200 at Dearborn Rally Want U.S. Policy Change on Egypt

posted on: Jan 30, 2011

Carrying the flags of their native countries and signs in defiance of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other Mideast leaders, about 200 protesters gathered in front of Dearborn City Hall on Saturday and demanded a change in U.S. foreign policy that they said keeps Mubarak and others in power.

“Some people think stability in the Middle East is more important than justice. That’s not working so good,” said Tarek Baydoun, 26, of the Arab-American Political Action Committee.

Dearborn police helped direct traffic during the one-hour demonstration.

“One, two, three, four, kick Mubarak out the door,” protesters said. Some chants in Arabic called for Mubarak to leave. Other chants, in English, were directed at President Barack Obama.

“The U.S. can do better. They can stop supporting dictator regimes,” said Essam Mohamed of Dearborn, a native of Egypt. The engineer at Ford helped organize the demonstration.

Mubarak came to power in Egypt 30 years ago, succeeding assassinated President Anwar El-Sadat. The former military leader has been accused of running a dictatorship, where political opponents are discredited or jailed.

Protesters in Dearborn said wages in their homeland are low and joblessness is high.

Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt came on the heels of an overthrow of the Tunisian government about two weeks ago. Both countries are in mostly Muslim north Africa. The protests have spread to other countries in the Middle East, including Yemen and Lebanon. Supporters of those protests gathered in Dearborn, too.

Maha Mamdouh, 31, drove with her husband and daughters from Lansing to voice her concerns. With most of her family still in Egypt, communicating has been difficult.

“They are in a very bad situation right now,” she said. “My people are being killed.”

But Shafik Shoaip, 55, of Dearborn said protesters are the source of Egypt’s violence.

He was led away by police when he climbed the City Hall steps to interrupt the protesters as they spoke through microphones. In the U.S. since 1979, he said Egypt has prospered and his visits leave him in awe.

“The government is doing a good job. Mubarak is a great president,” he said.

Mega Satyanarayana
Detroit Free Press