Donated medical supplies just five minutes from targetBy Alison McCallum
THE doctor looking out his window can see the van 100 yards down the dust track road. He knows it contains the medical supplies he needs to save many lives. Decked out in Scottish and Palestinian flags, the van is motionless. He turns from the window, picks up blood-stained equipment from an earlier operation and prepares for surgery.
The van - destined for Gaza - contains one and a half tonnes of medical supplies donated by people from Scotland.
After leaving Edinburgh in the van on July 10, Khalil Al Niss is now stuck in a hotel room in El Arish, miles from the Egypt-Gaza border crossing at Rafah, waiting for news from the authorities. After 10 days of travelling and almost a week of waiting for approval to go through the gate, his partner, Linda Wallis, now has to return home to Edinburgh to her work as a practice nurse at Heriot Watt University and leave Al Niss to finish their mission alone.
Wallis says: "The hospital is five minutes away from the gate. There's nothing there - it's a gate. It's just so frustrating and annoying. It seems they are trying their best to stop us entering."
The van is carrying desperately needed antibiotics, painkillers, diabetic supplies, and medical equipment to the area as supplies run out and the death toll continues to rise. The human cost of the delay is all too apparent - the doctor reported to Al Niss that he ran out of supplies on Thursday.
The Rafah border gate is the latest barrier to obstruct their vital delivery. At the port of Nuweiba in Egypt Wallis, 51, and Al Niss, 49, had to fully empty the van and repack it, the doors had special locks fitted at the request of officials and they had several discussions with police. The couple also faced two days of questioning when getting the ferry from Aqaba, in Jordan - with Wallis being left alone in an office and then quizzed about personal details - which she described as "a bit uncomfortable".
Now officials at the Egypt-Rafah border are demanding a letter from Scottish parliamentarians detailing the contents of the van - despite it also being inspected when they arrived at the border into Gaza.
The obstacles have meant that preventable deaths in Gaza have continued. Mike Napier, chairman of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says that in the last year around 212 deaths in the area have been caused by a lack of medical supplies.
He says: "This is an entirely man-made tragedy. What Linda and Khalil are doing is very noble. These are two wonderful people from Edinburgh who, as they learned more, couldn't bear to stand by. Linda is a nurse and Khalil is a self-employed driver and they have taken time off work to do this.
"If the pressure is built up strongly enough they will let the medicine through. The response from the people of Scotland has been tremendous."
Napier made two attempts earlier this year to take supplies to Gaza - both proving unsuccessful - with Israel refusing entry in January and then being sent back to Cairo with a bus loaded with medicine during his attempt in March.
The couple expected to deliver the supplies into Gaza on July 15. Now they are relying on supporters back home to secure the backing of politicians.
The campaign has received support of several MSPs, including Margo MacDonald, Sandra White and George Foulkes. Wallis and Al Niss hope their support will meet the demands of officials to let them complete their mission.
