Nearly 300 French activists camped outside their embassy in Cairo to protest against Egyptian authorities' prevention of their journey to El Arish, where they were scheduled to take part in a "freedom march" showing solidarity with Palestinians under siege in Gaza.
The protesters, who were supposed to leave for the coastal city on Sunday morning, were surprised when buses they rented for the trip didn't show up. They were later told by the bus company that authorities had banned the trip.
Consequently, the protesters blocked the road outside the French Embassy, demanding the buses, before security forces threatened them with water cannons.
The French campaigners are part of a larger group of no less than 1,300 activists traveling to Egypt from 42 countries in order to take part in the Gaza Freedom March. Egyptian authorities previously said that none of them would be allowed to carry out the march or enter the Palestinian enclave through its borders.
Authorities have similarly stopped a number of Americans from marking the first anniversary of the Gaza bombings by renting boats on the Nile River. Another commemoration of the war in Gaza was broken up by police at the Kasr El Nil Bridge near downtown Cairo.
Meanwhile, organizers of the freedom march announced that 38 participants were briefly detained by security forces at their hotel inside El Arish (30 miles away from the Gaza border) and at the city's bus station on Sunday afternoon.
source
meanwhile ....
Gazan resident Muhammad Abu Shabab appealed to the Palestinian Ministry of Health to put pressure on Israel to allow the import of Galactomin 19 infant formula for his 4-month-old nephew.
Abu Shabab said in a statement that his nephew, Yahiya Ahmad Abu Shabab, has been suffering chronic diarrhea since he was born at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and that the formula is the only thing likely to stabilize his condition.
The formula is designed for children with intolerances to lactose, galactose and glucose.
After Yahiya's birth, he was treated at a hospital in Jaffa for digestion problems and returned home with four large containers of Galactomin 19 formula. According to his uncle, the last of the boy's containers of formula will soon be empty.
There are no alternative formulas in the Gaza Strip.
Abu Shabab said he approached local authorities, NGOs, and companies but could not locate solution that his nephew could use.
source
December 30, 2009
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3 comments:
this Mubarak will go down the history as the worst Egyptian president of all times. what's frustrating is there seem to be no solution even if he's gone,say hello to 3ala2 Mubarak!
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