Many thanks to the efforts of Sandeep, at least 5 blogs wrote about Kareem yesterday, to make up for the lack of a protest (it wasn’t possible due to Diwali, a famous Hindu festival, that was taking place at the same time.)

If you read Hindi, please visit these blogs and read what these bloggers had to say about Kareem:

- Post featured in the blog ‘Unmukts’
- Post featured in the blog ‘Shabdonkiduniya’
- Post featured in the blog ‘Hindiacom’
- Post featured in the blog ‘Merachithha’

Thanks to all our friends in India who helped spread the word about Kareem!

Many thanks to Miriam Asnes, Constantino and others who showed up to this rally! Here are some pictures:

Miriam writes about the rally:

Free Kareem demonstrators received at Egyptian Consulate, NY

There is a lot for all of us to think about after our very small but controversial demonstration today to ask that Kareem Amer’s sentence be shortened. The most interesting thing that happened was when we went up to the second floor of the set-back building to let the consulate know that we were downstairs. As we prepared to walk out the door, the receptionist motioned to me.

“Would one of you please come and meet with someone?”

Which is how I ended up in the office of Mohammad Khalil, an assistant to the Egyptian consul. He was very polite and wanted to know all the details of Kareem’s case. “What is he charged with?” he asked me in Arabic. “Writing incendiary comments about the president and the religious establishment,” I told him, and then was quick to point out that the Free Kareem campaign isn’t about his views, but about the appropriate response to someone criticizing the government or Islam. He promised to look into the matter and I gave him my email address so he could follow up. This might mean that I will have a very interesting time at border control next time I visit Egypt

However, the argument that the issue is not the content of Kareem’s posts but rather freedom of speech got us into a heated argument on the street. It started quite innocuously; two gentlemen who had been at the consulate on personal business pointed out that I had misspelled the phrase “Utluqu Sirah Kareem Amer” as “Utluqu Sira3 Kareem Amer” (I do so much writing about “Al-sira3 al filistini” that I mistakenly wrote the word for “struggle”.) It turned out that Mr. Spellcheck had taken a personal interest in Kareem’s case and knew all the details. “You know, it was all completely legal, according to the laws. Not an emergency law or anything,” he said. “He got a year for criticizing the president, and okay, this I think is wrong. But criticizing Islam? He is threatening the fabric of society. He is threatening the values that we teach our children. He should be put in jail; this is the law in Egypt.”

We respectfully disagreed, saying that there should not be limits on free speech and that surely he agreed that Islam was powerful and respected enough in Egypt to withstand some dissent. But his comments did bring to light something I didn’t quite realize beforehand as a newbie to the Free Kareem campaign; technically, this is a campaign that is saying that the Egyptian laws by which Kareem was sentenced are unjust and therefore it is a legal reform campaign directed at Egypt. If I am mistaken on this point, please do let me know.

The second gentleman was really a piece of work. He claimed that America was run by “the Jews” and that they were the source of his own personal woes (getting rejected for a license by the school board) as well as America’s foreign policy. “The majority of the businessmen, the majority of the government are Jewish,” he told me. People like this are always in complete disbelief to learn that Jews account for under 2% of the US population.

“This is bad for Egypt,” he yelled at us. “Not at all,” I tried to tell him. “We like Egypt. We know that Egypt wants to respect people’s rights. We’d like to help her do that.”

And then, as usually happens, even the most bigoted and obnoxious heckler sometimes has a point. “If you are standing here for Kareem,” he told us, “then you must also demonstrate for everyone who is experiencing injustice from the government here.” I bowed my head. How many times did I go out and demonstrate against the illegal detentions after 9/11 or the current detainees of my own government in Guantanamo? I’m much more likely to run a program like the Middle East Community Outreach Panel series we founded at UMich than show up with signs and a megaphone. Is that preference or cowardice?

For me, the best moment of the afternoon happened as I left the consulate. The receptionist who had managed to get us an audience with someone on staff stood as I walked out the door.

“Thank you,” I said.

“No, thank you” he said sincerely. I could tell then that he had probably heard of Kareem Amer.

Excellent recap of the rally. Thanks to everyone who was involved.

Bureaucrash, the freedom activist network, features a blog post about the DC rally by Anca who is one of the organizers:

November 9th , known as World Freedom Day, marks the fall of the Berlin Wall and is a day of celebration for freedom lovers around the globe. But November 9th also marks the sad one-year anniversary since Egypt imprisoned freedom of speech. What is for some World Freedom Day is for others Egypt Freedom Restraint Day.

One year ago Egypt chose to celebrate World Freedom Day by taking away Kareem ‘s freedom of movement because he stood up for freedom of speech. Today, joining a world wide effort, an enthusiastic and outspoken group of freedom lovers gathered in front of the Egypt Embassy Cultural Office to show our support for Kareem.

We might have been the last Free Kareem rally considering the time zone but I would say we came in first in terms of enthusiasm and commitment. In spite of cold and wind, under the paternal watch of the fierce US Secret Service we managed to convey our message of freedom to passers-by and drivers who enthusiastically responded to our request to honk for freedom.

