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Egypt Blocks US Activists' March
Egyptian security forces have attempted to prevent dozens of US activists from reaching their embassy in Cairo.
Gaza Freedom Marchers are campaigning against the siege raised on the Palestinian territory [AFP] Hoping to ask the American ambassador for help in reaching the Gaza
Strip, riot police surrounded 41 US citizens and one Egyptian on
Tuesday and blocked their progress.
All those surrounded were members of the Gaza Freedom Marchers organisation, a group planning to travel to Gaza to protest an Egyptian and Israeli blockade of the besieged territory.
However, one activist, Ali Abunimah, a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada website, told Al Jazeera that the US embassy did eventually allow US citizens to enter their embassy in groups of ten.
"We met with a political rep. in the embassy, Greg Legrefo, and talked about the dire situation in Gaza and international complicity for more than hour .... but the bottom line is the US supports the siege of Gaza.
"The US Army Corps of Engineers is even providing technical assistance to build an underground wall [to stop the Gaza tunnel networks from operating]."
Demonstration
An impromptu demonstration, reported on the Twitter micro-blogging service, began as soon as police prevented the groups progess on a side street near the embassy, keeping them there for hours.
"We believe the US Embassy asked Egyptian State Security to act against its own citizens and prevent them from entering the Embassy," Gael Murphy, one of the activists, said.
"We are outraged as US citizens about being detained simply for trying to get to our embassy," she said.
US embassy spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.
Organisers of the Gaza Freedom March say 1,300 people from around the world came to Egypt to try to enter Gaza to deliver aid and to participate in a peaceful march protesting the closure of the Gaza Strip's borders.
Since the activists were told last month that they would not be able to march on Gaza, they have staged a series of small protests around Cairo.
US citizen Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, on Monday said she would go on hunger strike to protest Egypt's refusal to allow the march to proceed.
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8 Comments so far
Show AllYes! The U.S. supports the illegal siege on Gaza while it conducts it's own illegal war on Iraq, murdering and torturing hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings!!! It also conducts war against Afghanistan, Pakisatan and now, Yemen! The U.S. gives three billion in military aid every year to the terrorist state of Israel which has illegally attacked and murdered over 1300 innocent women, children and men and held captive the Gazan population in an open air prison! Truly, can anyone name a country more morally bankrupt than the U.S. of A.??? And apparently there is no end to the bottom of the barrel that the U.S. is sinking into! The Americans are not stopping their criminal government and the world citizens need to start a BOYCOTT, DIVEST AND SANCTION movement against the U.S. and their masters the Israelis!!
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Noam Chomsky on Gaza: "We constantly talk, rightly, about Israeli crimes; but that's highly misleading, because they are U.S.-Israeli crimes. There is nothing that Israel does that goes beyond what the United States authorizes and in fact directly supports with economic, diplomatic, military, and also ideological support.-That is, by framing issues...
So these are U.S.-Israeli crimes. If we talk about israel we should remember,--- we are talking about ourselves!!!. Its not like talking about crimes of China..."
What state is being served by the Egyptian state? ? Who is the "Israeli" state serving? ...Not to forget...
We often compare zionist tactics to Nazi's but actually we can go futher back to times when walled cities were laid siege to and given the standard ultimatum surrender or we will kill everyone of you, man woman and child, after we breech your walls.
BDS
All Power to All People !!
Re; Glen's post; when Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders, the Jews and the Muslims were all slaughtered, however when retaken by Saladin, all were spared, including even the surviving Crusaders...
"US citizen Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, on Monday said she would go on hunger strike to protest Egypt's refusal to allow the march to proceed."
last week amy goodman interviewed hedy epstein, did you see it? i was very impressed by this spunky octogenarian!
what's wrong with the world's misleaders?
you know?
i think the criminally insane have taken over the asylum!