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In the spring, I followed the Egyptian revolution from my home in Oakland. In the summer, I visited Cairo, where Tahrir Square protesters showed me tear gas canisters used by the military police, imprinted with “Made in the U.S.A.” Now I live in Cairo, where last Friday I filmed a march from Tahrir Square to the U.S. embassy – in support of Oakland’s Occupy Wall Street movement.

It was a little surreal to see two dozen Egyptian activists holding signs reading “#Occupy Oakland.” Most in Tahrir that day were there to demand an end to military trials for civilians, and that the interim military regime transfer power to a representative civilian government, on the wake of 24-year-old Essam Ali Atta’s death. Atta died last Thursday after being sodomized to death by prison officials. His death came less than 24 hours after two police each received only seven years in jail for the murder of 28-year-old Khaled Said. News of Said’s death last year contributed to mobilizing the protests that eventually led to Mubarak’s ouster. Many say comparing the Occupy Wall Street movement to the Arab Spring is insulting to those murdered and those who continue to risk death at the hands of state security officials and state-sponsored thugs in this region.

At the same time, the parallels that activists have been highlighting –- from economic inequality to police brutality –- have created lines of solidarity stretching across seas. Occupy Wall Street is modeled after the Tahrir Square encampment, which after a month was forcibly evicted by military police. Last Friday’s march here came a day after Egyptian activists addressed Occupy Wall Street in an open letter in the Guardian: “We are now in many ways involved in the same struggle,” the letter said, and encouraged Americans to “continue, keep going and do not stop.”   Atta’s death and the October 9 murder of at least 22 Egyptians by military police after they shot at protestors and ran some over with tanks, are remobilizing activists. A website created by activists, No Military Trials for Civilians, is now urging Americans to write their representatives about the brutality of the military regime, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. “One of the few areas that SCAF can be pressured is their dependence on American foreign aid,” it reads.

Egypt receives $1.3 billion a year in military aid from the U.S.   Such calls to stop foreign aid of wars and dictatorial regimes are echoed by Occupy Wall Street protestors, who have been joined in New York City by visiting Egyptian activists, including one of the founders of the April 6^th Youth Movement.   At Friday’s march in Cairo, one sign read: “From #Tahrir to #Occupy Oakland and #USA, One Case, One Goal #Social Justice for All. Fuck Police.”   Photos from the march, organized by the Union of Egyptian Socialist Youth, were shared on Facebook, followed by grateful comments from Americans.

One comment from a woman in Colorado read, “I got goosebumps looking at this picture…it’s really happening, all around the world! I have been hoping and writing and instigating for this for most of my waking years, and this photo just brought tears to my eyes. I am profoundly moved. Thank you Egypt!”

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2. Tear Gas And Riot Police Greet Occupy Oakland Protesters
3. [VIDEOS] Occupy Oakland Camp Dismantled By Police
4. Turnstyle Asks: What Does The Word Occupy Mean To You?
5. [Photo Gallery] Police Raid Occupy Oakland Camp