Pilgrimage to Gaza: Logistics
Supporting a religious pilgrimage to Gaza as a moral intervention
Some thoughts on the logistical arrangements to support a religious pilgrimage to Gaza as a moral intervention as presented in A Call to Alms:
Türkiye's Erdogan has proclaimed he wants to help. Hezbollah are already helping. So, the logistics looks like this:
Gather your 50+ representatives each of imams, rabbis, priests and monks (possibly Buddhist) and nuns in Istanbul for a total travelling party of in excess of 200. Sail using a small flotilla offered by others and supported by Türkiye to Beirut. Türkiye and other states may provide security, though whether that is a good idea is questionable.
Contact Hezbollah ahead of time. They'll know how to cross the Lebanese border into the Golan heights without using a fortified border post and also how operative Israel's surveillance is on various parts of the border. This is the only real challenge, getting in to the contested territory of the Golan. Crossing the border may best be achieved in a collection of small parties. Take Hezbollah's advice on this.
With the contingent of religious leaders need to travel sherpas (or equivalent to carry water and other essentials) and journalists.
For sherpas I would call for young volunteers from the reserve military of the nations from which the religious leaders come. Then you get fit, strong and disciplined. Ensure they have a sergent they trust per group. There are, naturally, other good choices for haulage.
The journalists will need satellite communications equipment and their phones/cameras and for this they'll need power. Elon Musk may wish to donate some Starlink terminals as a gesture of good will. The power issue is a little tricky and would be best handled by establishing a set of points to visit where batteries are exchanged for others fully charged. Batteries are the third major load which the sherpas will be carrying. Supplies of water and flour may be able to be regenerated at the stops too.
Continuous coverage is essential, so the journo's need to ration power consumption to ensure that this is achieved. The recording and satellite uplinks are the protection of the relief party.
The trip is essentially a pilgrimage. The route and timing can be planned for maximal media coverage, but the essence is to reach the fortified border of Gaza from the northeast. Expect that you will be blockaded by Israel's government services and possibly the citizenry too. This is where the journalists are important.
Do not forget camera and video artists. The pictures are the gold. Skilled writers can work remotely. Its the old story of the war reporters. They always praised the camera women and men, because they had to be there. This requires incredible courage. History informs us that these vital, visual documentarians do.
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Bon voyage!
PS: It is very tempting to take doctors and nurses with the party. Don't. That group should follow. The purpose of the religious contingent is to gird the loins of the world's political leadership. With that support the UN should be able to authorize an international peace keeping mission which will come with a strong medical contingent.
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