BEIRUT, Lebanon -- On the third day of Israel's attack on Gaza, street protesters across the Middle East broadened their rage toward Israel and the U.S. to include Arab rulers accused of not acting forcefully and fast enough to stop the violence.
The ferocity of the Israeli attacks in Gaza -- and mounting casualties, which United Nations estimated Monday at 320 dead, including 62 civilians, and more than 1,400 injured -- could channel pent-up anger against Arab leaders into further support for Islamist groups. These groups are increasingly seen as the only organized movements willing to stand up to Israel.
[cairo protest against israel] Reuters
Demonstrators in Cairo protest the Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
"These feelings have been there for years; what has changed is that Arabs now have extremist groups through which they can channel their anger and resentment," said Rami Khouri, a political analyst in Beirut. "You'll have a new generation of people who want to fight Israel."
Egypt, a close U.S. ally that has served as mediator between Israel and Hamas, came under particular fire for appearing unwilling to open its border crossing with Gaza to fleeing Palestinians.
Late Monday, Egypt allowed in a handful of Palestinians who needed emergency care and provided access to Gaza to convoys of humanitarian aid coming from abroad. Egypt has in the past been fearful that opening up the border would result in a flood of refugees and Hamas operatives entering its borders.
Cairo is struggling with its own Islamic opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Hamas traces its roots. Egypt is also a top recipient of U.S. foreign aid and has been under pressure from Washington not to make concessions to Hamas.
Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in early 2006, and then violently overran the Gaza Strip the following year when a unity government with its moderate rival Fatah party fell apart.
At a rally in Cairo on Monday, thousands of protesters shouted "Where's the Egyptian army?" and "Down with Mubarak," denouncing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Mobs also formed outside Egyptian embassies in Beirut, Tehran and Amman, Jordan, where protesters burned American and Israeli flags. In Tehran, a group affiliated with hard-line clerics signed up volunteers to fight Israel in the Gaza Strip. The hard-line Iranian newspaper Keyhan ran a headline that said, "Are Arab leaders dead?"
Hezbollah leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah spoke for a second day at a large rally in Beirut urging Egyptians in their "millions" to take to the streets to force their government to open the country's border with Gaza.
"The Arab public is sick of watching its leaders take no action against Israel," said Nasser Amin, an Egyptian lawyer and director of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary in Cairo.
"Right now, the only countries who are speaking truthfully for the Arabs are Syria, Libya and Iran. The rest of them are completely out of touch with reality."
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