ASIAN PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY FOR PALESTINE -- INDIA LIFELINE TO GAZA
PRESS INVITATION
MEET THE FIRST EVER INDIAN ACTIVISTS TO ENTER GAZA, PALESTINE!!
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malayasia, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, UK
Venue: Press Club of India, Raisina Road, New Delhi - 110 001
Time: 2.45 pm
Date: January 10, 2011/Monday
Chased by Israeli warships and warplanes in the Meditteranean Sea... held hostage in a cargo ship off Egypt without passports.. the amazing story of grit and determination of more than a 120 activists from 17 Asian countries, over 50 of them from India alone, who entered Gaza (Palestine) last week after a historic month-long 8,000-km bus-ride through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
With them, they took life-saving medical equipment, food items, clothes and other aid worth $1 million, weighing 170 tons, for the people of Gaza who continue to suffer unspeakable hardship for nearly five years under the illegal blockade imposed by the Israeli-US regimes.
Through its journey, the caravan was greeted by tens of thousands of people and their leaders that included, among others, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmednijad, Hamas chief Khalid Mishal and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haaniya.
You are cordially invited to meet the delegates at the press conference and share their experience through our testimonies, as well as their rich collection of videos and photographs that documented the historic journey.
The activists included a diverse range of representation from the civil society -- Magsaysay Award winner social activist Sandeep Pandey, West Asian expert and peace activist Feroze Mithiborwala, Gandhian activist Suresh Khairnar, trade union leader Ashim Roy, noted journalist Ajit Sahi, student activists from Vidyarthi Bharati in Mumbai, and students from JNU and Jamia Millia. The Indian delegates hailed from UP, Punjab, Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand, among others.
SQR ILYAS, Spokesperson, All India Muslim Personal Law Board
ZAFARUL ISLAM KHAN, Editor, Milli Gazette,
ANIL CHAUDHARY, President, Insaaf
ANAND SWAROOP VERMA, Editor, Teesri Duniya
KISHOR JAGTAP, Vice-President, Awami Bharat
GAUHAR IQBAL, President, Palestine Solidarity Forum
BIRAJ PATNAIK, Right to Food Activist with Supreme Court commission
TASLEEM RAHMANI, President, Muslim Political Council of India
ASLAM KHAN, Vice-President, AISA
SHEHEEN, Solidarity Youth Movement
BISHRUDDEN SHARQI, ex-President, Students' Islamic Organisation
BADAR KHAN, Student, Jamia Millia Islamia
KHUSHBOO KUMARI, Student, JNU
MOHAMMAD IRFAN, General Secretary, Subjects Association, Nelson Mandela Centre, Jamia Millia
SALEEL CHEMBAYIL, Student, Jamia Millia
POOJA BADEKAR, President, Vidyarthi Bharati
ARIF KAPADIA, President, Marathi Bharati
