Free Kareem! - Report on the Rally

From the man who made this possible: Constantino -

Hi All,

The rally went well. We were few, but we managed to hand out about 100 fliers to passerby. One Egyptian cab driver who rolled down his window to get a flier asked me, as I approached him, “So what did my government do now?!” Then he honked his horn in solidarity while he waited for the light to turn green.

[...]

We turned our signs to them and started yelling “Free Kareem.” They immediately closed the drapes… but we still caught them peeking out every now and then. A few minutes later, a car with diplomatic plates pulled up right in front of us. They were bringing catered food to the consulate. I tried to give the guy my letter, but he wouldn’t take it.

I should also point out that several people said they had heard about Kareem’s case, and wished us luck. All in all, I think we at least managed to send the message that Kareem is not alone, and we also got to share the information with more people.

I pray that this will all be over tomorrow, and that our friend will be acquitted and set free. But we are definitely keeping the signs in case we need them again. They will hear from us again if they don’t release him. And next time we will do a better job at organizing.

Major thanks goes to Chris Kilmer as well, who contributed a lot to this rally.

COMMENTS

Posted In: Egyptian blogosphere, Freedom of speech, Kareem, Protest

Tom G. Palmer

You guys are the best! Let’s get people in London, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm, Mexico City, and other cities involved, too. This impacts freedom of speech the world over.
http://www.rogelsview.com/in-the-news/libertarianism/freedom-of-speech/rally-report/ It looks obvious

Rally report…

It was a cold day yesterday, but it didn’t stop a few of us – too few if you ask me – from gathering in front of the Egyptian consulate. The response to the rally was interesting: the people inside to consulate tried ignored us…
Ahmed Morsi

Excellent Job guys!! I am egyptian living in paris i m very concerned about this injsutice which is taking place in my home town alexandria. I m very ashamed of my country and i wish i know how i can make a difference !!
effendi

Good job folks. This is the start of more attention being focused on Kareem’s situation. I am posting links where I can and with the limited time that I have. If we all do our small part, there is potential for a difference to be made.
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2007/02/08/massive-kareem-updates/ Mideast Youth – Thinking Ahead » Blog Archive » Massive Kareem updates!

[...] If you missed the pictures from the New York rally, click here to see them. [...]
http://www.freekareem.org/2007/02/19/free-kareem-day-%e2%80%93-new-york-city/ Free Kareem! » Blog Archive » Free Kareem Day – New York City

[...] Much thanks to Constantino and Chris for holding a second rally on February 15th in The Big Apple (the first was on January 31st): The NYC rally was a little smaller than last time. The weather was horrible, and the condition of the streets dreadful (piles of dirty snow everywhere, melting into a nasty, muddy slush), so no one really wanted to be out on the street that day. Still, we were able to distribute about 100 fliers with information about Kareem, and asking people to visit http://www.FreeKareem.org and sign the petitions. [...]
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/02/22/arabisc-bloggers-rally-to-kareems-support/ Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Arabisc: Bloggers Rally to Kareem’s Support

[...] Despite a support site, petitions and demonstrations in Bahrain, London, Stockholm, Paris, Rome, New York (twice) and Washington DC calling for his release, an Alexandria court found him guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison. [...]
http://www.freekareem.org/2008/07/13/kareem-timeline-interactive/ Free Kareem! – Kareem Timeline, Interactive

[...] 1st, 2007 – Pictures of the New York rally gets featured on FreeKareem.org, with a personal letter from the [...]