Julia Boutros, the Lebanese singer, yesterday called for greater support for the Palestinian people in their resistance of Israeli aggression, at a student rally at the American University of Dubai. The rally was hosted by the Palestinian Cultural Club at the university's campus in Dubai and Ms Boutros's speech included criticism of the level of support from Arab regimes. She urged the people of the Middle East to press their governments to take a stronger stand.
"This is a message to all the Arab regimes who are a part of this terrorism on Gaza," she said. "History will not give them mercy, neither will the people. "We have Israel as an enemy but we also have enemies in the leaders of Arab countries who are allowing Israel to destroy the [Palestinian] resistance." The crowd of around 300 cheered and chanted the slogan: "With spirit, with blood, we sacrifice for Gaza".
Ms Boutros is known for her songs supporting her home country's struggles against Israel. "The Arab countries need to support the right of the Palestinians and their right to fight and defend themselves," she said afterwards. "Protests are not enough. What really needs to happen is a change in the regimes, and these changes need to come from the people." The grounds were covered in Palestinian flags and 975 candles were lit, representing the number of people killed in Gaza since Israeli attacks began more than two weeks ago.
Dubai Police said yesterday they had raised more than Dh4 million (US$1.1m) in donations for the people of Gaza. A spokesman said more than Dh2 million has been donated by the force as part of a two-day solidarity campaign launched by its deputy chief yesterday. "Dh2.1 million ($572,000) worth of donations had been collected from police personnel and a cheque has been submitted. Two donation boxes are going to be left at the police headquarters for two days when further donations will be collected," the spokesman said.
Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the chief of Dubai Police, donated Dh2m ($544,000) of his own money. "A personal donation was made by the chief, who donated six months of his salary to the cause," the spokesman added. nsamaha@thenational.ae rabubaker@thenational.ae
