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We just received word that the CODEPINK Canadian nine-member delegation and the 30-member student delegation is on its way through into Gaza, after being stuck at the Rafah border for several days! Check out this story in The Toronto Star today, reporting from Jerusalem:

Nine Canadian peace activists were again barred from entering the Gaza Strip from neighbouring Egypt yesterday, along with a shipment of medical supplies and children’s toys they hope to deliver to the territory’s long-suffering people.

It was the third day in a row the Canadians had been turned back by Egyptian border guards stationed at Rafah, on the border between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Gaza.

“It’s a struggle each day,” delegation leader Sandra Ruch said from the Egyptian town of El-Arish near the border. “We’ve already lost three days of our itinerary.”

Medea Benjamin and many members of a 30-member delegation are in Cairo now, planning to enter Gaza through Israel next week (and seriously doubting that they’ll be let in). Check out this story from the JTA news service describing Patch Adam (the clown-doctor portrayed by Robin Williams in the 1998 film about his life).

Follow the Canadian delegation’s progress through Rafah, Egypt to Gaza via delegate Sandra Ruch’s blog on Rabble.ca here and through American delegate Pam Rasmussen’s blog, as her 150+ person travels through from Cairo to Israel to attempt to cross into Gaza this week!

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