Egyptian police arrest local journalists during Gaza protest

Hossam el-Hamalawy reports that three journalists working for Al-Masry Al-Youm was arrested today while covering a pro-Palestine protest in front of the french embassy in Cairo. Follow Hossam on twitter for updates. 

"Like a kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them."

The Israeli organization "Breaking the Silence" today published a report with testimonies of soldiers who participated in "Operation Cast Lead" in Gaza six months ago, documenting the total disregard for civilian life during the war: 

Among the 54 testimonies are stories revealing the use of "accepted practices," the destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose, the firing of phosphorous gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims with small arms, the destruction of private property, and most of all, a permissive atmosphere in the command structure that enabled soldiers to act without moral restrictions. The booklet compiles the testimonies of about 30 reserve and regular combat soldiers from various units that participated in the fighting. The testimonies demonstrate that the soldiers were not given directives stating the goal of the operation and, as one soldier testifies, "there was not much said about the issue of innocent civilians." 

Many soldiers said that they fought without seeing "the enemy before their eyes." "You feel like an infantile little kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them," one of the soldiers testified that "a 20-year-old kid should not have to do these kinds of things to other people." 

Humanitarian workers continue hunger strike at Rafah border crossing

I just spoke to a British doctor from a group of medics and aid workers who went on hunger stike at the Rafah border crossing 4 days ago, protesting the refusal of the Egyptian authorities to let them cross into Gaza after almost three weeks of waiting. Some of the hungerstrikers are from another group of medics that has been waiting at the border for 50 days. According to Dr. Omar Mangoush, police has prevented any foreigners from crossing the last checkpoints between el-Arish and Rafah since the hungerstrike started, and detained at least one Egyptian journalist for talking to the doctors "without permission."

Long live Palestine - and the Arab regimes

I just read this report by Hossam al-Hamalawy about George Galloway's "ass-kissing carneval": "The “red carpet” welcome, planned by Egyptian activists and opposition parliamentarians, to receive George Galloway’s “Viva Palestine” caravan, has been canceled. The activists learned tonight that Mr. Galloway has made arrangements with Mubarak’s NDP, and will be received by Ahmad Ezz, steel industry monopolist, senior NDP henchman, and the target of several anti-corruption campaigns."

A quick online search reveals that the Egyptian regime isn't the only one courted by Galloway. He recently met with the prime minister of Tunisia and hailed the government's support for the people of Gaza. Meanwhile, The Tripoli Post reports that "Libyans at the public and official levels are preparing to welcome the convoy with cheers and support for their noble undertaking.. Leading the welcome preparations of the convoy is the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) which said it is to join the Gaza Aid Convey with its own convey of medical aid. ... According to GICDF, the pro-Palestinian British PM George Galloway, the force behind the aid initiative, has been in contact with the foundation and coordinating with it."

Arguably, coordinating with the regimes in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt is probably the only way to have such a caravan pass through the North African countries, and to ensure its entry into Gaza from Egypt. But if Galloway hadn't designed this campaign in order to ensure the maximum possible media attention for himself, he could have considered other ways to support Palestine - without becoming a propaganda tool for authoritarian regimes. This is particularly offending in the case of the Egyptian regime, since it was widely criticized in the region for its stance during the war, its participation in the blockade, and the heavy crackdowns on pro-Gaza demonstrations.

I'd like to draw attention to another initiative recently launched in Sweden: "Ship to Gaza." The idea is "to send a ship from Scandinavia to Gaza via ports in Europe and the Mediterranean with humanitarian assistance, from human to human. The voyage draws attention to an issue that must have a just solution, and sends a clear message to the people in Gaza: you are not alone." Behind this campaign stands solidarity movements, trade unions, religious groups, and European Jews for a Just Peace. Thus, it's a real grassroots initiative, and I would be surprised if the organizers allowed it to be used as internal propaganda by Arab dictators.

