‎The Gates to Hell, what Egyptian regime did to the Palestinians‎

‎The Gates to Hell, what Egyptian regime did to the Palestinians‎

From the experience at rafeh crossing, egyptian side... I have been on the crossing for two days with the egyptian authprities refusing me entry to go back to lebanon.

I was asked many times "what were you doing for seven months in palestine"... "what you didn't do," I answered the mukhabarat [intelligence] officer who has a wicked smirk on his face. "How did you come to gaza?" asked another, "by the boats." "So, now you know why you... can't leave" he answered back.

They punish palestinians, & all who break the siege & stand by palestinians. Now, I am Palestinian... I am a refugee, I am a prisoner, I am living the massacres, the racism i am living the resistance & endurance to all kinds of torture techniques I am still in gaza, & things might get worse with the Egyptian mukhabarat & regime denying me entry.This stops being complicity with the Zionist entity, but rather direct participation in crimes against humanity of which the Egyptian regime and authorities are practicing against the Palestinians.

So, literally, it is an honour to have shared the suffering with the Palestinians on the crossing. Despite the suffering, amidst the suffering, friendship, brotherhood, sisterhood, laughs and jokes were present...
Tears of the women, those who were begging the monsters, and the torture, is something that must be said, whatever the price is... & there is a huge price to pay which is that of not being able to come back. But, we, activists in solidarity, vowed to make this sacrifice.
I could never remove from my eyes the image of my friend, Sitt Firial, whose son is in a hospital in Ain Shams, Egypt, dying. She wants to just go be with him.
They killed her yesterday; her tears fell down, her hand touching the glass window of the mukhabarat [intelligence] offices looking through. 'Please, please. I beg you, show mercy, let me go in.'
Another woman sat by the amn dawla [government's security] office, looking up to the security officer closing the way through. "You promised to let me in," she said with her soft, tired and drained voice. "Please let me in" she repeated calmly with her tired voice, then looked at me with wide, tearful, sad eyes... childlike. I looked at him & vommitted all their acts back on them.
I knew they would take it personally, but Jenny [Jenny Linnell, ISM activist] & I, chose to speak, resist & act. I called them "barbaric" & "savages" straight to their faces, and it felt good. Another woman offered an officer candy after he said he will give her going through another thought. 'Lahza, lahza, tfaddal tfadal' she said as she walked behind him hurryingly. The people are simple, kind, honest, genuine & real. What happens to them on the crossing is left in the soul; killing & stabbing it. They have been taught to accept this treatment. But, as activists, it is our job to break through the silence& scream out the injustice... no matter what the price.
As I was talking to someone on the phone, telling him about the situation, a man of around seventy, an old sick palestinian elderly, just fell to the ground. Saied, from the mukhabarat, came up to me as i came closer to the elderly man as another officer was dragging him. Saeid pointed his index finger at me: 'I will make sure you will never get out of here' his tone cruel, low, and wicked. But, I replied saying 'all that you have done to our people is registered in notebooks." He said to me 'really? we are untouchable' in a vindictive tone.
We resisted... & jenny's voice screaming- I couldn't see her- but saying 'get off me! get off me' gave me strength to stay put, hold on to the window I was holding on to.
Around ten men were around me, looking at them each in the eye, knowing i had to humanize them to humanize myself. 'You have a daughter my age? I am 21... you accept your daughter be treated that way? I am your daughter, & your daughter & your daughter." Amazingly so, the officers there whom I had eye contact with and spoke to, did NOT touch me. Only Saeid & another mukhabarat officer pulled me away.
I couldn't see Jenny & when I was dragged to the return bus, I saw that she had refused to get on the bus not knowing where i was.
As they dragged and pushed us out, the man dragging me by the wrists said 'your lucky my shoe is not in your mouth like they do in Jordan."
A young man who can't speak & who was on a wheelchair, at one point of desparation, hit himself on the chest constantly. "Hmmm, hmmm hmmm!!' he tried expressing himself as they pushed him & the wheel chair aggressively & Jenny kept saying "shway shway!" (take it easy)

I am honoured to have lived yesterday, I am proud. It is a certificate to get killed, to suffer, to endure & resist with all that is Palestine, Palestine, Palestine, with all who fall under the hands of injustice.

The little girl on a bus, said 'mama, can we gather a shekel from each to give to the egytpians to pass through?' The people shared bread & water, shared pain, & tears, shared laughter. Yes, we laughed. Laughter & love under the bombs to laughter & love under racism, degradation, humiliation, under monsters clad in clothes.
What are we now, & what could we be? I sacrifice anything now, now i know what it feels for the suicide bomber... I now know... that point of desparation..

Hasta la victoria siempre down with colonialism, totalitarianism, imperialism, capitalism, oppression & repression... colonialism the evil of all evils. Down with Arab oppressive regimes, down with Apartheid regimes, down with nationalisms, with borders and boundaries.
La vache qui rit regime will fall...

What i heard the egyptian mukhabarat & officers of amn dawla tell the Palestinians & some to me when i protested against them & refused to leave withouit a reason why denied entry for tarheel (in arabic):

"انته الفلسطينية جبته المشاكل و جيته"
"يلا امشي يلا!" ظابط مصري الى فلسطيني كبير السن
"لما ربنا يساعدنا حنساعدكم" ظابط مخابرات الى سيدة كبيرة السن و هو يتقهقه
"ابو شقرا!! هي خلصت الاسماء ولا ايه؟" وجهه ظابط مصري كريه و لئيم اليّ
"انت... انت مش حسيبك تطلعي من هنا!" ظابط مخابرات الي عندما وقفت الى جانب سيدي المسن عندما اغمي عليه
"مين حيحاسبني؟!" ظابط مخابرات مصري يرد علي عندما فجرت غضبي فيه
"لو كنت في الاردن كانت الجزمة تعتي فوق راسك!" ظابط مخابرات عندما رفضت الخروج من المعبر احتجاجا على تعذيبهم الجسدي و النفسي لي و لزميلتي



Comments from Egyptian citizens:

Mohamed Khorshid

I'm Egyptian and refuse all stupid procedures taked against our brother & sisters in Gaza.don't judge on Egyptians through those stupid officers...theyr r messengers of hell..the opposite side of israeli officersthey do the same with Egyptian citizenswe all support uneed to help Gaza and their brave fighters... Allah with u-------

Ahmed Diaa

please let us all stop referring to the egyptian regime and their security apparatuses as "the egyptians", this is not only degrading to egyptians who hold a firm stand against the siege, but also it legitimizes the authority of the regime and its stooges. remember how abul gheit insisted on tv that ppl should refer to them as the ...egyptians not as the regime? calling them "egypt" or "the egyptians" is as if they are taking the decision in the name of egypt, and as if they are supported by the ppl. u know that there is nothing further from the truth. they are a brutal regime that carries on these practices against the egyptian ppl b4 they do against the palestinians. while reading ur note, i identified, things like this, and worse, happened either to me or to ppl i know, and reminds me of what i saw on march 21st 2003 and in similar occasions in which the egyptian regime decided to lay siege on downtown cairo, just the way they are doing now with Gaza.

Natalie Abou Shakra