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Dozens of Canadians are expected to be part of the thousands of other activists who meet in Egypt this week before a world march to its Gaza border while they call at the end of the headquarters of Israel in the territory.
Up to 84 Canadians were to go to Egypt to be part of the effort led by civilians, nicknamed the world march in Gaza, to attract international attention to the crisis and demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow access to aid to Palestinians in the midst of famine and famine warnings.
Canadian organizer Tatiana Harker told CBC News as from Thursday afternoon, 50 of the 80 Canadians had been allowed to enter into the midst of reports from the Egyptian authorities holding and deporting the activists involved in the planned march. So far, a Canadian has been detained and interviewed before being refused entry for no reason.
“We do not expect to break the seat. We do not plan to vioder borders. We do it in a [peaceful] Humanitarian Way, “said Harker.
Activists are expected to come up for the coastal city of Egypt of Al-Adrish Thursday after their arrival in Cairo, where the next day, they will start a three-day trek, sleeping in tents along the way to the crossing of Rafah. The walk of about 48 kilometers should take several days.
After reaching the Rafah region, they plan to camp there for about three days more before returning to Cairo, according to the coalition websiteAlthough he noted that a large part of their plans will depend on the authorization of Egyptian officials.
At least 170 delayed activists, detained
Activists and lawyers told the Associated Press that the airport detention and deportations started on Wednesday for no explicit reason given by the Egyptian authorities to the detainees.
The organizers of March said in a statement that they had received information according to which at least 170 participants had been delayed or detained in Cairo. They said they had followed the protocols presented by the Egyptian authorities, met them and urged them to leave the participants in March in the country.
“We are impatient to provide additional information that Egyptian authorities need to ensure that walking continues peacefully as planned at the Rafah border,” the organizers said in a statement.
Harker, who helps coordinate Canadian travelers, will stay in Canada. She said that the organization had contacted the federal government but had not heard.
The organization said that the participants had been informed of all the possible risks they could meet, in particular to be diverted from entry into the country and detention.
In a statement to CBC News Thursday, Global Affairs Canada said that she advised Canadians to avoid all trips to the Governat of North Sinai in Egypt and Gaza.
“Canadians who choose to travel to the region do so at their own risk,” he said.
Harker, a member of Palestine will live and representative of the Canadian delegation in this March, said that the Montreal -based organization had been overwhelmed by the amount of candidates with more than 700 people who apply to be involved, but only 84 candidates have approved.
“We expected five Canadians in our delegation and we would have been happy. Because of logistics … We could not accept [everyone] Ready to participate, “Harker told CBC News on Tuesday.
The planned march occurs a convoy of more than 1,000 people from the Maghreb, in the Northwest African region, arrived in Libya Tuesday pending permission to cross the eastern part of the country before heading to Rafah.
Not clear if the planned walking will go forward
Egypt had previously warned that only those who received authorization would be authorized to travel the itinerary scheduled for March, recognizing that it had received “many requests and requests”.
“Egypt has the right to take all the measures necessary to preserve its national security, including the regulation of the entry and movement of individuals on its territory, in particular in sensitive border areas,” said its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
Israel Katz, Minister of Israel of Defense, described demonstrators as “jihadists” on Wednesday and called on Egypt to prevent them from reaching the border with Gaza. He said they “endanger the Egyptian regime and constitute a threat to all moderate Arab regimes in the region”.
Kelsey Lysg, a nurse authorized in Edmonton, said that even if she had plans in the hope of reaching Rafah’s crossing, there is no guarantee that walking will not face obstacles along the way.
“It is such a tense situation. Climbing can occur at any time, whether it is someone who decides that on the side of Egypt or on the Israeli side that it [march] Is something they don’t want to happen and they degenerate in terms of simple stop and return to us, “Lysg at CBC News told Tuesday, before his trip.
“As we saw with the Freedom FlatillaIt is a very real possibility. “”
Earlier this week, Israeli forces seized the Madleen, a small shipwho sought to break a long naval blockade deportee to their country of origin.
The incident comes after previous attempts at emergency boats trying to break the naval blockade of Israel which has been imposed since 2007, and about a month after another ship to Gaza carrying humanitarian aid and activists was bombed by drones in international waters off Malta.
Desire to show solidarity, assistance in the field
Lysng said she had saved an opportunity to help in one way or another on the field.
“Honestly, I wanted to go physically since October 7 because I have known the dehumanization of the Palestinians for seven or eight years now,” she said.
The attacks led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023 killed more than 1,200 people while 251 were taken hostage, according to Israel. Israel says that there are still 56 hostages held by Hamas, with less than half that would be alive.
Look | Windsor, have a couple on the reasons for which they join Global March in Gaza:
A Windsor have., The couple are preparing to go to the trip to the Middle East to join a peaceful world demonstration to solidarize with the Palestinian people. Katerina Georgieva’s reports from CBC.
The Israel campaign in Gaza has since killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, including more than half of women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and have reduced a large part of the territory in a desert.
Lyseng, who works in a neonatal intensive care unit (Usin), said seeing images of malnourished Facing famine and the risk of famine is particularly difficult for her.
“See babies in their incubators, just skin and bones [or] See a child having the whole house of his family and all their family members [killed] And he sits on the roof crying, asking for a mom or literally anyone and there is nobody for him, “she said.
“”[Those scenes] Stay in my memory forever like a similar moment, what do we do f – k? What are we doing as a company? What is the point of what we are doing right now? “”
“Frustrated by the lack of action,” said the Canadian
Thomas Piekutowski, a retirement resident of Montreal, says that if his conscience of the Palestinian fate dates back decades, he sees Israel’s response to the attack on October 7 as “disproportionate”.
Piekutowski said he had participated in demonstrations in Montreal, signed petitions and a letter written to elected officials urging the Canadian government to approach Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
“I just feel very frustrated by the lack of action,” Piekutowski told CBC News before his trip.
He says the latest actions taken by the Canadian government, including Place the sanctions Of two ministers of the Israeli cabinet who participated in the promotion of “violence of extremist settlers”, simply does not go far enough to put pressure on Israel.
“I would like it to be so much pressure [Israel] And that they are starting to feel the pain of economic sanctions and boycotts that they decide to open the border. “”
Activists to demand the opening of the humanitarian corridor
Israel controls the Rafah border in Gaza, severely controlling access to the enclave aid. He briefly reopened in Egypt earlier this year, but closed after the start of the total blockade in March.
In less than two weeks after heard of Gaza walking, Piekutowski was preparing to go to Cairo to join the movement alongside other activists from around the world.
“This current situation of famine and death caused by the lack of water, the lack of food, the lack of drugs is inhuman, it is completely disgusting and it is bad.”
Look | Thousands of children at risk of severe malnutrition:
The United Nations claim that 14,000 children risk severe malnutrition over the next 11 months if critical aid does not happen. Clarification: an earlier version of this video contained incorrect information from the UN concerning the calendar of this estimate.
Israel has imposed a total blockage of all food products or aid reaching Gaza for about 11 weeks from March 2. This says that the aid groups led the population of more than two million on the verge of famine.
In the past two weeks, Israel has enabled limited food supplies widely distributed by a new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. More than 110 people were killed And hundreds of others injured near aid distribution sites by Israeli fires or unknown armed men.
