Gaza march activists say participants in Egypt beaten, detained
Egypt's interior and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to the allegations. Reuters could not independently verify the reported detentions or conditions.
The Global March to Gaza, launched this month, brought over 4,000 activists from more than 80 countries to Egypt in an attempt to peacefully approach the Rafah border crossing and draw attention to Gaza's deepening humanitarian crisis.
Since their arrival, dozens of participants said they have faced airport interrogations, deportations and roadblocks preventing access to the Sinai peninsula, which provides the land route to Gaza.
In a statement on Tuesday, organisers said three international participants were forcibly taken from a Cairo cafe on Monday by security officers who did not identify themselves.
Those named were Jonas Selhi and Huthayfa Abuserriya, both from Norway, and Saif Abukeshek, a Spanish citizen of Palestinian origin and one of the march's organisers.
The statement said that according to Selhi, all three men were blindfolded, beaten and interrogated. Abukeshek, he said, faced especially severe abuse. His whereabouts remain unknown, while Selhi and Abuserriya have since been deported to Norway, organisers said.
Two security sources denied to Reuters that any detainees were treated violently as long as they adhered to procedures and security instructions until their deportation. The sources said that approximately 400 people have been deported, while fewer than 30 remain awaiting deportation and are being held.
"We urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Saif Abukeshek and all other detained march participants," the statement said, adding that the group had suspended its Egypt-based plans and made efforts to coordinate with authorities.
Egypt's foreign ministry had previously said travel to the Rafah area required prior approval to ensure safety. Organisers say they sought to coordinate through proper channels.
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San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
UC Berkeley chancellor faces House questions on campus antisemitism
UC Berkeley Chancellor Richard Lyons is expected to defend his university's handling of campus antisemitism Tuesday when he and the leaders of two other universities become the latest to be grilled on the subject by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Joining Lyons in Washington will be Robert Groves, interim president of Georgetown University, and Felix Matos Rodriguez, chancellor of the City University of New York. Ahead of the hearing, committee chair Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, characterized antisemitism as 'festering at schools across the country.' Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced an investigation of UC Berkeley and other universities into whether an 'antisemitic hostile work environment' exists. It's unclear what the investigation turned up, if it happened at all. Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice had already opened investigations into antisemitism at the school in 2024. In December, a House report noted that UC Berkeley had 'issued no suspensions and placed only one student on probation' after student protests that year. The committee has held several such hearings with campus leaders since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The conflict prompted college students across the country to demonstrate throughout 2024 for Palestinian rights and against Israel. Their tent encampments and entrenched protests rocked the usual campus equilibrium, as university leaders struggled to navigate students' right to protest while trying to guard against hate speech and occasional violence targeting Jews and Muslims alike. The committee's Republican majority has focused on antisemitism alone and typically has taken a harsh tone toward the academics, pushing for missteps during their testimony. At stake is much of the federal funding that helps power the universities, and even whether the leaders' responses to the questioning could topple them from their posts. The presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania resigned after the first such hearings in Dec. 2023 when their answers failed to deliver the sharp condemnations of antisemitism that committee members were looking for. Since then, the presidents of Columbia and the University of Virginia have also stepped down, as the Trump administration has withheld billions of dollars from Harvard and Columbia, demanded operational changes at the universities — including the hiring of more conservative employees — and threatened to halt hundreds of millions of dollars more to other universities. Committee member Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican known for her aggressive questioning of campus leaders, appeared to take glee in the resignations, remarking at one point: 'Three down, so many to go.' 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Protesters broke a window, called an attendee a 'dirty Jew' and grabbed another by her neck. For years, pro-Palestinian students have periodically set up mock Israeli checkpoints — used in Israel to prevent passage of Palestinians — at Sather Gate, a main campus entry, forcing students to detour if they did not want to pass through. After the Hamas invasion, such incidents prompted law Professor Steven Solomon to pen a widely read essay titled 'Don't Hire My Antisemitic Law Students,' and political science Professor Ron Hassner to stage a sit-in against campus antisemitism. Student Karin Yaniv is also suing her campus union, UAW Local 4811, which represents graduate student workers, accusing it of repeatedly excluding and mocking Jewish members who tried to participate in meetings. Union leaders deny the allegations. On Monday, as a counterweight to the perception of UC Berkeley as a pit of antisemitism, 82 Jewish faculty and senior staff submitted a letter to the hearing committee praising the way campus leaders — including Lyons, who took the helm a year ago, and his predecessor, Carol Christ — have handled the shifting landscape for Jewish students since Oct. 7, 2023. 'Teaching and research were not hindered, protests were confined, and the UC Berkeley administration made significant and impactful efforts to ensure that Jewish students, staff, and faculty were safe on campus and felt accepted and integral to the university community,' said the letter that commended leaders for negotiating a peaceful end to students' protest encampment and for supporting Jewish life on campus. 'We reject the claim that UC Berkeley is an antisemitic environment,' said the letter, which acknowledged that Jews on campus do face 'real challenges.' But the letter writers affirmed: 'We feel secure on campus and support the administration's efforts to balance safety with respect for free speech.' A fact sheet provided by the campus lists many of them, including regular meetings between senior leaders and the university's Jewish community, and public statements condemning antisemitism. Other efforts include: Financial support for the 'Antisemitism Education Initiative,' which helps campuses across the country tackle anti-Jewish discrimination. Mandatory antisemitism training during new student orientation and for resident assistants in campus housing. A new 'Berkeley Bridging Fellowship' Israel and Palestine dialogue group. Since the Zellerbach violence, the school has spent more than $10 million on additional security 'to ensure all events can safely proceed as planned.' UC Berkeley has not seen anti-Israel protests since about a year ago, when the University of California's systemwide President Michael Drake said that all campuses would enforce a policy banning tent encampments and masks intended to hide the identity of protesters. UC Berkeley officials have said they never arrested anyone in the Zellerbach incident because, even after studying footage, they could not identify any perpetrators. In New York, anti-Trump and pro-Palestinian protesters from City University of New York criticized their chancellor, Matos, for skipping a scheduled talk on economic mobility in that city to 'capitulate to the federal government' by testifying before Congress. Meanwhile, it's unclear how the committee selected Lyons and the other participants, who were not subpoenaed, but simply 'invited,' said a UC Berkeley spokesperson. Neither the university nor the committee would provide a copy of the invitation.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
China's Military Flexes Muscles With Putin Ally
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US citizen who helped Russia from inside Ukraine granted Russian passport by Putin
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