The face of Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah appeared on signs at protests around the world last Saturday. In Cairo, the faces of detained activists could be seen sprayed on many walls. Abd El-Fattah is being held in Torah Prison for refusing to answer questions from Egypt’s military prosecution regarding clashes Oct. 9. At least 24 mostly Coptic Christians were killed during the protest, when the military police opened fire and ran people over with tanks.

Abd El-Fattah’s prominent detention has gained international attention after activists here from the No Military Trials campaign, which his sister founded, asked Occupy Wall Street and other activists to rally in solidarity with Egypt on Nov. 12. In an open letter posted on their website, activists wrote, “Since the military junta took power, at least 12,000 of us have been tried by military courts, unable to call witnesses and with limited access to lawyers. Minors are serving in adult prisons, death sentences have been handed down, torture runs rampant. Women demonstrators have been subjected to sexual assault in the form of “virginity tests” by the Army.”

The letter concluded by listing connections between the Egyptian government and countries including the U.S. and Britain: “The G8, IMF and Gulf states are promising the regime loans of $35 billion. The US gives the Egyptian military $1.3 billion in aid every year. Governments the world over continue their long-term support and alliance with the military rulers of Egypt. The bullets they kill us with are made in America. The tear gas that burns from Oakland to Palestine is made in Wyoming. David Cameron’s first visit to post-revolutionary Egypt was to close a weapons deal. These are only a few examples. People’s lives, freedoms and futures must stop being trafficked for strategic assets. We must unite against governments who do not share their people’s interests.”

Activists in Oakland, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Austin, Boston, Budapest, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Eugene, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lincoln, London, Manila, Michigan, Montreal, New York, Orlando, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm, Toronto and Washington D.C. vowed to take up the call. Photographs and videos were posted by the next day, with footage from San Francisco showing confrontations between police and protestors. Other demonstrations shared on the “Defend the Egyptian Revolution” Facebook page appeared peaceful.

The following evening in Cairo, activists gathered for a march and “stand” on Qasr al-Nil Bridge in solidarity with civilians who have been tried in military court. A list of detainees is available here in Arabic: http://en.nomiltrials.com/p/detainees-list.html. One young woman I interviewed said Egyptian activists were “really glad to see the demonstrations in San Francisco and in Oakland,” and added, “I was personally very glad to see pictures of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.”

Abd El-Fattah’s mother has been on a hunger strike since November 6 to protest his detention. He has sent a message to his supporters asking them to celebrate his 30th birthday on Nov. 18 by joining a planned million-man march in Tahrir Square.

“I really got used to spending the feast and my birthday away from my family,” Abd El-Fattah wrote in a message published in an Egyptian newspaper, “but the birth of my first son, how will I miss this? How will I bear being separated from Manal [his wife] at this moment? How will I tolerate waiting for news about them to learn if they are okay? How will I put up with not seeing my son’s face or his mother’s face when she first sees him? How will I look at him when I am released knowing that I promised he would be born a free person?”

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