Activists stopped in Libya and Egypt ahead of planned march on Gaza
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Egyptian authorities detained additional activists planning to march to Gaza in protest of restrictions on aid reaching the territory while security forces in eastern Libya blocked a convoy of activists en route to meet them.
Demonstrators from 80 countries planned to march to Egypt's border with Gaza to spotlight the deepening humanitarian crises facing Palestinians since Israel began blocking aid trucks from entering the coastal enclave in March. It slightly eased restrictions last month, allowing limited aid in, but experts warn the measures fall far short.
The Global March on Gaza was slated to be among the largest demonstrations of its kind in recent years, coinciding with other efforts including a boat carrying activists and aid that was intercepted by Israel's military en route to Gaza earlier this week.
Activists detained in Egypt
Organizers on Friday said authorities confiscated passports of 40 people planning to march at a checkpoint outside Cairo, where they're being held in the heat. Others are being detained at hotels. They urged officials from the activists' home countries to push Egypt to release their citizens.
Friday's detentions come after hundreds arriving in Cairo were earlier detained and deported to their home countries in Europe and North Africa. Before authorities confiscated their passports, the activists said they planned to gather at a campsite on the road to the Sinai to prepare for Sunday's march. They said authorities had not yet granted them authorization to travel through the Sinai, which Egypt considers a highly sensitive area.
'We continue to urge the Egyptian government to permit this peaceful march, which aligns with Egypt's own stated commitment to restoring stability at its border and addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,' the activists said in a statement.
Hicham El-Ghaoui, one of the group's spokespeople, said they would refrain from demonstrating until receiving clarity on whether Egypt will authorize their protest.
The planned demonstrations cast an uncomfortable spotlight on Egypt, one of the Arab countries that has cracked down on pro-Palestinian activists even as it publicly condemns aid restrictions and calls for an end to the war.
The government, a major recipient of U.S. military aid that maintains ties with Israel, has arrested and charged 186 activists with threatening state security since the war began, according to a June tally by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. Many of them said they were protesting peacefully and collecting donations for Gaza.
Still, the severity of the crackdown surprised European activists. Antonietta Chiodo, who traveled to Cairo from Italy, said those awaiting further instruction had been detained, interrogated, treated harshly by Egyptian authorities or deported.
Alexis Deswaef, a Belgian human rights lawyer, said he woke up on Friday to dozens of security vehicles packed with uniformed officers surrounding Talat Harb Square, where he and other activists had found hotels. Members of his group snuck out of the lobby as security entered, holding up a guidebook and asking an officer for assistance booking taxis to the Pyramids of Giza, where they've been since.
'I am so surprised to see the Egyptians doing the dirty work of Israel,' he said from the Pyramids. He hoped there would be too many activists at the new meeting point outside Cairo for Egyptian authorities to arrest en masse.
In a divided Libya, Egypt-backed authorities stop a convoy
Meanwhile, an aid convoy traveling overland from Algeria picked up new participants along the route in Tunisia and Libya yet was stopped in the city of Sirte, about 940 kilometers (585 miles) from the Libya-Egypt border.
Organizers of the overland convoy said late Thursday night that they had been stopped by authorities governing eastern Libya, which has for years been divided between dueling factions. The convoy was allowed to cross from Tunisia to Libya but halted near the front line where territory shifts to a rival administration whose backers include Egypt.
The Benghazi-based government in a statement urged activists to 'engage in proper coordination with the official Libyan authorities through legal and diplomatic channels to ensure the safety of all participants and uphold the principles of solidarity with the Palestinian people.'
It said they should return to their home countries and cited Egypt's public statements that marchers had not been granted authorization.
Organizers leading the overland convoy said authorities had allowed them to camp in Sirte and await further approval. Their group, which includes thousands of participants, had already traversed parts of Algeria, Tunisia and the western Libyan cities of Tripoli and Misrata.
Jawaher Shana, one of the convoy's Tunisia-based organizers, said the convoy would eventually continue. "We are peaceful civilians who are known in our countries,' she told a crowd at Sirte Gate.
The efforts — the activist flotilla, the overland convoy and the planned march — come as international outcry grows over conditions in Gaza.
As part of a campaign to pressure Hamas to disarm and release hostages, Israel has continued to pummel the territory with airstrikes while limiting the flow of trucks carrying food, water and medication that can enter.
The U.N. has said the vast majority of the population relies on humanitarian aid to survive and experts have warned the coastal enclave will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign.
