Trade unionists from the SI COBAS union are leading a campaign to defend Mohamed Shahin, imam of a mosque in Turin and an outspoken campaigner for Palestine in the city. Shahin was seized by the Italian police on 25 November and told his long-term residence permit was being revoked and that he faces deportation to…
Join our AGM – Monday 13 October, 7:30 PM UK time (Zoom)
From Italy to Khartoum to Gaza, workers and ordinary people are standing up against war, violence, and economic hardship. At our Annual General Meeting, we’ll hear from a special guest from S.I. Cobas Union, whose members have led general strikes and protests across Italy. Together, we’ll explore solidarity, share experiences, and plan strategies to advance workers’ rights and justice across borders.
British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was released on Monday, 22 September 2025, by a presidential pardon. His release came one year late. He should have walked free in September 2024 after serving his unjust five-year sentence, but the regime refused to count the two years he had already spent in pretrial detention.
Egyptian Trade unionist Shady Mohamed is on hunger strike, his wife has told other activists, protesting against terrible conditions in Burg al-Arab prison where he has been held since last year on charges related to displaying a Palestine solidarity banner. Shady was among 6 people arrested for this simple act of protest and solidarity and…
Laila Soueif, mother of British citizen Alaa Abdel Fattah, a writer, software developer and prominent pro-democracy activist jailed by Egypt’s authoritarian regime for most of the last ten years, will be organising regular protests outside Downing Street from 13 January. Alaa’s case has hit the news in recent months as his family have stepped up…
Activists in Egypt have issued an urgent appeal in solidarity with Hisham al-Banna, a worker from the Samanoud textile factory who is facing dismissal from work following a month-long strike demanding the minimum wage. The workers in the factory have been fighting to win better pay after years of battles with the company bosses over…
Prominent cartoonists in Britain have rallied behind Ashraf Omar, the Egyptian cartoonist seized by police from his home in a dawn raid on 22 July. Steve Bell, Martin Rowson, Andy Davey, Dave Brown and Tim Sanders launched a call for Omar’s release in an open letter published by MENA Solidarity on 4 August. Our colleague…
Cartoonist Ashraf Omar was seized from his home by Egyptian police early on 22 July and taken away to an unknown destination, his wife told independent news website Mada Masr. Colleagues at the independent website where he worked, al-Manassa, are calling on the Egyptian Journalists’ Union to demand his immediate release. Nora Younis, al-Manassa’s editor…
Update 25 April: all the detainees have been released on bail, but the charges have not been dropped On Tuesday 23 April, Egyptian security forces forcibly dispersed a protest in solidarity with the women of Gaza and Sudan, held outside the headquarters of the UN Women’s regional office in Maadi, Cairo. In the process, they…
Leaders of some of Britain’s biggest trade unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers across public services, health, education and transport sectors have joined Labour MP John McDonnell in condemning the arrest and detention of workers from Egyptian textile factory Misr Spinning in Mahalla al-Kubra following a strike in late February. Maryam Eslamdoust, of the…
MENA Solidarity Network 