 |
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000 Issue No. 505 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000 Issue No. 505
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
Egypt Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Solidarity days
By Fatemah FaragAfter years of what amounted to only mild concern by Egyptian public opinion for the developments in Palestine and the Arab-Israeli peace process, one is hard-pressed to escape the pervasive indications that a new attitude is being born. Think of one of the most consumer-oriented places in Cairo -- a shopping mall in Nasr City, for example, with its fancy multi-plex cinema, ice-skating rink and floor after floor of flashy shops. Now zero in on a teenager, one who you would have instinctively associated with bad driving, noisy discos and fast food, and what do you see? He is wearing a T-shirt with the picture of a man in a traditional Palestinian headscarf and words to the effect that jihad is the only way to deal with Israel.
In a taxi, chances are that you will hear Arab ballads about unity, like The Arab dream or The larger nation, rather than the barrage of modern Arabic pop music. Step into an office building and in the lift you will be treated to Fairuz's Al-Quds -- not the watered-down versions of Western songs you are so used to blocking out every day. If you think this is all an exaggeration, swing by the opening night of a trendy clothes shop in Mohandessin and listen to the nationalist songs blaring as you sift through slinky clothes on display. Or try, just try, and order McDonalds and see the looks your co-workers give you.
"It is very upsetting," said Abdel-Aal, a taxi driver as he waited for a traffic jam to give way, "traffic during the Arab summit has been very difficult, which means tonight I will not be able to provide my children with a meal." It would be worth it, he said, if he knew that something would come of it; that it would help the people battling Israel on their own; that "the people in Jerusalem who are putting up the real fight would get the support everyone says they are going to give them." He shook his head; he was not hopeful that this would be the case.
Images from Gaza spell out the ugliness of Israeli brutality and the wonder of Palestinian defiance
At the universities, which over the past two weeks have been swept by unprecedented wide scale demonstrations, campuses were relatively quite, but the sentiment that dominated campus life during the past three weeks was strongly in place. "We are still very angry," said one student. "The Arab summit should have taken decisions to cut relations with Israel. Why should a small country like Tunisia be able to take such a decision and not others, which are much stronger?"
To get a sense of what popular expectations of the Arab summit were, a quick look at three statements addressed to the summit are enlightening. First, the Anti-normalisation Committee published a public statement explaining that "Everyone knows that Zionist racism supported by imperialism will not give in easily to the national rights of a people it has planned for a very long time now to annihilate and disperse. These people are the heroic Palestinian people." The committee called on the summit to support the Intifada with money, arms and people, reduce relations with "the imperialist state that supports Israel", and preserve the national unity of the Palestinians.
A group of intellectuals and journalists, including Abdel-Wahab Elmesseri, Mohamed Selim El-Awa and dozens of others, signed a statement calling on the summit to end all forms of normalisation with Israel; to end all forms of political, economic and cultural Israeli presence in Arab lands; to use Arab oil to protect Arab blood; and to rekindle the Joint Arab Defence Agreement. Similar sentiments were reflected in another statement to the summit sent by the General Federation of Entertainers Syndicates.
Back at Cairo University, another student declared: "I am very disillusioned with the results of the Arab summit. I know that all my friends are upset also. We are also angry that so many students are under arrest."
Last Monday, 28 students from both Cairo and Ain Shams universities, incarcerated for 15 days, were given a further 30 days. "The decision came as a shock," explained Mohamed El-Sawy, a lawyer for the Arab Centre for the Freedom of the Judiciary and Legal Profession. El-Sawy has followed the plight of the students since their arrest. "No reasons were given for the extension of the students detention and we fear for the many other students who are on the 'wanted' list."
The Land Centre for Human Rights, the Human Rights Centre for the Assistance of Prisoners and the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) all issued statements on Tuesday calling for the release of the students. The Land Centre's statement also made reference to 15 students arrested from Al-Azhar University for participating in anti-Israeli demonstrations. The whereabouts of two of these students remain unclear. On Monday, seven others were arrested from Cairo University and released later that day.
"We have tried to make an estimate of all the students who have been arrested and released after several hours in the past two weeks and we think the number is around 400," said Fathi, a Cairo University activist, "Also, Nasserist/leftist students who are known to be politically active are being kept from entering the university. Their pictures are up on the university doors and if any of them show up they are either prevented from entering or arrested. It is the kind of situation where political mobilisation is very difficult."
