WASHINGTON: An active member of the US Air Force has died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington over the weekend in protest of the war in Gaza, the Pentagon said Monday.
Emergency responders on Sunday had rushed to the scene just before 1:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) in response to a “call for person on fire outside the Israeli Embassy,” according to a message on X, formerly Twitter, by the capital city’s fire department.
They arrived to find that officers from the Secret Service — the US law enforcement agency tasked with protecting embassies in Washington — had already extinguished the fire.
The man had filmed himself shouting “Free Palestine” as he lit himself on fire, according to footage shared on social media.
He was initially transported to hospital with “critical life-threatening injuries,” the fire department said.
An Air Force spokeswoman told AFP Monday morning that the unnamed “individual involved in yesterday’s incident succumbed to his injuries and passed away last night.”
“We will provide additional details 24 hours after next-of-kin notifications are complete.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy said no staff were injured in the incident, and that the man was “unknown” to them.
In the video shared on social media, the man is seen wearing military fatigues and declaring he will “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid.
He then lights himself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine!” until he falls on the ground.
The video was reportedly first shared in a livestream on the social platform Twitch.
The shocking act came as protests are increasing across the United States against Israel’s actions in Gaza, where it is waging a retaliatory war for an attack on October 7 by Hamas militants.
With the death toll in Gaza nearing 30,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, international pressure has been increasing on the United States to rein in its ally Israel and call for a ceasefire.
US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington
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US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington
- The man had filmed himself shouting “Free Palestine” as he lit himself on fire, according to footage shared on social media
- In the video, the man is seen wearing military fatigues and declaring he will “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid
Mic cuts out as graduating student tells Columbia to act over Gaza
- Saham David Ahmed Ali demanded the college call for a ceasefire in the war-torn enclave, reveal its business dealings with companies linked to Israel
- Microphone cut out mid-speech, leading to fellow graduates booing and chanting ‘let her speak’
- Columbia has witnessed serious protests in recent weeks, with hundreds of students arrested
LONDON: A microphone briefly cut out this week during a speech given at a graduation ceremony at Columbia University in the US, during which the speaker criticized the university’s stance on Gaza.
On Tuesday, student Saham David Ahmed Ali was giving a speech to graduates at the Mailman School of Public Health, in which she called for action against Israel and criticized the “silence on Columbia University’s campus.”
The microphone began to cut out during her speech, leading to students booing and chanting “let her speak” as Ali paused. She was later able to continue. It is unclear if the issue was caused by a technical fault or if the microphone was muted deliberately.
Ali said the university needed to reveal its dealings with companies “profiting off of Palestinian genocide” and that it should immediately divest from them.
She also demanded Columbia call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Palestinian civilians currently face famine, according to the UN, as Israel continues its military campaign that has left over 35,000 people dead, many thousands more wounded, and hundreds of thousands displaced following the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7.
Columbia has witnessed significant protests across its campus since April 17 after the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the US Congress about alleged incidents of antisemitism against Jewish students on its grounds.
Protestors have subsequently occupied parts of the campus including the university’s Hamilton Hall. The New York Police Department has arrested hundreds of people over the protests, which have also sparked similar movements at other major US colleges, as well as counter-demonstrations by students with Israeli and US flags.
Columbia has also taken the unusual step of canceling its commencement ceremony this year in the wake of the protests, only holding school-specific graduation ceremonies.
Saudi experts on urban heritage give lectures in Paris
- The program of four lectures explores some of the initiatives developed by the organization
- The first lecture delved into material and intangible methods for preserving urban heritage
RIYADH: Experts on urban heritage from Saudi Arabia are giving a series of lectures on the topic at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization offices in Paris.
Organized by the Saudi Heritage Commission, the program of four lectures explores some of the initiatives developed by the organization and the wider strategies on urban heritage in the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The first lecture delved into material and intangible methods for preserving urban heritage, while the second looked at the development of traditional architecture in Al-Ahsa.
The third talk considered the role international architects have played in shaping modern architecture in Saudi Arabia, while the upcoming fourth and final lecture will tell the stories of sites in the Kingdom that have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The commission said the lectures in Paris reflect the organization’s efforts to preserve and develop national heritage as part of the Saudi strategy for culture set out in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan for the development and diversification of the national economy, and its work to promote Saudi heritage in international forums.
The aim of the commission is to enhance the heritage sector in the Kingdom, officials said, by raising awareness of Saudi heritage and how it relates to the cultural identity of the nation, fostering a sense of pride in this rich cultural heritage, and strengthening its partnerships with UNESCO, other international organizations and local experts.
Defense team says 9 Egyptians accused of causing deadly shipwreck misidentified as crew
- Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler, sank on June 14 off southeastern coast of Greece
- Only 104 survived out of 500-700 Pakistanis, Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians aboard ship
ATHENS, Greece: The legal defense team for nine Egyptian men due to go on trial in southern Greece next week accused of causing one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks said Thursday they will argue that Greece has no jurisdiction in the case, and insisted their clients were innocent survivors who have been unjustly prosecuted.
