Bloguear no es un crimen. Ese fue uno de los lemas que expusieron los manifestantes en la ciudad de Nueva York durante el rally que efectuaron frente al consulado de Egipto en la Gran Manzana. Esta foto muestra al grupo frente a la representación consular. Abajo, en inglés, un reporte de la misma:
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.
A woman who heard about the rally through a friend showed up with a camera to interview us. They are making a documentary about women’s rights in the middle east, which they’re hoping to screen at a film festival in NYC next month (I think). She said she would email me with details on where to find the documentary. Highlighting the fact that one of the issues Kareem has written about is women’s rights proved to be a good PR tactic.
The Consulate was closed for business, so I wasn’t able to deliver the letter I had printed out, but functionaries were clearly still in the building, as we noticed them looking at us from the window. 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. One of the protesters shouted “I hope you get indigestion!” as they were bringing the food into the building hahahah…
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… I wish I’d had more time to plan it (three days really isn’t enough), but I thought it was important to act before his trial. Constantino.
Definitivamente los blogs están tomando protagonismo en el espacio noticioso y de opiniones. Ahora cualquiera puede exponer sus ideas de una manera prácticamente gratuita. Claro, muchos gobiernos no les gusta la idea, ya vimos que incluso en USA se habló de controlarlos un poco. Creo que Egipto es el primero, otros van a venir, pero dudo que sus intentos por controlar los blogs sean satisfactorios: habría que hacer lo mismo en todo el mundo para que funcione. Es gracioso lo que los gobiernos pueden hacer, especialmente si son grandes y poderosos….por eso los debemos tener bien amarraditos para que no se rebelen! Salduos, Luis H. Fernández
Lo que estan haciendo con Kareem es un abuso. Parte de la esencia de los Blogs, es que son un espacio el cual no es revisado por ningun editor, en el cual uno puede expresarse libremente.