2:49AM
Police ban solidarity protest
Hossam el-Hamalawy
A blogger with Al-Ghad Party reports that a group of young party activists tried to organize a demo on Sunday in solidarity with the Lebanese resistance, and to mark the 23rd of July "Revolution," but were banned by the police.
As they were coming out of the party building, the activists were met by General Sami Seidhom, and a phalanx of CSF and State Security agents, according to blogger Mohamed el-Sa3eed. General Seidhom hurled slurrs and threatened the activists with detention if they stepped into the street, el-Sa3eed said. The activists retreated upstairs to the party office, and chanted from the balcony overfacing Tal3at Harb Square. Security forces, according to el-Sa3eed, banned Al-3arabiya crew who arrived at the scene from filming.
As they were coming out of the party building, the activists were met by General Sami Seidhom, and a phalanx of CSF and State Security agents, according to blogger Mohamed el-Sa3eed. General Seidhom hurled slurrs and threatened the activists with detention if they stepped into the street, el-Sa3eed said. The activists retreated upstairs to the party office, and chanted from the balcony overfacing Tal3at Harb Square. Security forces, according to el-Sa3eed, banned Al-3arabiya crew who arrived at the scene from filming.
Reader Comments (3)
Hi everyone, there is a protest on Tuesday, July 25, in Washington, DC, at the Israeli embassy. A march will leave from the Van Ness-UDC Red line metro station at 5:30pm, going to the embassy at 3514 International Drive. It is to protest the killings in Lebanon and Gaza, and so far has been endorsed by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (DC Chapter), Codepink, Partners for Peace, Pax Christi USA, The Council for the National Interest, The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and The Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace.
Some of the attendees of the IAMCR conference being held at AUC this week and comprised of media experts from all over the world, from Taiwan to Australia to the States to Lebanon, plan on demonstrating on Wed. in Tahrir Square in protest to the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Lebanon. Think the security services will have the balls to beat up a bunch of foreigners that include journalists and those with close ties to the media?
Thanks Joe for sharing the demo announcement with us. Please keep on updating us on any events of activism events in the US that center around ME issues. Feel free to drop us a couple of lines on the demo, and we'll post them.
Regarding Q's question: Security tend to avoid touching foreigners, especially if there are white Westerners around. Attend the demo, but move in a group, and don't get intimidated by the security presence. Even when security is not planning to crackdown on the demo, they do show up in full force so as intimidate others from joining.