500 civil resisters from 17 Asian countries will join the caravan from India and march through 18 Asian cities of Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey to break the siege of Gaza through the sea route in December 2010   The Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan is being organised by the Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine, an alliance of peoples’ organisations, social movements, trade unions, and civil society institutions of Asia. This struggle is broad-based, varied and multi-dimensional. It is humanitarian and for peace, freedom and human dignity. It is against occupation, imperialism, apartheid, Zionism and all forms of discrimination including religious discrimination.   The Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine extends solidarity to the courageous people of Palestine in their struggle, resistance, and intifada against the Zionist Israeli occupation and affirms its commitment to Palestinian Self-Determination; Ending the Occupation; Equal Rights for All within historic Palestine; the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees; and the Establishment of a Sovereign, Independent and Democratic state of Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital.      The Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine commits to build the solidarity of Asian people for the freedom of Palestine, provide materials, resources, and volunteers to support the struggle of the people of Palestine and oppose our own governments’ decisions and actions that give economic, financial, military and diplomatic support to Israel and allow it to behave with impunity.   India Lifeline to Gaza, which is a constituent of the Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine will have a conference and a large flag off programme in New Delhi on 2nd December 2010. The Caravan will carry relief material for the people of Gaza. The Asia to Gaza Caravan will cross into Pakistan via the Wagah border where members of the Pakistan Solidarity for Gaza will join the Caravan onwards to Iran. In every country and city that the caravan travels through, public meetings will be organised as more activists and participants join the caravan.   TENTATIVE CARAVAN SCHEDULE 01 DecemberParticipants from East and South East Asia reach New Delhi, India15 - 17 DecemberTabriz, Iran to Eskandarun, Turkey  2 - 3 DecemberFlag off from New Delhi  and travel to Wagah border, India-Pakistan Border18 - 19 DecemberEskandarun, Turkey to Damascus, Syria  04 DecemberReach Lahore, Pakistan20 - 21 DecemberDamascus, Syria to Amman Jordan 5 - 7 DecemberLahore to Karachi/Quetta, Pakistan22 - 23 DecemberAmman, Jordan to Beirut Lebanon 08 DecemberKarachi/Quetta, Pakistan to Zahedan, Iran24 - 26 DecemberBeirut back to Turkey 9 - 14 DecemberZahedan, Iran to Tabriz, Iran26 DecemberWe Sail for Gaza (Palestine)     Peaceful Resistance The civil resisters have resolved to resist the Israeli sea siege in a peaceful manner and following the example of civil resisters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela as well as the long tradition of peaceful resistance from all ethical and religious traditions. The civil resisters are willing to be convicted for their peaceful resistance.    India Lifeline to Gaza This process has been initiated by Indian people’s movements, social movements, trade unions, civil society organisations and multi-faith and ecumenical organisations.  In the two months prior to departure of the Asia to Gaza caravan there will be multi-city programmes in solidarity of the people of Gaza and Palestine. Film festivals of Palestinian films and films of resistance, music concerts, photo exhibits, and theatre productions are being organised by the supporters of the people of Gaza and Palestine.     Palestinian Film Festival: Celebrating Cultures of Resistance A week-long film festival screening Palestinian films and documentaries is being planned across several cities of India in the last week of October (tentatively 23-30 October). Several other initiatives such as solidarity concerts, theatrical performances, photo exhibits, panel discussions and seminars will also be planned in the days leading up to the flag-off of the Caravan.   End the Siege of Gaza • Freedom to Palestine • Boycott Israel Endorsed by: Organisations All India Students Association (AISA) Aman Bharat Asha Parivar Awami Bharat Bahujan Sewak Sangh Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) Bharat Bachao Andolan Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur) Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Committee) CPI(ML) CPI-ML (New Democracy) Forum against Oppression of Women Free Gaza - India Global Gandhi Forum Indian Isladhi Movement India Palestine People’s Solidarity Forum Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU ) INHURED International (Nepal) Insaaniyat Intercultural Resources Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Hind Jamat-e-Islami-Hind Loknaad Mazdoor Ekta Manch Muslim Intellectual Forum Muslim Political Council of India National Association of Peoples Movements (NAPM) National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)  New Socialist Initiative (NSI) New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) Palestine Solidarity Movement People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Phule-Ambedkar Vichar Manch Programme against Custodial Torture and Impunity (PACTI) Progressive Students Union (PSU) Republican Panther Saheli Women’s Resource Centre Sarva Seva Sangh Solidarity Youth Movement South Asia Peace Alliance (SAPA) South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers (SANGAT) Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI) Vidyarthi Bharti Yuva Koshish All India Majlis-i-Mushawarrat   Individuals:   Achin Vanaik Agdish Nagarkar Amol Madame Anand Grover Anand Patwardhan Anand Swaroop Verma  Anil Chaudhary  Arif Kapadia Ashish Kothari Asif Khan Aslam Ghazi Bajrang Sonawane Brig. Sudhir Sawant Chetna Birje Ghazala Azad Ihtishaam Ansari Jai Sen Javed Naqvi  Kabir Arora Kalyani Menon-Sen, New Delhi Khalid Riaz Mukta Srivastava Mukul Sinha  Mulniwasi Mala Munawwar Azad Munawwar Khan Qurratulain Sundus Reshma  Jagtap Ritu Menon Rohini Hensman  Salman Usmani Sandeep Pandey  Sanjay Shinde Savyasaachi Sayeed Khan Sayeeda Hameed Shabnam Hashmi Shahid Siddiqui Sheikh Muhammad Hussain Shyam Sonar Sudhir Dhawale Sumi Saikia Syed Iftikhar Ahed Tusha Mittal Varsha V V Vasanthi Raman Vilas Gaikwad Winnie Thomas Yawar Ali Qazi   Indian Coordination Committee: 1.      Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Editor, Milli Gazette / Majlis-i-Mushawarrat 2.      Ashim Roy, National Trade Union Initiative and Member, Asian Coordination Committee 3.      Feroze Mithiborwala, India Palestine People's Solidarity Forum and Member, Asian Coordination Committee 4.      Com. Ramachandran, CPI-ML 5.      Shahid Siddiqui, Editor, Nai Duniya and Ex-MP 6.      Dr. Sunilam, Kisan Sangarsh Samiti and Ex-MLA 7.      Com. Sanjay Singhvi, Trade Union Centre of India  8.      Mujtaba Farooq, Jamat-i-Islami-i-Hind 9.      Com. Tapas Ranjan Saha, CPIML-Liberation 10.  Niaz Faruqi, Jamiatul-Ulema-i-Hind 11.  Dr. Tasleem Rehmani,  Muslim Political Council of India 12.  Dr. Mrigank, CPI-ML-New Democracy 13.  Com. Vasudevan, Blue Star Union 14.  Com. Ravi Joshi, Indian Federation of Trade Unions 15.  Com. Thomas Matthew, Bahujan Vampanth 16.  Sandeep Pandey, National Alliance of People's Movements 17.  Bhim Singh, Bahujan Sevak Sangh 18.  Com. Aslam Sheikh, All India Students Association 19.  Kishore Jagtap, Mahatma Phule-Dr. Ambedkar Vichar Manch  20.  Shah Nawaz, Students Islamic Organization 21.  Gauhar Iqbal, Palestine Solidarity Movement