Over 350 trade unionists from across the UK and beyond have signed a statement expressing solidarity with British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, after a wave of attacks led by Tory and Reform politicians greeted his arrival in the UK after years as a political prisoner in Egypt. The statement highlights Alaa’s rejection of antisemitism, racism…
Briefings / Latest News / Regional / Reports / Statements
As 2025 comes to a close and we step into 2026, we at MENA Solidarity Network reach out in solidarity, gratitude, and revolutionary determination. Explore our roundup of the key articles published since 1 January 2025 — a year of struggle, resistance, and international working-class solidarity across the Middle East and beyond. From war zones and imperialist supply chains to workers uniting across borders, these reports and analyses map the terrain of resistance.
Read, share, reflect, and organise — let 2026 be a year of stronger solidarity, renewed struggle, and internationalist victory.
Statement in solidarity with Alaa Abd el-Fattah We affirm our solidarity with Alaa Abd el-Fattah and extend a warm welcome to him as he is reunited with his family in Britain after spending years unjustly incarcerated alongside thousands of other political prisoners in the jails of a dictatorship for speaking out against human rights abuses.…
Campaign / Egypt / Latest News
When a cartoon becomes a crime, authoritarianism reveals its fear of truth.
Ashraf Omar — cartoonist, translator, and political artist — has been imprisoned for his drawings, accused of terrorism for exposing social and political realities. His case is not an exception, but part of Egypt’s systematic assault on freedom of expression, independent journalism, and dissent. We demand his immediate release. The pen is not a crime.
On 20 December, we will march in London to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sudanese uprising and to stand with a people still resisting war, military rule, counter-revolution, and imperialism.
The war in Sudan is being waged by rival militias (SAF & RSF) and sustained by international backers who profit from violence and destruction. Civilians face killing, hunger, and mass displacement — and silence is not an option.
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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…
The Sudan Solidarity Conference 2026 will bring together activists, trade unionists and community organisers to stand with the struggles for justice in Sudan and Palestine. The conference will amplify grassroots voices resisting imperialism, war, genocide, racism, and build the international solidarity needed to fight for peace and democratic change. Join us on 17 January — join us in taking action, organising and standing in solidarity.
Over 20,000 people have backed a petition initiated by a group of workers at Italian arms manufacturer Leonardo’s Grottaglie factory demanding the weapons maker sever all ties with Israel. “With this petition, which starts from some of Leonardo’s workers and which is extended to the entire civilian population, we firmly refuse to be complicit in…
Wednesday 26 November, 7:30pm UK time Register here in advance of this Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bPol0JitQRSUqqd5zC3nPQ The so-called “peace plan” endorsed by the UN Security Council is a new colonial blueprint against the Palestinian people: a plan to freeze the genocide in place, disarm the resistance, and entrench Western-Zionist domination while violations continue unabated. Across Europe,…
At a time when Sudan is being torn apart by war, famine, and mass killing and displacement at the hands of both Sudanese militias – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – the case of Lawyer Abo Bakr Mansour Mohamed Hamza shows exactly who pays the price for their struggle for power: ordinary people who try to keep their communities alive.
The fall of El Fasher, the last SAF stronghold in Darfur, marks a brutal new phase in Sudan’s counter-revolutionary war. After 18 months under siege, the RSF seized the city in October 2025, unleashing mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and terror. This is not an isolated tragedy but the outcome of a war between two militias born of the same repressive regime the 2018 revolution sought to overthrow — a war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced over 15 million people.
Italian trade unionists and student activists were attacked and detained by the police in Naples on Saturday, in a bid to crack down on protests and blockades as the far-right Brothers of Italy is presenting new repressive laws in parliament, activists from SI Cobas union have told Middle East Solidarity. The arrests of Mimi and…
JOIN US on 7 November for the launch of “Sudan’s Revolutionary and Popular Movements: A Research Report”, a pamphlet by MENA Solidarity offering an in-depth analysis of Sudan’s revolutionary movements, the forces of counter-revolution, and the enduring strength of grassroots resistance.
The seminar will explore the pivotal role of strikes, women’s organising, and neighbourhood networks in the struggle for freedom, peace, and justice. It will also examine the impact of imperialism and the vital importance of international solidarity in connecting Sudan’s revolution to broader global struggles against oppression and exploitation.
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.
MENA Solidarity Network 