East End activist joins Gaza convoy

EAST End political activist Carole Swords has joined an aid convoy to Gaza.

She has joined the latest convoy led by the charity Viva Palestina which will cover 2,500 miles before reaching Gaza.

Ms Swords who is the chairwoman of Tower Hamlets Respect party is travelling with Kevin Ovenden, the former Westminster aide of Respect politician George Galloway.

Mr Ovenden was on the ferry the Mavi Marmara which was fired upon by Israeli troops, killing nine people, as it tried to break through the Israeli blockade of Gaza earlier this year.

Ms Swords who lives in Roman Road said: “After the massacre on the Mavi Marmara, world opinion forced an easing of the terrible siege of Gaza in which more than one and a half million Palestinians have been put in a prison camp, as Prime Minister David Cameron describes it. This convoy is intended not only to bring vital medical aid to Gaza but to draw attention to the fact that, despite fine words, the siege has barely been eased at all and the people of Gaza are still suffering terribly. We have a long and arduous journey ahead of us but I’m sure it will be worth it.”

The latest convoy, which left England with some 40 vehicles on Saturday, aims to be the biggest convoy yet to break the siege of Gaza by the time it reaches the Rafah crossing with Egypt in the first two weeks of October. Vehicles are also leaving from Casablanca in Morocco and Doha in Qatar and meeting up with the British convoy in Syria and organisers hope the convoy could reach some 200 vehicles.