DEMONSTRATIONS COME TO LIFE: "If I wasn't Egyptian I would have wanted to be Korean!" cried the thin young student leading a demonstration in front of Cairo University last Saturday, 22 February. About 700 protesters surrounding him chanted the original slogan, "if I wasn't Egyptian, I would have wanted to be Egyptian," coined by Mustafa Kamel, leader of the National Party who fought against British occupation in Egypt in 1910.
But today the Egyptians, like most Arabs, are frustrated and angry at the weakness and inability of their governments to stop the US and UK from invading Iraq. Like all demonstrations, this one was heavily cordoned by thousands of anti-riot police, Armed Personal Carriers (APCs), fire engines and top police officers including the head of the Giza Security Department. The anti-war, anti-US, anti-Israel and anti-Arab- governments demonstration was joined by the staff of Cairo University, political figures, activists, representatives of the political forces, syndicates and students.
The turnout however, was a disappointment to the organisers -- the various political forces -- who expected at least a few thousand students to participate. But, says Bassant Mohamed, a 23-year-old student who was there, "the students haven't forgotten the tragedy of the massive demonstration last April when the police arrested our colleagues and injured dozens during the clashes. One would ask, what's the point of demonstrating when nothing will change and one is likely to end up in prison. Isn't our own government allowing US bases onto our soil? Isn't it allowing warships to pass through the Suez Canal? The government doesn't listen to us. It listens to the US."
Demonstrators carried placards reading "Vive la France, Arab leaders go to hell" and chanted "we want a new government, we live in poverty". The protesters hailed Germany, France, Belgium and of course, Korea as "more Arab" than the Arab regimes.
But larger demonstrations had swept the nation's universities as thousands shook their campuses in Ain Shams, Helwan, Tanta and Alexandria universities throughout this week. Riot police prevented them from marching on the streets.
The biggest gathering took place in Tanta and Alexandria. In Tanta University, the students held a massive anti-US rally on Sunday 23 February where they relayed a telephone speech with the Gaza-based Hamas leader Abdul-Aziz Al-Rantisi. Alexandria University witnessed more creative forms of resistance as the students held the flags representing all the Arab countries and the Arab League in a message to the leaders taking part in the upcoming Arab Summit 1 March "to unite against US snobbery", according to a statement issued by the students.
For the first time since demonstrations erupted in Egypt following the rise of the Palestinian Intifada in 2000, the nation's political forces have finally decided to hold a massive anti-war rally in the Cairo Stadium in Heliopolis which is due to take place today (Thursday). Its also the first time for the Interior Ministry to licence a demonstration.
