Global Voices Online

Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas was detained and questioned for 13 hours upon arrival in Cairo from a conference in Sweden. “finally released after 13 hours, found the lost bag, but they took the laptop still, i'm home now, will try to rest no calls plz thank u all,” he tweets after his release. In another tweet, he says his laptop was confiscated by the authorities.

Lebanese activist Natalie Abou Shakra, who has been in the Gaza Strip for seven months, is now being prevented from entering Egypt by the Egyptian authorities. Witnessing the treatment of Palestinians at the border she says: “They have been taught to accept this treatment. But, as activists, it is our job to break through the silence & scream out the injustice…no matter what the price.”

Upon his arrival from Sweden at the Cairo Airport, blogger Wael Abbas tweets the details of his detention at Cairo Airport. The Arabist reported saying: Egyptian mega-blogger Wael Abbas is being detained at Cairo Airport after his passport was confiscated last night. This is the first time this has happened to Wael, who is currently holding a sit-in with a banner at the airport requesting his passport back.

Lebanese activist Natalie Abou Shakra, who reported from Gaza during Israel's attacks in January, is not being allowed to cross out of the Gaza Strip into Egypt.

OneJerusalem.com and Jewlicious observe that American President Barack Obama's popularity ratings in the Jewish world have taken a significant dive since his Cairo speech and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's subsequent White House visit, both in May.

Against Torture in Egypt posted this game - designed by IRCT (The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims) - on the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (June 26).

Urging Egyptian youth to fight against corruption, Wa7da Masreya posted an Egyptian rap song [EN & AR] in support of Iran.

From Egypt, Maryanne Stroud Gabbani writes about the two-week visit of a group of California secondary school students to her farm to learn more about real life. “They've stayed at my farm in the midst of Egyptian farmers and visited some of the less touristy sites of Cairo […] two weeks in Egypt will open their eyes to the richness and variety of life in a country that they've previously seen in a fairly two dimensional aspect. The hope is that they will return to assess their own lives and country in a new way,” she explains.

Egyptian blogger Nermeena has been away from the Internet for a while and shares tidbits from her life in this post, including the latest book she is reading.