Egypt's unrest a two-edged sword

As the latest wave of anti-Israel protesters poured into the streets of capitals across the Arab world, observers are saying that a backlash against the Arab regimes themselves is closer than ever before.

Secretary of State Colin Powell left for the Middle East yesterday to try to mediate the escalating Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He will meet with several of the region's leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who faces growing unease from a restless Egyptian populous.

Tens of thousands of young Egyptians, approaching 80,000 on some days, have raged through the streets across the country demanding that the Israeli army end its incursions into the West Bank. While they say their "enemy" is Israeli leader Ariel Sharon, the protesters appear uncertain and confused about who their own allies are.

Some of the protesters praise Mr. Mubarak for speaking out loudly against what many of them are calling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "bloodthirsty revenge." But others say their president needs to do far more to heed the growing anger – even if it means putting young Egyptians into action against the Israeli army.

The choices for Egypt's leadership have become stark. Commenters here say Hosni Mubarak can keep trying to verbally persuade his own Washington allies to force the Israeli army to stand down, threaten an oil embargo as Iran and Iraq have, or even call for concerted Arab military action.

The same Egyptian analysts, however, say that the moves may not save his regime and that the current wave of massive street protests are bound to change the political dynamic across the Middle East for decades to come. They say that the Egyptian government, like some of its Arab neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula, is trying desperately to ride the growing wave of anger, but may, in the end, be crushed by it.

The Egyptian government has permitted religious leaders, which it usually keeps well away from heated political debates, to advocate suicide bombing as a legitimate tactic for the Palestinian people to use against the Israeli military. Last week, a top Egyptian Muslim cleric was quoted as saying that suicide attacks on Jewish settlements were acts of martyrdom. "They are one of the highest forms of martyrdom," said Ahmed al-Tayyeb, Egypt's official Mufti, responsible for issuing religious opinions, or fatwas, on issues concerning Muslims.

Hala Mustafa, a leading newspaper commentator, concerned about such remarks, says: "Some of the people in the Arab street today calling for an end to Israeli violence and a free Palestine could quickly turn on Arab regimes and target them with some of the same tactics being used in Israel."

Ms. Mustafa, senior editor and commentator with the Al Ahram daily newspaper group, warns of a possible "transformation towards fanaticism." She says that the growing popular support for suicidal strikes against enemy targets could spread well beyond Israel and the West Bank if violence continues to spiral out of control in Israel.

Page: 1 | 2