Over U.N. objections, a U.S.-backed group has taken control of the limited aid entering Gaza. But as desperate Palestinians crowd its distribution sites, chaos has erupted and almost 200 people have been killed near aid sites.
Nearly half a million Palestinians are on the brink of possible starvation, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority. Israel has rejected the findings, saying the IPC's previous forecasts had proven unfounded.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
A Border Patrol agent died in 2009. His widow is still fighting for federal benefits
When her husband died after a grueling U.S. Border Patrol training program for new agents, Lisa Afolayan applied for the federal benefits promised to families of first responders whose lives are cut short in the line of duty. Sixteen years later, Afolayan and her two daughters haven't seen a penny, and program officials are defending their decisions to deny them compensation. She calls it a nightmare that too many grieving families experience. 'It just makes me so mad that we are having to fight this so hard,' said Afolayan, whose husband, Nate, had been hired to guard the U.S. border with Mexico in Southern California. 'It takes a toll emotionally, and I don't think they care. To them, it's just a business. They're just pushing paper.' Afolayan's case is part of a backlog of claims plaguing the fast-growing Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. Hundreds of families of deceased and disabled officers are waiting years to learn whether they qualify for the life-changing payments, and more are ultimately being denied, an Associated Press analysis of program data found. The program is falling far short of its goal of deciding claims within one year. Nearly 900 have been pending for longer than that, triple the number from five years earlier, in a backlog that includes cases from nearly every state, according to AP's review, which was based on program data through late April. More than 120 of those claims have been in limbo for at least five years, and roughly a dozen have languished for a decade. 'That is just outrageous that the person has to wait that long,' said Charlie Lauer, the program's general counsel in the 1980s. 'Those poor families.' Justice Department officials who oversee the program acknowledge the backlog. They say they're managing a surge in claims — which have more than doubled in the last five years — while making complicated decisions about whether cases meet legal criteria. In a statement, they said that 'claims involving complex medical and causation issues, voluminous evidence and conflicting medical opinions take longer to determine, as do claims in various stages of appeal.' It acknowledged that a few cases 'continue through the process over ten years.' Program officials wouldn't comment on Afolayan's case. Federal lawyers are asking an appeals court for a second time to uphold their denials, which blame Nate's heat- and exertion-related death on a genetic condition shared by millions of Black Americans. Nate Afolayan was Black. Supporters say Lisa Afolayan's resilience in pursuing the claim has been remarkable and grown in significance as training-related deaths like Nate's have risen. 'Your death must fit in their box, or your family's not going to be taken care of,' said Afolayan, who lives in suburban Dallas. Their daughter, Natalee, was 3 when her father died. She recently completed her first year at the University of Texas, without the help of the higher education benefits the program provides. Congress created the Public Safety Officers' Benefits program in 1976, providing a one-time $50,000 payout as a guarantee for those whose loved ones die in the line of duty. The benefit was later set to adjust with inflation; today it pays $448,575. The program has awarded more than $2.4 billion. Early on, claims were often adjudicated within weeks. But the complexity increased in 1990, when Congress extended the program to some disabled officers. A 1998 law added educational benefits for spouses and children. Since 2020, Congress has passed three laws expanding eligibility — to officers who died after contracting COVID-19, first responders who died or were disabled in rescue and cleanup operations from the 9/11 attacks, and some who die by suicide. Today, the program receives 1,200 claims annually, up from 500 in 2019. The wait time for decisions and rate of denials have risen alongside the caseload. Roughly 1 of every 3 death and disability claims were rejected over the last year. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and other Republicans recently introduced legislation to require the program to make determinations within 270 days, expressing outrage over the case of an officer disabled in a mass shooting who's waited years for a ruling. Similar legislation died last year. One group representing families, Concerns of Police Survivors, has expressed no such concerns about the program's management. The Missouri-based nonprofit recently received a $6-million grant to continue its long-standing partnership with the Justice Department to serve deceased officers' relatives — including providing counseling, hosting memorial events and assisting with claims. 'We are very appreciative of the PSOB and their work with survivor benefits,' spokesperson Sara Slone said. 'Not all line-of-duty deaths are the same and therefore processing times will differ.' Born in Nigeria, Nate Afolayan moved to California with relatives at age 11. He became a U.S. citizen and graduated from California State University a decade later. Lisa met Nate while they worked together at a juvenile probation office. They talked, went out for lunch and things flourished. 