Several political movements and parties on Friday organized silent protests in solidarity with the victims of the New Year’s Eve church bombing that killed 23 and left scores injured. The protests were staged in the Shatbi, San Stefano and Khalil Hamada Street areas in Alexandria.
Security were present in large numbers at the three locations. Each protest lasted no longer than one hour.
A campaign supporting the nomination of Gamal Mubarak for the presidency replaced its posters with fresh ones depicting the crescent and the cross.
Participating in the protests were the Ghad, Tagammu and Nasserist parties; the Khaled Saeed support group; the Popular Campaign to Support ElBaradei; and the Adala, Horreya, Hashd, 6th April Youth and Revolutionary Socialists movements.
The protesters were dressed in black and raised banners reading, “The heart of our homeland is in pain” and “All blood is equal.” Some members of the Ghad Party held banners reading, “We are all Egyptians. We are all against terrorism.” The banner also had the names and pictures of all the blast's victims.
Ghad Party founder Ayman Nour said that all Egypt condemns the terrorist attack that took place outside the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter in Alexandria.
Church leaders in Alexandria had rejected requests by the protests’ organizers to allow Coptic youth to take part, fearing that would lead to problems with security officials. The church leaders said Coptic youth will protest inside churches.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
