From the beginning of our trip we intended to cross into Israel from Jordan. There were no guarantees we would get in given the nature of our cycle. However after several hours at the border at Sheik Hussein Bridge we succeeded. The reason for approaching Gaza this way was to bring home that the responsibility for the well-being of the civilian population in the West Bank and Gaza (i.e. Occupied Palestinian Territories) lies with the occupying state, i.e. Israel. If you look at the map of Gaza there are two crossings that are currently in use, Erez on the Israeli side and Rafah on the Egyptian side. We wanted to take our bikes and vehicle through Erez. However we received news that Rafah was going to open during our stay and that we stood a much better chance of getting our vehicle in. We were armed with a letter of invitation from the UN and we applied for permission to enter both crossings with the relevant authorities. On the application document stated that a decision would be made after 5 days. As we contemplated heading towards Erez (the Israeli crossing) our application to enter was now being processed for over two weeks! Without permission we knew we would waste a lot of time and we were advised that our vehicle would never succeed in getting in. Furthermore Israel usually comes up with a bureaucratic excuse for refusing entry and would be more effective in communicating this to the media (e.g. failure to present correct documents). With the Rafah crossing opening on the Egyptian side we decided to hop in our van and leave Israel via the only crossing that lets private vehicles into Egypt; the southern most point of Israel, Eliat. Once inside Eygpt we travelled overnight through the Sinai towards Rafah but at 4am we were pulled in at a military checkpoint 170km from Gaza. After much questioning we were escorted the rest of the journey by military vehicles. Upon reaching Rafah we attempted to cross but were rejected twice. We received no explanation as to why we were refused and the Irish embassy is still seeking the reason for this refusal in writing. After speaking to members of the International Camp that protests against the closure of Rafah crossing the military requested that we leave. Eventually after just 3 hours we were once again under military escort the entire journey to Cairo.

At least six parties have an interest in the operation of Rafah - the Hamas government (Gaza), the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Egypt, Israel, the EU and the USA. Diplomats and UN agencies in Gaza are unsure who really controls Rafah. Israel says it no longer has a presence there or any control. Hamas officials say Egypt now has full control but most people suspect that the Egyptians work with Israel on the limited operation of the crossing. As I understand it the Egyptians want to keep Rafah closed otherwise with the Israeli crossings practically shut Gaza would be effectively passed off to them. Also they are no friends of Hamas, the democratically elected authority that currently governs Gaza.

“From the start the aim of our journey was to raise awareness about the continuting catastrophe facing the Palestinians of Gaza. We thought that by cycling there we could show how close they are to us and make a more human connection with those trapped behind the barriers surrounding the Strip. When we arrived at the border we had no connections, no influence; we are ordinary students and we wanted to keep it this way. We like so many Palestinians were turned away. We wanted to say to the people of Gaza that it was the deaths of their loved ones that inspired our journey but it was the life and dignity of those who survive that fuelled our minds and legs. We were helped across the borders of 16 countries by a wave of support from those who felt the same way. The only border we failed to cross was that of Gaza. We will not forget, we will not give up.”

لقد كان هدفنا منذ بداية رحلتنا زيادة التوعية في أرجاء المعمورة حول الحياة المأساوية للفلسطينيين في غزة . فكرتنا كانت أن نظهر قربنا وتعاطفنا مع الشعب الفلسطيني وأن نوطد العلاقات الانسانية مع أولئك اللذين فُرض عليهم أن يحاصروا داخل حدود القطاع عن طريق السفر الى هناك بالدراجات الهوائية.
عندما وصلنا الى حدود القطاع لم يكن لدينا أي تأثير أو اتصالات مع الجهات العليا المسئولة, ولم نملك أي تصاريح خاصة، نحن طلاب جامعة عاديين وأردنا أن نُعامل على هذا النحو. وقد تّم رفض طلب دخولنا كمعظم الفلسطينيين.
كل ما أردناه هو أن نقول لشعب غزة أن موت أحبائهم والغاليين على قلوبهم هو ما ألهمنا على القيام برحلتنا، وأصالة وصمود أولئك اللذين بقوا على قيد الحياة هو ما أمدّ عزيمتنا وقوّتنا على مواصلة المسير.
لقد تّم مساعدتنا عبر حدود الدول الستة عشر التي عبرناها من خلال موجة عارمة من دعم أولئك اللذين شعروا مثلنا نحو شعب غزة. ولكن سخرية القدر كانت لنا بالمرصاد حيث أن الحدود الوحيدة التي لم نستطع عبورها كانت حدود غزة.
لن ننسى ولن نستسلم …