We spoke freely to show Egypt they can not silence free speech. We spoke about our credo to prove to Egypt that they can not imprison principles. We expressed our views to the press present on location to prove to Egypt that the war of ideas can not be won by force but by reason and arguments. And neither the lack of reaction from the Egyptian authorities nor the chocolate we shared for lunch managed to sweeten our outrage.

We stood up for the sake of freedom of speech and we stood up for Kareem, we did last year, we did this year and we would do it again …our hope is that it won’t be necessary and we will celebrate the next World Freedom Day having Kareem free amongst us.

Pictures of the rally (also below):

ALL RALLIES TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY THE 9TH OF NOVEMBER:
If time is set to “TBA,” please e-mail the organizer of the relevant rally on Thursday to check the exact time. We will update this as soon as we are informed.

London rally:
Organizer: Debi Chakrabarty
E-mail: debi.chakra(at)gmail.com or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy, 26 South Street, Westminster (Map)
Time: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
[Rally participants will be meeting at the Green Park tube station at 3 PM so that they can walk over together.]

Washington, DC rally:
Organizer: Anca Bogdana Rusu
E-mail: anca_bogdana_rusu(at)yahoo.com or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy Cultural Office, Egyptian Embassy Cultural Office by DuPont Circle, 1303 New Hampshire Ave. NW (Map)
Time: 12:00-1:00 PM
Further information: Facebook Event Group

New York City rally:
Organizer: Mimi Asnes
E-mail: mimi.asnes(at)gmail.com or click here
Place: Egyptian Consulate, 1110 2nd Avenue, New York (Map)
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Rome rally:
Organizer: Eleonora Bianchini
E-mail: eleonorabianchini(at)blogosfere.it or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy, Villa Savoia – Via Salaria, 267, Roma (Map)
Time: TBA

Berlin rally:
Organizer: Jessica Wright, Institut für Unternehmerische Freiehit
E-mail: jessica(at)iuf-berlin.org or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy, Stauffenberg Str. 6-7, 10785 Berlin (Map)
Time: 1:00pm

Amsterdam rally:
Organizer: Tori Egherman
E-mail: tori.egherman@gmail.com or click here
Time: 12:00pm

Stockholm rally:
Organizer: Jonas Virdalm
E-mail:
Place: Egyptian Embassy, Strandvägen 35, 11451 Stockholm (Map)
Time: 12:00pm
Further information: Speakers will include Henrik Alexandersson (Frihetsfronten), Magnus Andersson (CUF), Rola Brentlin (MUF) (h/t, Johan Norberg)

Prague rally:
Organizer: Amnesty Czech (amnesty.cz)
E-mail: lamiskhalilova(at)gmail.com or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy, Pelléova 14, Praha 6 – Bubeneč, 160 00 (Map)
Time: TBA

Rio de Janeiro rally:
Organizer: Pedro Sette
E-mail: psette(at)ordemlivre.org or click here
Place: Egyptian Consulate, Rua Muniz Barreto, 741 (one block away from the subway station.)
Time: 10AM

São Paulo rally:
Organizer: Magno Karl
E-mail: mkarl(at)ordemlivre.org or click here
Time: TBA

Athens rally:
Organizer: Fotis Perlikos, Liberal Alliance
E-mail: perlykos01(at)yahoo.gr or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy, 3 Vasilissis Sofias Av., 106 71 Athens
Time: TBA

Bucharest rally:
Organizer: Olga Nicoara
E-mail: olga.nicoara(at)cadi.ro or click here
Place: Egyptian Embassy, Dacia Boulevard 67
Time: 12pm – 1pm

Mexico City rally:
Organizer: Armando R.
E-mail: aregil(at)cato.org or click here
Place: Embassy of Egypt in Mexico City, Mexico – Alejandro Dumas No. 131, Polanco, Mexico, D.F.
Time: TBA

Brussels rally:
Organizer: Pieter Cleppe, Jong VLD
E-mail: pieter_cleppe(at)yahoo.com or click here
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Avenue de l’Uruguay 19, 1000 Brussels (Map)
Time: TBA
Further information: View flyer

Confirmed cities so far:

1- Brussels
2- Rome
3- Stockholm
4- Washington DC
5- New York City
6- Prague
7- Bucharest
8- Berlin
9- Amsterdam
10- London
11- Athens
12 – Mexico City
13 – São Paulo
14 – Rio de Janeiro

Interested in organizing a rally in a city that is not yet listed here? Contact us!

(Updated)

We have 10 confirmed cities so far that will take place in the worldwide Free Kareem rally on Friday, the 9th of November.

1- Brussels
2- Rome
3- Stockholm
4- Washington DC
5- New York City
6- Prague
7- Bucharest
8- Berlin
9- Amsterdam
10- London
11- Athens
12 – Mexico City
13 – São Paulo
14 – Rio de Janeiro

We are aiming for much more, so if your city is not listed here and you would like to organize one, please contact us!

