Mina Thabet

Egypt: PEN International welcomes Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s release and urges Egyptian authorities to release imprisoned writers — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression... “We are thrilled to see Alaa reunited with his family and friends and look forward to seeing him together with his son in the UK. He is a remarkable writer and activist who should never have been impr...

PEN welcomes long-overdue release of British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah after almost 6 years in arbitrary imprisonment. Egyptian authorities should also lift any restrictions that may hinder his travel to the UK to reunite with his son.
www.pen-international.org/news/egypt-a...

Poetry in Chains: A Conversation with Egyptian Poets and Writers In Honor of Galal El-Behairy’s 35th Birthday - PEN America Join us to mark the 35th birthday of PEN America’s 2025 Freedom to Write honoree Galal El-Behairy, currently detained in Egypt for his words.

To honor El-Behairy’s birthday, @ahmednaji.bsky.social ‬joins us with @minathabet.bsky.social & @basmamostafa.bsky.social to discuss creativity, dissent, and repression in Egypt. El-Behairy’s father will join us as a guest of honor.

RSVP for Friday 6/27 at 11 AM ET: pen.org/event/poetry...

It was powerful to join tonight's vigil in solidarity with Alaa Abd el-Fattah and his mother Dr Laila Soueif. There is no time left. Keir Starmer needs to take urgent action now to #FreeAlaa

So many of our fellow writers in Gaza have been killed under Israeli bombardment - genocide denies the right to free expression. We join calls for an immediate and comprehensive UK arms embargo on Israel and an end to the genocide.

PEN International concurs with the UN, legal experts, sister human rights organisations, and genocide scholars that genocide is being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza through various means, including widespread indiscriminate killings, and the weaponisation of aid such as food and medicine.

Thank you to all the incredible readers & everyone who came to the powerful solidarity readings for Alaa Abd el-Fattah. We were glad to hear that Prime Minister Starmer yesterday had a call with President Sisi to call for Alaa's release. This is critical, for Alaa's family and for us all. #FreeAlaa

Once again, we stand with #LailaSouief and demand Alaa's freedom. He fully served unjust 5 ys sentences, and his ongoing detention is undoubtedly arbitrary. Laila's heath is at grave risk, while Alaa is also on day 82 of full hunger strike.
#FreeAlaa Now!

Standing with Laila today to call for freedom for Alaa Abd el-Fattah. If you're available please join us tomorrow for a solidarity reading from 6pm opposite Downing St: www.englishpen.org/posts/campai... #FreeAlaa

Israeli forces denied Christians in #Jerusalem access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Sat prayers. While billions of #Chrisitians worldwide celebrate the holiest days in the year, the resurrection of our lord and saviour, Palestinian Christians are banned from going to their churchs

Ten Britons accused of committing war crimes while fighting for Israel in Gaza Exclusive: Met to be handed dossier of evidence alleging crimes including killings of civilians and aid workers

Looking at the coverage by the Guardian of the same news (two British media), cannot find words to describe the disgusting BBC coverage of any news critical of Israel's genocide in Gaza!!
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/apr...

Met Police assessing claims Britons committed war crimes in Gaza Officers are deciding whether to investigate, a Counter Terrorism Policing spokesperson said.

The #UK has the responsibility to investigate and punish perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by its citizens in #Gaza.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#Palestinian poet and writer Zena Agha reads words of Palestinan journalist #HossamShabat who was assassinated in March by #Israel, during an event featuring The Message (best seller) by American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates in #London.

#Breaking: British-Egyptian academic, #HRD #LailaSouief, mother of #Alaa_Abdel_Fattah, hospitalised over the night on day 149 of her hunger strike. #freealaa now!

YouTube video by Owen Jones Anti-Arab racist shoots... ISRAELIS

We all must protect #Palestinians from such genocidal mania. Heated and racism must stop! Colonialism must end! youtube.com/shorts/qnsQ8...

Knesset advances bill imposing up to five years in jail for Israelis cooperating with ICC ***

The only democracy in the Middle East!

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Israeli police raid Jerusalem bookshops and arrest Palestinian owners Raid on Educational Bookstore branches described by rights groups as part of harassment campaign against Palestinian intellectuals

The arrest and detention of Palestinian author #MahmoudMuna and his nephew Ahmad is another sign of #Israel's relentless crackdown on #Palestinian voices and its ever-increasing censorship. They should be released immediately and unconditionally.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Trump to impose sanctions on International Criminal Court U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court for targeting the United States and its allies, such as Israel, a White House official said.

The sanctions include freezing any U.S. assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...

It pretty much looks like Israel's estimate of how many people remain to expel, starve, and kill. It's not misspeaking; he declared it as part of his plan to ethnically cleanse the population while standing next to his war criminal buddy, the architect of the Palestinian #Genocide.

In his illegal, inhumane, white-supremacist, colonial plan for post-war Gaza, Trump referred to the current population of #Gaza as 1.8 M. The world knows pre-war Gaza population is ~ 2.1 and 2.2 million people.

Did #Trump just tell the world that Israel has killed ~ 300-400 thousand Palestinians?!

Today, we stood with Prof. Laila Soueif urging Keir Starmer to act on Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s release. Laila is on day 129 of hunger strike, and we are deeply concerned for her health. PEN International demands Alaa’s unconditional release.

#FreeAlaa @englishpen.bsky.social

We called for repealing all legislation restricting freedom of expression, the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned writers, and ending the harassment of those released.

Egypt: Joint submission to the UPR on the crackdown on dissent and violations of freedom of expression — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide 27 January 2024: PEN International, English PEN, and PEN America have contributed a joint submission on Egypt as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in advance of its upcoming ...

The human rights crisis in #Egypt has significantly worsened since the 2019 UPR. We raised concerns over the escalating crackdown on FoE, incl press freedom, access to information, and the right to protest.
www.pen-international.org/news/egypt-j...

Enabling, funding, and shielding over 400 days of Genocide, then rushing to claim ending the war!!

Today, we see a long-awaited hope for Palestinians materialised and eternal shame for the Biden administration amplified.

While we are celebrating Christmas with our family's and loved ones, Alaa Abdel Fattah remains in prison. ##FreeAlaa