In 1973, we coordinated the Suez resistance with the special resistance leader Hajji Hafiz Selame. He was taking a stand against the Zionist army and represented the free will of the people in the city, who did not want to surrender. Immediately after forming the Muslim resistance army, he became victorious over the Israeli army and sent the Israel army back.

Hajji Hafiz Selame, who is over 80, is a significant symbol of the solidarity between Egypt and Gaza. It represents the demands of the Muslim neighbors like us on lifting the embargo. There are some rights in the context of Islam besides those in terms of neighborhood. In the Islam and Arab cultures, neighborhood requires abiding the rights and responsibilities and it is not the denial of and escape from responsibilities. Considering the proverb “He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbor goes hungry is not one of us”, Egypt cannot be a mere spectator while more than 1,5 billion Muslim cannot find anything to eat.

We will raise our voice until everyone reach to the welfare level, we do not have any other criterion. After the crime of piracy of the Zionist commandos committed against Gaza and supportive civil activists in international waters, there is no need for Egypt to slam/close the welfare door- or to open it in a state of emergency. We want the door stay open for the people in occupied Gaza and want Egypt have solidarity with the right party by leaving its fears behind.

People prayed for the martyrs on the freedom convoy and supported the brave and critical stance of the convoy against the Zionists, who were not punished because of their crimes committed in cold blood. These angry prayers called for a fight, ending the relations with Israel, and closing the embassy.

Not all of the participants were men; but there were also Egyptian women, who came there to show their resistance against the country, which is usurper and guilty. Various representatives on the political spectrum and common Egyptian citizens gathered to support Gaza and Turkey. All showed their support for the resistance. They asked to end the fruitless dialogues with America and Israel.

I have not been in Al-Azhar for a long time to protest for the attacks against our Arab and Muslim country such as those against the Muslim minorities in Iraq, Palestine, then Afghanistan and Iran, and lately in the capital cities of the European states.

While I was watching what happened on the freedom convoy, I was proud that the resistance revived again. I felt both angry and proud. I was proud with what the martyrs for peace had done; for they brought the Zionist power to the deadlock. They showed it as an entity that does not recognize law and dialogue and does not understand anything but force.  

The freedom convoy discovered the sore point of the Zionists: they did not know how to handle the freedom convoys that tried to raise Gaza siege. By this means, the free people in the world can keep thousands of Freedom Convoys reach Gaza. It became difficult for the Zionist state to keep its mentality based on destruction. It is inevitable that the free world will keep revolving around itself with the peaceful resistance and justice will be victorious over force. With the Freedom Convoy, the Egyptian people, in favor of the Arabs and Muslims concerning the regional balances, have become more sensitive to the rights and freedoms of people in Palestine, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, and East Turkestan.

In the presence of the mentality of the resistance, the mentality of force has been disappearing and the Zionist and American forces have shown their true color. Turkey, as a regional actor, supports Palestinians’ rights and Turkey takes a stand against Israel. Therefore, the emergent situation is not based on the principle of moderation and abstention; yet it means that Turkey as a rising regional power, sets the things right. The balances in the region have been changing and we (Egyptians and Arabs) are here to support Turkey. The veil of hostility of the imperialists in the Turkish and Arab societies has lifted. 

(by Dr. Kemal Habib)