US peace activist detained at airport

An American activist famous for her work with the anti-war advocacy group Code Pink tweeted Tuesday morning that she had been detained at Cairo airport and that her arm had been broken.

Medea Benjamin of Code Pink had posted earlier that she was going to meet delegates headed for the Gaza Strip.

I was supposed to be greeting international delegates for trip to Gaza. Instead I am stuck in jail cell in cairo airport 🙁

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) March 4, 2014

Benjamin had tweeted that police broke her arm and she had been given stale bread to eat. Mada Masr was not able to contact Benjamin on a number she had posted on Twitter.

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations network said in a statement Sunday that hundreds of female activists would arrive in Gaza Thursday as representatives of the International Coalition of Women Against the Siege.

The women had planned to cross into Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

Gaza has been under a siege by the Israeli military since the militant Islamist group Hamas won elections there in 2006. Earlier Tuesday, the Egyptian government issued a ban on Hamas activities in Egypt and ordered its assets frozen.

Benjamin visited Tahrir Square during the uprising that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak, Code Pink’s website said. This is not the first time Benjamin has run afoul of authorities abroad. She was deported from Pakistan in 2007 and Bahrain in 2012. 

Benjamin is also known for interrupting a speech by US President Barack Obama on the War on Terror and her opposition to the Obama administration's use of drones in Pakistan and Yemen.