# Protesters storm Israeli Embassy in Cairo



## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

News just now that protesters stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo and are throwing documents from the balcony. A guy earlier today climbed all the way up to the embassy floor to remove Israeli flag (again).

If they broke into embassy there will be serious diplomatic and political consequences.

Watch live http://www.livestation.com/channels/131-al-jazeera-mubasher-misr-arabic


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

By Yasmine Saleh and Mohamed Abdellah

CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel flew its ambassador home on Saturday after Egyptians stormed the building housing the Israeli mission in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its toughest diplomatic crisis since taking over from Hosni Mubarak.

The United States, which has poured billions of dollars of military aid into Egypt since it made peace with Israel in 1979, voiced concern about the violence after protesters hurled embassy documents and the Israeli flag from windows.

Police fired shots in the air and teargas to disperse the crowd. Protesters lit tyres in the street and at least two vehicles were set alight near the embassy, located on the upper floors of a residential apartment block overlooking the Nile.

As dawn broke, about 500 demonstrators remained and a few threw stones at police and army vehicles and personnel. But police gradually pushed them further away and secured the area.

It was the second big eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month during an Israeli operation against gunmen. That incident prompted Egypt briefly to threaten to withdraw its envoy.

Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, staff and family members arrived home on Saturday but one diplomat stayed in Egypt to maintain the embassy, an Israeli official said.

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf called a cabinet crisis meeting for


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

The embassy is located across the Giza zoo. Best to avoid this area.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Egypt has declared a state of alert after protests on the streets of Cairo, following the storming of the Israeli embassy on Friday.

Security forces fired tear gas and drove armoured vehicles at protesters, who responded by throwing stones and petrol bombs. Hundreds were injured.

The protesters broke into the embassy building, entering consular offices and throwing out documents, officials said.

Israel flew its ambassador and nearly all its diplomats back home.

Egypt's governing military council is meeting later on Saturday to discuss the situation.

Hundreds of protesters remained near the embassy until after dawn, burning tyres in the street and chanting slogans against Egypt's military rulers.

Riot police were on the streets and live gunshots were heard, says the BBC's Bethany Bell in Cairo, while the air was thick with tear gas.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis


Bethany Bell
BBC News, Cairo
There is a sharp increase in tension in what was already a very cold peace. Egypt is one of only two Arab countries to have a peace deal with Israel. Anti-Israel sentiment is certainly very deep-seated here, but this open expression is something quite new.

It's grown much more vocal since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. These protests were sparked when Egyptian border guards were killed last month (on the border with Israel). There have been people outside the embassy for a number of days.

I spoke to one of them and she said, "We've been brought up to hate Israel but now we can express this openly. Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, no Egyptian blood will go unavenged."

Six members of the embassy staff were trapped inside the building during the riot and had to be rescued by Egyptian commandos, an Israeli official told the BBC.

He thanked Egypt for freeing the Israeli staff and described the unrest as a "serious blow to the fabric of peace" between the two countries.

The incident was a "gross violation" of standard diplomacy, he said.

Egypt is one of only two Arab countries - along with Jordan - to have made peace with Israel.

Anti-Israel sentiment has been on the rise in Egypt, propelled by the deaths on 18 August of five Egyptian policemen on the Israeli border.

The Egyptian state news agency Mena said 448 people were injured in the clashes overnight into Saturday.

The unrest began after Friday prayers, when thousands converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand faster political reforms following the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

From there, hundreds marched on the Israeli embassy. They smashed through a security wall around the building before a group of about 30 broke in and threw documents out of windows.

An Israeli official told the BBC the intruders had entered consular offices, but not the main embassy.

After initially standing by, police moved against the protesters, firing tear gas. Several vehicles were set alight.

Live TV pictures in the early hours of Saturday showed protesters throwing petrol bombs at police vans which drove at a crowd of people to try to scatter them.

Shots were heard in the area but it is not clear who fired them. Protesters also attacked a police station nearby.

An Israeli official said 80 people - embassy staff, including the ambassador, and their families - were flown out overnight to Israel.

The Israeli consul remains in Cairo as acting ambassador.

The BBC's Hamada Abu-Qamar in Cairo says the protesters want the embassy to be shut down.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Sonrisa said:


> The embassy is located across the Giza zoo. Best to avoid this area.




Is your hubby back at work


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

Well this is -interestingly- not in the news but protestors also tried to attack the Saudi embassy. Hundreds of army soldiers and tens of armored vehicles were surrounding the embassy to protect it, but did NOTHING to stop the storming of the Israeli premises. 

