Author Archives: taffy

Who are we and where are we going? Child rapes in Britain.

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R.E.A.L. … It is heartbreaking, even as it is unsurprising. In Britain, the authorities are now reporting the forced marriage of girls as young as nine years old on British soil. We are not talking about one case, but several, which take place under official protection. We are not speaking, then, about parents or “husbands” who are being charged with a criminal offense. The situation, in other words, is completely unacceptable and makes clear that we have a crying need for a new approach to these matters. Government must put its foot down — and powerfully so — so that there will be no doubt as to the way in which such grotesque crimes will be addressed.

First, when I say that the marriage of nine-year-old girls in today’s Britain (and the rest of the EU, for that matter) is unsurprising, my statement is based on my own 17 years of experience in the field of immigration: forms of assault based on tradition and religion — including child marriage, forced marriage, genital mutilation, so-called honor-related offenses such as rape and murder — have become established here as a result of immigration, mostly from Muslim countries. Instances of these offenses have been documented in countries such as Norway (where, to be sure, there have been no recorded cases of marriage to girls as young as nine, but where the marriage of an 11-year-old came to light in a TV documentary that I worked on as journalist; such cases have also been known in Sweden). The only phenomenon that has not been documented in Norway thus far is forced eating by girls before they are to be married off. I was told about this practice by feminists in Paris in 2003, and the phenomenon had been imported into France by immigrants, mostly from Mali. Girls are locked up and fed like geese before being married, because in their culture being fat is considered beautiful.

This being said, the news from Britain, which has been reported in the Times, deserves widespread attention. Because the authorities are obviously aware of very serious information about actual children who are supposedly under the protection of those very same authorities. In other words, Britain’s Ministry of Justice, if the Times is to be believed, knows who these children’s parents are, parents who have attempted to arrange for the rape of their own children. For this is what we are talking about here: the deprival of children’s freedom, plus countless years of repeated rape. Such phenomena must force authorities to sit down with a cool head and a warm heart and ask themselves: who are we, and where are we going? What are we doing to ourselves as a nation, to our heritage, to our culture, to our future? According to the Times, however, British authorities are not doing anything of the kind. Here comes the proposed initiative, and before you read this sentence you had better take a deep breath. The Ministry of Justice says that the children’s parents are receiving help from the authorities “to solve the problem.” Continue Reading →

Canada redirecting Palestinian aid from UNRWA

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TORONTO (JTA) — Canada is redirecting its Palestinian aid away from a United Nations agency and toward specific projects.

The shift in Canadian policy was announced this week by Vic Toews, president of Canada’s Treasury Board, who wrapped up a five-day trip to Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

Canada is not reducing the amount of money it gives to the Palestinian Authority, “but it is now being redirected in accordance with Canadian values,” Toews said. The move “will ensure accountability and foster democracy in the PA.”

In the past, Canadian aid earmarked for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, went into a general operating fund in the PA’s treasury. The U.N. agency runs 59 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

In a meeting in Ramallah, Toews refused a request by the PA’s minister of planning and administrative development, Ali al-Jarbawi, for aid to be given “directly” to the PA treasury, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Among the projects receiving the redirected aid are those training prosecutors, judges and police, and shoring up the Palestinian judicial sector by building courthouses.

“If we train people properly, we will have the emergence of proper institutions necessary for a state,” the Post quoted Toews as saying. “It is obviously more difficult to monitor the use of money sent into general funds than specific projects.”

A statement from Toews’ office said Canada is “on track” to deliver on its pledge of $300 million over five years to the PA.

Toews said Ottawa needed “to ensure that [the Palestinian Authority] has less wide discretion.”

B’nai Brith Canada praised the shift away from funding UNRWA, which reportedly has been infiltrated by Hamas.

Senior member of extreme Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir teaches at LSE

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TIMESONLINE… A senior figure in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a hardline Islamist group that the Government keeps “under continuous review” and the Conservatives want to ban, is teaching and preaching at a top university.