The nine, whose ages range from early 20s to early 40s, are due to go on trial in the southern city of Kalamata on May 21 on a series of charges, including migrant smuggling, participation in a criminal organization and causing a deadly shipwreck. They face multiple life sentences if convicted.
The Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler, had been sailing from Libya to Italy with hundreds of asylum-seekers on board when it sank on June 14 in international waters off the southwestern coast of Greece.
The exact number of people on board has never been established, but estimates range from around 500 to more than 700. Only 104 people survived — all men and boys from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and two Palestinians — and about 80 bodies were recovered.
The vessel sank in one of the Mediterranean’s deepest areas, making recovery efforts all but impossible.
The Greek lawyers who make up the defense team spoke during a news conference in Athens on Thursday. They maintained their clients’ innocence, saying all nine defendants had been paying passengers who had been misidentified as crew members by other survivors who gave testimonies under duress just hours after having been rescued.
The nine “are random people, smuggled people who paid the same amounts as all the others to take this trip to Italy aiming for a better life, and they are accused of being part of the smuggling team,” lawyer and defense team member Vicky Aggelidou said.
Dimitris Choulis, another lawyer and member of the legal team, said that Greek authorities named the defendants as crew members following testimonies by nine other survivors who identified them for having done things as simple as handing bottles of water or pieces of fruit to other passengers.
“For nearly a year now, nine people have been in prison without knowing what they are in prison for,” Choulis said.
“For me, it is very sad to visit and see people in prison who do not understand why they are there,” he added.
While the Adriana was sailing in international waters, the area was within Greece’s search and rescue zone of responsibility. Greece’s coast guard had been shadowing the vessel for a full day without attempting a rescue of those on board. A patrol boat and at least two merchant ships were in the vicinity when the trawler capsized and sank.
In the aftermath of the sinking, some survivors said the coast guard had been attempting to tow the boat when it sank, and rights activists have accused Greek authorities of triggering the shipwreck while attempting to tow the boat out of Greece’s zone of responsibility.
Greek authorities have rejected accusations of triggering the shipwreck and have insisted the trawler’s crew members had refused to accept help from the nearby merchant ships and from the Greek coast guard.
A separate investigation being carried out by Greece’s naval court hasn’t yet reached any conclusion, and the defense team hasn’t been given any access to any part of it.
The Egyptians’ defense team also argues that because the shipwreck occurred in international waters, Greek courts don’t have jurisdiction to try the case, and the defense will move to have the case dismissed on those grounds when the trial opens in Kalamata next week.
Greece lies along one of the most popular routes into the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. While most of those cross into the country’s eastern Aegean Sea islands from the nearby Turkish coast, others try to skirt Greece altogether and head from north Africa to Italy across the longer and more dangerous Mediterranean route.
On Thursday, Greece’s coast guard said that 42 people had been rescued and another three were believed to be missing after a boat carrying migrants sent out a distress call while sailing south of the Greek island of Crete.
Officials said they were alerted by the Italian coast guard overnight about a boat in distress 27 nautical miles (31 miles or 50 kilometers) south of Crete. Greece’s coast guard said that 40 people were rescued by nearby ships, and another two were rescued by a Greek navy helicopter.
A search and rescue operation was underway for three people reported by survivors as still missing. It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of vessel the passengers had been on, or why the boat sent out a distress call.
Police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at DePaul University in Chicago
- All of the protesters at the encampment “voluntarily left” the area when police arrived early Thursday
- The move to clear the campus comes less than a week after the school’s president said public safety was at risk
CHICAGO: Police began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday at DePaul University in Chicago, hours after the school’s president told students to leave the area or face arrest.
Officers and workers in yellow vests cleared out tents and camping equipment at the student encampment, leaving behind yellow squares of dead or dying grass where the tents had stood. Front-loaders were being used to remove the camping equipment.
Just across the street from where the encampment was spread across a grassy expanse of DePaul’s campus known as “The Quad,” a few dozen protesters stood along a sidewalk in front of a service station, clapping their hands in unison as an apparent protest leader paced back and forth before them, speaking into a bullhorn.
All of the protesters at the encampment “voluntarily left” the area when police arrived early Thursday, said Jon Hein, chief of patrol for the Chicago Police Department.
“There were no confrontations and there was no resistance,” he said at a news briefing. “As we approached, all the subjects voluntarily left the area.”
Hein said, however, that two people, a male and female in their 20s, were arrested outside the encampment “for obstruction of traffic.”
The move to clear the campus comes less than a week after the school’s president said public safety was at risk.
The university on Saturday said it had reached an “impasse” with the school’s protesters, leaving the future of their encampment on the Chicago campus unclear. Most of DePaul’s commencement ceremonies will be held the June 15-16 weekend.
In a statement then, DePaul President Robert Manuel and Provost Salma Ghanem said they believe that students intended to protest peacefully, but “the responses to the encampment have inadvertently created public safety issues that put our community at risk.”
