Gaza Freedom March

St. Louis Delegates: Ongoing Analysis and Further Action

PRI's The World Reports on GFM in Tahrir Square

Report includes comments by Hedy Epstein about the purpose of the purpose of the GFM: "to break the siege of Gaza which has been going on for way too long."

(download)

J'Ann Allen Halts Cairo Traffic with Ball of Yarn

The Gaza Freedom Marchers attempted to block traffic in Cairo's Tahrir
Square this morning but were pushed onto the sidewalk by riot police
after a few minutes and then corralled for the next several hours.
St. Louisan J'Ann Allen, however, was able to accomplish what the 500
were unable to do earlier in the day -- with a simple ball of yarn.
As Sandra Tamari, Hedy Epstein, and J'Ann got into a taxi to head back
to their hotel, a ball of yarn fell out of J'Ann's bag and onto the
street as the cab door closed. When someone flagged the driver, he
stopped abruptly in the middle of heavy Cairo traffic to get out and
retrieve the yarn, drawing laughter from police and stalled motorists.
Potential for future actions?

Lynda Brayer reports from demonstration at the Erez Checkpoint in Israel

And here is a link to a posting by Mondoweiss about the gathering at the Erez Checkpoint, with photo:
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/update-from-protests-in-gaza-and-at-the-erez-ch...

Click here to download:
Gaza Siege Demonstration.pdf (70 KB)
(download)

Presence Continues in Tahrir Square; Some Police Violence Reported

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3:15 PM in Cairo. What follows is based on Tweets from people present
in Cairo. Though there have been some reports of kicking and pushing
by the police, about 300 GFM delegates remain in Tahrir Square in
Cairo, including the three from St. Louis. Others are reportedly
finding ways out of their hotels that had been barricaded by police
and are trying to join the group, though a police cordon is
preventing this.  Starhawk reports, "Now we're meeting deciding how long to stay."

Ali Abunimah estmates the gathering at 300:

Photo of one bloodied marcher:

Sam Husseini video:
http://husseini.posterous.com/again-resistance-as-palestinian-towns-are-nam#

From a Gaza Freedom March press release:   (provided by Mondoweiss, but has CP posted anything?  Not that I can see.)

Members of the Gaza Freedom March are being forcibly detained in hotels around town (Lotus, Liala) as well as violently forced into pens in Tahir Square by Egyptian police and additional security forces. Reports of police brutality are flooding a delegate legal hotline faster than the legal support team can answer the calls. The reports span from women being kicked, beaten to the ground and dragged into pens, at least one confirmed account of broken ribs, and many left bloody. The assault is ongoing.