The Times has learnt that Reza Pankhurst, who was imprisoned in Egypt for membership of the group, is a teacher at the London School of Economics and regularly preaches to students at Friday prayers.

The group is supposedly barred from organising and speaking on campuses under the National Union of Students’ policy of “no platform” for racist or fascist views. The presence of one of its prominent members as a university teacher raises new concerns about Islamist radicalisation on campus.

A new review of campus extremism began last month after it was discovered that the alleged Detroit airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London.

The Times understands that at least two London university lecturers are either supporters or members of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Mr Pankhurst is a postgraduate student in the LSE’s government department and teaches classes for the course “States, Nations and Empires”.

On Fridays he is one of the regular speakers at prayers organised by the students’ union Islamic Society in the college gym.

A society member told The Times: “He preaches every other week and is constantly bringing the subject around to politics, talking about Afghanistan and the need to establish the Caliphate [Islamic state].

“Only last week he was talking about the Detroit bomber and saying the guy was not radicalised in London and it was all to do with foreign policy.

“Last year he recommended we should attend a conference which I later discovered was organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir, but he never mentions the party by name.” Continue Reading →

Who Owns the Dead Sea Scrolls?

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Jordan has demanded that Israel hand over some of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. The kingdom claims Israel seized the scrolls illegally from a museum in East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Israel seized the scrolls and other antiquities from the Palestinian Museum, which was managed by Jordan in east Jerusalem when it occupied this part of the city in 1967,” said Rafea Harahsheh of Jordan’s antiquities department.

The scrolls were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947. The famous parchments number 900 documents and biblical texts belonging to the Essenes, a breakaway Jewish sect that lived in the craggy hills above the Dead Sea where the scrolls were discovered.

They provide a rare insight into life in the Holy Land and the emergence of early Christian groups in the area.

The Jordanians recently asked the Canadian government to seize some of the scrolls while they were on display in Toronto.

They have also appealed to the United Nations in support of their case.

Israel has refused to discuss handing back the scrolls. Its foreign ministry told the Jerusalem Post, “Jordan’s occupation of the West Bank was never recognized by the international community and the kingdom relinquished all claims on the territories. The scrolls have no relation to Jordan or the Jordanian people.” Continue Reading →

US military urged to act over extremists in its ranks

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BBCNEWS.. Two leading US senators have urged the Pentagon to take steps to combat the threat of Islamist extremism within the ranks of the US military.

The senators called for educating military personnel about the “warning signs of extremism”.

The recommendation came in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings in Texas during which an Army major killed 13 people.

Maj Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist at the base, has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

The 39-year-old American-born Muslim will be tried in a military court but it has not yet been confirmed whether military authorities are seeking the death penalty in this case.

The Pentagon is due to release its own internal review of the incident.

Increasing trust

Senator Joe Lieberman and Senator Susan Collins wrote to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates at the end of their investigation into the 5 November incident at Fort Hood.

The US military should train soldiers “from enlisted personnel to commanders” to recognise and report “the warning signs of violent Islamist extremism”, they said.

“Efforts by DoD [US defence department] to educate its personnel concerning what violent Islamist extremism is and what the warning signs of such extremism are – as distinguished from the practice of the Islamic faith – will increase trust between the thousands of Muslim-Americans serving honourably and their colleagues,” they wrote.

They said current procedures for dealing with such cases were not satisfactory but did not specify what the warning signs would be.

‘Toronto 18’ terror suspect pleads not guilty

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 CBCNEWS… A 34-year-old man accused of being one of the conspirators in the “Toronto 18” terrorist bomb plot pleaded not guilty Monday as his trial began.

Shareef Abdelhaleem, a computer engineer, is charged with participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion. He is being tried by a judge, without a jury in a Brampton, Ont., courtroom.

Abdelhaleem and 17 others were arrested in 2006 and accused of plotting to detonate bombs at several targets in Ontario, including the CN Tower, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the office of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS.

