Thousands of Egyptians filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square for a Friday rally May 13 calling for national unity after attacks on Coptic churches, and for solidarity with the Palestinians. Protesters held Egyptian and Palestinian flags, and placards reading in Arabic "No to secterian strife." The "Unity Rally" was called following clashes between Muslims and Christians that left 13 people dead after a church was attacked in Cairo's Imbaba district earlier this week. "If you attack a Christian, you're attacking all Egyptians," said one activist delivering a speech at the podium. "The churches attacked in Imbaba are not less than the mosques attacked in Jerusalem," he said, linking the two themes of the rally. Authorities have arrested 23 presumed Salafist militants in the church attack. (Daily Star [2], Lebanon, DPA [3], May 13; al-Masry al-Youm [4], May 12; BBC News [5], May 10)
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