RAFAH/CAIRO: A solidarity convoy to Rafah was turned back Friday by security forces before reaching Al-Arish. The convoy was able to get that far only by staging sit-ins at police checkpoints. Around 100 Egyptian and foreign students, lawyers and activists took part in the convoy, organized by the Egyptian Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Accompanied by journalists and TV-crews, they set off from the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo early morning, in two buses with Palestinian flags hanging from their sides. Their stated aim was to stage a protest in Rafah, demanding the complete opening of the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. We want to make it clear that state-controlled media is lying when they say that the border is open to wounded Palestinians, said one activist, who preferred not go give her name. In fact only a few have been let through, and in any case Egypt should not only be a hospital for the wounded, but the border should be opened completely to redress the balance and relieve the suffering of the people in Gaza, she added. The convoy was stopped at several checkpoints, and allowed to pass only after activists staged sit-ins on the road, effectively blocking traffic and causing considerable panic among the police as trailer trucks and minibuses lined up from both directions. At the Beir Abd checkpoint, 60 km before Al-Arish, state security officers forced camera crews to turn back to Cairo before allowing the convoy to continue. A few kilometers before Al-Arish, however, the road was blocked by four central security trucks and police in full riot gear. While most of the participants had expected to be turned back by the police, many were shocked by this show of force. As some activists wanted to leave the bus to make a symbolic stand, the driver of the first bus refused to open the door. Shouting I can t, I can t! he turned the bus around, clearly horrified by the scene. The organizers also feared that any attempt to leave the buses would lead to violent arrests and confiscation of photo and movie material. According to the organizers this was closer to Rafah than any solidarity convoy of this scale has been allowed to travel since 2004. On the way back to Cairo, there were mixed feelings of achievement and frustration. The thing that makes me most angry, blogger and digital design artist Mohamed Gaber said, is the fact that we celebrate the return of Sinai [after the 1973 October war] as a great victory, but still it doesn t belong to the people. In a statement published on Saturday, the organizers denounced the refusal to allow them access to Al-Arish and Rafah, saying that the checkpoints ... are all borders that are shut down in front of any voice that tries to support Gaza.