UPDATE: Sarah Carr spoke today with Sabah El-Mokhtar, a British lawyer and one of the organisers of the Viva Palestina convoy, who told her: "With the greatest respect to him, none of us know who this Ahmed Ezz is. We are not involved in the domestic politics of Egypt and categorically deny that we have coordinated with political parties. We have to deal with the state's authorities in order to get through Egypt and our coordination has been with these bodies only. If a state wants to send representatives to greet the convoy that is entirely a matter for that state. In the states we have passed through already like Algeria we were greeted by many people and sometimes we didn't know who they were – whether they were official figures or not."

In other words, if any autocratic regime wants to use the convoy as a tool for domestic propaganda, they are most welcome to do so, because the campaign is not involved in "internal politics," and the organizers are too naive or careless to find out who they are dealing with.

Note that I'm not condeming the participants in the convoy or suggesting that their initiative is not a "noble undertaking," as the Libyan state-controlled media put it. I'm just saying that activists in Europe should work harder to find ways to support Palestine without alienating the oppresed opposition in Arab countries, as the struggle for a just solution in Palestine must be linked to the struggle for democratic reform and justice in the Middle East.

MB on Gaza, internal reform, and the social protest movement

Islam Online recently published an interview with Mohamed Habib, deputy supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, conducted by blogger and journalist Abdel Moneim Mahmoud. It focuses on the question - asked by many - of why the MB mobilized on a large scale during the recent war on Gaza, while being comparatively passive on internal issues, whether economic or political.

Habib's response is that solidarity with Gaza is among the first priorities of the movement, and that this is not separate from but "parallell" or "equivalent" to demands of internal reform, because of the strong link between fighting Israeli occupation and the autocratic regimes in the region. He also says that the issue of Palestine is the central and most important issue for all muslims and arabs, but also something that concerns the whole world. And for the MB, he says, it enters "the heart of our strategy and planing."

He then goes on to say: "The issue of Palestine, with its regional and international dimensions, has both negative and positive effects on the internal situation, whether economical or political, in the Islamic and the Arab world. We shouldn't distinguish between what's happening on the regional level and internally in Egypt. In our view, solving the question of Palestine will be an entrance to solving the internal problems of the arab nation and muslim nation, including the issue of political reform."

Interestingly, this is almost opposite the slogan that is commonly heard among leftists: that the road the the liberation of Palestine runs through Cairo, Damascus and Amman. One possible way to interpret this statement is as an implicit acknowledment that the MB won't dare to seriously challenge the regime as long as the regional situation means that a MB-led government in Egypt risk being treated as a pariah by the US and the "international community," in the same way as the elected Palestinian government led by Hamas.

Habib also says that support for the Palestinian resistance can "liberate us from fear" and inspire the peaceful struggle for change in Egypt and Arab countries. Comparing the issue of Gaza and internal reform, he says: "There are priorities, and when there is a humanitarian catastrophe as in Gaza, it is a human and legal and national duty to pressure our regimes and governments to move, and to express our angers towards the aggressor."

Still, he acknowledges that "the brotherhood did not respond as strongly to social issues like the bread crisis or soaring prices as we should have at the time." His explanation for this is that "involvement in the social protest movement in a political way could make the regime deal with it more harshly and violently." Despite this, he claims, the MB has been giving support to the social protest movement, and "were present" in many of the protests, including the strikes in Mahalla, "but without giving them a political character to ensure the continued existence [of the movement]."

This sounds rather vague. Also, all the union activists and workers I've met in Mahalla and during other strikes and protests in the industrial sector during the last year strongly denied any involvement of the MB (or any other political group for that matter) in organizing or supporting their struggle. In the rare cases where militant workers have admitted association with - or even talked favorably of - any political trend, it has been the socialists or communists.

