Israeli Arabs call for end to Egypt killings

3,500 people take part in solidarity protests in four cities

By ToI Staff and AP 27 July 2013, 11:17 pm

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The corpse of a supporter for Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi, killed during clashes with security forces at Nasr City, where pro-Morsi protesters have held a weeks-long sit-in, lies down on the floor of a field hospital in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, July 27 (photo credit: AP/Manu Brabo)

More than 3,500 Arab Israelis took part in solidarity demonstrations decrying the death of civilians in Egypt clashes.

Demonstrations were held in Kafr Kanna, Taibe, Kalanswa and Kfar Kassem, where protesters called for the firing of Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and an end to the bloodshed. The protests were organized by the Islamic Movement of Israel.

At least 65 protesters were killed in Egypt Saturday, according to the Health Ministry, in the country’s worst violence since the military deposed Mohammed Morsi at the start of the month.

A leading figure of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed el-Beltagy, blamed the violence on el-Sissi’s call for rallies on Friday.

“This is the mandate el-Sissi took last night — to commit massacres and bloodshed against peaceful protesters denouncing the military coup,” el-Beltagy said in a statement on his Facebook page.