Leading the revolution in Gaza...from Lillehammer
Richard Orange - [email protected]
Published: 3 Oct, 2013 CET.
Updated: Thu 3 Oct 2013 09:10 CET
It may seem an unlikely spring-bed for a revolution, but a Norwegian-Palestinian based in Lillehammer is leading a huge demonstration aimed at toppling the government in the Gaza strip.
Film-maker Iyad Aburok is spokesman for Palestinian 'Tamarod', meaning rebellion, which is planning a demonstration in Gaza on November 11. The group is protesting government run by Hamas, the Islamic political group, which has held power since 2007, when it broke it ties with the Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority. "We are trying to bring about a large street demonstration to demand free parliamentary and presidential elections in the Gaza Strip," he told Aftenposten newspaper. The Tamarod movement, which has 70,000 followers on Facebook, is modelled on the Egyptian grassroots movement of the same name, which was one of the leading groups in the demonstrations that toppled former President Mohammed Mursi in 2011. The 35-year-old, who came to Norway four years ago, a long-term critic of Hamas, said that critics of the government have been jailed in recent years. "They saw what happened to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and fear that the same will happen in Gaza," he said. The 35-year-old believes it is too dangerous for him to personally join the protest, and is instead acting as spokesman for Tamarod from Lillehammer. "The reason I was chosen to advocate for Tamarod is that I live safely in Norway," he told Aftenposten. "There are two other leading members, but they are in Gaza and must remain in hiding".
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Film-maker Iyad Aburok is spokesman for Palestinian 'Tamarod', meaning rebellion, which is planning a demonstration in Gaza on November 11.
The group is protesting government run by Hamas, the Islamic political group, which has held power since 2007, when it broke
it ties with the Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority.
"We are trying to bring about a large street demonstration to demand free parliamentary and presidential elections in the Gaza Strip," he told Aftenposten newspaper.
The Tamarod movement, which has 70,000 followers on Facebook, is modelled on the Egyptian grassroots movement of the same name, which was one of the leading groups in the demonstrations that toppled former President Mohammed Mursi in 2011.
The 35-year-old, who came to Norway four years ago, a long-term critic of Hamas, said that critics of the government have been jailed in recent years.
"They saw what happened to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and fear that the same will happen in Gaza," he said.
The 35-year-old believes it is too dangerous for him to personally join the protest, and is instead acting as spokesman for Tamarod from Lillehammer.
"The reason I was chosen to advocate for Tamarod is that I live safely in Norway," he told Aftenposten. "There are two other leading members, but they are in Gaza and must remain in hiding".
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