Unfortuntely the team were refused entry to Gaza after their tremendenous 4000 mile.  Here is Gearoids phlog from the Rafah border crossing describing the scene.

Two nights ago we crossed from Jordan into Israel via the Sheik Hussein Bridge. On our first attempt we arrived too late (8pm) and had to turn back to Irbid, eventually finding a tiny hostel that actually had rooms available. The next morning we stocked up on food and water and prepared for a long day at the crossing. Without boring you with the details of stripping a support vehicle we were permitted to enter Israel after a mere 7 hour wait. Upon reaching the Green Line, and the West Bank we jumped in the van just as the sun was setting, and yee-hawed our way to Jerusalem, exhausted, excited and a little disoriented. The road felt like all the other roads, that was until we tried to turn in towards Jericho in search of food. Our headlights caught sight of the typical rubble barricades that prevent access to and from many Palestinian towns. We kept motoring and made it to Jerusalem. The next day we immediately began planning our entry to Gaza. Its strange, Palestine is so fragmented its hard to know when exactly you have arrived. Pathways to Palestine had arrived in the East Jerusalem, but was really aiming for Gaza. We don’t want to get to comfortable here or declare mission accomplished. We set out to raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. People are still living in the rubble from the December invasion, we spoke to Dr Elessi from Waffa hospital, he regularly keeps contact with us and gives us a glimpse of life in Gaza. He told me that the kids from Al Jaazeera sports club want to host us and cycle with us the length of Gaza, a mere 40km. We so desperately want to make that cycle. Eoghan still has a good supply of gluten free food and we also wanted to leave all of this in Gaza. Today we will find out if our application to enter Gaza from Israel or Egypt will succeed. As I write journalists staying in our hostel and heading out to cover the eviction of 52 Palestinians from their houses just around the corner, there is a big international civil society presence here to protest. We have been told that once the family were removed settlers moved in within a matter of hours. Something tells me that PR is not high on the agenda of the authorities here. What hope do the Irish boys in Spandex have of getting in?

Here are some more photos of the Team as they reach Syria!:)

