Anti-Israel demonstration in Egypt turns violent
Posted: Friday, January 09, 2009 3:25 PM
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On Assignment
By Alphonso Van Marsh for NBC News
AL ARISH, Egypt – The tension in Al Arish’s main square was palpable. Dozens of baton-wielding Egyptian security forces lined the streets, as Muslim worshipers listened to Friday prayers in the surrounding, overcrowded mosques.
One cleric said in his sermon that Islam would survive Israel’s ground and air attacks on Gaza. He likened the world’s Muslim population to a human body and said that Palestinian suffering in Gaza was like a limb undergoing trauma and injury.
"Just because one body part is in pain, does not mean that the human body will die," the cleric said.
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| Alphonso Van Marsh/ NBC News |
| Demonstrators take to the streets of Al Arish’s main square, in protest of Israel’s attacks on Hamas targets in neighboring Gaza. |
After the sermon, hundreds of men and boys streamed into the square, chanting what could only be politely described as anti-Jewish slogans. Predictably, banners in support of Gazans were unfurled and the loud street protests began.
One of Egypt’s most powerful clerics had called for pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Egypt. Some of the rawest emotions were on display here in Al Arish, a coastal community just an hour’s drive from Egypt’s border with Gaza. Many of this town’s residents know or are related to Palestinians living in Gaza and the area’s businesses are suffering due to the virtual closure of Egypt’s border with Gaza.
Anger aimed at Egyptian authorities
Protesters soon turned their anger from Israel toward Egyptian security forces. For many of these demonstrators, the soldiers represent Egyptian government authorities, who the protesters believe aren’t doing enough to stop the war next door.
Soldiers raised their plastic shields against an ambush of bricks, stones, bottles and shoes – being hit with a shoe is considered a grave insult in Arab culture, as we saw recently with President George W. Bush in Iraq.
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| Alphonso Van Marsh/ NBC News |
| Egyptian security forces clear the road in Al Arish for women protesting against Israel’s ground and air attacks on Gaza. |
"We are mad at the Israelis, as well as the Americans [and the Egyptians] because they are silent about what’s going on. Egypt is considered a friend of America and they are embarrassing us," one protester told me.
It didn’t take long before the security forces beat back the protesters – men, women and children running in all directions. We saw civilians bleeding, though it was unclear if their injuries came from fellow protesters’ bricks and bottles or the soldiers’ batons.
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| Alphonso Van Marsh/ NBC News |
| A man tends to a head injury during Al Arish street demonstrations. |
Regardless, these clashes won’t soothe the simmering anger with Egyptian authorities. Egypt is walking a fine line – its leaders are pushing for an end to the conflict even as they fear that opening the border with Gaza could allow Hamas to spread its extremist interpretation of Islam in Egypt.
‘I am Hamas’The Egyptian government’s rationale may not be as ludicrous as it sounds. As the demonstrations turned violent, my crew and I took refuge on the rooftop of a nearby building. While my cameraman shot footage of plainclothes policemen beating and dragging some protesters away, the building owner introduced me to his five-year old son, Ali, who was fascinated by what was taking place on the street below.
"What’s your name?" I asked the boy in Arabic. He didn’t answer.
Trying to continue the conversation, I asked him if he was Palestinian. He didn’t reply.
"Are you Egyptian?" I asked.
"I am Hamas," little Ali said.
This, from a five-year old boy.
Related Links:
SLIDESHOW: World reactions to the Israeli assault on Gaza slideshow
VIDEO: Desperation on the Egypt-Gaza border
