June 2012
The Global March to Jerusalem
By Rick Williams, May 2012
The seed of the idea for GMJ initially came out of the Asia to Gaza Caravan of 2010-2011. In Spring 2011 a small group of Palestinians and Internationals reflected on that previous project and decided that a global march and rally focusing on Jerusalem could be a good way to draw the world’s attention to what is happening in Palestine. As they later said, “The Global March to Jerusalem aims to shed light on the issue of Jerusalem (The City of Peace) as the key to peace and war in the region and the world.”
Throughout Summer and Fall 2011 the idea was proposed to activist organizations and individuals around the world. In many cases the initial response was skepticism. As Ghada Karmi said, in an eloquent article written in the run-up to March 30, “I had not expected it [Global March to Jerusalem] would ever happen when I first heard about it.”