Of those 18 people, five had their charges dropped or stayed, four pleaded guilty, one was found guilty and five are still awaiting trial.

The Crown alleged Abdelhaleem tried to buy ingredients to make explosives and exchanged cash with police informant Shaher Elsohemy as a down payment for ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be used to make explosives. Continue Reading →

Five guilty for Islamist protests in Luton

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Under a banner held up by a supporter saying “Islam will dominate the world. Freedom can go to hell”, Choudhury said that the trial showed the failure of freedom of speech and democracy.

TIMESONLINE… Five Muslim men who accused British soldiers of being rapists, murderers and baby killers during a homecoming parade were found guilty today of making threats.

The five, all from Luton, were convicted of using threatening, abusive or insulting words and behaviour likely to cause harassment and distress during a march by the Royal Anglian Regiment through Luton town centre in March last year.

Jalal Ahmed, 21, Yousaf Bashir, 29, Ziaur Rahman, 32, Shajjadar Choudhury, 31, Munim Abdul, 28, were found guilty at Luton Magistrates’ Court. Ibrahim Anderson, 32, and Jubair Ahmed, 19, also from Luton, were found not guilty. All had denied the charges.

The five men found guilty were given two-year conditional discharges and ordered to pay contributions towards costs of £500 each.

District judge Carolyn Mellanby said: “I have no doubt it is abusive and insulting to tell soldiers to ‘Go to hell’, to call soldiers murderers, rapists and baby killers. It is not just insulting to the soldiers but to the citizens of Luton who were out on the streets that day to honour and welcome soldiers home.”

Ms Mellanby added: “The fact that they say they did not intend their remarks to be insulting does not amount to defence in law. They were fully aware that shocking phrases in such circumstances would inevitably cause distress.”

She rejected arguments that they were merely exercising their right to freedom of speech as enshrined in the Human Rights Act, saying that their behaviour “went beyond reasonable, legitimate protest”.

Avirup Chaudhuri, for the prosecution, said that as the local regiment, who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, passed, the group of protesters jeered “British Army murderers”, “British soldiers burn in hell” and “Baby killers”. They also denounced the troops as terrorists.

Lawyers defending the men said that their clients discussed their plans to protest with police beforehand, had agreed to a time and a place to do so and officers had not objected at the time. This implied consent by the police and to prosecute them retrospectively was not right, the lawyers said.

Outside court the defendants responded defiantly to the verdict.

Under a banner held up by a supporter saying “Islam will dominate the world. Freedom can go to hell”, Choudhury said that the trial showed the failure of freedom of speech and democracy.

We can’t stop cleric’s benefits

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HATE cleric Anjem Choudary nets £25,000 a year in benefits – £8,000 MORE than the take-home pay of soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, The Sun can reveal.

The Muslim extremist’s handouts are not taxed, making his income equivalent to a £32,500 salary.

The revelation came amid mounting fury over bile-spouting Choudary’s plan for a parade by Muslim hard-liners through repatriation town Wootton Bassett.

He has also likened British soldiers to Nazi stormtroopers.

State handout figures leaked to The Sun show Choudary, 42, gets £15,600 a year in housing benefit – to live in a £320,000 house in Leytonstone, East London.

The cleric is also given a £1,820 council tax allowance, £5,200 in income support and £3,120 in child benefits. That’s a total of £25,740.

By contrast, a private fighting the Taliban in the Afghan badlands is paid a basic £16,680 – or £13,430 after tax.

He also gets a £2,380 bonus for serving on the frontline and a £1,194 “separation allowance” for being away from home.

That makes total take-home earnings of £17,004.

THE Government has admitted it is powerless to stop hate cleric Anjem Choudary claiming £25,740 a year in state handouts.

The Sun told yesterday how the Muslim extremist, who lives in a £320,000 house, racks up £15,600 a year in housing benefit.

He also gets £1,820 council tax allowance, £5,200 in income support and £3,120 in child benefits.