When we sat down to plan our route we always knew the last stretch was goıng to be the most dıfficult. In the end we decıded to go through central Turkey rather than takıng the humıd and crowded the coast. After a clımb of 500 metres you reach the central plateau just 150kms from Istanbul. Its flat, treeless and hot. The good thıng ıs that the nıghts here are cool ıf not cold, thıs was a welcome change from Bulgarıa where the heat and humıdıty pursued us throughout the nıght. Wakıng up dehydrated ıs a bad start to the day. We began takıng the plateau from Bılecık, a town that has a massıve Portland Porcelın plant and ıs famous for granıte productıon. After we pulled ınto town we were makıng plans and where best to camp for the nıght. Out of the blue a man ın shırt and tıe comes over askıng ıf we needed help.  It turns out he ıs the manager of a 3-star hotel  granıte clad hotel and he offers us rooms at a fracıton of the usual cost! The van always attracts a lot of attentıon. We couldn’t say no especuıally after my father, who was vısıtıng the team for a couple of days, offered to treat us. Cheers Dad ;). That nıght John M. found out that he had to return home to take care of some urgent busıness. It was an unavoıdable and unforeseeable loss but the team tıcked on as usual. We’ve been ın touch and Bıg J ıs home safe and sound, I’ll see ıf I can rope hım ınto gıvıng us a blog entry over the next few days.  Sınce then we have found the plateau to be a mıxed blessıng. Yesterday was partıcularly tough as we dıdn’t expect the sun to affect us as ıt dıd. Whıle ıt was cool but we dehyrated wıthout realısıng ıt. Then I had a fall from the bıke onto a busy sectıon of traffıc and narrowly avoıded beıng hıt by a car. Afterwards I went ınto mıld shock. The lads took pıctures (no mercy here), I looked lıke death warmed up.
The van came and scooped us up and we stopped at the small town of Yunak to recover. Eoghan and I decıded that we  needed an extra bıt of grub to make the second half of the days journey so we headed to the nearest kebab house. Wearıng cyclıng shorts we entered the busy shop. It came to standstıll. We mımed the followıng: ‘Two kebabs please, and no bread for the Eoghan, he ıs a coelıac’. The last part ıs always a challenge. Eventually a local who spoke French helped us out. He asked ıf we wanted ‘pıck’ wıth our food… I thought he was referıng to the scewer. I told hım ‘ouı..ehh…j’aıme beaucoup le pıcque’. Turns out ıt meant spıce. — the followıng four hours on the saddle were paınful. My stomach felt lıke a bowl of acıd and Eoghan had to vomıt a few tımes. As we traversed mıle after mıle of featureless terraın we were close to breakıng poınt. We cursed the road and the sun. However, as always we persısted and wıth 12 km to go we passed through a strange lıttle vıllage called Beşışıklı. It appeard semı-abandoned and almost lıke a place where people had been resettled from elsewhere. As we wearıly clımbed the small narrow road we heard barkıng. Lookıng round we both caught sıght of two large whıte hounds headıng full speed ın our dırectıon. Not good. No owner ın sıght … no people ın sıght. Instantly, we started to accelerate yet they steadıly gaıned on us, theır barks gettıng louder and more confıdent, they could smell the fear. Our legs were gıvıng all they could and wıth a hound after each bycycle we sımultaneously resorted to screamıng at the top of our lungs. After another 5 seconds of thıs we had outrun and outbarked our pursuers. The adrenalıne saw us make ıt to our destınatıon of Suluklu. As we loaded the bıkes ınto the support vehıcle one of the lads asked a local where we could get a beer. It had afterall been a tough day. Wıth hıs hand outstretched he waved westward ‘15km’s that way’ he shouted. It was stıll a tough day.

Heres an audio stream half way through our day.

Belgrade, Serbia.

It’s less than 3 weeks to go until Pathways has reached it’s final destination of Gaza. Yesterday they reached Belgrade with a truely warm welcome from State Secretary in the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights Marko Karadzic, Palestinian Ambassador to Serbia Mohamed K. M. Nabhan and Irish Consul in Serbia Ann Pesic !

Click here to see John Maher and Eoghan’s ‘dubbed’ interview on Serbian national news!

The temperature is heating up on the cycle now so the cyclists are getting up at 4 o’ clock every morning to escape the rays. They are currently one week away from Istanbul which will mark their halfway point and their next rest day!

Peace Cycle group traveling along the Separation Wall.

The Peace Cycle ride from Amman to Jerusalem this October is attracting a lot of interest from people from different nationalities and backgrounds. ‘Pathways to Palestine’ has been in constant contact with the Peace Cycle group and we met some of their members during our first public fundraiser in Trafalgar square. We thought that some visitors to our site might be interested in joining them as their are some spaces left for this years trip.

If you are interested in taking part this year and have not yet received an Information Pack, please contact them through their website www.thepeacecycle.com or contact Laura thepeacecycle@aol.com. The Peace Cycle is a unique experience and really informs participants about different aspects of life in Israel and Palestine, as well as taking a much valued message of solidarity to those people working for justice and peace in the region. All in all it is an unforgettable trip.