By
Angy Ghannam & Khaled Mamdouh, IOL Staff
CAIRO,
December 21 (IslamOnline) - Hundreds of people, including prominent
British and U.S. figures and pacifists, chanting anti-American and
anti-Israeli slogans, demonstrated outside the Qatari Embassy in the
Egyptian capital Saturday, December 21, to protest a new military
agreement between the emirate and the United States.
The
rally started a little after noon Cairo time, and lasted for more than
three hours, with heavy security presence. No serious clashes erupted.
Some of the protestors tried in vain to break through police lines to
reach the embassy in the southern Cairo neighborhood of Mohandiseen.
The
demonstrators denounced the U.S. and Israel as the “common enemy” of
the Arabs, and accused Arab regimes allowing U.S. bases on their lands
of “complicity” in U.S.-led war plans against Iraq.
More
than 1,000 riot police, with truncheons and shields, surrounded the
embassy and neighboring streets to monitor the protest which was
organized by several Egyptian popular groups.
On
December 11, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed a new defense
pact with Qatar to formalize the presence of some 4,000 U.S. soldiers at
the airbase of Al-Udeid, the largest U.S. military warehouse in the
Middle East. U.S. troops have also been massing in Kuwait.
Addressing
the gathering, senior vice chairman at the Parliamentary Labor Party,
George Galloway, said; “The criminals of Suez (a reference to the
aggression on Egypt by Britain, Israel and France in 1956) are getting
ready to invade another Arab, Muslim country to again steal wealth, its
oil, and control its people.”
Addressing
the Qatari people, Galloway, who participated in the International
Campaign Against U.S. Aggression on Iraq (ICCA), hosted by Cairo
December 18-19, said; “Do not allow your governments to work as a
slave to America.”
For
his part, British socialist writer and activist, John Rees, said that
most of the British people are against the looming U.S.-led war on Iraq.
“Mr.
Blair is coming to Egypt tomorrow for his holiday. I am very glad that
this is the kind of welcome he is getting from the Egyptians, and I urge
you to continue such welcome,” Rees, founder of the “Stop The War”
coalition in the U.K., said.
Iraq
First, Egypt May Be Next
The
demonstrators chanted slogans such as; “Down with the U.S. and
Israel”, “Shame on non-committed Arab regimes”, “Arab peoples
will prevail over U.S. hegemony”, “No God but Allah, Bush is
Allah’s enemy”…etc
One
of the demonstrators, an Egyptian housewife carrying her baby and
joining the rally, told IslamOnline that she took part in the
demonstration because Iraq will not be the end but rather the start of
U.S. attacks in the Middle East to control the whole region.
“It’s
Baghdad now, may be Cairo will be next, or any other Arab capital and
people.”
A
professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC) said that “The
Americans are attacking the centers of old civilization in this area of
the world. After being done with Iraq, Egypt’s turn will sure come.”
Organizers
of the rally, attended by members of the Egyptian parliament, actors and
actresses, cultured figures, peace activists and college professors,
said they would be working for a rally comprising millions of anti-war
Egyptians in the coming weeks.
Security
Cooperation A Must
However,
Egyptian peace activist, Dr. Ashraf El-Bayoumi, who attended the rally,
cast doubts over the possibility of organizing such a huge
demonstration, citing lack of proper organization, little cooperation
among the different Egyptian political powers, and an unsecured security
approval.
“To
organize such a huge rally means you need to contact ordinary people,
not just political leaders and peace activists. This means full
cooperation among all political currents, with the government and
security forces, and the state-run media has to encourage people to
express their true feelings.
“As
for the possibility of organizing a rally at such a big scale, well, it
is possible, actually it was done weeks ago in the funeral of spiritual
leader of Muslim Brotherhood banned group, Mustafa Mashhur,”
El-Bayoumi said.
Asked
whether the security forces may approve such an unprecedented event, the
peace activist said that there was no reason to reject it, according to
sound logic.
“It
is not a rally against the regime. On the contrary, the regime is in as
mush danger as the peoples of this region. So, it’s only logic to
stand up to that danger.”
The
U.S. threats to strike Iraq has risen lately, however, more people are
getting aware of the dangers and risks facing not just the volatile
Middle East, but also the whole world.