The rabble rouser plans to lead Muslim hard-liners on a parade through repatriation town Wootton Bassett, Wilts. He is thought to be paid a small wage by a Muslim group, allowing him to claim income support and time to spread his hatred.

But despite spouting bile instead of job-hunting, the British-born father of four, of Leytonstone, East London, will keep all his benefits. The Department for Work and Pensions said there was no code of moral conduct he has to stick to.

A source said: “He could stand outside a Job Centre and preach his bile and nothing would be done to slash his payments.” An insider added: “He’s complying with the strict eligibility criteria needed to claim his benefits.”

Mark Wallace, Campaign Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There is no way that this twisted man should be allowed to live off benefits while preaching his evil views.”Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May said: “We need a radical overhaul of the benefits system to ensure that when people can work they aren’t relying on the state.”

THE number of foreign fanatics banned from Britain fell from 80 in 2007 to 22 last year, figures show.

2 Men Arrested in Connection With Zazi Terror Inquiry

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Zarein Admedzay

Zarein Admedzay

 NYT… Two men from Queens who had traveled to Pakistan in 2008 with a Denver airport shuttle bus driver who later was charged in a Qaeda bomb plot were arrested early Friday morning in connection with the case, according to the F.B.I.

The two men, Adis Medunjanin, 25, and Zarein Ahmedzay, 24, came under intense scrutiny during the investigation that led to a federal bombing conspiracy indictment against the shuttle bus driver, Najibullah Zazi, 24, in September, and have remained under investigation, officials have said.

The charges against Mr. Medunjanin and Mr. Ahmedzay — who both attended Flushing High School, as did Mr. Zazi — were not immediately made available on Friday morning. But the two men were expected to be arraigned later in the day in federal court in Brooklyn, where the charges were lodged against Mr. Zazi.

“Early this morning, Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay were arrested by the F.B.I.- N.Y.P.D. Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said James M. Margolin, a spokesman for the bureau’s New York office. He referred additional questions to the office of the Brooklyn United States Attorney, Benton J. Campbell, which is prosecuting the case and overseeing the investigation. A spokesman for Mr. Campbell declined comment. Continue Reading →

LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE. Christmas Day Terror Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

 DETROIT —  A Nigerian man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he tried to blow up a packed U.S. Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab said little during a federal court hearing that lasted less than five minutes. The 23-year-old, who wore a white T-shirt, tennis shoes and light olive pants, said “yes” in English when asked if understood the charges against him.

Authorities say Abdulmutallab was traveling from Amsterdam when he tried to destroy the Northwest Airlines plane carrying nearly 300 people by injecting chemicals into a package of explosives concealed in his underwear. The failed attack caused popping sounds and flames that passengers and crew rushed to extinguish.

A grand jury indicted Abdulmutallab on six charges earlier this week. The most severe carries up to life in prison — the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

During Friday’s hearing, Abdulmutallab stood at the podium along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel and defense attorney Miriam Siefer and answered a few questions from Magistrate Judge Mark A. Randon.

When the judge asked if he had taken any drugs or alcohol in past 24 hours, he answered, “some pain pills.” Siefer then said he was competent to understand the proceedings. Abdulmutallab, who is being held at a federal prison in Milan, Mich., had been treated at a hospital for burns after the attack.

His attorneys then waived the reading of the indictment, and the judge entered not guilty plea enter on his behalf.

Egypt declares George Galloway ‘persona non grata’ as he’s kicked out of the country after crossing the border from Gaza

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MAILONLINE… George Galloway has been permanently banned from Egypt after he was thrown out of the country this morning.

Cairo is accusing the British MP of incitement after his harsh criticism of the government there over delays in an aid convoy’s entry into Gaza, the foreign ministry said today.

‘George Galloway is considered persona non grata and will not be allowed to enter into Egypt again,’ a Foreign Ministry statement said.

