A hunger strike to force the release of my friend Alaa Abd el-Fattah – it’s the ultimate weapon of the powerless | Peter Greste

AAbdel -Fateh does not know about hunger strikes. When I was imprisoned in a cell next to him in the bad Tora prison in Cairo in early 2014, I will go into the exercise square in discussing Egyptian policy, history and political reform, and yes – forms of protest and resistance, including the hunger of yourself.

He explained that hunger strikes are the final tool for the helpless. When all other forms of the agency are stripped, all that remains is the exercise of controlling the only remaining thing: your body. This will become my first lesson in strikes.

Alaa is the most famous political prisoner in Egypt. He was one of the young activists who helped in social media who helped move millions of Egyptians to the streets in the 2011 revolution. Because of his popularity, attractiveness and ability to mobilize people, he has a doubtful discrimination in the closure by each system since it was alive) There are many who barely continued for a year).

Soon after I arrived in Tora, Alaa and a group of other activists fired their hunger strike to force the prison to respect our rights. We only allowed two hours of exercise daily, and one family visit every two weeks; Both are in a clear violation of Egypt’s private laws that stated that prisoners who protest before the trial are entitled to obtain four hours of weekly exercises and visits. They have already smuggled messages to the press that announces the strike.

In times of meals, food trays were located on the ground in the corridor outside the cells of the strikers while screaming. Sometimes, it became hot, with insisting that they were weighing food and knew that the prisoners were eating secretly (they were not). But in the end, after a week of hatred, Alaa and his colleagues won. Prison authorities retreated, for fear of a fierce violent reaction if any of the prisoners died.

This is the lessons and three in the strike strategy: there is no point in doing this if no one knows, and limits your demands for what is within your rights. It is important to adhere to the high moral land.

This is exactly what his mother, Laila SuevHe does now. The 68 -year -old grandmother has been unusually flexible since September 30, the day her son follows.

After his arrest in 2019, Alaa was convicted and sentenced to five to five years because of “the spread of false news”, in a completely false case that was widely seen as an attempt to silence a prominent democratic voice. This sentence should have ended on September 29 last year. But with the amazing irony, the Egyptian government decided that it would calculate its mandate from the day he was convicted, ignoring the time when he served in detention before the trial as it requires its own laws, and adding two years to Alaa behind the bars.

Alaa and Laila are both Egyptian -Egyptian bilateral citizens, which means that the British government is responsible for ensuring respect for their rights. Foreign Minister, David Lami, called for Alaa on a modern trip to CairoBut until now without even getting consular access. That is why she was holding daily celebrations for one hour outside the Downing Street, calling the Prime Minister to intervene, and why I was also on a 21 -day more limited hunger to help draw attention to this symbolic case.

Laila demands are completely clear and reasonable. As Alaa did in 2014, she simply requires Egyptian and British governments to respect their laws and obligations.

But hunger strikes are serious pledges. In a quiet conversation during our celebration, Laila told me that she is doing it because she is convinced that the only way she can get British and Egyptian leaders is to depose the crisis.

“I am not a suicide bomber,” she said. “More than anything, I want to see Alaa again, free and with his son [also in the UK]. But I also know that I should be ready to continue in the end if this is what it takes. She lived a good life, and I and his sister, who gave up everything for campaigns for him, wanted to restore their lives as well. “

This conviction is something that would recognize Bobby Sands, Bobby Sands. Irish nationalist died in 1981 after rejecting food for 66 days to demand that he and his Republican detainees allow them to wear their own clothes, get regular visits and mail, and treat as political prisoners instead of ordinary criminals. (Sands, whose last days were combined in Steve McQueen Film Hunger, only consumed water, unlike laila that also takes electrolytes and salt – both are necessary for vital organs.)

In Steve Mcqueen’s 2008 movie about Sands’s last days, Father Dominique Moran is visiting. The priest says: “You start a hunger blow to protest what you believe in.

“He is in their hands,” Sands replies. “Our message is clear. They see our design … put my life on the line, DOM, not only the only thing I can do. It is the right thing.” Nine other strikers will die before the government gives their demands to the remaining prisoners.

Laila’s endless love for her children and justice is her driving power. She is now weak, her vital signs in the danger area, but she is designed like sand and convincing to the legitimacy of her campaign. She also believes that she will be successful, if not before her death, then perhaps because of the anger that he should definitely follow.

This may be the final lesson in strikes: a clear feeling that is not shaken by the goal. Sands says in hunger: “I have my faith. With all its simplicity, this is the strongest thing.”

• Peter Grest is a professor of journalism at the University of Makari and CEO of the Alliance for Freedom of Journalists. He was imprisoned in Egypt in 2013 on charges of terrorism during the reporting of the island and his release after 400 days. It has just ended the hunger strike for 21 days to support Alaa

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