The Palestine solidarity movement in Egypt seems determined to maintain a high level of activism, despite the lull in the occupied territories and tough government "messages". Amira Howeidy reports Click to view caption "BBC's Arabic radio service argued that the Egyptian government fears that Egyptians will become accustomed to violating the emergency law. It seems that the government, after all, wanted to prove the BBC right." So read the analysis by Al-Arabi weekly newspaper, mouthpiece of the opposition Nasserist Party, which devoted much of its current issue to analysing last week's pro-Palestine demonstrations and the arrest of eight Palestine solidarity activists that preceded it. Since Israel's invasion of the West Bank on 29 March, the Egyptian opposition has been careful to direct its criticism at US President George W Bush's administration and Israel. Slogans chanted at demonstrations were exclusively anti-American and anti-Israeli. And despite sporadic clashes with protesters and brief detainments, the state seemed to be tolerating the "Egyptian Intifada". But that was before Israel deployed its army in the West Bank and lifted its siege on the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. For three weeks now, human rights groups and most opposition parties have been voicing their opposition to what they view as the state's attempt to contain the swelling Palestine solidarity movement in the country, even as security forces continued to arrest activists from several Palestine solidarity committees. From 21 April through to 14 May, police arrested 12 such people -- six of them last week. All those detained were members of either the Egyptian Popular Committee in Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada (EPCSPI) in Cairo or the Popular Committee in Solidarity with the Palestinian People (PCSPP) in Alexandria. According to the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), which followed the arrests closely, Gamal Abdel-Fatah, a pharmacist and founding member of the EPCSPI, was severely beaten by members of the state security police on 13 May. He was accused of displaying and selling expired medicine as well as disseminating false information and possessing leaflets with the intention of disrupting public order. Although he was remanded in custody for 15 days, Abdel-Fatah was released on Monday on bail. Despite Abdel-Fatah's release, human rights activists and members of Palestine solidarity committees are expressing concern about what they call the government's unwarranted aggressiveness towards their activities. Although the constitution allows demonstrations, the emergency law, strictly in force since the assassination of former President Anwar Al-Sadat in 1981, bans them outright. So far, four members of the PCSPP in Alexandria, all of whom are also members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, remain in detention, having been remanded into custody for 15 days. The four were accused of possessing leaflets directed at inciting public opinion against the government and "friendly" states, and of belonging to an underground group. Ibrahim El-Zafaarani, a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria and a member of the PCSPP, told Al-Ahram Weekly: "The government is cracking down on the popular committees because they're a source of movement and activity in the form of conferences, rallies, marches, demonstrations and calls to boycott American and Israeli products. The government doesn't want that at all." Ali Abdel-Fatah, head of PCSPP and one of the people arrested last week, was preparing with other activists for a one- million-person-strong march in Alexandria to be held on 15 May to mark the 54th anniversary of Al-Nakbah or the Palestinian catastrophe. Despite the arrests, tens of thousands of people participated in pro-Palestine, anti-American and anti-Israeli demonstrations in several areas of Alexandria last Wednesday such as the Stanley, Al-Montaza and Sidi Gaber districts. "We don't expect [Ali] Abdel-Fatah or any of the others who were arrested to be released soon," El-Zafaraani said, "because they're also members of the Brotherhood." Several rights groups, such as the EOHR, the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre and the Legal Aid Centre for Human Rights, issued strongly-worded statements protesting the arrests. Although rights groups based their statement on "Egypt's violation of human rights covenants", they voiced political views linking the arrests to the "disrupted political balance related to the Palestinian question". El-Zafaarani shares the same view. "It seems that we're expected to stop our activities now that a cooler regional political scene is replacing weeks of political turmoil," he told the Weekly. But cooling down is not on their agenda. Both the EPCSPI and PCSPP have vowed to continue with their activities. On Tuesday, EPCSPI sent its 12th aid convoy of medicine to Rafah, the location of a border crossing with Israel. Tomorrow, the PCSPP is organising a workers' rally in solidarity with Palestine at the Lawyers Club in Alexandria which is expected to be attended by 5,000 people. And according to El-Zafaraani, the committee will mark the second anniversary of Hizbullah's victory in forcing Israel to withdraw from South Lebanon by organising an exhibition which will display pictures depicting scenes from the resistance and screen documentaries and films of speeches on the matter. "We're not stopping despite the clear message that we should," he stated.
