Egypt's Writers' Union called on the Arab League on Saturday to freeze Syria's membership of the regional organization, in a symbolic move to pressure the Syrian regime to stop its bloody campaign against civilians. On the same day, Syrian forces pounded areas in the city of Homs, killing at least seven people, according to activists. On Friday, at least 40 people were killed, the highest reported daily death toll in months. "The repressive Syrian regime uses violence and murder to suppress the revolution and deny Syrians' aspirations for freedom, democracy and social justice, the same slogans raised by Egyptian revolutionaries," said a statement by the Writers' Union The statement also called on the secretary general of the Arab Writers' Union, Mohamed Salmawy, to freeze the membership of the Syrian Writers' Union for its pro-regime stance, and for ignoring what the statement described as "the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people with all its rebellious sects." The statement said the Syrian Writers' Union has given up its role of expressing what goes inside the minds of the masses. The statement called for a protest on 2 November in solidarity the Syrian people. It said, "The protest will include a set of events. It will begin with a march to the headquarters of the Arab League to demand freezing Syria's membership of both the Arab League and the Arab Writers' Union, in order to stand beside the Syrian people in their revolution against the autocratic regime which uses violence and murder to suppress it." A number of Egyptian authors and writers announced their participation in the protest, including Bahaa Taher, Ahmed Abdel Mo'ety Higazy, Hassan Talab, and Mohamed Farid Abu Saada, along with a number of rights activists and members of the Syrian community living in Egypt. On Saturday, scores of people from the Syrian community in Egypt protested at the Syrian Embassy in Cairo demanding a "no fly" zone to protect civilians seeking the ouster of President Bashar Assad. They also called on the Arab League to expel the Syrian delegate to the organization.
