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IUSY is publishing a statement by Fatah Youth, our member organization from Palestine, condemning the arrest of 20 activists from the organization. Among the arrested was the General Secretary of the Fatah Youth in Palestine, Mohammad Matar, and Fatah Youth leaders in occupied Jerusalem Sami Ghalie and Thaer Anees.

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» Read the  Statement

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Secretary general, Beatriz Talegón, is going to represent IUSY at the World Social Forum (WSF) which will be held in Tunis from 26 to 30 March. This is the first time the WSF will be held in an Arab country and, moreover, in the country where the Arab Spring toppled the first dictator. Activists the world over agree that global finance undermines democracy and are set to blast austerity.

» View the website of the WSF 2013 Tunisia

IUSY is publishing a statement by the National Salvation Front (NSF), in which the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP) is a member, about the escalation of violence against women in the country in the last few months. The struggle for women’s rights is taking place all over the world and we encourage progressive forces to stand in solidarity with this struggle.

24 March 2014

The last few months have witnessed an unprecedented escalation in the severity of assaults on women and their rights in Egypt.  While violence against women is part and parcel of the violence meted out to Egyptian citizens now by a brutal regime bent on aborting the revolution and breaking the spirit of protesters using all means possible, it is nevertheless pertinent to address the attacks directed against women in particular as it is practiced on more than one level and manifested in various forms, namely:

1- The marked increase in the frequency and level of physical violence against women, which reached its peak on the 25th of January 2013, when a large number of women were subjected to sexual assaults in the vicinity of Tahrir square. The violence continued against women and women activists, the last case being the assault on the activist, Mervat Moussa who was attacked in front of the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

2-The deliberate marginalization of national structures that uphold women’s rights, using all different means, the targeting of distinguished national figures with malicious rumours with the aim of spreading confusion and unrest, and last but not least, the launch of  initiatives that undermine existing national structures.

3-The loud calls for withdrawal from international conventions and treatises ratified by Egypt, particularly as regards conventions that protect women’s rights, a direction with potentially grave consequences for women and a direct negative impact on the regional and international standing of Egypt.

4-The dissemination of discourses that incite hatred and resentment against women and that rupture the fabric of society, while the perpetrators enjoy impunity as the ruling regime turns a blind eye.

Therefore, the National Salvation Front

1- Condemns all forms of violence against women and considers all such acts as systematic crimes against all Egyptians.

2-Pledges solidarity with all Egyptian women who are victims of all forms of assaults.

3-Commits to taking measures to prosecute perpetrators of violence before Egyptian courts as well as international courts.

4-Calls on the President of Egypt and state institutions to assume their responsibility in protecting men and women.

5-Rejects the initiative entitled “supporting Egyptian women’s rights and freedom” launched by President Mohamed Morsi today.

6-Rejects all attempts by the regime to withdraw from Egypt’s commitments to international conventions and treatises, particularly as regards women and human rights.

7-Announces the establishment of a permanent committee in the NSF to defend women’s rights and to counter the violence directed against them.

Long live Free Egypt.

IUSY is publishing an important statement by the National Salvation Front (NSF) of Egypt about the political struggle taking place there. The NSF is a coalition of parties oppossed to the Morsi government.

Cairo February 2, 2013

Yesterday the Egyptian people and the whole world witnessed the violence around the Presidential Palace, which coincided with successive statements of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood accusing the Egyptian people, the peaceful revolutionary forces, and the National Salvation Front of inciting violence.

Those statements revealed the aggressive intentions toward the people and the national opposition forces, which was confirmed yesterday by the unjustified exercise of brutal violence. A repetition of the December 5, 2012 incidences in the vicinity of the Presidential Palace by the Muslim Brotherhood militias, after which hundreds have been detained and were subjected to torture.

The brutality of stripping an unarmed man naked and dragging him by the Egyptian police is an inhuman act that involves unacceptable humiliation and is not less horrible than the assassination of his fellow martyrs. The continuation of the excessive brutality resulted in the death of more than 70 Egyptian citizens over the course of last week.

The NSF confirms the following:

1 – The NSF will fully align to the demands of the Egyptian people calling to topple the regime of tyranny and domination of the Muslim Brotherhood. The NSF supports all forms of peaceful protesting to achieve these demands, and calls for the Egyptians to rally peacefully in all the streets of Egypt in defense of the Egyptian dignity.

2 – Impartial judicial investigation in the killings, torture, detention without right, and a fair trial for all those responsible starting by the President, his interior minister and all his partners in those crimes.

3 – The need to end the suffering of the Egyptian citizens. Poverty and soaring prices are the result of the failing policies that do not meet the aspiration of the Egyptians to real social justice.

4 – The NSF will not engage in a dialogue until the blood baths has stopped, those responsible for it are tried, and the previously stated demands are met.

Long Live Egyptians’ struggle to complete their peaceful revolution and achieve their demands to live in freedom and social justice and human dignity.

IUSY is pleased to announce the formation of the Arab Social Democratic Forum, organized in Cairo on 20 January 2013.

Cairo 20/1/2013

Following the successful inauguration of the Arab Social Democratic Forum (ASDF) in Cairo on January 20, 2013, the organisation committee (Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Fatah Organisation, and Ettakotol Party) called for a meeting of all parties from the Arab world to discuss future steps. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the below mentioned parties and chaired by Dr. Husam Zomlot

Arab parties welcomed the inauguration of the forum considering the event to be historic, marking a new era of cooperation at a party level. The parties agreed on the following for the purpose of organising future meetings and follow up outcome

• To form a coordination committee consisting of all nine parties and open to all other social democratic parties in the Arab world
• The organisation committee is assigned to communicate with members of the coordinating committee
• To develop the political framework and the organizational structure of the ASDF by Mala Bakhtiar, PUK and Hussein Gohar, ESDP respectively to be proposed and distributed among all members of the coordination committee for feedback.
• To hold the next meeting of the coordination committee in Morocco within 3 months to discuss and approve the bylaws and statutes
• To start working on the women and youth divisions of the ASDF
• ASDF shall convene annually

ESDP, Egypt // Fatah Organisation, Palestine // Ettakatol Party, Tunisia // FFS, Algeria // PUK, Iraq // JSDP, Jordan // PSP, Lebanon // USFP, Morocco // PNI, Palestine

Hamdeen Sabbahy (former Egyptian presidential candidate) couldn’t attend the meeting, however he endorsed the inauguration and is part of the coordination committee.