Egypt blocks US activists' march

[Lars77]

Source: Al Jazeera



Egyptian security forces have attempted to prevent dozens of US activists from reaching their embassy in Cairo.

Hoping to ask the American ambassador for help in reaching the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, some 41 American citizens instead found themselves surrounded by riot police.

All those rounded up 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.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/20091229135120588522.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. Starhawk is in that group...

http://starhawksblog.org/

...and her report is, well, pure Starhawk...

"...knowing I was coming on this trip, I had downloaded some language-learning programs and listened to them long enough to learn to count to ten and to say, “I would like to eat something.” No doubt a useful phrase. I smiled at grim cop in front of me, held up one finger, and said, “Wehed?” His eyes locked on mine. I held up two. “Efnayim?” He ventured a smile, nodded encouragingly, and said “Taletha.” “Arbah” I replied, holding up four, and before I knew it the entire line of cops within earshot were grinning and nodding encouragement as I counted to ten, then patiently instructing me on to eleven, twelve, thirteen…There’s a music to the Arabic numbers that is quite hypnotic, and before I knew it I was up to a hundred, with my team cheering me on. Then we started over again, and over. They were all gazing at me with fond, paternal eyes, like a father looks at a promising child, and they stopped looking to me like potential torturers and started looking more like sweet young men doing a job that wasn’t really their choice to begin with.

"Then they switched shifts, and I had to start all over again. But damn if it didn’t work just the same way with the new guard. The truth is, the personal sympathies of these guys are already with us, mostly. They aren’t subject to the same political pressures as Mubarak. The young ones in uniform are conscripts, just doing their time."

(MORE)

[kas125]

3. And here are the group's pooled photos, in case you haven't

seen them: http://www.flickr.com/groups/gazafreedommarch/pool/show/with/4225452697/

[Vidar]

4. Great story. Thanks.

[Tailormyst]

7. She is a wonderful Priestess.

I greatly admire her.

[EFerrari]

2. It's not "dozens" but around 1400 people from 42 countries!

[The Stranger]

5. Irony: the media reports on Egypt "blocking" the march, not Israeli genocide of Gazans, which is

the whole point of the march in the first place.

[EFerrari]

6. Code Pink asked Mrs. Mubarak to help them

http://www.opednews.com/articles/No-Stone-Unturned-by-CODEPINK-091229-230.html