CAIRO: Syrian residents in Cairo reacted angrily on Wednesday to the Arab League's agreement with the Syrian government on steps to address the situation in Syria. A noisy demonstration outside the Arab League headquarters on Tahrir Square chanted “traitors, traitors, traitors, the Arab states are traitors” after watching the decision being announced by Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamid bin Jassim Al Thani. The Arab League plan calls for an end to acts of violence from all parties, the release of those detained as a result of the ‘current events', and the withdrawal of all armed forces from cities and residential districts. The Syrian government is also required to allow representatives of the Arab League and the Arab and international media to move freely around Syria and observe the situation there. A ministerial committee is charged with submitting regular reports on the implementation of the plan to the council of the League. Some 200 demonstrators, mostly Syrians, gathered outside the Arab League building yesterday afternoon, waving the green, white and black flag that Syria used on independence from France in 1946 and chanting slogans against Bashar al-Asad, in support of the Free Syrian Army, and against sectarianism. One demonstrator told Bikyamasr.com that they had adopted the older flag because “people see this revolution as our second independence.” A number of those present were covering their faces with flags or keffiyas. A demonstrator explained that they were not afraid of any trouble in Egypt – “it's not the Egyptian army or police that protect us, it's the Egyptian people who protect us” – but were worried about possible consequences for their families in Syria. Speakers criticized the Arab League, declared their support for the opposition Syrian National Council, and demanded “no dialogue with the killers.” After several rounds of chanting and rhythmical dancing, and a prayer for those killed, the crowd then fell silent to watch the Qatari prime minister announce the Arab League decision on a live television feed. His first sentence was greeted with catcalls, and the end of his announcement was met with shouts of “traitors” and a rush towards the gates of the Arab League building. Several protesters climbed up on top of the wall and gatepost and from that vantage point led the crowd in chants of “no dialogue with Bashar, the people want a declaration of jihad” and “death but not humiliation.” The Kurdish flag was also in evidence at the demonstration. One Kurdish participant, who wished to remain anonymous, told Bikyamasr.com that he was convinced that the position of the Kurds would change for the better in a new Syria, as there would be no sectarian or ethnic distinctions after the revolution. Asked for his reaction to the announcement, he said, “The Arab League document is utterly rejected. It's based on killing … The Arab League are hand in hand with the Syrian government because they fear they will be next. Every one of them is afraid for his throne. They're like dominoes … If Syria falls, then the next one will fall as well.” A number of those taking part had only recently left Syria. One middle-aged man, half his face masked by a keffiya, said he had “fled from Homs, and from the regime and the mukhabarat” two days before, describing his home town as “a city of ghosts.” Like most other protesters who spoke to Bikyamasr.com, he was at pains to reject the idea that there was any sectarian aspect to the conflict in Syria, emphasizing that people still lived side by side and that it was the regime which was trying to create fear of sectarianism. A demonstrator from Deraa told Bikyamasr.com that he had passed through nine roadblocks manned by various security agencies on his way from the city to Damascus airport last week. His friend, also from Deraa, laughed as he said that the security officers searching cars would ask the drivers if they had Facebook – “they think it's a weapon.” His expression became more serious as he recounted the events of the last six months in Deraa, “an occupied city” where, he said, at one point residents were only able to survive by eating preserved food they were keeping for the winter. But he was confident that the regime could not last: “For the first time the Syrian president is making threats. That's an indication that the regime is bankrupt … And their agreement to the Arab League initiative. We absolutely don't want the initiative, we're here to say that we're against the initiative, we're against dialogue, we don't want dialogue. Let the regime fall, and then we'll have a dialogue amongst ourselves, amongst the people.” As the evening wore on the crowd thinned out, but some of the demonstrators were prepared for the long haul. The anonymous Kurdish protester said that he had been at the sit-in outside the Arab League building for fifteen days and intended to stay “until the fall of the regime.” And on the other side of the building's gate, a second sit-in decorated with Yemeni flags bore witness to yet another unresolved struggle of the Arab Spring. BM
