Lebanese show solidarity with Egyptian uprising

BEIRUT: Over 1,000 protesters ascended on the Egyptian Embassy Friday for the seventh consecutive day of protests in solidarity with the Egyptian people.

Masked youths appeared in the crowd shortly before 5 p.m., when they began throwing sticks at riot police, but scenes failed to descend into large-scale rioting after protest organizers took a firm stance against the violence and asked supporters to keep calm, with many protesters quickly dispersing.

Five people were hospitalized following Thursdays demonstrations, with five more protesters reportedly temporarily detained by authorities.

Violence for violence sake does not help anyone, it doesnt help the protest, it doesnt help our cause, said Omar Deeb, the head of the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth. It can be a genuine expression of the popular frustration but the people making trouble today are just here for that purpose, they do not support the cause.

The protest was organized by a collection of leftist, pro-March 8 and Islamist groups as well as the UDLY, the Lebanese Communist Party and Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, which rallied together to bolster numbers. The Lebanese Communist Party has come under fire for not lending its full support to the sit-ins, although its leadership has now pledged to become more vocal.

Chanting slogans like Mubarak youre an imposter, an invader for the Americans and Condoleezza give Mubarak a Visa in reference to former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the crowd waved Palestinian flags and burned pictures of Mubarak meeting Israeli dignitaries.

We dont want to interfere, but you have to choose who rules Egypt, [and] there is a choice between Camp David and the Palestinian resistance, Baabda MP Fadi Awar said in his address.

Is there a choice between tyranny and democracy?

We ask those in power to choose between life and death in Tahrir Square. We are supporting all those in Tahrir square, and all Egyptian youth.
The Le banese political establishment is split in its response to the protests, with the March 14 block renouncing interfering in external affairs and the March 8 camp openly endorsing the protests.

Egyptians deserve freedom and to throw off tyranny, said Marwan Kayal, a member of Taliaa Lubnan, a pan-Arab organization that helped in organizing the rally. March 14 is saying this for political purposes but they are not listening to the will of the people.

They are doing the bidding of the Americans, who are trying to exploit the differences between us but we are all Arabs and should stand together.

Only about 10 to 15 percent of the crowd is thought to have been Egyptians, with the majority of protesters affiliated with Lebanese groups.

A lot of people here are just advancing pan-Arab causes and are not addressing the central issue of democracy, said Mohammad Seis, an Egyptian national. Any concessions that Parliament [makes] are illegitimate because Parliament is illegitimate.

It is important to change through constitutional means, and Clause 84 of the Egyptian Constitution calls for Mubarak to step down and give power to the Constitutional Court.

Separate solidarity protests also took place in Tripoli and Baalbek, with crowds gathering to hear mainly Islamist speakers.

Cairo has signed a peace treaty to serve the Zionist enemy and at the same time exercised the most brutal acts on its people and has left millions in poverty, said Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya official Abdullah Babeti in Tripoli.

Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, the Islamic Labor Front and the Hizb ul-Tahrir led the Tripoli protest, which saw protesters march from Mansouri Mosque to al-Tal square, chanting for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Egypt.

In Baalbek, the Fatah-Intifada movement headed a sit-in outside the Jalil refugee camp. Speaking at the gathering, Baalbek-Hermel MP Kamel Rifai said the revolution in Egypt had established a new Arab status quo after three decades of abusin! g Egypti an and Arab honor. The Arab world will rise on the pulse-beat of free people and revolutionaries, Rifai added. Additional reporting by Dana Khraiche and Van Meguerditchian