Converging on Little Egypt, with anger and hope

interns Contributor
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They came from every corner of Astoria, Queens: Egyptian taxi drivers, Tunisian shopkeepers and Lebanese doctors, all seeking news and commiseration through the thick and fragrant haze of hookah smoke at the Layali El Helmeya Café on Steinway Street, otherwise known as Little Egypt.

But the moment President Hosni Mubarak appeared on the cafe’s television set on Friday, announcing that he was offering to replace his government ministers but refusing to cede power, their reaction was blunt and unified.

“Leave! Leave! Leave! You have no shame!” they chanted.

As tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo on Sunday for the sixth day of open revolt, here in Astoria, the heart of New York City’s Egyptian community, people reacted with hope tinged with visceral anger for an Egyptian president who they said had suppressed freedom for too long and an American president whom they accused of abetting him.

In nearly every cafe, Middle Eastern restaurant and grocery store in Little Egypt, a frenetic neighborhood that would not look out of place in Cairo, onlookers were glued to Al Jazeera over the weekend. Bearded young men fingered prayer beads and attended Friday prayers at the Al Iman Mosque, where prayers were offered for the protesters. Many despaired that they had been unable to reach their families since Mr. Mubarak shut down Egypt’s Internet and wireless service last week, in an effort to silence his opponents.

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