Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Itihadiya Presidential Palace Friday afternoon as part of a wider protest movement against President Mohamed Morsy.
A women’s march numbering at around 100 people left Roxy Square after Friday prayers and marched around the Heliopolis area in a bid to gather more support.
The march, which brandished flags bearing the pictures of renowned Egyptian feminist icons such as Shahinda Maqlad and Hoda Shaarawy as well as other symbols of female achievements Om Kalthoum and Soad Hosni, reached the Palace around 3 pm.
Thousands of protesters who came in other marches welcomed participants of the march from Roxy Square with chants of “welcome revolutionaries.”
The Palace’s gates were protected by hundreds of soldiers from the Ministry of Interior’s Central Security Forces, including tanks manned by the military’s Republican Guard and barbed wire.
Protesters chanted against Morsy, with some calling on him to step down. They also chanted against the Muslim Brotherhood, demanding an end to what they say is a trend of appointing only Brotherhood members as key state officials.
Others called Morsy a traitor and alleged that he wanted to “sell the Suez Canal to Qatar” through the new sukuk law. They also called on Morsy to dismiss Prime Minister Hesham Qandil’s cabinet and to “avenge the martyrs.”
The Itihadiya protests have so far been peaceful and there have been no clashes with security forces, verbal or physical.
