Rights and Accountability

The Electronic Intifada has received the following update sent by the wife of prominent South African scholar, activist and public intellectual Na’eem Jeenah, Director of the Afro Middle East Centre, who was arrested by Israeli authorities, interrogated and held incommunicado on arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport on 17 May, before being d

A prominent South African scholar was detained today on arrival Ben-Gurion airport after flying into Israel, held incommunicado without access to South African diplomats and his whereabouts are currently unknown. A press release from the Afro-Middle East Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, of which Na’eem Jeenah is director states:

Multiple publications in Egypt have reported that more than 350 persons were injured by Egyptian forces during a protest outside of the Israeli consulate in the Cairo suburb of Giza last night, citing health ministry figures. Peaceful protests outside of the Israeli embassy were ongoing on Sunday, the day that marks the Palestinin Nakba — the forced dispossession of the Palestinian homeland with the establishment of the State of Israel. But the scene turned violent towards the end of the night.

A video posted on Youtube shows an Israeli police officer slapping a woman. The Arabic title of the video says: “Aggression of an Israeli officer against the lawyer Maysa Irshaid, 15 May.” Separately, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) issued a press statement received by The Electronic Intifada by email that appears to describe the incident depicted in the video. The slap is clearly visible toward the end of the brief, 43 second video.