NICE ONE GIZA

Egyptian protesters have proven themselves to be a feisty bunch of late – not satisfied with kicking out their dictator, they sent the Israeli ambassador scurrying back across the Sinai Desert.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists separated from the much larger demo against military rule in Tahrir Square and converged on Israel’s embassy building in Giza, on the bank of the Nile. The protesters clearly meant business - arriving with sledgehammers and setting to work demolishing the reinforced concrete walls.  Egyptian security were completely overwhelmed, and seemed either unable or unwilling to stop the determined mob. Once inside the compound protesters scaled the walls, chucking out thousands of Hebrew language documents from the upper floors.

The prize for most impressive act goes to a chap by the name of Ahmed Elshahat, aka “Flagman” who scaled the 22 stories of the building to tear down the Israeli flag. His award – a cartoon him in action by Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff, (and no doubt a personal audience with the Egyptian military’s finest interrogators). An Egyptian flag was put in place of the Israeli one.

Egypt doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to invite the official representative of colonial Zionism back. Egyptian activists can pat themselves on the back again for sorting out things out by themselves on the streets rather than waiting for their useless leaders to do anything.

Israel is rapidly losing friends in the region, even Jordan doesn’t seem safe anymore, where the Israelis withdrew their ambassador on Thursday ahead of a massive demo. For decades Israeli leaders could rely on dictatorships to strike deals with them, whilst arrogantly cawing that they were the ‘only democracy in the middle east.’ The Middle East is looking a lot more democratic these days, and democratic opinion is very, very pro-Palestinian.

After losing their ambassador to Turkey last week (see SchNEWS 787) and the Egyptian one this week, Netenyahu and his cabinet of racist lunatics must be in a state of panic as Turkish foreign minister Davolgulu meets up with the Egyptian government to discuss the new Middle Eastern order. The rumours flying around are that Hamas may relocate to Egypt (maybe they can use the now empty Israeli embassy building), and that the next flotilla to Gaza will be protected by Turkish warships. And if the Zionists were hoping that they might find a friend in the new NATO-loving Libyan government, they should think again – Hamas leader Ismael Haniyah personally congratulated the leaders of Libya’s rebel government, who in turn stated publicly that “Palestine is the most important issue for the Libyan people”.