'The next thing you know, we were married with two kids,' she said. He decided to pursue a career in law enforcement once their second daughter was born. Lisa supported him, though she understood the danger. He spent a year working out while applying for jobs and was thrilled when the Border Patrol declared him medically fit, sent him to New Mexico for training and swore him in. Nate loved his 10 weeks at the academy, Lisa said, despite needing medical treatment several times — he was shot with pepper spray in the face and became dizzy during a water-based drill. His classmates found him to be a natural leader in elite shape and chose him to speak at graduation, they recalled in interviews with investigators. He prepared a speech with the line, 'We are all warriors that stand up and fight for what's right, just and lawful.' But on April 30, 2009 — days before the ceremony — a Border Patrol official called Lisa. Nate, 29, had fainted after his final training run and was hospitalized. It was dusty and 88 degrees in the high desert that afternoon. Agents had to complete the 1.5-mile run in 13 minutes, at an altitude of 3,400 feet. Nate had warned classmates it was too hot to wear their black academy shirts, but they voted to do so anyway, records show. Nate, 29, finished in just over 11 minutes, but then struggled to breathe and collapsed. Now Nate was being airlifted to a Lubbock, Texas, hospital for advanced treatment. Lisa booked a last-minute flight, arriving the next day. A doctor told her Nate's organs had shut down and they couldn't save his life. The hospital needed permission to end lifesaving efforts. One nurse delivered chest compressions; another held Lisa tightly as she yelled: 'That's it! I can't take it anymore!' Lisa became a single mother. The girls were 3 and 1. Her only comfort, she said, was knowing Nate died living his dream — serving his adopted country. When she first applied for benefits, Lisa included the death certificate that listed heat illness as the cause of Nate's death. The aid could help her family. She'd been studying to become a nurse but had to abandon that plan. She relied on Social Security survivors' benefits and workers' compensation while working at gyms as a trainer or receptionist and dabbling in real estate. The program had paid benefits for several similar training deaths, dating to a Massachusetts officer who suffered heat stroke and dehydration in 1988. But program staff wanted another opinion on Nate's death. They turned to outside forensic pathologist Dr. Stephen Cina. Cina concluded the autopsy overlooked the 'most significant factor': Nate carried sickle cell trait, a condition that's usually benign but has been linked to rare exertion-related deaths in military, sports and law enforcement training. Cina opined that exercising in a hot climate at high altitude triggered a crisis in which Nate's red blood cells became misshapen, depriving his body of oxygen. Cina, who stopped consulting for the benefits program in 2020 after hundreds of case reviews, declined to comment. Nate learned he had the condition, carried by up to 3 million Black Americans, after a blood test following his second daughter's birth. The former high school basketball player had never experienced any problems. A Border Patrol spokesperson declined to say whether academy leaders knew of the condition, which experts say can be managed with precautions such as staying hydrated, avoiding workouts in extreme temperatures and altitudes, and taking rest breaks. Under the benefit program's rules, Afolayan's death would need to be 'the direct and proximate result' of an injury he suffered on duty to qualify. It couldn't be the result of ordinary physical strain. The program in 2012 rejected the claim, saying the hot, dry, high climate was one factor, but not the most important. It had been more than two years since Lisa Afolayan applied and three since Nate's death. Most rejected applicants don't exercise their option to appeal to an independent hearing officer, saying they can't afford attorneys or want to get on with their lives. But Lisa Afolayan appealed with help from a Border Patrol union. A one-day hearing was held in late 2012. The hearing officer denied her claim more than a year later, saying a 'perfect storm' of factors causing the death didn't include a qualifying injury. Lisa and her daughters moved from California to Texas. They visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, where they saw Nate's name. Four years passed without an update on the claim. Lisa learned the union had failed to exercise its final appeal, to the program director, due to an oversight. The union didn't respond to AP emails seeking comment. Then she met Suzie Sawyer, founder and retired executive director of Concerns of Police Survivors. Sawyer had recently helped win a long battle to obtain benefits in the death of another federal agent who'd collapsed during training. 'I said, 'Lisa, this could be the fight of your life, and it could take forever,'' Sawyer recalled. ''Are you willing to do it?' She goes, 'Hell, yes.'' The two persuaded the program to hear the appeal even though the deadline had passed. They introduced a list of similar claims that had been granted and new evidence: A Tennessee medical examiner concluded the hot, dry environment and altitude were key factors causing Nate's organ-system failure. But the program was unmoved. The acting Bureau of Justice Assistance director upheld the denial in 2020. Such rulings usually aren't public, but Lisa fumed as she learned through contacts about some whose deaths qualified, including a trooper who had an allergic reaction to a bee sting, an intoxicated FBI agent who crashed his car, and another officer with sickle cell trait who died after a training run on a hot day. In 2022, Lisa thought she might have finally prevailed when a federal appeals court ordered the program to take another look at her application. A three-judge panel said the program erred by failing to consider