CAIRO: “Revolution in Egypt, revolution in Libya!” chanted demonstrators waving Egyptian and Libyan flags outside the Libyan Embassy in Cairo. Around 200 demonstrators gathered in the tree-lined streets of Zamalek to show support and solidarity with Libya on Monday. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, a group of fifty demonstrators congregated between the Algerian and Bahraini embassies, also in the upper-class neighborhood of Zamalek, chanting solidarity, before walking across the island to join a larger demonstration outside the Libyan Embassy. Soldiers and police watched the demonstrations, but no move was made to prevent or disperse the demonstrators. Outside the Algerian Embassy, one young policeman filmed the protest on his mobile phone with a smile on his face. “Stop the massacre,” read one poster. Another entreated Obama to intervene, saying, “this is about humanity, not oil.” One young woman, a Libyan living in Cairo, told Bikya Masr that Libya is a family, not a bunch of tribes like the foreign media says. “We have an old constitution which is a very good constitution,” she said, responding to the question of what could be next for Libya. “Libya will be a whole new free country next to free Egypt, next to free Tunisia,” she said. “Three countries will have big investments and… foreigners will be happy to live there.” One demonstrator removed his shoe and threw it at a larger-than-life poster of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's ruler, hitting him square in the face. This is a particularly strong insult in the Arab world, where to even show the soles of ones shoes or feet to another person can be considered an insult. An Iraqi journalist drew international media attention when he threw his shoe at former U.S. president George W. Bush during a press conference in 2008. Egyptians have shown increasing solidarity with Libya and other countries which are experiencing waves of demonstrations following the resignation of Egypt's 30 year president, Hosni Mubarak, ten days ago after eighteen days of nationwide protests. “Libya, we are with you,” rang out another chant. “We are one.” BM
