Hizbullah Win Boosts Egypt Opposition

Ishak is campaigning to gather a million signatures in 100 days to rescind Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

"Hizbullah's victory in Lebanon has given new life to the spirit of resistance against (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak," said George Ishak, a leader of the Kefaya (Enough) opposition movement, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I ask you to applaud the master Hassan Nasrallah," called out 67-year-old Ishak, a Coptic Christian, during a rally in Darmiette, an industrial port in northern Egypt.

"And to denounce the one who called him reckless."

Around 200 men, three woman and a few children in the dusty street promptly gave an ovation to the Hizbullah leader before chanting "down with Israel, down with Mubarak."

Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have heaped blame on Hizbullah for triggering the conflict without consulting with any party.

But facing outrage and protest at home against Israel's bloody onslaught, they later softened their stance and even praised the heroic resistance shown by Hizbullah against the armed-to-the-teeth Israeli army.

Pundits believe that some Arab rulers hoped that Hizbullah would be defeated by Israel, fearing that a victory by the resistance group would serve as a catalyst for reformists to push forward with their demands.

Thieves

The rally's host, local communist leader Anis al-Baya, slammed the Egyptian police.

"They came and stole the chairs we had set up outside in expectation of 4,000 people."

On the walls of his headquarters were no posters of Marx, but one of Nasrallah.

An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Nasrallah while attacking Arab leaders for their weakness.

Kefaya, which was formed in 2003, is more of a political catch-all than a political party.

It represents a range of reinvigorated popular movements that oppose Mubarak, who has been president since 1981.

Kefaya has joined forces with Marxists, Nasserites (Arab nationalists) and the Muslim Brotherhood, now the leading opposition force with 20 percent of parliamentary seats.

It is very popular among intellectuals.

Reformist powers have gained momentum over the past two years in some Arab countries like heavyweight Egypt.

However Egyptian police have cracked down on pro-reform protesters in recent months, detaining hundreds of them during protests against Mubarak's 25-year rule.

Britain's mass-circulation The Independent said on April 25 that Mubarak's regime was caught between further repressions or opening up to more reform and risking losing power.

Million Signatures

Egyptian protesters carry a placard reads "Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of the Arab nations; while you Arab rulers, are the disgrace of the Arab nations". (Reuters)

Ishak is campaigning to gather a million signatures in 100 days in favor of rescinding Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

He believed that the moment had come to link their opposition and reform agenda with opposition to Israel.

"Egyptians are furious with Israel for its atrocities in Lebanon, while the regime supports it," he told the crowd from a podium that used Hizbullah's yellow and green flag as a background.

"Our experience with Israel has been a disaster. It is time to start over."

By the end of November, Ishak wants to collect one million signatures demanding that the Egyptian parliament annul the 1979 peace treaty.

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Geit said last week that a break with Israel or a freezing of the treaty would represent "a declaration of war".