whether the heat, humidity and altitude during the run were 'the type of unusual or out-of-the-ordinary climatic conditions that would qualify.' The judges also said it may have been illegal to rely on sickle cell trait for the denial under a federal law prohibiting employers from discrimination on the basis of genetic information. It was great timing: The girls were in high school and could use the monthly benefit of $1,530 to help pay for college. The family's Social Security and workers' compensation benefits would end soon. But the program was in no hurry. Nearly two years passed without a ruling despite inquiries from Afolayan and her lawyer. The Bureau of Justice Assistance director upheld the denial in February 2024, ruling that the climate on that day 15 years earlier wasn't 'unusually adverse.' The decision concluded the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act didn't apply since the program wasn't Nate Afolayan's employer. Arnold & Porter, a Washington law firm now representing Lisa Afolayan pro bono, has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her attorney John Elwood said the program has gotten bogged down in minutiae while losing sight of the bigger picture: that an officer died during mandatory training. He said government lawyers are fighting him just as hard, 'if not harder,' than on any other case he's handled. Months after filing their briefs, oral arguments haven't been set. 'This has been my life for 16 years,' Lisa Afolayan said. 'Sometimes I just chuckle and keep moving, because what else am I going to do?' Foley writes for the Associated Press.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Officers injured as Portland rioters breach ICE building with explosives and rocks
Multiple police officers were injured in Portland, Oregon Saturday night during a violent riot at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. A mob launched fireworks, smoke grenades and threw rocks at federal law enforcement, as they broke glass and forcibly entered the ICE facility, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. Four officers were injured during the attack, though federal law enforcement was able to secure the facility. The riot came after the city hosted a 'No Kings' protest at 1 p.m., which officials labeled a 'large-scale free speech gathering.' Tens of thousands of people marched through downtown and returned to Waterfront Park at about 4 p.m., which is about five miles from the ICE field location. The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) declared an unlawful assembly near the facility at about 6:30 p.m. local time, warning it would use crowd control measures, including impact munitions or other physical force, if necessary. About 30 minutes later, PPB said a medical event was reported within the ICE facility and medical personnel needed to enter. 6 Armed US Customs and Border Protection agents point less-lethal guns at masked protesters during a riot outside the ICE building in Portland, Ore. on June 14, 2025. AP 6 Hundreds of people take part in the 'No Kings' protest through the streets of Portland, Ore. on June 14, 2025. AP They warned rioters not to interfere with police, or 'force may be used against you,' the bureau wrote on social media. At about 8 p.m., PPB said officers observed criminal activity including assault and criminal mischief and would be making targeted arrests. 'Do not interfere with police action,' the agency wrote in a subsequent post. 'Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to citation or arrest.' 6 A masked protester receives medical attention after getting tear gas in his eyes during a violent riot against federal agents. AP 6 Law enforcement agents wear gas mask as tear gas is deployed around them. AP It is unclear how many arrests, if any, were made. 'Portland rioters are violently targeting federal law enforcement and we won't sit idly by and watch these cowards,' McLaughlin said. 'Secretary [Kristi] Noem's message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' The riot came as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) addressed the doxxing of its ICE agents on X. Posters pasted around the city include agents' identities, photos and addresses. 6 Law enforcement officers detain a masked protester during a riot that broke out in front of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Oregon. AP 6 A protester yells as he is detained by Border protections agents. AP DHS said it will not be deterred from enforcing the law. 'We will NOT be deterred by rioters' intimidation and threats,' DHS wrote in the post. 'ICE immigration enforcement will only ramp up. The violent targeting of law enforcement in Portland, OR by lawless rioters is despicable, and its leaders must call for it to end.' PPB did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
The Intercept
2 hours ago
- The Intercept
Democrat Michigan AG Asked FBI to Raid Protesters' Homes — But Won't Tell Students Why
On the morning of April 23, around 7 a.m., the FBI, along with other local and state police, battered down the doors of four residences across Ann Arbor, Canton, and Ypsilanti, Michigan. The homes belonged to pro-Palestine student organizers at University of Michigan. The raids were the latest move by the University of Michigan and the state against student organizers following the protest encampments last spring. The school has seen particularly harsh repression of campus protests against Israel's war on Gaza. While no arrests were made, all electronics were seized into FBI custody and at least two DNA samples were collected, according to local attorneys representing the subjects of the raids. The warrants were from Attorney General Dana Nessel's office and signed by a judge in the 45th District Court in the small town of Oak Point, Michigan, but attorneys also say they have yet to see probable cause for the search and seizures. Nessel, a Democrat, still has not unsealed and shared the affidavits for the warrants with lawyers or the residents they raided. 