This morning plain clothes police officers bundled the Respect MP on to a plane bound for London, said a spokeswoman for the Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy.

Galloway had crossed the border into Egypt – but wanted to return to Gaza after news broke that members of the convoy had been arrested.

The incident began after Mr Galloway and his colleague, Ron McKay, arrived at the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt.

‘As soon as they emerged on to Egyptian soil, both men were forcibly pushed into a van, refused exit and told that they were leaving the country,’ a spokeswoman said.

‘They were then driven off in a police convoy.’

A police officer maintained security only escorted him for his own protection.

‘It was to protect him from the Egyptian people’s anger,’ he said.

‘He was told that he is a trouble-maker and his behaviour is undermining Egyptian security.’

Galloway led more than 500 activists as part of an international aid convoy to Gaza. 

They entered late Gaza Wednesday from Egypt after a month travelling. Egypt gave them only 24 hours in the blockaded sea side strip before it said it would re-close the crossing.

On Tuesday clashes erupted between members of the convoy and Egyptian riot police in the Mediterranean port city of El-Arish after the convoy was delayed due to some of the materials it was carrying.

The aid convoy of 550 people from 17 countries blamed the violence on ‘heavy-handed policing’ of the group.

Dozens of protesters and police were injured. Seven convoy members were ordered arrested if they returned to Egypt.

‘Mr Galloway and Turkish MPs struck a deal with Egyptian authorities, part of which was that the seven detainees were released without charge.

‘On the enforced drive to Cairo, news came through of the imminent arrest of the seven,’ the convoy spokeswoman siad.

‘But, when Mr Galloway demanded to return to Rafah, permission was repeatedly denied.’

A sympathy protest along the Gaza-side of the border Wednesday degenerated into stone-throwing scuffles and exchange of fire between Egyptian security and Palestinian gunmen, killing one Egyptian border guard.

The convoy was organized by the Britain-based group Viva Palestina, which planned to deliver hundreds of tons of aid.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: ‘We will continue to offer consular assistance to anyone who needs it.’

British Muslim woman ‘arrested in Dubai after being raped’

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Telegraph… A 23-year-old British woman on holiday in Dubai told police she had been raped, only to be arrested herself for having illegal sexual intercourse. 

The woman, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, was celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, and was allegedly attacked when she passed out in a hotel lavatory.

Despite approaching police about the attack, she was arrested after admitting to “illegal drinking” outside licensed premises as well as having sexual intercourse outside marriage. Her fiancé was also charged with the same offences.

The couple from London are now reportedly on bail and understood to be awaiting trial after having their passports confiscated. Should they be found guilty, they could face up to six years in jail.

The woman, who is said to have accepted her boyfriend’s marriage proposal during a three-day break, admitted drinking too much alcohol as they celebrated at Dubai Marina’s Address Hotel. The waiter, believed to be Syrian, is then said to have followed her into the toilets and raped her while she was in a state of semi-consciousness.

After her fiancé found out about the attack, they contacted police, but they were questioned about breaking the country’s strict rules, which contain elements of Sharia law.

She was then made to give a blood test to prove she had been drinking, and only was given access to proper medical checks following an appeal from the British embassy, it is claimed.

A cellmate of the woman told The Sun: “She’s a British girl but a Muslim, so I think they were tougher on her because of that.

“She was trying to report the rape but soon realised the policemen were more interested in how often she has sex with her boyfriend.”

Her attacker is believed to have denied rape, claiming she consented, but he has also been charged with “illegal sex”.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office told The Daily Telegraph: “We can confirm two British nationals were arrested in Dubai on 1 January. Our embassy in Dubai is providing consular assistance and we cannot confirm or release further details about the case”

An Address Hotel spokesman told The Sun: “The matter is being investigated by the authorities”.

Dubai has strict rules about sexual intercourse and alcohol. In July 2008, British woman Michelle Palmer, was convicted after being caught having drunken sex outsider marriage with Vince Acors. They were given three-month suspended jail sentences.

