CAIRO: Security forces continue to crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, detaining 21 more members from the governorates of Sharqeya and Beheira on Thursday, in the aftermath of anti-Israeli demonstrations staged last week. State security has detained 236 Muslim Brotherhood members this year, from high-ranking officials to university students, the majority of whom are detained indefinitely pending investigations, said Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, Muslim Brotherhood lawyer. "It is the typical story known in Egypt, elections equals mass arrests, protests equals even larger mass arrests, the Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement. "During the raids forces enter and surround the homes of wanted people and prevent residents from leaving their home. Residents experience crude treatment at the hands of the officials during raids, which sometimes last several hours while their homes are torn apart by forces, who search for documents or other incriminating possessions, the statement read. Demonstrations broke out last week after the Friday prayers against Israeli plans to build Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and place two West Bank Muslim shrines on a list of Israeli heritage sites. Following the demonstration, security forces arrested more than 97 members of the Muslim Brotherhood. On Monday, security arrested 18 members in Alexandria, in addition to 15 students affiliated with the group who participated in a protest at Cairo University. Last Wednesday, MB Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badea', said "We, the government and even the tyrants are all in one ship.we will not let them ruin the ship so we could all drown. "If the windows of freedom are not opened we will all be ruined, he added. Last month, state security arrested 15 prominent MB leaders including Mahmoud Ezzat, Essam El-Erian and other senior members of the group nationwide. At the time, the banned group released a statement in which they questioned whether there is a relationship between the arrests and the group's plans to make public appeals for solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and "the besieged people of Gaza, as well as the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. "There has been a general consensus that the detention of the Brotherhood's senior officials is a way to pressure the group in a year of parliamentary elections, said Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamic movements at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Amnesty International has called on Egyptian authorities to "stop their crackdown on peaceful political dissent and uphold the rights to freedoms of expression, association and assembly in Egypt.
