Authorities conduct home arrests in Alexandria targeting seven people who expressed solidarity with Palestine

Seven people who took part in activities to express political support for Palestine were arrested abruptly from their homes by authorities in Alexandria over the past week.

The arrests are the latest in a series of security responses to individuals participating in protests or showing other forms of public support for the Palestinian cause.

Among those arrested were six young people who suspended a banner from the overpass of an Alexandria highway last week. “End the siege of Palestine and release the detainees. Open the Rafah border crossing,” read the banner. 

Security forces raided their homes on Sunday and arrested them. They were then forcibly disappeared for two days, until they were presented before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Cairo on April 30, lawyer Nabeeh al-Ganady told Mada Masr.

The prosecution issued orders for the young detainees to be held in remand detention for 15 days on charges of joining a terrorist group, publishing false news and data as well as the additional charge of unlawful assembly although, Genady told Mada Masr, they did not participate in any form of protest prior to their arrest.

Similarly, Haitham Dabour, activist and member of former presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawy’s political campaign, was arrested from his residence in Alexandria on Wednesday, according to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights. The network added in a brief statement that “the arrest of Haitham Dabour comes as part of the arrest campaign that targeted many citizens and activists against the backdrop of their support for the Palestinian cause.” As of the time of writing, his whereabouts remained unknown and he was yet to be brought before the State Security Prosecution in Cairo.

Among the six people in remand for suspending the banner is labor activist and co-founder of the popular committee for supporting the Palestinian cause in Alexandria Shady Mohamed, whose home was raided by police forces early on Tuesday before his arrest.

Mohamed was arrested on a prior occasion before the outset of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. A year earlier, in October 2022, he was arrested and held in remand on charges including affiliation with a terrorist group, based on his involvement in workers' protests as a union labor leader at Nile Linen Group. He was later released on presidential pardon in November of the same year.

Since Israel began its onslaught on Gaza, Egyptian authorities responded with force to people expressing support for Palestine. Most recently, at least sixteen women and passers-by were arrested in the vicinity of a demonstration held outside the UN Women regional office in Cairo last week in solidarity with women in Gaza and Sudan. The detainees were released on bail the following day.

The constraints on expressing solidarity with Palestinians have also extended to foreign activists in Egypt. Four foreign nationals were forcibly expelled from Egypt back in November for staging a pro-Palestine protest in front of the Foreign Ministry in Cairo. 

The only security-approved protest was back on October 20, when state-aligned entities called on Egyptians to protest as a way of granting a “mandate” to Egypt’s leadership during the war.

However, even then, some of the protesters were arrested after straying away from the designated areas for protests, briefly reaching  Tahrir Square, a place where public protests have not been seen for years.