Yet demonstrations did take place. Saturday at Ain Shams, approximately 1,500 students demonstrated under the leadership of the Nasserists. On Sunday the Islamists led 500 in a demonstration and the next day, they also led a silent march. At Cairo University on 16 October, the Muslim Brotherhood led a demonstration and used a mobile phone to call Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas in Gaza. Yassin's phone address was broadcast over a loudspeaker to the students. The Brotherhood were nowhere to be seen this week, however. "This is election time, and the Brotherhood has clear hopes to gain seats in parliament. So one logic is that they do not want their younger cadres arrested when they could be useful in campaigning. Another argument is that they do not want to push a confrontation with the government at this time," suggested Fathi.
Despite the lack of political leadership at Cairo University, in particular, ordinary students organised two demonstrations on Thursday and Saturday drawing about 500 people each. "Now that is new," added Fathi. "People repeated the slogans they had been hearing from more politically active students in the past two weeks. It shows that a new mood is developing, even if it is facing formidable setbacks." There were also reports of university demonstrations in Minya and in Sohag, including a demonstration at the women's hostel.
But university students were not the only ones facing restraining orders. Riot police trucks stood vigil all week at schools, professional syndicates and universities alike. When police force trucks were unavailable, riot police could be seen squatting in tourist buses. The Land Centre statement included information regarding an anti-Israeli demonstration where thousands of school students went out onto the streets of Itay Al-Baroud in the governorate of Beheira. Fifty of these students were arrested. In Beni Suef this week, students at a vocational school demonstrated and occupied two streets surrounding their school before being disbanded by the police.
El-Sawy added information to the effect that eight people were arrested after the Friday prayer at the Al-Azhar Mosque, where a minor demonstration was held. "There were seven men and one woman. First they were taken to the Darb Al-Ahmar police station and then at around 10.00pm were moved to Lazoghli [state security headquarters]. I have ascertained that they were maltreated. Seven were discharged at three in the morning, while no information has been released regarding the eighth person, Ahmed Abdel-Na'im, a worker."
Other forms of action included the Journalists' Syndicate rally on 19 October, a sit-in at the Bar Association on 25 October attended by poet Ahmed Fouad Nigm and the million signatures campaign being undertaken by the Egyptian Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Intifada.
Further, the Boycott Committee organised by the General Federation of Entertainers Syndicates has prepared its first list of products that they feel Egyptians should stop buying. "We tried to be practical, especially when dealing with American products that have become a part of everyone's daily lives," explained Nasser Abdel-Moneim, a theatre director and member of the committee. "Our first list includes products like junk food and cigarettes, but it must be understood that this is a long-term campaign. We need to take time in organising it in a way that gives the boycott sustainability." Entertainers will be meeting at syndicate headquarters tomorrow to discuss further action. (see also p.14).
Some worry that efforts to organise and promote popular solidarity action are too fragmented. "I think a key point is to create the widest popular front possible to support the Intifada and pressure the [Arab] regimes," explained Salah Eissa, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Qahira and an anti-normalisation activist. "This is the time to unify our efforts and hence, I am surprised that professional syndicates did not think to organise any joint activities."
Organising solidarity appears to be the task at hand, and to those who grumble that Egyptian anger will eventually peter out on the streets Eissa says, "The resilience of the Palestinian people will constantly be the source of a solidarity movement in the region. A people that is as brave as the Palestinians will create in others the passion of solidarity."
For the younger generation, the call to the Palestinian cause has hit home. "I never thought much about these things before, but after what I have seen, heard and experienced in the past weeks I feel I can never go back to my previous ways of thinking," remarked Dina, a young woman in trendy slacks and a defiant expression on her face as she set off on her way to Cairo University.
Related stories:
Intifada in focus
States of emergency
Producing the body (count)
Tempered anger at the summit
Composing the consensus
The electronic Intifada
Horror in your sitting room
Variations on a theme
The big freeze
Solidarity days
'A valid fear'
Meet the press
The earth speaks Arabic
Also see Focus on Intifada 19 - 25 October 2000© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