Activists continue Gaza solidarity march despite crackdown

The ToGaza group staged another march yesterday - click the pic for my report in Daily News Egypt - and pledged that the campaign will continue. I'm the first to admit that this event only made the news because the crackdown on the previous march. It's worth noting that many of the participants this time were newcomers who decided to join after hearing about the last march - a clear sign that since the recent war on Gaza, many foreign students and others in Egypt really feel an urge to do something about Palestine, despite the obvious security constraints imposed on all forms of activism here.

Blogger Mohamed Adel on hungerstrike

Detained blogger Mohamed Adel is starting a hungerstrike, protesting his continued detention and maltreatment in the prison, el-Badeel reports today. Adel was detained on 20 November in a café in Downtown Cairo, and is being accused of membership in an illegal organization. He visited Gaza during the temporary border breach in January last year.

Magdy Hussein refused visit by wife and lawyer

The prison administration in Port Said refused a visit to Magdy Hussen, secretary-general of the "suspended" Labour Party, by his wife and laywer, al-Badeel reports. The administration says regulations don't allow visits in the first 11 days, and refused to make an exception. Hussein was sentenced to two years in jail last week by a military court for visiting Gaza without a permission.

According to a report in al-Youm al-Sabi3, Hussein sent a letter to his wife stating that we doesn't want to present a plea for pardon to the president, as his party was planning.

Tabula Gaza v2.0

Philip Rizk relaunched his blog Tabula Gaza, after it was closed down by State Security. His first post is about the horrible experience of his kidnapping and detention, and ends with this message:

"The Gaza Strip is a different form of concentration camp. No Palestinian- whether students, the sick, businessmen and women- can travel beyond its borders and Israel permits only a very very few internationals to enter. These- mainly journalists and NGO workers like I used to be- remind me of zoo visitors that take pictures and talk about the terrible conditions of the animals in their cages but then leave, in the meantime Gaza remains the same. According to the UN 85% of Gazans are reliant on food aid, again like animals in a zoo they are fed and kept alive, but barely. Leaked reports from the Red Cross recently reported high percentages of malnutrition of children especially in the refugee camps- 70% of Gazans are refugees from 1948. The purpose of our protest march was and continues to be to raise awareness of the ongoing siege on Gaza building on the momentum of protest during the Israeli military onslaught on Gaza at the start of this year.

Your outrage about my unjustified imprisonment mirrors my outrage about this ongoing injustice done to the Palestinian people. If our governments and representatives the world over will not change the status quo we- the multitude-must mobilize, on the streets, on the web, in government, in schools, anywhere to call for change. Such an outrage changed South Africa not that long ago and it can change the injustice carried out against Palestinians today.

Email us your ideas and actions here: info@togaza.net
Follow up with us here: togaza.net"

Diaa Eddin Gad - abducted by state security

23-year old blogger Diaa Eddin Gad was detained by Egyptian state security in front of his family's house in a village outside Tanta on 6 February 2009. Michael Slackman reports for IHT: "Gad was seated at his computer working on his blog. His mother had just laid out lunch and his older sister was behind him studying for medical school. His phone rang, he walked outside, so as not to disturb his sister, and was jumped by four officers."

One week later, the authorities still refused to say where he was beeing held, or why he was detained. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior told the IHT that "related bodies are examining his case," describing the kidnapping and incommunicado detention as "regular procedure." (Which is true of course, if you are working for a mafia).

According to the IHT, Gad was arrested after taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Cairo, organized by the liberal Wafd party, and he has also been described as a member of the Kifaya movement. He is the author of a blog called Sawt Ghadib, or "angry voice", where he has expressed support for the Palestinian struggle and criticism of the Egyptian regime for it's participation in the siege of Gaza.

According to The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information "bloggers have become a major target of the police authorities in Egypt and all these assaults are committed outside the law or under the cloak of the emergency state. ANHRI demands that all defenders of freedom of expression join hands to bring an end to this abominable state of emergency."

Pic above taken from the Sawt Ghadib blog.