I have never visited either but I'm told that these two embassies are next to or very close to each other


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

aykalam said:


> Well this is -interestingly- not in the news but protestors also tried to attack the Saudi embassy. Hundreds of army soldiers and tens of armored vehicles were surrounding the embassy to protect it, but did NOTHING to stop the storming of the Israeli premises.
> 
> I have never visited either but I'm told that these two embassies are next to or very close to each other




Yes they are close... the Israeli embassy is just as you go up onto the University Bridge.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

he Egyptian security forces have managed to prevent the Saudi embassy in Cairo from being attacked by demonstrators, Moheet reported.

Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> he Egyptian security forces have managed to prevent the Saudi embassy in Cairo from being attacked by demonstrators, Moheet reported.
> 
> Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators


so the question is: why did they wait for the protestors to be inside the Israeli emb. building? There is footage of riot police and military police walking away as people were knocking down the outside barrier. Then they watched while some guy was climbing to the top floor  to remove the flag and then they waited a while after documents were flying in the air before any effort was made to disperse the mob  

and yet, the Israelis are thanking Egyptian security forces for rescuing some embassy staff that were still inside  What the hell is going on???


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

aykalam said:


> so the question is: why did they wait for the protestors to be inside the Israeli emb. building? There is footage of riot police and military police walking away as people were knocking down the outside barrier. Then they watched while some guy was climbing to the top floor  to remove the flag and then they waited a while after documents were flying in the air before any effort was made to disperse the mob
> 
> and yet, the Israelis are thanking Egyptian security forces for rescuing some embassy staff that were still inside  What the hell is going on???




Lol I think you know the answer to that,


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

Well I still stand by my prediction that within three years there will be another military confrontation between the two countries.


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## RPC (Mar 17, 2011)

aykalam said:


> so the question is: why did they wait for the protestors to be inside the Israeli emb. building? There is footage of riot police and military police walking away as people were knocking down the outside barrier. Then they watched while some guy was climbing to the top floor  to remove the flag and then they waited a while after documents were flying in the air before any effort was made to disperse the mob
> 
> and yet, the Israelis are thanking Egyptian security forces for rescuing some embassy staff that were still inside  What the hell is going on???


We all new was going to be a bumpy ride, we need to fasten our seatbelt tight now and wait till we climb over the turbolence which won't happen after the elections, .... so just relax and enjoy the flight lane:... There is not much we can do but to stay always vigilant :ranger:


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

RPC said:


> We all new was going to be a bumpy ride, we need to fasten our seatbelt tight now and wait till we climb over the turbolence which won't happen after the elections, .... so just relax and enjoy the flight lane:... There is not much we can do but to stay always vigilant :ranger:


Well unfortunately I hate flying.  and you are wrong, there is something many will do: stay the hell out of Egypt or leave for good. A friend of mine is leaving today after 20+ years in the country. So sad.


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

aykalam said:


> Well unfortunately I hate flying.  and you are wrong, there is something many will do: stay the hell out of Egypt or leave for good. A friend of mine is leaving today after 20+ years in the country. So sad.


And where exactly is she going?

I have come back from a few weeks leave in Europe and it is a mess over there too. 

Look at the Uk riots. Did that look like a country based in Europe? More like nicaragua in the late seventies.....and the government were still debating whether to use water cannon or not due to the PC madness there....

I was dining in a popular restaurant in Rome last week and someone got shot outside in broad daylight. Rome was one of the safest cities years back, now it is a different matter.

imho leaving Cairo just because of perceived lack of safety might be a little hasty at the moment.


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

marenostrum said:


> And where exactly is she going?
> 
> I have come back from a few weeks leave in Europe and it is a mess over there too.
> 
> ...


She's going back to her home country, which happens not to be in Europe.

"perceived lack of safety"? funny, a couple of posts ago you were predicting a new military conflict between Egypt and Israel within the next 3 years


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

aykalam said:


> She's going back to her home country, which happens not to be in Europe.
> 
> "perceived lack of safety"? funny, a couple of posts ago you were predicting a new military conflict between Egypt and Israel within the next 3 years


it does not mean that for now there is a problem with personal safety.

maybe you feel safer walking in Ealing or Salford, up to you 

it is all rather subjective.

and would you also bet against more riotes happening in the likes of London etc etc?


