Dozens of Egyptians protested in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York, hours before President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s speech at the 70th General Assembly.
There were two demonstrations in the same area, one chanting for Al-Sisi and one against him, amid heavy security presence.
In the first assembly, organised by the Egyptian community in New York, protestors held signs reading slogans such as “long live Al-Sisi” and played songs supporting the military and Egypt.
Rafik M, one of the citizens who took part in the assembly, told Daily News Egypt: “We are here to support Egypt and President Al-Sisi on the day of his speech.”
“One of the may positive things he achieved was economic developments. You cannot survive without a mega project and he started a couple of them, such as Suez Canal extension.”
Responding to a question on the protest law issued in Egypt in November 2013, one of the Egyptians participating the same assembly said: “Here is different, and more stable than Egypt. In Egypt, [the protest law] was issued for a reason, to stop the clashes. We do this assembly every year upon Al-Sisi’s arrival.”
(Menan Khater)
Meanwhile, another assembly took place in the same area, with dozens of Egyptians chanting against Al-Sisi, holding Rabaa signs and posters of ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi.
Abber Mostafa, one of the organisers who also works as organiser for the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) committee in New York, told Daily News Egypt: “We are here to protest against Al-Sisi the ‘assassinator’ and support the legitimacy of Morsi’s elections.”
According to Mostafa, this protest is part of many other activities organised by the FJP since Morsi’s ouster. “We try to advocate for our cause everywhere here; in schools, universities and even on public transportation.”
Since the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in 2013, Brotherhood supporters have launched weekly protests in Egypt, which led to the arrests and killings of thousands of them.
