Protesters in Oslo accused Sisi of alleged involvement in the Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza. [Getty]
Dozens of activists protested in Oslo this week during Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's visit, condemning his alleged complicity in Israel's genocidal war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The protesters, who gathered on Monday outside the Norwegian parliament, demanded immediate action from the Egyptian president, who was on an official visit, to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the besieged enclave's primary route to the outside world.
"Sisi, Sisi, you can’t hide; we charge you with genocide!" the protesters chanted as the president made his appearance and looked on at the crowd.
A diplomatic source told The New Arab, on condition of anonymity, that the president and his accompanying delegation were "furious" and "offended" but were "unable to blame the Norwegian authorities as their laws guarantee freedom of protest".
In May, Norway, along with Spain and Ireland, officially recognised a Palestinian state, triggering an angry reaction from Israel.
Also in May, Israeli forces seized the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border, violating the Camp David accords with Egypt, prompting the latter to shut down the border from Sinai's side.
The closure of the Rafah border crossing worsened the already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the Israeli onslaught on Gaza that erupted on 7 October, claiming the lives of at least 44,708 Palestinians and injuring over 106,050 others.
A significant reason believed to have led Egypt to shut down the border with Gaza is concern over the entry of Palestinian refugees to Sinai.
Egypt has repeatedly rejected pressures or insinuations about possible displacement scenarios of Gaza’s Palestinians in North Sinai, being the only country, other than Israel, sharing a border with Gaza.
Egypt and Israel have technically been at peace since the late 1970s, sharing solid diplomatic, economic, and security ties—despite widespread opposition from the Egyptian public. Yet tensions have escalated between the two countries since the start of Israel's war on Gaza.