From the Egypt Independent:
PalFest organizers were granted on Thursday afternoon travel permits by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to travel to Gaza via Rafah. Participants will depart on Saturday morning to run a series of free public events and workshops in Gaza….
The Palestinian festival, which is supported by the UK Arts Council among other international backers, is scheduled to take place in three days and would mark the first time Gaza hosts the event. It is intended to reflect the changes in Egypt’s policy toward the besieged strip since the 25 January revolution….
“When a straightforward, independent literature festival can’t go and spend a few days with its neighbors people need to question why Egypt’s policy hasn’t changed since the revolution,” [organizer Omar Robert] Hamilton said in an interview.
…“Opening the border was very high on the list of the goals of the revolution, combined with the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood controls Parliament, we think and hope that the border has to become more flexible,” Hamilton said in reference to Rafah, and the fact that the Brotherhood has long supported the Palestinian cause. …
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#PalFestGaza is going to be one of the most remarkable events taking place in#Gaza since several years! Make it happen! =)”, Yasmeen al-Khoudary, blogger and columnist, also tweeted on 29 April.Khoudary and her father have been renovating a historic building in Gaza, where on the closing night of the festival a free public concert by Eskenderella and Gaza-based bands Jafra and Al-Salam is scheduled.
I am guessing the boycott is off the table now ha ? :)
LMFAO and ROTFL- simultaneously. Good job, Phil. You’ve shown the true faces of those evil Egyptian Zionists.
Once the border with Egypt is open full time, it is the beginning of the geographical separation of Gaza from the still occupied East Jerusalem and West Bank. It will mark the beginning of a Palestinian state.
!!!!
i want video coverage, party ;)
A non-rhetorical question – why haven’t the Egyptians completely opened the crossing at Rafah and broken the land aspect of the Israeli blockade?