On November 22, occupiers of Tahrir Square
issued an urgent call for global solidarity, asking the world to:
Occupy / shut-down Egyptian embassies worldwide. Now they represent the junta ; reclaim them for the Egyptian people.
Shut down the arms dealers. Do not let them make it, ship it.
Shut down the part of your government dealing with the Egyptian junta.
The Occupy movement is answering their call. Yesterday, hundreds marched on the Egyptian consulate in New York City.
In NYC today (Saturday, Nov 26), an Egyptian solidarity rally will begin at 1 PM at the Egypt Mission (East 44th St & 2nd Ave), with a march at 4PM.
An action is also being planned for Thursday, December 1st in front of a tear gas plant in Jamestown, Pennsylvania that has been supplying the Egyptian military junta. Participants from Occupy camps across the Northeast region will gather outside of the plant, which is owned by Combined Systems International.
As put by one call to action:
“[CSI] tear gas canisters have littered the streets of Cairo. CSI and their allies in the U.S. State Department, who must approve the sales of their weapons to foreign governments, are complicit in crimes against humanity. … “They are sponsoring terror against the egyptian people,” says a comrade in Cairo. “…the US is partly responsible for this.”
We will make sure the people of Egypt hear our message; We are with you, our government’s actions to not represent the desires of our people, and we will take action against businesses and institutions that aid in the repression of our movements; We will defend the Egyptian revolution!
For more information about the Dec. 1st action, including information on carpooling from other locations in the area, visit this
Facebook event page.
a US-made tear gas canister used in Egypt
To emphasize the critical need for action to support our Egyptian comrades (whose bravery in the face of oppression was one of the key inspirations for the Occupy movement), here is more from their statement:
The future of the revolution hangs in the balance; those of us in the square are ready to die for freedom and social justice. The butchers attacking us are willing to kill us to stay in control.
This is not about elections or a constitution, neither of which will change the authoritarianism and violence coming down around us. Neither is this is about a so-called “transition” to democracy that has seen the consolidation of a military junta and the betrayal of the revolution by political forces. This is about a revolution, a complete revolution. The people demand the fall of the regime, and will stop at nothing short of that to achieve their freedom.
(Source: occupywallst.org)
