The long road to Malaga

I'm missing blips for a few days around this time, mainly because I was seriously up the walls preparing for a conference PCHR organised to take place in Malaga, Spain, from 22-24 April.

It is one of the absurdities of the situation here in the occupied Palestinian territory that, to bring together human rights organisations and legal experts who work on the same issues but are based in different places, it is actually easier for everyone to meet in Spain. This obviously drives the cost up considerably, makes the logistics a lot more complicated, and requires a lot more of people's precious time. It is particularly bizarre when you consider that all of these organisations are based within 1ookm of one another.

Gaza-based organisations are rarely granted permission to travel to Israel, or even the West Bank, although it is part of the same (recently UN-recognised) state. Likewise, it is almost impossible for West Bank organisations to come to the Gaza Strip. On top of this, it is illegal for Israelis to visit the Gaza Strip.

A group of 7 of us travelled together from Gaza, and it took us the bones of 2 days to travel what would probably be about a five-hour direct flight. Once through Rafah crossing, we crammed ourselves into a mini-bus for the 7-hour drive to Cairo. Luckily, we could stop for some respite in a seaside restaurant with excellent calamari.

Incidentally, I just tried to use Google Maps to calculate the distance between Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. I received this message:

"We could not calculate directions between Jerusalem, Israel and Gaza."

I can see how, with permits, checkpoints, and stringent laws and regulations, that would be a tricky one alright.