Egypt Bans Nobel Peace Laureate

As if we needed to draw more negative attention to ourselves in the international press and community, just yesterday Egypt detained and deported Irish peace activist and Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire. Let's reiterate; peace activist. Winner of a Nobel Peace Prize. Clearly, she must be an imminent threat to national security.

Maguire tried to enter the country on Wednesday with fellow activist Ann Patterson but was stopped by airport officials, questioned, and then shipped right back to Ireland. Upon arrival in Egypt, airport police took them to a detention centre, where they were "held for eight hours, and told we would not be allowed entry into Cairo and would be put on a plane," Maguire said. She was given no reason for being barred but also says police were "polite." Well, at least there's that. Which is definitely a stark contrast to when the airport police ran the exact same detain-and-deport routine the day before with anti-war activist Madea Benjamin, but raised her one broken arm, according to what Benjamin told AFP.  

All three women were part of a delegation of activists heading to the Gaza Strip, which is likely the cause for Maguire's apparent blacklisting considering the Egyptian government's recent ramping up of its crackdown on activists trying to reach Gaza.