Malaysian churches fire-bombed ahead of demonstrations

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BBCNEWS… Three churches have been attacked in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, ahead of planned protests by Muslim groups.

The administrative offices of one church were destroyed by a firebomb attack and one of the other two churches attacked was slightly damaged.

Some Muslim groups are angry at a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah to refer to God.

The government relies on the Malay Muslim vote, and will let Muslims march from mosques to churches on Friday.

Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the church attacks, saying such actions would “destroy our country’s harmony”.

“The government will take whatever steps it can to prevent such acts,” he said.

Divided faiths

The controversy stems from a ban on a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, using the word Allah.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down the three-year old ban on use of the word Allah – a ruling now the target of planned demonstrations.

Some major Muslim organisations, including the Islamic political party, PAS, have agreed with the court, saying other Abrahamic religions – Christinaity and Judiasm – may use the word Allah.

But some vocal groups, including the Muslim Youth Movement, Abim, have cast the use of the word Allah as a surreptitious effort on the part of Christians to try to seduce Muslims away from Islam.

The argument has continued in the media and the courts for months but had not become violent – until assailants on motorbikes were seen smashing the windows of the Metro Tabernacle Church, a Protestant church in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

The ground floor office of the three-storey church was destroyed in a blaze a little after midnight, said Kevin Ang, a church spokesman.

Kuala Lumpur police Chief Mohamad Sabtu Osman said police had found a wrench, an empty petrol tin and two scorched motorbikes at the scene.

Separately, Molotov cocktails were thrown into the compounds of two other churches before dawn, causing minor damage in one and none in the other, church officials said.

The police chief has also urged protesters not to join Friday’s planned demonstrations.

The government has appealed against the court verdict and the High Court has suspended the decision’s implementation until the appeal is heard.

About 60% of Malaysians are Malay Muslims alongside significant Chinese and Indian minorities.

Prime Minister Najib has spoken recently of a “one Malaysia” concept – something analysts now say is under severe challenge.

Deadly Gunfire at Gaza Protest on Egypt Border

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NYTimes… JERUSALEM — An anti-Egypt rally in southern Gaza turned deadly on Wednesday when demonstrators rushed the border fence and stoned Egyptian troops on the other side, leading to an exchange of gunfire and the death of an Egyptian soldier. Nine Egyptian soldiers and a dozen Palestinians were wounded from stones and gunfire, witnesses and medics said.

It was the most serious Palestinian-Egyptian violence along the closed Gaza border since Israel’s short-lived invasion more than a year ago, and reflected rising tensions between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and the Egyptian government, which, like Israel, appears determined to keep Gaza isolated. The demonstration, organized by Hamas, protested Egypt’s refusal to allow international aid and solidarity missions into Gaza as well as Egypt’s construction of an underground barrier to obstruct smuggler tunnels. Those tunnels supply both goods and arms to Hamas and Gaza.

As Hamas leaders gave speeches, young men climbed the border fence and threw rocks at the Egyptians, witnesses and police reported, and Palestinian police officers shot in the air to control the crowd, though to little avail. Egyptian troops then shot from their side. “Two Palestinians were instantly wounded from five bullets,” a witness said.

The Egyptian forces also tear-gassed demonstrators who waved Hamas and Turkish flags, witnesses said. A Palestinian aid convoy was stopped by Egypt in the northern Sinai city of El Arish and included Turkish activists. The group, called Viva Palestina, consisted of 500 people, including Americans, British and Jordanians. It had scuffled earlier with Egyptian security officials in El Arish. Dozens were hurt.

A compromise was reached and part of the convoy was en route into Gaza by nightfall.

“The area is calm now and the situation on the border is stable,” said Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, at a news conference in Gaza City.

The Egyptian soldier who was killed was in an observation tower 100 yards from the demonstration’s stage, witnesses said.

Dr. Ahmed Shehada of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, said it had taken in 12 wounded Palestinians, “most of them hit by gunshots.”