Egypt

Its possible that there is a name more well-known than Gilad Shalit this week, but not likely. For the last two days, media of all kinds have been tripping over themselves trying to describe, explain, hagiographize, and contextualize Shalit, who is to be released soon after a five year detention by Hamas in a prisoner swap.

Why is a medical conference involving the Israeli military being sponsored by the European Union?

The US project for normalization with the the Israeli colonizing and apartheid regime was dealt a severe blow last Friday when protesters battered down the walls of the Israeli embassy in Cairo and even managed to break into the embassy’s offices.

Hundreds of thousands gathered in Tahrir Square today, demanding an end to military trials and the military rule. In the afternoon, Egyptians moved to different locations including the Ministry of Interior and the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Those who moved to the Israeli embassy in Cairo went holding sledgehammers aiming to destroy the wall built around the Israeli embassy; they succeeded.

Last June, as the Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2 was preparing its attempt to break the illegal Israeli siege of Gaza, many were dismayed when the Mavi Marmara was withdrawn from the flotilla. Why did Turkey do this?

The US administration of President Barack Obama was even more actively involved than previously known in enforcing the siege of Gaza along Egypt’s border with the territory. And the Pentagon provided direct assistance and technology for these efforts, a newly released official document reveals.

Israel appears to have backed away from an even more massive assault on Gaza – for now – largely because of protests in Egypt and the broader sense that Israel “lacks legitimacy” to carry out more aggression despite assured diplomatic support from the United States. This is an enormous victory for people power, and as a result lives have undoubtedly been saved.