'These raids were very much seen as an escalation by the state attorney general.' 'These raids were very much seen as an escalation by the state attorney general, who's expressed quite a bit of an extreme reaction against the students' activism on the University of Michigan campus,' said John Philo, executive and legal director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, the group representing the targets of the raids. 'In terms of probable cause for the warrants, it's entirely unknown at the moment. The search warrants were issued based on a complaint and the judge has ordered for the affidavit to be suppressed. It's a terribly unusual thing.' Nessel, who asked the FBI to carry out the raids, has positioned herself publicly as one of President Donald Trump's biggest opponents. She also has extensive personal, political, and financial ties to the University of Michigan, which bypassed local prosecutors by enlisting Nessel to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters. According to Philo and Liz Jacob, also of the Sugar Law Center, the FBI presented warrants in Ann Arbor and Canton before entering the premises, but refused to show any at the Ypsilanti residence. 'Folks were shocked, especially to see that the FBI was executing an attorney general warrant,' Jacob told The Intercept in an interview. 'I've never seen that in my experience, and we have not seen that in Michigan around pro-Palestine protests or on any other protests, to my knowledge.' Following the raids, officials denied any connection to the students' political protest, claiming the FBI was becoming involved in a 'vandalism investigation.' In its official press release following the raids, Nessel's office claimed the 12 'coordinated' vandalism incidents that occurred across the state — including graffiti that read 'Free Palestine' — totaled to damages of $100,000. Student organizers have cast doubt on Nessel's denial that the raids were not related to their pro-Palestine protest. 'This is about the occupation and the genocide of Palestinians, and the fact that the state does not care about Americans in any way,' said Ira, a Muslim organizer with TAHRIR, a coalition that advocates against the University of Michigan's complicity in the genocide against Palestinians, who asked to use only their first name for fear of retaliation from the school. 'It's not just about us being targeted right now. All of these people — not just the Trump administration, but these Democrats — who are claiming to fight for Americans are the ones who are attacking and repressing us.' Last October, Nessel filed felony criminal trespass charges against seven student protesters who were arrested last May at a University of Michigan encampment. Those charges were dropped in May, just before a judge was to decide whether or not to disqualify Nessel over alleged bias. Nessel cited 'legal delays and controversies surrounding the case' as to why she dropped the charges. Local organizers, however, fear that the FBI raids are only a stepping stone to something bigger — and that the dropping of the charges is only a temporary relief. Affidavits are typically sealed in cases when there is a confidential informant working with law enforcement who could be compromised. Philo said this would be difficult to understand in this case, especially considering that none of the students raided have any prior criminal activity or pending criminal charges or accusations against them. For what has been alleged, the warrants appeared to be an extreme measure for a vandalism investigation, according to both Sugar Law Center and student organizers who spoke with The Intercept. 'The scope and scale of what is alleged does not seem to warrant three law enforcement agencies descending on the homes of students, who by all calculations and known facts, have been accused of a crime in the past,' said Philo, who describes his clients as 'pretty diligent and responsible students.' The attorney general's raid executed a 'shotgun approach' to further chill protest in solidarity with Palestine, he said. 'To do this in that context with the FBI, state troopers, and local law enforcement,' he said, 'sends a clear message that this is well beyond trying to determine who committed spray painting incidents.' Read our complete coverage While it may be considered unusual for the FBI to become involved in a vandalism investigation, it is not uncommon for the FBI to join forces with local and state law enforcement agencies to work in a joint terrorism task force context, said Mike German, who worked as a special agent in the FBI for six years and is now a fellow at the Brennan Center's liberty and national security program. 'In that context, it's not uncommon for a situation — where a person is alleged to have violated some state law — for them to use the state authorities to pursue that angle of investigation while also gathering evidence for a future terrorism investigation,' he explains. While German does not have any specific information about the Michigan cases, he says this does follow a pattern aligned with the government's increased surveillance of citizens coupled with the FBI's lax approach to far-right violence. He added that the raids in Michigan appear to be part of a broader escalation and expansion of power of the FBI since the September 11 attacks, particularly with the passing of more and more domestic terrorism statutes at federal and state levels. Just having increased powers, German said, created a motivation for using them. 'It has created an insatiable appetite for information,' he said. 'Anywhere that they can get data and information to put into their databases, they'll take those opportunities.'
