14 - 20 March 2002
Issue No.577
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 14 - 20 March 2002 Issue No.577 |
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'Intifada fino'
From Tanta to Rome, popular support for the Palestinian resistance is appearing on the streets, reports Amira Howeidy
In Cairo, Tanta, South Lebanon, Amman, Rome and Marseille people have been taking to the streets to protest escalating Israeli brutality towards the Palestinian people.
While pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been on the go for decades -- most recently since the eruption of the second Intifada in September 2000 -- the graphic representation of the realities of Israeli brutality on the ground made possible by satellite and internet technology are giving momentum to the protests, leading some commentators to make comparisons with the groundswell of protest associated with the Algerian war of liberation and, later, anti-Vietnam and anti- apartheid demonstrations.
In Rome on Saturday, and despite heavy rain, 100,000 demonstrators, Arabs and Italians, expressed their solidarity with the Intifada, shouting "Intifada fino alla vi Horia" (the Intifada continues till the land is free). The demonstrators carried posters of Hanzala, the Palestinian-boy-in-rags character and an icon of the Palestinian struggle created by the late Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al-Ali.
Three days later, and 120km north of Cairo, an estimated 3,000 students demonstrated at Tanta University's campus. The protesters burned the Israeli and American flags, and were addressed, via a telephone call relayed over loud speakers, by Khaled Meshel, head of Hamas's political bureau.
The demonstration was echoed in several Egyptian universities, including a student protest at Cairo University during which some demonstrators managed to evade the heavy security presence and move off-campus, intending to march to the near-by Israeli embassy. Anti- riot police pushed the students back. Al-Azhar, Kafr El-Sheikh and Banha Universities all saw student unrest on a day that saw an estimated 15,000 students voicing their protests -- an impressive turn-out given that such protests remain illegal under the Emergency Laws in force since 1981.
The demonstrations issued almost identical resolutions, demanding the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to Egypt and an end to diplomatic relations with Israel; an immediate end to Israeli aggression against Palestinians and the refusal of any attempts to promote normalisation at the upcoming Arab summit in Beirut.
Cairo University itself issued a strongly worded statement following the demonstrations, expressing rage at the "Israeli occupation's oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people."
Addressing "Arab leaders as they prepare to convene their summit" the statement urged them to "adopt decisive and effective measures to support the steadfastness of the Palestinians."
Also on Tuesday, the Egyptian chapter of International PEN, which is headed by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, issued a statement urging writers across the world to support the Palestinian struggle and "break free from the Zionist media machine."
Though newspaper articles appear daily, and regardless of the political complexion of the papers, voicing feelings of "shame" and "impotence" at the silence of Arab and Western governments, and at what is perceived to be a defeated "Arab street", many feel such rhetorical flourishes are an inadequate response to unfolding events. And were it not for fear of the treatment meted out to protesters, it is likely that the demonstrations would have been far larger.
"I don't want to be beaten up or humiliated," one journalist who asked for anonymity told Al-Ahram Weekly. "If the government permits a demonstration and commits itself to respecting our right to protest I'd definitely join in."
"There is a problem," argued Sayed Bahrawi, a Cairo University professor who took part in Tuesday's demonstration, "in the fact that the Egyptian street is already extremely tense, and not just because of the Intifada. There is poverty, a deteriorating economy. The government is unlikely to condone a demonstration knowing it might develop into something it won't like."
But if a cap is placed on popular demonstrations of support for Palestinians domestically, more action is likely further afield. Already pro- Palestinian and Arab organisations in Europe and the US are preparing for a stronger show of support for the Intifada.
Next Saturday hundreds are expected to turn out for a pro- Palestinian rally at Downing Street in London.
After months of quiet following 11 September many people evidently feel it is now time to make their voices heard. And if their governments are silent, they certainly are not.
Clockwise from top left: thousands of Tanta University students protest Israeli brutality towards the Palestinians; tens of thousands support the Intifada in Rome
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