Egyptian student’s letter captures plight of Gaza solidarity detainees

Modather Mohamed Abdelhamid, an engineering student at Egypt's Helwan University who has been detained since 20 October 2023 for participating in demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza., has written a harrowing letter from inside prison.

Shared by the Youth and Students Office of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the letter details the reality faced by dozens of young people prosecuted for peacefully expressing a humanitarian and political position that, in essence, aligns with the Egyptian state’s declared stance.

Modather, 25, is the only son of two elderly parents who both suffer from illness. He was arrested at his home after taking part in protests held across several Egyptian governorates condemning Israel’s war on Gaza. From that day, his normal life came to a complete halt: he was deprived of his freedom, his education was suspended, and his days were reduced to a prolonged wait inside a prison cell, with no clear prospect of release.

In his letter, dated Wednesday, 7 January 2026 and written from Tenth of Ramadan Prison – Rehabilitation 6, Cell 1/11, Modather paints a stark picture of the impact of detention on both his body and his mental health. He writes of the “ordeals of the cells” that constrict the chest, and of a body prematurely aged by imprisonment: hair turning grey, features wrinkling, youth transformed into old age before its time. 

Modather described the destruction of his educational prospects and his transformation from someone who supported his family into a heavy burden on them, particularly given their fragile health. 

He asks why there is such “obstinacy in stripping away freedom”, stressing that he committed no crime punishable by law. He affirms his belief in the rule of law and insists that he merely exercised his constitutional right to peaceful protest. His participation, he writes, stemmed from support for the Palestinian cause and rejection of the crimes and massacres committed against the Palestinian people. 

Modather ends his letter with a plea to restore his freedom and the release of young people who neither carried weapons nor incited violence, but merely raised their voices in solidarity with a people subjected to a devastating war. 

According to human rights estimates, around 186 people remain in pre-trial detention in cases linked to solidarity with Palestine. In recent weeks, renewed calls have been made for their release, particularly after the latest release lists included no names of Gaza solidarity detainees, prompting widespread criticism in rights circles.

The roots of the crisis date back to the protests of 20 October 2023, which erupted amid a severe economic crisis that had strained relations between the state and society. At the time, security services were on high alert, and as popular sympathy with Gaza grew, arrest campaigns targeted a number of protesters and sympathisers.

Observers argue that the absence of a clear political vision in addressing this issue has produced a state of “disjunction”, in which the state publicly declares its rejection of genocide in Gaza while punishing those who express the same rejection domestically. This contradiction, rights advocates say, harms not only individuals like Modather, but also damages the state’s image and fuels public resentment.