Cairo, March 07: Some members of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party have attacked pro-Palestinian activists who are marching toward the Gaza Strip.
The members of the ex-ruling party attacked the activists on Sunday in El Arish, about 50 kilometers from Rafah, Media correspondent Roshan Muhammed Salih reported.
The activists, including Egyptian and foreign nationals, were attacked as they were trying to persuade Egyptian volunteers to join them in a march to the Rafah border crossing which remains partially closed.
Egypt has implemented an economic blockade on Gaza since the democratically elected Hamas government took control of Gaza in 2007. Israel also blockades Gaza — a situation which has led to what international agencies describe as a humanitarian crisis.
The activists were threatened with shovels by a small group of men who accused them of being “spies and Israelis.”
The thugs said that Egyptians should look after themselves first before worrying about anybody else.
Ahmed Elassy, the organizer of the Tahrir4Gaza campaign, told Media, “These men were not representative of national opinion but they succeeded in provoking people against us and scared them off joining our campaign.”
Later, the activists entered Gaza but with severely depleted numbers. Nevertheless, they were the first peace delegation to enter Gaza since the revolution in Egypt.
The activists said that their campaign was symbolic, but it is up to the Egyptian people themselves to force the Gaza border open and thus relieve the suffering of Palestinians.
——–Agencies