There has been some buzz about this proposed march and here’s the latest email about it, in full, below. First, a Tikkun editorial statement, endorsing the nonviolent aspirations of the march leaders, but written out of an appreciation that true nonviolence at its most effective is a hard thing indeed to achieve when anger is high:

We hope that this challenge to Israel’s treatment to Gaza can happen in a way that rejects the “bash Israel” perspective that sometimes accompanies these demonstrations. We believe that more will be accomplished by the nonviolent flavor of a Martin Luther King, Jr.-led demonstration than by a demonstration that can easily be portrayed as filled with “hate-Israel” types. We understand the anger created by the murder of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza last year, and we support the call for a full investigation suggested by The Goldstone Report to the U.N. But we believe that the demonstrations would be far more significant if done in a way that reassured the Israeli people that their legitimate grievance at the shelling of Israeli civilians by Hamas in the months before the war in Gaza was taken by the demonstrators was also being acknowledged, thereby conveying that the solution sought by peace forces recognizes that the larger struggle between Israel and Palestine is too complex to fit in any “good guys vs. bad guys” scenario.

The official announcement:

Historic Gaza Freedom March to Israeli Border Set For December 31

Global grassroots initiative inspired by Gandhi/Mandela aims to break blockade

The Gaza Freedom March that will take place in Gaza on December 31 is an historic initiative to break the siege that has imprisoned the 1.5 million people who live there. Conceived in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and nonviolent resistance to injustice worldwide, the march will gather people from all over the world to march—hand in hand—with the people of Gaza to demand that the Israelis open the borders.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the December 2008 Israeli invasion that left over 1,400 dead, this is a grassroots global response to the inaction on the part of world leaders and institutions. Over 800 international delegates from 35 countries have already signed up and more are signing on every day. Participants include Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker, leading Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham, French Senator Alima Boumediene–Thiery, author and Filipino Parliament member Walden Bello, former European Parliamentarians Luisa Morgantini from Italy and Eva Quistorp from Germany, President of the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Michael Ratner, Japanese former Ambassador to Lebanon Naoto Amaki, French hip-hop artists Ministere des Affaires Populaires, and 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein.

We also have families of three generations, doctors, lawyers, diplomats, 70 students, an interfaith group that includes rabbis, priests and imams, a women’s delegation, a Jewish contingent, a veterans group and Palestinians born overseas who have never seen their families in Gaza.

The international delegates will enter Gaza via Egypt during the last week of December. In the morning December 31, they will join Palestinians in a non-violent march from Northern Gaza to the Erez/Israeli border. On the Israeli side of the Erez border will be a gathering of Palestinians and Jews who are also calling on the Israeli government to open the border.

Inside Gaza, excitement is growing. Representatives of all aspects of civil society, including students, professors, refugee groups, unions, women’s organizations, NGOs, have been busy organizing and estimate that at least 50,000 Palestinians will participate. People from the different sectors will march in their uniforms–fishermen, doctors, students, farmers, etc. Local Palestinian rappers, hiphop bands and Dabbkeh dancers will perform on mobile stages.

For more information see www.gazafreedommarch.org <http://www.gazafreedommarch.org>