16 - 22 May 2002
Issue No.586
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 16 - 22 May 2002 Issue No.586 |
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Continuing solidarity
With the arrest of several Palestine solidarity activists in Cairo and Alexandria this week, friction between the movement and the government seemed to heat up. Amira Howeidy reports
As Egyptian expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people enter their seventh intensive week, recent security clamp-downs on activists are sounding alarm bells. This week alone six activists from two Popular Palestine Solidarity Committees in Cairo and Alexandria were arrested in connection with their activities.
On Saturday, state security police arrested Manal Khaled and Sameh Kamal -- both members of the Egyptian Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada (EPCSPI) -- in the heart of Cairo's Tahrir Square as they were busily distributing boycott lists of American products to passersby. Both were charged with possessing leaflets with the intention of disrupting public order and inciting hatred of the regime. They were released Sunday.
In the early hours of Monday, state security police also arrested Gamal Abdel-Fattah, a pharmacist who is a leading member of the EPCSPI. According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), State Security police raided Abdel- Fattah's pharmacy at 4am, physically abused him and damaged one of the pharmacy's entrances. Moreover, claimed the statement, police confiscated large amounts of medicine. On Tuesday evening Abdel-Fattah was charged with displaying and selling expired medicine, as well as disseminating false information, and possessing leaflets with the intention of disrupting public order. He was reprimanded in custody for 15 days.
Meanwhile, in Alexandria, another raid resulted in the arrest of three members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Ali Abdel- Fattah, Gamal Madi and Ahmed Abdel-Hafez are also active members of another grassroots committee -- the Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which had been gearing up for a 1 million man march which was scheduled to take place on the Alexandria corniche yesterday to mark the 54th anniversary of Al- Nakba or the Palestinian catastrophe. The three had not yet been interrogated when Al-Ahram Weekly went to print.
The most recent signs of growing government intolerance of pro- Palestine solidarity activities appeared a few weeks ago when four other members of the EPCSPI were briefly arrested and charged with collecting donations without the permission of the social affairs ministry, and in violation of a 1992 military decree. Last year, Farid Zahran, a founding member of EPCSPI, was also arrested for planning to hold demonstrations marking the first anniversary of the Palestinian Intifada.
Since the eruption of the Intifada in September 2000, a number of grassroots solidarity committees have been formed nationwide. Amongst the peaceful activities carried out by the groups are organising pro-Palestine conferences and rallies, releasing media statements, and collecting donations for delivery to the Palestinians. Although the Egyptian constitution permits such activities, the emergency law in force since 1982 has imposed serious limitations on public and political activism.
The government, however, has largely tolerated wide-scale solidarity activities that broke out across the country following Israel's invasion of the West Bank six weeks ago. Under the strict rules of emergency law, most of these activities could be deemed illegal, including the wave of mass demonstrations and pickets as well as leafleting, the plasetering of posters and Palestinian flags on street walls and, more seriously, the open collection of donations.
With public opinion enraged by news of Palestinians being killed on a daily basis, it appeared as if the government had chosen to adopt a more flexible posture in response to the unprecedented display of political awareness and activism that was taking place.
But observers warned that this could be a misreading of the official stance. They cited the glaring example of the 9 April student demonstrations at Alexandria University, when anti-riot police fired shot gun pellets, killing one student and seriously injuring the eyesight of six others.
More recently, the movement seemed to focus more on other forms of solidarity, such as collecting and sending donations, organising small-scale pickets, rather than mass demonstrations, thus giving the impression of a quieter political scene.
Massive demonstrations became a thing of the past. It was perhaps in this context that security forces were alarmed by news of the 1 million man march in Alexandria which was scheduled to mark yesterday's 54th anniversary of Al- Nakba, or the Palestinian catastrophe.
Is the government sending a message? "Of course," snapped psychiatry professor and EPCSPI founding member Aida Seif El- Dawla, "but we will not stop our activities. As long as the Intifada is ongoing, we will continue to act." The government, said Seif El- Dawla, seems to adopt a "dual" position regarding the EPCPSI's existence. "Top officials such as former Minister of Foreign Affairs and current Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa have met with the committee in the past. And state-run TV and radio stations have hosted some of our members. At the same time, security forces are arresting and harassing the EPCSPI," she told Al- Ahram Weekly.
EOHR president Hafez Abu Se'da puts it another way. "The government began its clamp- downs on these groups because it felt that their street presence was getting stronger. The Palestinian question is a cause that the Egyptians have always sympathised strongly with."
Abu Se'da, however, does not think the security bodies' assessment is necessarily wise in this respect, "since the Muslim Brotherhood have always maintained a strong presence." These more recent solidarity movements, he argued, "exposed the fact that other political forces, especially the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), have been conspicuously absent when it comes to the Egyptian street, even in the most critical stage of Israel's aggression against the Palestinians. The recent arrests are clearly a message from the government," suggested Abu Se'da, directed to both the Brotherhood and the Left, that there are limits to its tolerance of their activities on the street.
But this will "not deter" the EPCSPI, asserts Seif El-Dawla. "If they consider us a threat -- although I see no reason for them to do so -- it doesn't mean that we will change anything. The committee has earned its legitimacy from the people and its members," she said. "We shall remain."
Solidarity renaissance
AT THE FEET of Mahmoud Mukhtar's famous Egypt's Awakening statue and near the Israeli Embassy in Giza, approximately 200 women demonstrated peacefully on Tuesday to mark the 54th anniversary of Al-Nakba. The police allowed protesters to get within a few metres of the building where the Israeli Embassy occupies the 18th floor.
The protesters shouted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. They also burned the Israeli and American flags and at one point actually sprayed perfume on the cloth to ignite it faster. The demonstration was called for by the Egyptian Popular Committee in Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada.
Also on Tuesday thousands of students demonstrated at Cairo University against Israeli atrocities in Palestine.
Meanwhile, a group of university professors at the American University in Cairo announced yesterday the launch of a donation campaign to support Birzeit University in the West Bank. Two accounts, one in dollars and one in Egyptian pounds, were opened at the Commercial International Bank (CIB) to receive donations.
Account numbers are: $: 05-80-36834-8 and LE: 05-80- 10712-6.
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