Censoring solidarity

By closing down Philip Rizk's blog Tabulagaza, which deals mostly with the humanitarian situation in Gaza and not least the effect's of Israels war and ongoing blockade of the strip, the Egyptian state security has effectively proved that their kidnapping of Philip Rizk was not about suspicions of "spying for Israel" or smuggling arms for Hamas - it was about silencing a vocal supporter of the Palestinians and critic of the regime's Gaza policies. If anyone had any doubts.

Report on March to Gaza and police crackdown

Click the pic for my report on the March to Gaza and the arrest of Philip Rizk, published last night just before he was released... (Sign reads: "We are fed up, open the Rafah crossing.") Then go on to read some of Philip's reports from Gaza.

Protestors demand release of pro-Gaza detainees

Activists and family members gathered at the Press Syndicate tonight to demand the release of Philip Rizk, Magdi Hussein, and other pro-Gaza detainees. Members of the "To Gaza"-group also announced that a new solidarity march is being planned for next week, and called for activists around the world to join the initiative.

Philip Rizk: Diary from Gaza

While still hoping that Philip will be safely released soon, I believe that a good way of resisting this attempt by the Egyptian state to silence a critical voice and a passionate defender of Palestinian rights, is to make sure as many people as possible read his articles from Gaza. So here is a small list of some of his reports for the Electronic Intifada:

Gaza: Non-Entity
Volleyball and Civil War
Gaza: Calm before the storm
Sderot created the Gaza Strip
Visiting The Dead in Gaza
Awaking to a different Gaza
The desecration of democracy
The failing of Gaza
A family under siege
My birthday in Jabalya refugee camp

Media in bed with Mubarak

Jeffrey Fleishman notes the detention of Philip Rizk at the LA Times Middle East blog. Judging from the comments on the blog, I'm not the only one to ask myself why someone would decide to illustrate this article with a picture of a militant Palestinian (presumably) carrying a gun?

Words cannot even begin to describe how inappropiate this is, considering that the article is about a peace activist and writer - and arguably one of the most friendly and peaceful personalities I've ever met - who was just kidnappad mafia-style and taken to a secret location where he risk torture, instead of being where he should be: finishing his documentary film about non-violent resistance against the occupation in Palestinian villages!

It all makes sense, however, when you read this sentence in the article itself: "The Egyptian government fears opening the border would ease pressure on the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza and supports exporting radical Islam across the region." Now, you can say a lot about Hamas, but "exporting radical Islam across the region"? When? How? Where? The Egyptian government could save a lot of the money it spends on propaganda if LA Times reporters are going to do it for them.

Police crackdown on Gaza solidarity march

Documentary film-maker and writer Philip Rizk was kidnapped by state security today, after 15 people including Egyptian and foreign activists and journalists were detained during a solidarity march to Gaza. Everyone except Rizk was released after 4 hours by the roadside. He was taken to the police station in Abu Sa3bel, where he was held two hours until state security officers from Cairo arrived and smuggled him out through a back door, taking him to an unknown location. Two activists were almost run over as they tried to prevent the car from leaving.

A demonstration will be held tomorrow (Saturday) at 12.00 noon at the public prosecutors office, Cairo High Court, to protest the illegal detention.

Update: Photos from protest here. Philip still detained, prosecutor say it's "90% certain" that he is being held at state security HQ in Cairo. More later.

Swedish activist throws shoe at Israeli ambassador

It seems some kind of low-intensive warfare is developing between Sweden and Israel. A few days ago, a Swedish solidarity activist was shot in the leg with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. And today, as a symbolic act of resistance against the Israeli occupation and military assault on Gaza, someone threw a shoe at the Israeli ambassador during a public lecture at Stockholm University. A red sneaker, to be more exact... (As always when Israel is involved, the war is highly asymmetrical.)

Here's the funny thing: While the first event didn't cause much concern in Sweden, I predict that tomorrow's newspapers will be filled with condemnations of today's terrorist act against the ambassador, which clearly constitutes an assault on Democracy itself. But shooting unarmed civilians protesting Apartheid doesn't, of course.

