Thousands of students at universities across Egypt organized rallies yesterday to protest Israeli incursions on Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the inclusion of two mosques in the occupied West Bank on a list of Jewish heritage sites. Protesters burned Israeli flags and condemned what they saw as Arab silence on the issue of Israeli practices in Jerusalem. Demonstrators distributed a statement titled "A Students' Intifada for Al-Aqsa." The statement said that "the continuing Israeli policy of incursions and attacks on the worshippers in Al-Aqsa and attempts to Judaize Jerusalem are the first steps to divide the Arabs and Muslims, to force them to accept that the Jews include the Ibrahimi shrine and the Bilal ben Rebah mosque as among their heritage and will ban prayer at Al-Aqsa after that." The statement also called on Arab leaders to adopt a strong position toward Israel at a summit in Tripoli, Libya, scheduled for later this month. Arab diplomats should support the Palestinian people by stopping negotiations and cutting diplomatic ties with Israel, the students said. They also demanded that Egypt open the Rafah border crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip. Student protesters flew the Palestinian flag and chanted slogans against the "Zionist entity." They carried banners with statements such as, “We do not need condemnation and denouncement, we need guns and arms," and “To our rulers: Why are you silent? What is more important than Al-Aqsa?” Students from the Muslim Brotherhood asked Muslims all over the world to fast and pray on Monday for the protection of Al-Aqsa, which the Brotherhood says Jews want to demolish and replace with a Jewish temple. News agencies reported that 15 students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested at Cairo University. Students of Cairo University started their demonstration late yesterday in their dorms and then moved to other parts of the campus, where thousands protested under a heavy security presence. At Fayoum University, hundreds of students marched to denounce what they say are Israeli plans to demolish Al-Aqsa mosque and lay the bedrock for their temple. There were also protests underway at universities in Zagazig, Tanta, and Minya.