Efforts to resolve the differences with DePaul Divestment Coalition over the past 17 days were unsuccessful, Manuel said in a statement sent to students, faculty and staff Thursday morning.
“Our Office of Public Safety and Chicago Police are now disassembling the encampment,” he said. “Every person currently in the encampment will be given the opportunity to leave peacefully and without being arrested.”
He said that since the encampment began, “the situation has steadily escalated with physical altercations, credible threats of violence from people not associated with our community.”
Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it, to protest lsrael’s actions in the war with Hamas. The protests began as schools were winding up their spring semesters and are now holding graduation ceremonies.
Separately, some students and faculty were detained Wednesday after police removed an encampment and pro-Palestinian protesters briefly took over a lecture hall at the University of California, Irvine. There was a large law enforcement response when demonstrators demanding the university divest from Israel blocked the building’s entrance with a makeshift barricade. Police declared an unlawful assembly, cleared the building and took an unknown number of people into custody.
Also Wednesday, 11 members of a group protesting at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville who did not vacate the area despite repeated warnings were arrested for trespassing, the university said in a statement. Those arrested included three students and eight people who are not affiliated with the university. Any students who were arrested will also be referred to student conduct, officials said.
“The University of Tennessee respects individual’s rights to free speech and free expression and is committed to managing the campus for all,” the university said in the statement. “We will continue to be guided by the law and university policy, neutral of viewpoint.”
Tensions at DePaul flared the previous weekend when counterprotesters showed up to the campus in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood and prompted Chicago police to intervene.
The student-led DePaul Divestment Coalition, who are calling on the university to divest from Israel, set up the encampment April 30. The group alleged university officials walked away from talks and tried to force students into signing an agreement, according to a student statement late Saturday.
“I don’t want my tuition money to be invested in my family’s suffering,” Henna Ayesh, a Palestinian student at DePaul and Coalition member, said in the statement.
DePaul is on the city’s North Side. Last week, police removed a similar encampment at the University of Chicago on the city’s South Side.
The Associated Press has recorded at least 79 incidents since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the US More than 2,900 people have been arrested on the campuses of 60 colleges and universities. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
Norway embassy hosts National Day celebration in Riyadh
- Thomas Lid Ball: At the end of August, I will take up the position as Norway’s representative to the Palestinian Authorities
- Norway’s national day is celebrated annually on May 17, paying tribute to the constitution of 1814 and honoring the royal family
RIYADH: Thomas Lid Ball, Norway’s ambassador to the Kingdom, hosted his last national day reception as his country’s representative in Saudi Arabia before taking up his new role later this year.
“This will be the last national day celebration here at the compound for my wife Camilla and me. At the end of August, I will take up the position as Norway’s representative to the Palestinian Authorities,” Ball said in his opening remarks.
“We will remain forever grateful for the invaluable support from the fantastic team here at the embassy over the past years,” he said.
Norway’s national day is celebrated annually on May 17 and pays tribute to the constitution of 1814 and honors the royal family.
Attending the national day reception as the guest of honor was Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, the deputy governor of the Riyadh region.
In his opening address at the reception, Ball discussed a range of topics, including his time in the Kingdom as ambassador, Saudi-Norwegian private sector cooperation, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“The Saudi-Norwegian private sector partnerships contribute to the implementation of Vision 2030 in the Kingdom – to value creation, sustainability and corporate social responsibility,” Ball said. “They are an essential part of the solid bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Norway, officially established more than 60 years ago.
“Our relations have further developed over the past year, through bilateral dialogues on a range of issues and various visits and events, including two Saudi ministerial visits to Oslo, and vice versa, two Norwegian ministerial visits to Riyadh,” he said.
During his speech, the ambassador stressed the need for an “immediate ceasefire, for hostages to be released, for safe and unhindered humanitarian access to alleviate the unprecedented suffering of civilians in Gaza and for an end to the escalating violence elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Still addressing that conflict, he said: “According to local health authorities, at least 35,173 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7. Many of those who have lost their lives are women and children. On the West Bank, 479 Palestinians have been killed, including 116 children.
“The conflict must be moved into a political track aiming for a political solution – a two-state solution that fulfills the right of the Palestinian people, ensures security for Israel, and paves the way for enhanced security in the wider region,” Ball said.
The theme of the national day reception hosted in the ambassador’s residence was water.
“As you may have noticed, we’ve chosen water as the theme for this year’s event. Because ‘water is life’; necessary for the survival of all living organisms on the planet, and because the management of our water resources is of such importance, both for the Kingdom of Norway and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the ambassador said.
Concluding his speech the ambassador said: “I would like to take the opportunity to also thank our Saudi friends and host country, our honorary consul in Jeddah, Abdullah bin Mahfouz, our friends in Bahrain, Oman and Yemen, our fellow citizens in the four countries, and not least our dear colleagues here in the diplomatic community.”
The celebration featured an open dinner buffet highlighting traditional dishes from Norway. The reception also featured a photograph area where visitors could pose against a boat backdrop while wearing Viking headgear.