Politician face military court for "sneaking" into Gaza

The head of the islamist Labour Party, Magdy Hussein, is being transferred to a military court in Ismailiyya tomorrow, el-Badeel reports. He was arrested after a visit to Gaza, to express his solidarity with the Palestinian people, and is being accused of "sneaking" into the area without permission.

Solidarity campaigns to break the siege of Gaza

As media attention is drifting away from the situation in Gaza, several initiatives is being launched to draw attention to the ongoing siege. Activists in Egypt are launching a "March on Gaza" as the starting point of an ongoing international campaign. And Brittish MP George Galloway is organizing a "Valentine to Palestine" aid convoy, leaving from London on 14 February and passing through countries in Western Europe and North Africa before reaching Rafah.

Meanwhile, I stumbled upon this old blog post (in English) from 2006 by the current Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, condemning Israel's and the Europeans Union's decision to boycott and isolate the recently elected Hamas government as a "policy meltdown of dangerous proportions." Back then, while still in opposition, he wrote: "In Europe, I have yet to meet anyone who genuinely believes in the policy that is pursued." It's too bad then, that Mr Bildt didn't demand a change in this policy when his party was elected to power four months later...

A Palestinian invasion of Egypt?

I just found this article in The Daily News, headlined "Egyptian handling of Gaza proves popular domestically," in which the author argues that the Egyptian regime's handling of the Gaza crisis "proved a points winner, at least domestically."

Now, while it's certainly true that "many Egyptians got on the defensive and backed the regime’s position" as Egypt came under pressure from demonstrators around the Arab world, I don't think quoting one "24-year-old Mohamed Yassin Ahmed" and a couple of newspaper columns provides a good basis for drawing general conclusions about the popularity of the regime's foreign policy.

The article also refers to the "widely prevalent" fear that an unconditional opening of the Rafah border crossing "would result in a mass exodus and a Palestinian occupation of Egyptian territory." Or, as the "man on the street" Ahmed says: “We don’t want to be another Jordan, where Palestinians outnumber the Jordanians themselves and then we would have lost the Palestinian cause. One of Israel’s plans is to remove the Palestinians from Gaza and relocate them in Sinai."

I definitely think that media should present both sides of this debate. But since this argument is very much in line with the propaganda of the Egyptian regime, I think journalists have a special obligation to examine it critically. So here's a couple of points to consider:

First of all, if the population of Gaza really wanted to invade Egypt and occupy Sinai they would have done so a long time ago. The border itself is a joke: It consists of a fence and a few hundred Egyptian soldiers guarding a 13 kilometer wide area. If the Palestinians decided to cross en masse, they could do so at any time. But it is a mystery to me why they would suddenly abandon Gaza after fighting for their homeland for 60 years, especially considering the hostility and discrimination they would likely face as illegal residents of Egypt.

Secondly, calling for an opening of the border is not the same as calling for its removal. What the Palestinians want is a normal border, open to travel and trade like any other international border. The events following the border breach in January 2008 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egypt and prices soared, making life difficult for the local population, has been used again and again as an example of what might happen if the border was opened. But the reality is that this "invasion" of Palestinians would never have happened if there wasn't a siege in place to start with. If goods were allowed into Gaza, the Palestinians wouldn't need to cross the border to get them.

Interestingly, the idea of a Palestinian invasion of Sinai seem to be particularly popular among the middle class in Cairo (based only on my own very unscientific observations of course). In contrast, virtually everyone I spoke to during my recent trip to northern Sinai is opposed to the current blockade. While the smuggling industry is making some rich, many Egyptians living in northern Sinai also suffers from the isolation of Gaza because they are denied an important market for goods and services. Thus, most of them want the border opened - but in an organized way. Presenting the choice as one between total anarchy and total closure only plays into the hands of the propaganda apparatus of the Egyptian regime.

Pic above: Palestinians in desperate need of basic necessities as fuel and food "invade" Egypt after the temporary border breach on 23 January, 2008.