Stand with Egypt

After several cancelled flights, I am finally on my way to Egypt to join my CODEPINK colleagues who are already there. We were supposed to be leading a delegation to Gaza right now, traveling through the Sinai to get to Gaza's southern border. The Rafa crossing into Gaza has been closed, our delegation is unable to leave Cairo, and we have been caught up in the breath-taking people's movement that is sweeping Egypt. CODEPINK’s Tighe Barry has been out on the streets of Cairo all week long. You can hear a compelling report from him here. When CODEPINK was in Cairo for the Gaza Freedom March last year, we led and participated in small, peaceful protests that were set upon by hundreds of riot police at the behest of repressive Mubarak regime. But now there has been a seismic shift. There are not 50 people rallying in Cairo, but hundreds of thousands protesting across the nation. Dozens have been killed; hundreds have been wounded. But the Egyptian people will not be turned back. They feel their power and are determined to seize the moment. The US has given Egypt $68 billion since 1948, and since 1979, Egypt has been the second-biggest recipient of US aid after Israel. Our government currently gives $1.3 billion a year of our tax dollars in military aid to the Mubarak regime. Join us in telling President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S. Congress to stop funding the Mubarak regime now, to call on Mubarak to resign, and to expressly say that our government stands with the Egyptian people. After all, in his recent State of the Union Address, President Obama declared: “The United States stands with the people of Tunisia.” Shouldn’t we also stand with the Egyptians? Sign here to stand in solidarity with people who are giving their government, our government and the world a lesson in democracy. Mubarak is refusing to leave. But our government can—and must—break its ties to this dictator. As courageous Egyptian citizens are being assaulted with U.S. tear gas and other Made-in-the-USA weapons, we must say: Enough. In solidarity, Medea Benjamin P.S. Add your events and ralllies for Egypt to our calendar here! Find an Embassy of Egypt near you Women of Egypt: protest photos on Facebook More News! Al Jazeera English Live Stream Washington Post list of Twitter feeds that are live in Egypt Follow the following hashtags on Twitter for more news: #Egypt, #Jan 25, #Jan 28, and more listed here: A Primer On Following Egyptian Protests On Twitter, NPR, Jan 30, 2011 Ahdaf Soueif piece from The Guardian Factbox: Most U.S. aid to Egypt goes to military, Reuters, Jan 29, 2011