kevin Ovenden and Nicola Enchmarch of Viva Palestina were on board ships of the Gaza flotilla raided by the Israelis.

The IHH sent the MV Mavi Marmara, also carrying Viva Palestina delegates, on which nine people were killed by Israeli commandos.

Shortly after the flotilla, in summer 2010, a group of previous Viva Palestina volunteers announced that they would be running a politically independent land convoy with the intention of coinciding with an anticipated second Turkish-led attempt to enter Gaza by sea.

On 13 October, with the support of Syrian and other authorities, the ferry carrying medical aid (along with educational supplies, material to build an orphans' school, and a maternity unit in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza) was eventually allowed by the Egyptian authorities to dock in Al Arish and thence allowed to pass through the Rafah crossing.

[1] Ron McKay, George Galloway's press spokesman, was ordered to provide accounts from 2009 onwards in September, but, as he is not a trustee, he has appealed against the ruling on the grounds that he is unable to comply.