Farfahinne

Photo by farfahinne (http://www.flickr.com/photos/souwar/)

60 persons demonstrated yesterday on May 4 in Front of the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut...
the demonstrators expressed their total solidarity with the Egyptian Working class and they reclaimed the immediate release of the activists and workers, among them Kamal el Fayoumi and Karim el Beheiry, Two workers From El-Mahalla Factory who were arrested following April 6 uprising in Egypt by the American backed Mubarak's regime.
the demo was organized by Leftist organizations and the National Syndicate's Union.

it has been 14 days we are preparing the demo, calling members and organizing meetings, writing statements, inviting media (who didn't show up, except NTV, Al Safir, Annahar, Al- Akhbar) writing the slogans etc.... so the preparation was exhausting, especially for those who were organizing the play, that symbolizes the food crisis in Egypt and the oppression of the Dictator facing the intifada on April 6, because few actors accepted to participate.. but the credit goes to Razan http://razanghazzawi.com/2008/05/05/dreamerindamascu-doerinbeirut/ who worked hard to make the play possible. (10x a lot Razan)

but what bothers me the most is the comments i heard like: "solidarity with the Egyptian workers!...why? don't we have workers in Lebanon!" and then u start the same endless discussion once again explaining to people the importance of the mvt in Egypt and how it will have an important influence on the Lebanese working class if it succeeded...etc.
i realized that even "leftists" don't take it that serious when it comes to solidarity actions with workers from another country. A "communist" told me a day before the demo: "staging a demo in solidarity with the Egyptian workers is considered an intervention in another country's affairs"....!!!

the demo was peaceful, we shouted "down down with Sanioura and Mubarak" "fouleh w in2asamet noussen Moubarak wel solta bi lebnen" "Mahalla alet kelmetha, Beirut moch 7atetrekha"and we sang Cheikh Imam songs....
the number of the security forces was huge comparing to ours...they didn't use force with us, but when we first arrived and saw them staging in front of the the entrance of the embassy, i tried with some comrades to move for a second entry, but soon the security forces came and started to shout asking us to leave, and when we said that we have the right to demonstrate wherever we want, the security man didn't hesitate to grasp Kamil Dagher's
( http://farfahinne.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-post_05.html ) hand and force us to leave!

i think that the demo succeeded, it generated a public debate on the situation in Egypt and the central role of the mvt there and its influence on the people of the region...i received an overwhelming call today from a journalist telling me that our demo showed that there are importing causes to defend beyond 8 of Mars and 14 of Mars!

the struggle, our struggle won't stop here, we are preparing ourselves for May 7: there will be a General strike in Lebanon, but i hope this time that the syndicates organize street mobilizations!

NB: u can c more photos on my Flickr and Carol's (http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolekerbage/)