Dozens of UC Berkeley students held a rally and “die-in” on Sproul Plaza today to offer their support to the millions protesting in Egypt.

“This is to commemorate the people who died because of our aid to Egypt,” said Nuha Massri, a senior, told the crowd. She mentioned that the the U.S. gives Egypt $1.5 billion in aid each year. “This is for the students to know how we are complicit in the (things happening) in Egypt.

The protest was organized by the political action committee of the Muslim Students Association. There will be another, much larger rally on Monday, according to Fatima Mekkaoui, a third year student.  But the violence that has flared in Egypt in the last few days made it important to take some action now, she said.

“We don’t want to wait that long because people are dying. We need to take action to pressure Mubarak to resigne.”

Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...