Global March participants outside Cairo stopped at checkpoint, passports temporarily taken

Dozens of participants who participate in the Global March to Gaza have not been stopped by Egyptian police and soldiers outside the Egyptian capital Cairo in a toll control post. Dutch participants in the march are also stopped, their passports have been taken by the authorities for a while, several participants tell NRC contact with. Around ten participants send updates from the checkpoint.

The situation at the checkpoint is chaotic: personal documents are taken, the road is blocked, some participants return to Cairo and demonstrators are chanting pro-palestinal giants while waving Palestinian flags. Police officers are present in large numbers. On photos and videos that different participants share on Friday afternoon, you can hear that dozens of activists « Free, Free Palestine« Scander. Others report that the internet is often out and the situation is » shadowy « at times.

From more than thirty countries, thousands of activists have traveled to Egypt in recent days to walk with the Mars to the border with Gaza. The Global March to Gaza is an international three-day hike that should start on Saturday from the Egyptian seaside resort Al-Arderh, in North Sinai, and ends at the Rafah Grensplaats.

« We don’t hide »

The arrested international participants were on their way to Ismaïlia, a city near the Suez Canal. A few Dutch people, such as the 26-year-old Dogan and his two travel companions, would have almost reached Ismaïlia, they write to a message NRC.

After hundreds of activists Thursday already access to the country has been deniedand many on flights to Turkey, for example, have been put out of the country, others try to get to the Suez Canal on Friday. The idea is that they set up a camp from there and discuss next steps. « We did not come here to hide in a hotel, » writes someone in a chat group with more than 1,800 participants. According to the official organization, there would be around sixty Dutch activists in Egypt, of the more than a hundred who were registered.

Demonstrate prohibited

Demonstrators who NRC Speaked, emphasizing that they protest « peacefully ». Many are angry that Egypt work against them. That a peaceful march in Egypt is impossible-the route to the border with Gaza goes straight through a military zone-she is disappointing: a French 24-year-old student says Friday afternoon just before her departure from Cairo that ‘even walk’ in Egypt is not allowed. For most it is the first time they are in the country. There is no official permission for the march. Demonstrating is forbidden in Egypt.

Also on the Talaat Harb square in the center of Cairo there is a striking number of military police on Friday. There are rumors that protesters want to travel east from this square. Apart from the many agents – who are present in both civilian and uniforms – the square is left.

The Dutch embassy was not available for comment on Friday. In an official e -mail with regard to the travel advice from Egypt, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes that it is not « excluded » that there will be demonstrations in Egypt in the coming days, where ‘violence’ can arise. « The Egyptian authorities can act hard during demonstrations, » said the Dutch Ministry.

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