Thursday 6 March 2014

Egypt denies entry of 62 women peace activists en route to Gaza for International Women's Day


More than 40 women from the U.S based anti-war group Code Pink on there way to Gaza as part of a delegation for International Womens day are staging a sit in insidde  Cairo International Airport after being refused entry into the country since Tuesday, airport officials in Egypt have said today. They were travelling to witness the hardships facing the 1.7 million residents og Gaza, and to deliver  humanitarian aid and call attention  for a long term strategy to achieve peace and justice for Palestinians. Standing in solidarity  with the terrible life that women, children and old people have to endure daily in Gaza.
Some of the activists  have been deported, they include women from many different countries,  including Northern Ireland  Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, American human rights campaigner Medea Benjamin, and Northern Ireland human rights advocate Anne Patterson.
 Ms Benjamin, who travelled alone, was assaulted  by Egyptian security officials deported to Istanbul, Turkey, on March 4 and was hospitalised overnight in Istanbul until her flight to the US midday on March 5," according to a press release by CODEPINK.
It is widely being seen as a backward step in Egypst support of the Palestinian cause  and the Gazan people in particular.
Link to CODEPINKS website here:-

http://www.codepink4peace.org/

 
 
 
 

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