(Cairo) Gaza Freedom Marchers approved today a declaration aimed at accelerating the global campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli Apartheid.

Roughly 1400 activists from 43 countries converged in Cairo on their way to Gaza to join with Palestinians marching to break Israel’s illegal siege. They were prevented from entering Gaza by the Egyptian authorities.

As a result, the Freedom Marchers remained in Cairo. They staged a series of nonviolent actions aimed at pressuring the international community to end the siege as one step in the larger struggle to secure justice for Palestinians throughout historic Palestine.

This declaration arose from those actions:

December 31, 2009

Today at 10:00 AM, the Gaza Freedom march converged on Midan Tahrir, or Liberation Square in English. This was no easy task for the marchers. We left in small groups to avoid being followed by police who were monitoring our hotels. Several of the larger hotels were monitored more closely, and the Lotus Hotel was completely barricaded, making it impossible for most of the Marchers to leave.

Wednesday, December 30th

Protest at the Egyptian Journalism Syndicate

Cairo-Last night, through a deal negotiated with Suzanne Mubarak, the Egyptian government stated that 100 of the 1300 Gaza Freedom March delegates could enter Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. This seemingly compassionate gesture may represent an attempt to put a friendly face on an oppressive Egyptian regime led by Mrs. Mubarak’s husband, Hosni Mubarak.

The deal was put on the table early last evening with a short deadline for acceptance. Gaza Freedom March coordinators quickly accepted the deal. However, after much deliberation with both the larger group and Palestinian coordinators inside Gaza, the coordinators agreed to reject the Egyptian offer.

December 29, 2009

Approximately fifty people were detained outside the U.S. Embassy in small groups. Some were being dragged off the street for simply approaching the U.S. Embassy. Authorities were not allowing cameras and were forcefully dragging anyone in the area with a camera into the facility. Franciscan priest, Rev. Louis Vitale, on hunger strike, is among those detained.

December 28, 2009

As scores of marchers began to arrive in Cairo on December 27th, they have encountered massive interference from the Egyptian Government. This interference for the internationals has been just a small taste of the daily Egyptian and Palestinian experience. Restriction of movement and assembly, unwarranted detentions and arrests, combined with bureaucratic harassment has marked the first two days of the delegation. The marchers were scheduled to travel to El Arish today and proceed from there to the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. All this has been made impossible. The Egyptian government has revoked all permits for gathering, refused to allow public and private buses to take delegates to El Arish. They have followed, detained and arrested any members of the March who attempted to try crossing the border on their own

Join with others in opposing the use of drones in wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Location: CIA Headquarters, Langley, VA
Date: January 16, 2010
Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

December 21, 2009

This report is the result of the monitoring conducted by the Human Rights Field Monitoring (HRFM) team of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on the state of economic and social rights in Afghanistan. AIHRC regional and provincial field staff members have accepted many risks, including physical security, to visit different parts of the country and monitor the socioeconomic situation of people.