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

marenostrum said:


> it does not mean that for now there is a problem with personal safety.
> 
> maybe you feel safer walking in Ealing or Salford, up to you
> 
> it is all rather subjective.


If there is a military confrontation (your words) then your personal safety is likely to be, er...compromised. 

I don't know where you are getting that I'm planning to move anyway, I am talking about the expats I know and their plans for the short term. You and I can talk until the cows come home about how ****ty life is back in England but that's not going to change how other people feel about being here.


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

:focus:

At the beginning of this video you can see military police standing to the left of people and watching while concrete barrier is being knocked down. You can't see it here but at the far end there is a large group of riot police doing exactly the same, watching


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

marenostrum said:


> And where exactly is she going?
> 
> I have come back from a few weeks leave in Europe and it is a mess over there too.
> 
> ...




You also keep forgetting that being a western women in Egypt is more hairy than being a man.


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

aykalam said:


> If there is a military confrontation (your words) then your personal safety is likely to be, er...compromised.
> 
> I don't know where you are getting that I'm planning to move anyway, I am talking about the expats I know and their plans for the short term. You and I can talk until the cows come home about how ****ty life is back in England but that's not going to change how other people feel about being here.


Well imho if i felt unsafe the last thing I would want is to stay somewhere unsafe.

Paycheque would come second, I would leave immediately if it was that bad.

all imho of course.


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

MaidenScotland said:


> You also keep forgetting that being a western women in Egypt is more hairy than being a man.


Yes I agree but I am a man and can only talk from my experience.


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## Doomster (Sep 8, 2011)

Of course, there is an awfully big conspiracy and agitators, the hidden hands behind the storming of Israel’s embassy and some of the instigators are:

1- Those who did the assassination of our soldiers for the tenth time on the border.
2- The laxity of reaction taken by the Egyptian government.
3- Results of the Israel Commission of Inquiry, by which made Israel looks like the princess and the Egyptians are all accomplices.
4- Results of the International Commission of Inquiry which did not lead to a clear condemnation of Israel in the event of Marmara Turkish, which will lead to the fact that Egyptians will wear the same clown of ignorance. 
5- Israel's arrogant refusal to apologize.
6- Throwing the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv with bricks.
However as an Egyptian, I do condemn the barbarian reaction taken by some of the protesters, while on the other hand others are making it peaceful like most of the Egyptians used to.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> Is your hubby back at work


Fortunately he is only returning tomorrow


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## crewmeal (Aug 9, 2011)

If relations were to sour even further between Egypt and Israel then there would be further repercussions for Israel. They can't afford to fall out with anymore of their neighbours. When I was living in Jordan people were saying that there would be another standoff there, and sure enough locals were trying to break into the Embassy in Amman, but this time the police fought them off unlike what happened in Cairo.

Look at the situation with Turkey. The Turks have almost cut off diplomatic relations because of the Gaza aid ship incident which has now escalated.

My point is why should the Israelis be allowed to run roughshod killing people from other Countries and get away with it? I'm afraid I've no time for them with the present situation in Palestine stealing land that doesn't belong to them and additionally setting up their own blockade in the Med. They have caused all the problems for themselves and are being slowly isolated by the world. That of course is for another debate.


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

crewmeal said:


> If relations were to sour even further between Egypt and Israel then there would be further repercussions for Israel. They can't afford to fall out with anymore of their neighbours. When I was living in Jordan people were saying that there would be another standoff there, and sure enough locals were trying to break into the Embassy in Amman, but this time the police fought them off unlike what happened in Cairo.
> 
> Look at the situation with Turkey. The Turks have almost cut off diplomatic relations because of the Gaza aid ship incident which has now escalated.
> 
> My point is why should the Israelis be allowed to run roughshod killing people from other Countries and get away with it? I'm afraid I've no time for them with the present situation in Palestine stealing land that doesn't belong to them and additionally setting up their own blockade in the Med. They have caused all the problems for themselves and are being slowly isolated by the world. That of course is for another debate.


They get away with it because you have complete hypocrites like Obama getting nobel peace prizes or people like Tony BlIar getting nominated to be middle east peace envoys :violin: they both get onto the podium with Nethanianyu for being warmongering b....s...not sure who gets the gold medal out of the three though

Imagine if any country had done to an israeli ship what israeli did to the turkish ship or if the egyptians had shot dead five isreali guards...right now we would be playing cards in a nuclear bunker instead of chatting on a forum......


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