By Daniel Sobelman (Ha'aretz, 15 October 2000)
Anti-Israel feeling has flared in throughout the Arab world in recent days, reaching new peaks in Cairo and other Arab capitals.
Thousands of Egyptian citizens staged anti-Israel protests on Friday and Saturday. Following Friday mosque prayers in Cairo, masses of worshipers took to the street, in contravention of local law banning such public demonstrations. Protesters demanded that Egypt's government pursue a tougher policy against Israel, "the Zionist enemy." Despite stepped-up deployments, Egyptian security authorities were unable to stop the large public protests on Friday.
These Cairo demonstrations of anti-Israeli feeling were preceded by statements from Islamic leaders. The Sheikh of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque, Muhammad Tantawi, who is considered a leading authority among Sunni Muslims, called Israelis "cowards," and called on his followers to "stand alongside Palestinians, and help them in every possible way to resist [Israeli] aggression." Tantawi's remarks joined a chorus of anti-Israeli comments - various religious leaders in Egypt have called for "Jihad [holy war] against Israel," and decried Jews as being "the enemies of Allah."
There were expressions of anti-Israel and anti-U.S. feeling elsewhere in the Arab world.In Amman, thousands of protesters defied a ban on public demonstrations, and demanded that their government close Israel's Embassy. About 10,00 people demonstrated in Khartoum hurling stones at the U.S. Embassy. "We won't be ruled by the CIA," protesters yelled. Palestinian refugees demonstrated on the outskirts of Damascus, demanding weapons to fight Israel.
In Istanbul, hundreds held mourning prayers in honor of Palestinans killed in recent clashes against Israel. Meanwhile leaders of Palestinian extremist groups in Damascus denounced Yasser Arafat's decision to participate in the Sharm el-Sheikh summit on Monday.