Swedish activist shot in West Bank

An activist from my home town Gothenburg was shot in the leg with live ammuntion during a peaceful protest against the Wall in the West Bank village of Nil'in yesterday, the Swedish press and the ISM reports. One Palestinian man was also injured.

I've been to a couple of these demonstrations, who take place every week, and they always follow more or less the same script: A peaceful march, followed by light scuffles with Israeli troops and border police. It usually ends with a highly unequal stand-off between the young boys of the village, who throw rocks against the soldiers, who in turn respond with (potentially lethal) rubber-coated bullets and tear gas - and occasionally live ammunition. Sometimes the soldiers start firing at the demonstrators as soon as they reach the outskirts of the village.

In December, two Palestinian children was killed during a demonstration in the same village. I don't know the exact circumstances of this last incident, but one thing is certain: Everyone killed or injured while voicing his or her opposition to the Wall, the illegal settlements, and the occupation, is another victim of the apartheid system being constructed in the West Bank.

Pic above: Medics attend a young Palestinian injured in his hand after being hit by a tear-gas canister fired straight at him from close range, march 2006.

"The people in the service of the police"

On 25 January, Egypt celebrated "Police Day," commemorating the massacre of over 50 policemen in Ismailiyya by British forces on that day in 1952, which triggered widespread demonstrations and riots in Cairo. Today however, as Zeinobia writes, the police have turned from a symbol of resistance against foreign occupation to a symbol of repression. Not only because its main role is to protect the regime and quell all forms of political dissent, but also because of the daily abuse many Egyptians suffer from the hands of the police.

It's an interesting coincidence (or maybe they were actually inspired or provoked by the media coverage surrounding this day?) that microbus drivers in Giza chose this week to go on strike, protesting abuse and harassment by the police.

When I read about this strike, I was reminded about a small episode I witnessed a few weeks ago on the microbus from Lebanon Square to 6h of October City. After one of the passengers got of the bus at the beginning of 6th of October without paying the fare of 2,50 pounds, the driver immediately started to complain loudly to the rest of us: "He's a police officer, that guy. Of course he doesn't pay the fare. Now he's going to take a tuk-tuk to his house, for free of course!"

To this one of the passengers replied: "Yeah, they're all like that. This is the only principle they teach at police academy these days: The people in the service of the police!"

Pic above: The police protecting the people from dangerous political dissent during a Kifaya demonstration on 12 December 2006.

Updates on Railway struggle

El-Badeel reported yesterday that the management of Egyptian National Railways is preparing a "new plan" for reforming the wage structure of the company, in response to recent industrial actions taken by drivers, technicians, and signal operators. (Previos posts: Here, here and here.) The head of the company sais he has asked workers in all the sections of the company to present their demands in "order of priority" so that they can be taken into consideration "within the limits of the budget and resources provided by the ministry of transport."

After two strikes in less than a week and growing militancy in several sections of the workforce, the management is clearly under intense pressure to make some sort of concessions to avoid further disruptions of train traffic - but at the same time they want to avoid encouraging further action by appearing to give in to the workers demands. As a result they are resorting to the same sort of vague promises that the workers have been hearing for two years now. I doubt it will satisfy many of them.

Families of jailed Mahalla demonstrators hold protest

Families of the 22 convicted in the Mahalla-trial held a protest in front of the prosecutor's office yesterday, el-Badeel reports, demanding a decision on the pleas for pardon of their family members, who were sentenced between 3-5 years in prison by a state security court over the demonstrations and riots on Mahalla on 6 and 7 April last year.

Pic above: Relatives protest in the lobby of the Tanta court during the trial, 11 October 2008.

Articles on free union, Mahalla, and train drivers strike

My latest articles in Swedish about the tax collectors' free union, the train drivers strike and the struggle in Mahalla are now available online at Flamman and ETC.

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...

More on railway struggles

Sarah Carr reports for The Daily News on yesterday's railway strike. El-Badeel also has a report, emphasizing the expressions of solidarity from train drivers with the striking signal operators and crossing watchmen. According to El-Badeel, railway workshop workers are also threatening to go on strike in the coming week, putting the Egypt National Railways under intense pressure from a large part of its workforce.