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Daily News Analysis

Rallies Across Canada in Solidarity with Protests in Egypt

Crescent International

Rally outside the Parliament Building in Ottawa on Friday September 25 demanding the ouster of dictator El-Sisi, and return to democratic rule in Egypt

Egyptian Canadians held rallies in several cities across Canada yesterday (Friday September 25) in support of the Egyptian uprising against El-Sisi and his military regime.

The call was made by the Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (ECCD) and rallies were held in Ottawa and Vancouver yesterday (September 25).

Another rally is planned at Mississauga City Square One, west of Toronto, today and one in Montreal on Sunday September 27.

Even at short notice and given the restrictions because of COIVD-19, there was reasonable turnout at yesterday’s rallies.

Both men and women participated in the Ottawa rally. Held outside the Parliament Building, the protesters’ signs demanded that Sisi must go.

They also denounced him as the “enemy of God”, echoing the sentiment of protesters in Egypt where this slogan is common, as reported by the middleeastmonitor.

Rally participants called upon the Canadian Government to support freedom of expression and the return of democracy to Egypt.

Since General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi overthrew the democratically-elected government of Dr Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned in horrific conditions in Egypt.

Dr. Morsi died in a Cairo court room on June 17, 2019 when he suffered a massive heart attack but the regime’s minions refused to provide him medical help.

He had been denied proper medical care in prison where he was held in appalling conditions since his ouster seven years ago.

For its 102 million people, Egypt is like a vast prison. Calls for human rights, democratic rule or development result in people ending up in the dungeons of Egypt where tens of thousands are languishing.

“An estimated 60,000 political prisoners languish in jail, while the risk of imprisonment looms over even the apolitical, from businesspeople to doctors, lawyers and students,” reported the British daily, The Guardian on January 24, 2020.

While corruption is widespread everywhere in the Middle East, in Egypt it is particularly high.

The military controls virtually all facets of life. The top brass are more interested in business deals than worrying about defending the borders of state.

Despite massive infusion of funds, estimated at $30 billion between July 2013 and August 2016 from Saudi Arabia and the Arabian potentates of the Persian Gulf, Egypt’s economy is in terminal decline.

In 2016, it was forced to seek a $12 billion loan from the IMF.

Remittances, estimated at $35 billion annually, from Egyptian workers in Saudi Arabia, UAE etc., have also plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Poverty is widespread. According to the World Bank report published in April 2019, 60 per cent of Egypt’s population is either poor or vulnerable and that inequality is on the rise.

Lack of housing has forced many poor people to live in graveyards! Cairo, the capital city, has potholed roads and there is traffic congestion all the time.

It is to protest such terrible conditions of oppression, brutality and gross economic mismanagement that people in Egypt have come out in the streets despite facing grave danger.

The latest round of protests started on September 21 and are ongoing.

Regime’s agents mingle with protesters taking pictures and then arrest them from their homes at night.

The regime has also unleashed the baltagia (thugs) against the protesters.

To express solidarity with the Egyptian people facing El-Sisi’s fascist regime in Egypt rallies have been held or will be held in numerous Canadian cities.

In Canada, the call for rallies was issued by the Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (ECCD), a politically independent, non-affiliated pan Canadian organization that advocates for democracy and human rights in Egypt.

While the people of Egypt face the regime’s brutality directly, they should not be left alone.

It is the duty of all freedom-loving people anywhere in the world to stand in solidarity with them so that they can regain their fundamental rights and choose a government of their own choice.

The military has no business running the government, especially the one in Egypt that has messed up things on all fronts.

Corruption and oppression have intensified under Sisi’s brutal rule.


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