If you live in any of the above cities, please attend a rally! We will post detailed information concerning exact times, location addresses and the organizers’ contact information. This is just an entry to give you some time to plan ahead.

The day for the Free Kareem rallies (to take place worldwide) is nearing. We need your help!

We have five confirmed locations so far:
- New York City
- Romania
- Germany
- Washington, DC
- The Netherlands

Help us organize 10 more! There will most likely be on in London, France, Belgium, and Sweden. They are still unconfirmed locations, but if you are willing to organize a rally in your city please do, and contact us for any details!

We will be posting the contact information of these organizers very shortly.

Until then, please download these flyers and place them around your campus or wherever else you think is approrpriate:

If you can’t see, this is what it says on the bottom of the flyer, next to “why you should support Kareem“:

The theme of the worldwide rallies is “One year is enough!” since it will mark Kareem’s one year imprisonment. Remember that although he was officially sentenced on the 22nd of Feburary, he has been imprisoned since the 6th of November. We are holding the rallies on the 9th of November however, so do not get confused! This is to ensure that all students can also show up to the rallies, which (it not on Fridays) they cannot do due to classes or office hours.

The good folks behind the Committee to Protect Bloggers have generously helped organize a Twitter day for Kareem which will take place on the 6th of November. If you use twitter, please consider joining us in spreading further awareness on Kareem’s case. You can read all about this event here:

As we mentioned before, we are co-sponsoring a protest on November 6 with FreeKareem. On that date, the Egyptian blogger Kareem will have been unjustly incarcerated for one year, due to communicating his opinions on his blog. There are physical marches and other activities set to coincide with this date. On our end, we are asking everyone to use their Twitter account to talk about Kareem, free speech, imprisoned bloggers and have related conversations for the whole day. We’re offering the badge above that you can download on your blog or site to indicate your belief in free speech for bloggers worldwide and for Kareem in Egypt in particular. (The bluer version is available in our Flickr account in the sidebar.)

When you write about this aspect of the day, please use the tag twitter4kareem.

Go to original post.

The 17th of June marks Kareem’s 23rd birthday.

Here are the list of things that we want him to get for his birthday.

1. Clothes (between medium and large – Kareem is around 5’6 or 5’7 tall.)

2. Writing materials

3. Books (be careful with your selection, and remember that prison guards will see it before Kareem does. Therefore it’s very important to select something that will not trouble him.)

4. Food / sweets

5. Blanket

6. Postcards and birthday cards

7. Letters!

Please send any of the above to the address posted here.

Send an eCard and spread the word!

We are happy to announce that about a dozen rallies will be held worldwide in support of Kareem Amer. If you happen to be near any of the locations listed below, we’d love you to join us on Friday, April 27!

(Want to help but can’t attend a demonstration? See our What You Can Do page!)

Note from rally volunteers: While we appreciate the support provided by organizations worldwide, everyone is participating first and foremost as a civilian, not necessarily as a member of a particular organization.

This list will be updated as we get more details. Stay tuned!

Country List:

Austria
City: Vienna
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Hohe Warte 50-54, A-1190 Wien (Map)
Time: TBA
Contact: David Maeir
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Belgium
City: Brussels
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Avenue de l’Uruguay 19, 1000 Brussels (Map)
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Contact: Pieter Cleppe, Jong VLD
Note: Please see announcement here (PDF)
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Canada
City: Ottawa, Ontario
Address: TBA
Time: TBA
Contact: Mohammed Shouman
Note: Facebook event here
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Czech Republic
City: Prague
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Pelléova 14, Praha 6 – Bubeneč, 160 00 (Maps here and here)
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Contact: Lamis Khalilova, Amnesty Czech
Note: Please see announcement (Czech, English) (PDF)
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Germany
City: Berlin
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Stauffenberg Str. 6-7, 10785 Berlin (Map)
Time: 11:00 am – 11:30 am
Contact: Bidjan Tobias Nashat, Hertie School of Governance
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Greece
City: Athens
Address: Egyptian Embassy, 3 Vasilissis Sofias Av., 106 71 Athens
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Contact: Fotis Perlikos, Liberal Alliance
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Italy
City: Rome
Address: Italian Parliament, Piazza Montecitorio – Roma (Map)
Time: 10:00 am – 10:30 am
Contact: Alberto Mingardi
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Romania
City: Bucharest
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Dacia Boulevard 67
Time: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Contact: Olga Nicoara
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Sweden
City: Stockholm
Address: Egyptian Embassy, Strandvägen 35 (Map)
Time: 12 pm (sharp)
Contact: Jonas Virdalm
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United Kingdom
City: London
Address: 216 South Street (Map)
Time: 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Contact: Andrew Perraut
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United States of America
City: Washington, DC
Address: Egyptian Embassy Cultural Office by DuPont Circle, 1303 New Hampshire Ave. NW (Map)
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Contact: Knud Edmund Berthelsen
Note: Facebook event here
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