WarSclerotic

Tel Aviv protesters demand regime change outside Egyptian Embassy – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Activists of various faiths demonstrated in solidarity with Egyptian protesters, calling for Hosni Mubarak to leave office.

By David Sheen

Demonstrators in front of the Egyptian Embassy in north Tel Aviv on Friday expressed support for the massive anti-government protests taking place in Egypt and demanded that President Hosni Mubarak resign immediately.

A few dozen young people of various faiths carried Egyptian, Palestinian and Tunisian flags aloft, held signs in Arabic and Hebrew and chanted slogans denouncing the Mubarak regime. Israeli police kept a watchful eye from across the street but did not interfere.

The last four days have seen throngs of Egyptians take to the streets in what observers are calling the largest protest movement to sweep the country in the last quarter-century. Egyptian security services have tried to stem the wave of unrest, to no avail.

The Tel Aviv-area activists hastily organized the Egyptian Embassy protest over Facebook. Activist Muhammad Jabali said that the demonstration was held in solidarity with the people of Egypt and in support of democracy.

The protests were touched off by a rash of self-immolations. Two weeks ago, three Egyptian men publicly set themselves on fire in three separate incidents to protest government indifference to rising food prices.

Recent weeks have seen massive protests throughout North Africa and the Middle East, with demonstrators demanding lower food prices and an end to government corruption and political oppression.

The first wave of protests began when a Tunisian man set himself on fire, exasperated that he could not feed his family. That act inspired multiple copycat immolations in other Arab countries, and ignited the ire of citizens from Algeria to Jordan.

Demonstrations in Tunisia reached a critical mass and forced the ouster of President Ben Ali, who had ruled the country for 23 years. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak has ruled for over 29 years, and analysts say that he is grooming his son Gamal to take over the reigns of power.

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