Egypt cracks down on Gaza activists and aid

The Egyptian government sent mixed signals to Gaza activists Wednesday as it seized 30 trucks of goods destined for Gaza, handed down a stiff sentence to a party activist who entered Gaza illegally and released an Egyptian-German activist whose detention sparked a worldwide campaign to free him.

Egypt's crackdown on Gaza activists comes amid effort to clamp down on the smuggling of goods across the Rafah border, the only crossing that bypasses Israel.

A security official told AFP that over the past two days police had seized 30 trucks laden with food, consumer goods and home appliances they say were destined to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip and arrested the drivers.

Meanwhile in Cairo authorities released Philip Rizk, a 26-year-old Gaza activist and journalist who was arrested on his way back from a Gaza solidarity march over the weekend, his sister told AlArabiya.net Wednesday.

He was released late on Tuesday after being taken into custody Friday night and held incommunicado for several days. Friends and family organized a campaign for his release using Facebook, Twitter, blogs and the mainstream media to put pressure on Cairo.

His sister did not give any further details about the release, but the family posted an update on the Facebook page devoted to the campaign to free the American University in Cairo graduate student who had made a documentary about the daily life of Palestinians in Gaza living under occupation.

Head of Labor party sentenced

Also on Wednesday, an Egyptian military court sentenced Magdi Ahmed Hussein, the head of the suspended Labor party, to two years in jail and fined him 5000 pounds ($900) for entering the Gaza Strip illegally

"The government fears pro-Gaza supporters because it thinks they threaten its existence," Imad Al-Bulq, Magdy Hussein's close friend and activist told AlArabiya.net, adding that no one including Hussein's lawyers knows Hussein's whereabouts.

"We do not know what jail he has been taken too, he disappeared after the trial and verdict," he said.

Military trials and imprisonment without access to lawyers or due process are not new in a country that has been ruled by the same president and under emergency law for a quarter of a century.

The government fears pro-Gaza supporters because it thinks they threaten its existence

Imad Al-Bulq, friend and activist

Revenge

"These are longstanding concerns," Nicole Choueiry, a spokesperson for the international rights group Amnesty, told AlArabiya.net. "This is not the first time a person has been tried in a military court or that concerns about the treatment of people who are in custody and torture have arisen."

The recent crackdown and arrests of Gaza activists and bloggers, however, is related to foreign policy dynamics and concerns over domestic dissent, according to those working on human rights.

Gamal Eid, a human rights lawyer with the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said there were two reasons for it.

"The first is to confirm solidarity with Israel and supporting it as an ally, and also a rejection of the people's activism efforts," he told AlArabiya.net. "The criticism against the government and Mubarak specifically is another reason for the crackdown and the revenge."

Hafez Abu Seada, secretary-general of Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) said the Egyptian government was sending "contradictory signals" to Egyptians and the world by jailing pro-Gaza activists in the midst of its diplomatic engagements for a ceasefire.

"The government cannot on the one hand show that it is trying to help Gazans through its diplomacy and on the other, jail pro-Gaza activists," he said.

Activists maintain that the Egyptian government contributes to the blockade of Gaza and its dire economic situation by refusing to open the Rafah border.

The criticism against the government and Mubarak specifically is another reason for the crackdown and the revenge

Gamal Eid, lawer

Retaliation at Rafah

Security officials said Hussein entered Gaza through a security gap in the border caused by Israeli bombing during the 22-day Gaza offensive.

"He most likely sneaked into Gaza through the middle part of Rafah away from the main gate entrance where many Egyptian residential neighborhoods are adjacent to the border" a security official in Rafah told AlArabiya.net on condition of anonymity since he was not permitted to speak with the media.

The security source speculated that Hussein worked with smugglers who broke the blockade on the Strip, which has been blockaded since 2007.

He spent 10 days in Gaza to see conditions of Palestinians living there for himself, according to his friend Bulq, and called on the government to open the border because sufficient aid was not getting through to the 80 percent of residents who depend on assistance.

Hussein was arrested when he attempted to cross back into Egypt without the appropriate papers or identification documents save his driver's license.

Bulq said the verdict was unjustly harsh given Hussein's open return to Egypt.

"It is not like he snuck back into Rafah; he returned in the day light in front of everybody, yet he is treated as a traitor," Bulq said.

EOHR's Seada criticized the sentenced as "harsh" calling on president Mubarak to abolish the sentence of Hussein who was tried under military court.

We declared our position in statement we issued today. We said we are against it because it is against constitutions and standard of human rights

Hafez Abu Seada, friend and activist

"We declared our position in statement we issued today. We said we are against it because it is against constitutions and standard of human rights," he told AlArabiya.net. "We expected a fine only because this is not a crime but administrative mistake of not getting legal papers to cross. He has not committed a military crime to be tried in a military court."

Hafez said that the normal fine would have been 1000 pounds and one year jail, but in Hussein's case, the sentence was doubled and the fine multiplied.

"The sentence was certainly politically motivated," he said

The sentence was certainly politically motivated

Hafez Abu Seada, friend and activist