Protest for Egypt in Israel
Photo: Ofer Amram
Zoabi: Power returned to people
Photo: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv
MK Zoabi: Like Egypt, we will overthrow occupation
Arab MKs organize rally in support of Egypt protests, say 'relations in region due to change'
Hundreds of people attended a rally Saturday organized by the Balad Party in support of the popular protests in Egypt, which succeeded in ousting President Hosni Mubarak.
The rally was led by Balad MKs Jamal Zahalka, Hanin Zoabi, and Wasil Taha. Participants waved Egyptian and Palestinian flags, and held up signs saying "The Egyptian people are heroes" and "Mubarak destroyed his people".
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"We are taking part in the rejoicing because we are a part of the Arab nation and are satisfied that the power has been returned to the Egyptian people. What occurred there is not a matter relevant only to Egypt and Mubarak, but also in general to relations between the people and their regime in Arab countries," Zoabi told Ynet.
The MK claims the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia will also affect occurrences in Israel. "The establishment of a Palestinian state is also an expression of the power of the people and their rights. I think all of the relations in the region will change," she said.
"Israel has been relying on the weakness of the Arab people, but now this has been changed. It gives us a lot of morale and self-assurance because the Egyptian people have succeeded in overthrowing the government after 30 years, so maybe we can free ourselves of occupation as well."
One of the protesters present, Guheine Hussein, agreed with Zoabi. "We live in Palestine and we want to live together, but this needs to be given a chance. We will continue to protest until we receive our rights and until full democracy is implemented. We are happy about what happened in Egypt and hope it will affect the entire Middle East," she said.
Other protesters put Palestinian issues aside to focus on the troubles of the Arab sector. Ibrahim Garisi, of Nazareth, said he was angry at Arab parties for staging events that have nothing to do with Israel while ignoring the plight of Israeli-Arabs.
"They have time to protest in favor of the Egyptian people, but it's too bad they don't protest in favor of the people who voted for them and we get nothing from them aside from nonsense and ineffective speeches. We are tired of all the false promises made by the Arab parties," Garisi said.
Elrahman Salam, a resident of the north, agreed. "Unfortunately, we have all begun to lose faith in the Arab parties. They waste money on events abroad instead of investing in things that will profit the Arab sector," he said.
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