New Brunswicker deported from Egypt following crackdown on March to Gaza [video]

This story was last updated at 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. 

A New Brunswick man who travelled to Egypt for the Global March to Gaza stepped onto a plane bound for Canada earlier than planned this weekend, after being caught up in a dragnet targeting Palestine solidarity activists.

Jeff Houlahan, a University of New Brunswick professor, told the NB Media Co-op that he was being deported on a plane with four other activists. He was back in Canada by Sunday night Atlantic time.

He was among thousands of people who intended to travel to Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip to demand the opening of the Rafah crossing, to allow for the flow of international aid to Palestinians.

On Monday evening, the City of Saint John adopted a resolution endorsing the Canadian delegation’s participation in the March to Gaza, even though the initiative had already been hindered by Egyptian authorities.

Over the weekend, when the roughly 50-kilometre March to Gaza was expected to take place, there were widespread reports of Egyptian authorities detaining and deporting pro-Palestine activists, allegedly over security concerns.

Houlahan — an outspoken biology professor who has criticized the University of New Brunswick administration for its response to pro-Palestine activism on campus during Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip — said that he was transported to the airport in a “locked down prison bus” but wasn’t handcuffed.

Upon arrival, he was “kept for four or five hours in a detention cell at the airport, then put on a plane.” Earlier, he said that he was detained along with other Canadian activists, including Manuel Tapial, the lead coordinator of the Canadian delegation.

Tapial was also part of the 2010 Freedom Flotilla that attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, only to be met with deadly force from Israeli marines.

During the weekend, Tapial was incommunicado and his location was unknown for more than 24 hours following his arrest, sparking fears about his wellbeing among supporters.

By Monday morning Atlantic time, activists confirmed that he had been deported “after questioning by the Egyptian authorities” and was on his way back to Canada.

“There were witnesses to [Tapial’s] arrest, and their phones were confiscated and wiped clean,” the group World Beyond War Canada said in a post on Instagram on Saturday.

Over the weekend, activists urged supporters to contact the Canadian embassy and consular services in Cairo “to demand that they ensure the safety and freedom of Manuel Tapial and all March to Gaza participants.”

In a Facebook message to the NB Media Co-op late Monday night, Tapial confirmed that he was back in Canada. “I was deported and I just arrived today after 39 hours kidnapped by Egyptians authorities,” he said. “I am fine and safe.”

Tapial’s wife had also been deported by Saturday, Houlahan said. He outlined what happened in a series of messages to the NB Media Co-op.

“About 10 of us at the Amin Hotel were also detained at the hotel,” he said. “Several people had their phones taken then returned. We suspect they have installed new SIM cards with spyware.”

Organizers of the delegation previously told CBC News that more than 40 Canadians in Egypt had been detained and their passports confiscated by Egyptian authorities.

Thousands of people from around the world were expected to join the march to the southern border of the Gaza Strip, starting from the Northern Sinai city of Al-Arish, about 50 kilometres away. Plans involved walking in the evening and at night, resting in tents during the intense daytime heat.

Global Affairs Canada advises travellers to “avoid all travel” to most of the Northern Sinai region due to militant attacks and ongoing military operations.

Activists are calling for the opening of the Rafah border crossing to international aid amid conditions which the UN has called a looming famine in the Gaza Strip.

Local health authorities in the besieged territory said that at least 41 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on Sunday, the Reuters news agency reported.

They included at least five killed near aid sites operated by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American- and Israeli-backed aid group. 

The deepening crisis in the Gaza Strip, now more than 20 months into an Israeli military campaign widely condemned as genocidal, was overshadowed by news that Israel had attacked Iran on Friday, prompting an exchange of deadly strikes between the two countries.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).