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Crossing a red line?
Amira Howeidy Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 27 - 09 - 2001

Palestinian Intifada supporters are incensed by the arrest of a fellow activist. Amira Howeidy reports
Farid Zahran, a leading activist with the Egyptian People's Solidarity Committee with the Palestinian Uprising (EPSCPU), was arrested by security forces earlier this week and was remanded in custody for 15 days.
According to his lawyers, Zahran was accused of propagating malicious disinformation and planning demonstrations for 28 September, the first anniversary of the Palestinian Intifada. His arrest caused an uproar within numerous people's committees that have sprouted up with an agenda supporting the Palestinian cause, resisting normalisation of relations with Israel and boycotting Israeli and American products.
The EPSCPU has been active in fund-raising for the Intifada and sending truckloads of food products, clothes, blankets and other necessities to the Palestinians. It was planning to mark the Intifada's first anniversary by organising a demonstration at Al-Azhar Mosque on 28 September.
Several rights organisations issued statements condemning Zahran's arrest: the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights; the Cairo Centre for Human Rights Studies; the Hesham Mubarak Law Centre; the Al-Nadim Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and the Human Rights Centre for Assisting Prisoners.
At a news conference at the Press Syndicate on Tuesday, the EPSCPU branded the arrest as unlawful. Following the news conference, committee members and a large number of sympathisers headed to the office of the prosecutor- general to present a statement demanding Zahran's release. They declared that "we are all guilty of the accusations levelled against him."
The EPSCPU's Adel El-Mashad said Zahran was arrested after the committee "apparently crossed a red line when its activities reached the grassroots level."
"The EPSCPU considers the action against Zahran an abduction carried out by the State Security Department to prevent the EPSCPU from proceeding with its activities in solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada," the solidarity group said in a statement. Expressing its "grave concern" over Zahran's arrest, the EPSCPU vowed to "take every necessary action until Zahran is released and returns safely to his home and family."
State Security officials have been unavailable for comment on Zahran's arrest. It remains unclear how the arrest will affect the activities of the EPSCPU and whether a new security policy -- one that does not tolerate activities espoused by the EPSCPU -- is in the making. "We will pursue our work no matter what happens," leading EPSCPU member Shahenda Maklad told the news conference at the Press Syndicate.
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