Egyptian Youth Detained for Raising Palestinian Flag to Remain in Custody
Izzat Munir Khizr was detained by plainclothes security officers in the middle of the match between the Egyptian Olympic team and South Africa at the Cairo International Stadium last Tuesday.
Now his lawyer, Amr Abdul Salam, says the prosecutor has decided to keep him in custody for 15 days for more investigations.
His arrest and confiscation of the flag has caused outrage among social media users.
In one tweet, Ahmed Elbaqry, a former vice president of the Egyptian students union, wrote: “A youth who raised the Palestinian flag in the Cairo stadium in support of Palestinian people against the occupation was arrested, in another shameful act by this regime which kneels to the will of the Zionist entity.”
During the match, players from the Egyptian Olympic team, Mustafa Mohammed and Osama Jalal, also aired their solidarity with Palestinians by covering one eye in support of Muath Amarneh, a Palestinian freelance photographer who lost an eye rece3ntly after being shot by Israeli soldiers while covering a demonstration in the occupied West Bank.
In videos posted of the match, fans from the 73,000-strong crowd can be heard chanting “our soul, our blood, we sacrifice for you Palestine”, in support of the occupied country and in rejection of the normalization of ties with Israel as it escalates its aggression on Gaza and the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds, and the recent US decision to recognize Israeli settlements.
