🇪🇬 An Egyptian court ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of the last independent news outlets in Egypt, and the detention of its editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, until she pays a fine of about $50,000. Drop Site Middle East editor Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who worked at Mada Masr for four years, told Democracy Now! that it is "a dark day for journalism, not just in Egypt, but in the entire Arab world." Founded in 2013 amid Egypt's revolution and counterrevolution, the outlet has survived jailed journalists, deported staff, police raids and a website block lasting nearly a decade. But Tuesday's ruling is "an unprecedented escalation," Sharif said. @sharifkouddous | @democracynow

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Benjamin Moser says Israel is "actively fomenting" antisemitism by claiming to act in the name of all Jews: "It's asking a lot of people to say that there's this Jewish army of this Jewish state with this Jewish star on their flag, and they are mercilessly slaughtering tens of thousands of children, but don't confuse them with Jews," Moser said. He argues that the reported rise in antisemitism is simply a rise in anti-Zionism, "people reacting to Israel and the evil, wicked things that Israel has been doing in our names."