Egypt (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people across Egypt protested against Israel’s Gaza blockade on Friday, chanting pro-Hamas slogans in a sign of mounting rancour in the first Arab country to make peace with the Jewish state.
About 20,000 protesters gathered in the port city of Alexandria, waving Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian flags in response to Israel’s raid on an aid ship bound for Gaza.
The protest, organized by Egypt’s most powerful opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, was unusual in a country where public demonstrations are often swiftly suppressed.
“Hamas, Hamas, you are the artillery and we are the bullets,” the protestors chanted, urging the Islamist group which rules Gaza to confront Israel.
About 10,000 people took part in a separate demonstration organized by the Brotherhood in Fayoum, a city south of Cairo, one of the rally’s planners said. A protest in the northern Sinai peninsula city of el-Arish drew hundreds more.
Israel sparked global outrage when its military killed nine Turkish activists during the Monday raid. Relations with >>>
