CAIRO: Under the slogan Resistance versus Surrender the Egyptian Bar Association hosted a public seminar Wednesday to address the latest escalations in Palestine.
The goal of the conference, as Lawyers’ Syndicate member Gamal Tag said is to call upon the Palestinians to unite against the Zionist enemy and stop inner clashes that only serve to weaken them.
Mohamed Toson, Syndicate treasurer agreed, stating that this conference was not about taking sides or supporting a certain faction.
The event was attended by artists, activists and politicians and intellectuals.
Yet despite the slogans proclaiming impartiality, the conference was led by prominent figures from the Muslim Brotherhood Essam El-Erian, Mohamed Hazem, Saad El-Katatny and of the Islamist Labor Party Magdy Kurkur, which gave the gathering a clear pro-Hamas flavor.
The speeches started with a recent review of Palestinian history, describing Hamas as the true resistance. Speakers stressed the fact that the Hamas-led government was democratically elected and so had the right to protect itself from coups.
They all denounced the fact that some of the Palestinian factions laid down their arms following demands from Palestinian President Abu Mazen. As El-Erian put it, this is equal to surrender and defeat.
Criticism of Egypt s role as mediator prevailed, with specific reference to the recent four-way summit in Sharm El-Sheikh where the official stance was seen as supporting Fatah. The attendees also disapproved of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert s attendance.
This is an Arab internal affair, said El-Erian, Why did Egypt invite Olmert?
It was generally agreed that the factional disturbances in Palestine only helped to serve the purposes of the axis of evil, that is, the United States and Israel.
Tag lamented the loss of human life in Palestine, saying that it is a shame that Palestinians are killing each hindering resistance efforts.
The conference ended with a call for all Palestinians to remember the cause and to uphold the principals of resistance to the Zionist state and heed the Arab League’s call for peace among the factions.
