Anti-Israel activists clashed with Egyptian authorities and fed-up locals during a doomed attempted march to the border of the Gaza Strip by a disorderly rabble of protesters.
Naive demonstrators taking part in a sit-in at a checkpoint outside the city of Ismailia, some 130 miles from the Rafah border crossing into the Palestinian territories, fought with both cops and Egyptian locals on Friday and Saturday, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Footage over the weekend showed activists wearing keffiyehs — the checkered calling-card of the pro-Palestinian cause — clashing with fed-up Egyptian locals, some of whom could be seen hurling clubs and water bottles at the hapless protesters.
Frustrated Egyptians, some little more than children, could be seen pulling the activists off the road as they staged a sit-down at the checkpoint.
One clip showed “free Palestine”-chanting activists — who were waving several different countries’ flags — being attacked by what they claimed were plain-clothes officers.
Other protesters could be seen breaking down in tears as they pleaded with an unmoved line of Egyptian riot cops with helmets to let them through.
At least 88 foreign activists were detained or deported from Egypt over the weekend, Egyptian security sources confirmed.
Cops stopped vehicles some 20 miles outside of Ismailia, en route to Rafah, and forced passengers with non-Egyptian passports to get out, protest organizer Global March to Gaza said in an Instagram post on Friday.
“There are now reports of force being used against participants with some being detained, harassed, physically harmed and deported,” the post read. “Hundreds of peaceful international participants of the Global March to Gaza remain in limbo as negotiations continue with Egyptian authorities.
“The group, comprised of people from over 80 countries, are expecting to be safely transferred to Cairo and have their passports returned,” the post continued.
Protesters vowed to launch “a non-violent protest” involving hunger strikes if Egypt attempted to “forcibly” deport activists.
Egypt has been clear throughout that any visits to the Rafah border region with the Gaza Strip must be coordinated in advance with Egyptian embassies or government entities, the country’s Foreign Ministry said over the weekend in response to the unrest.
The chaotic sight of largely white, Western activists throwing a tantrum in the desert as Egyptian authorities brought their convoy to a shuddering halt drew comparisons to the Fyre Festival debacle from comedian and pundit Josh Howie.
“Predictably, the would-be white saviours reacted with indignity when the uppity brown locals violently resisted their ‘march.’ They then resorted to anger and vitriol as they chanted ‘Fuck Egypt’ on buses taking them to their waiting planes,” Howie wrote in Spiked.
“Did the Global March to Gaza organizers not understand that Egypt isn’t just going to let them march into Gaza?” one X user wrote. “This wall is there for a reason,” he added, sharing a picture of the Egypt and Gaza border wall.
The Egypt debacle came just days after the failed Freedom Flotilla Coalition saw 12 activists, including climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg, detained by Israel after trying to reach Gaza via ship.
“Turns out blindly following Greta into the Middle East isn’t just cringe—it’s dangerous,” one online commentator wrote on X.