Egyptian to hold ‘million man protest’ against peace accord with Israel [View All]

Who and how many will take part in today's million-man demonstration in Tahrir Square? It is not expected to be one of the routine demonstrations that have shaken Egypt since January. This time, Tahrir Square will confront Egypt's foreign policy. The headline of the demonstration is "Million-man demonstration to expel the Israeli ambassador," and most of the protest groups have announced that they will participate. Egyptian anger is not only directed at Israel which killed five soldiers during the terrorist attack near Eilat last week, but also against the Egyptian government's policy toward Israel.

Since the terrorist attack there have been raucous demonstrations in front of the Israeli embassy in the neighborhood of Giza that have resulted in a national event and a national hero, who climbed the flagpole in front of the embassy and removed the Israeli flag. Even though there are reports of smaller crowds and consequently smaller amounts of security guards protecting the embassy, the public discourse on the issue remains intense.

Those who organized the demonstration today also relied on a report in the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, which said that Israel has still not responded to an Egyptian request for a joint investigation, and that National Security Adviser Ya'akov Amidror said that Israel will hold no such joint probe.

Even though Amidror took back his statement Thursday, it does not appear that the commitment to hold a joint investigation has calmed the atmosphere. Egyptian reporters told Haaretz yesterday that they had learned from Egyptian political sources that the prime minister and representatives of the Supreme Military Council were in touch with the leadership of the protest, but they intend to hold the demonstration "in order to make it clear to the government of Israel that Mubarak's Egypt no longer exists and that the Egyptian public will have its say also on matters pertaining to state security."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/egyptian-to-hold-million-man-protest-against-peace-accord-with-israel-1.380723