British MP George Galloway and Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic lead convoy to Gaza

·     George Galloway is a British Member of Parliament for the London constituency. He was first elected to Parliament for the City of Glasgow in Scotland in 1987.  He has been elected five times to the House of Commons and is now one of the more senior members.  For fourteen out of fifteen years he was the elected Senior Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party's Foreign Affairs Committee.  The exception was the year 1991 during the Gulf War when he was narrowly defeated.

He is a founder of the Stop the War Coalition UK and is currently its Vice-President. The Stop The War Coalition mobilized two million people to protest against the war on Iraq (the largest demonstration of people in British history).

In response to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, Galloway organized the Viva Palestina aid convoy to the Gaza Strip. Raising over $2 million-worth of humanitarian aid in four weeks, Galloway and hundreds of volunteers launched the convoy comprising approximately 120 vehicles intended for use in the Strip, including a fire engine, 12 ambulances, a boat and trucks full of medicines, tools, clothes, blankets and gifts for children. The 5,000-mile route passed through Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.[Wikipedia]

·     Imam Mahdi Bray is a long time civil and human rights activist currently serving as the Executive Director of MAS Freedom (MASF), the Washington, D.C.-based civic and human rights advocacy entity of the Muslim American Society (MAS).

·     Dr. Mohamed Odah is a principal professional engineer and founder of a highly respected environmental engineering firm, based in Overland Park, Kansas.  Dr. Odah developed and patented engineering technologies that are implemented worldwide and is a frequent speaker at major national and international engineering conferences.   Dr. Odah earned his Ph.D. at UMKC and his M.S. and B.S. in engineering at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Odah grew up in Gaza and arrived at KU after finishing high school and has been a resident of the Kansas City area for almost 30 years. His family, including his 89 years old mother whom he has not been able to visit in 6 years despite several attempts, continues to reside in Gaza. 

      Mohammed Atwa is a Kansas City resident with Palestinian family members in Gaza. He spoke about his family recently on KKFI-FM 90.1 radio. Mr. Atwa’s mother lives in Gaza, while his brother is a journalist for Ramattan, the only news organization reporting live on events in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli attacks. Mr. Atwa grew up and studied in Gaza, and works with Arava Institute, an environmental education school in Israel. Mr. Atwa spoke at the CJME Gaza fundraiser in January 2009.

MAS Freedom (MASF) is a civic and human rights advocacy entity and sister organization of the Muslim American Society (MAS), the largest Muslim, grassroots, charitable, religious, social, cultural, civic and educational organization in America - with 55 chapters in 35 states.

Since 2003 Kansas City-based Citizens for Justice in the Middle East (CJME - http://www.cjme.org) has educated the public about the issues involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and seeks to end U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Citizens for Peace and Justice in the Holy Land is a small group of people committed to the idea that the U.S. has a vital role to play in securing fairness and justice to all parties in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Our mission includes informing and mobilizing citizens in the southeast Jackson County area who will work to insist that our national policy be formulated in accord with our American values.

American Friends Service Committee--Kansas CIty - work includes exposing the human and economic costs of the Iraq occupation and moving beyond opposing war, to promote a foreign and domestic policy based upon human security for all people and all nations.

The mission of the American Muslims for Palestine is to educate the public about the just cause of Palestine and the rights of self-determination, liberty and justice. Through providing information, training and networking with like-minded individuals and organizations that support peace, AMP will raise awareness of the issues pertaining to Palestine and its rich cultural heritage.

Peaceworks Kansas City is dedicated to ending the use of military power to achieve objectives when viable alternatives are available.