Middle East Eye
Pro-Palestine activist Fergie Chambers arrested in Spain after US extradition request
Pro-Palestine activist Fergie Chambers arrested in Spain after US extradition request
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Amandla Thomas-Johnson
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Mon, 07/13/2026 - 09:55
Supporters say indictment is 'politically motivated' after American activist was detained in Ibiza on Friday
American political activist Fergie Chambers, pictured in Tunisia in February 2024 (Nur Photo/Reuters)
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Fergie Chambers, the American activist who has financed humanitarian relief in Gaza alongside pro-Palestinian campaigns, has been arrested in Spain on a US extradition request alleging money laundering and other offences.
Chambers was arrested on Friday morning on the island of Ibiza. Later that day, he appeared before a judge, who denied him bail pending extradition proceedings.
Over the past decade, Chambers has used part of his inherited fortune to support humanitarian initiatives in Gaza and the legal defence funds for left-wing activists in the United States and the UK.
His supporters say that his arrest was “politically motivated”. The prominent British-Palestinian surgeon and Rector of the University of Glasgow has described his humanitarian support for children in Gaza as “vital”.
Chambers' arrest unfolded at around 10.45am in Ibiza's secluded Morna Valley. An eyewitness told Middle East Eye that, as Chambers pulled into a driveway, a black vehicle blocked his path.
Two other vehicles then came into view. Seven Spanish law enforcement officers—two women and five men—identified themselves by showing their badges before handcuffing Chambers. They informed him that he was being detained under an international arrest warrant.
According to the indictment, prosecutors have charged Chambers with international money laundering, riot and conspiracy to riot. The indictment alleges that, after leaving the United States in 2023, he transferred approximately $7.5 million out of the country in order to seek opportunities to provide material support to Hamas.
His supporters have hit back, contending that those funds were used for legal purposes, namely investing in local businesses and sponsoring the Club Africain football team, current football league champions in Tunisia.
If extradited and convicted on the lead count of international money laundering, Chambers faces a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment.
'Politically motivated'
His associates have denounced the arrest as "politically motivated", describing it as "an overt act of political repression by the Trump administration against a supporter of Palestinian human rights."
"This extradition is part of a much broader campaign to suppress global movements for emancipation and liberation, particularly those expressing solidarity with people in the formerly colonised world," they said.
"Fergie has dedicated significant resources to humanitarian causes, human rights, justice and dignity, and this prosecution is another manifestation of that wider effort to intimidate and silence political activism."
Speaking to the French newspaper Le Monde last year, Chambers said he had "always been drawn to the cause of the oppressed."
Chambers' arrest came on the same day that The Washington Post reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had invited senior ministers from more than 60 countries to a meeting on what the administration described as the growing threat of "transnational far-left terrorism".
Critics - including some current and former US officials - have argued that the Trump administration is attempting to expand the use of counterterrorism powers to target left-wing activists and political movements.
Chambers' arrest also comes against the backdrop of increasingly strained relations between Washington and Madrid. The Spanish government has repeatedly condemned Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and Iran and has refused to permit the United States to use Spanish airspace in support of military strikes on the latter.
Among Chambers' more recent humanitarian initiatives was a $250,000 donation to the Sameer Project. The organisation said the contribution was "critical to our work" and "a lifeline to a population suffering during displacement, a famine, a man-made water crisis, and the systematic destruction of the medical system".
'Since the beginning of the war, Chambers has been a vital supporter for the provision of care for children wounded in the genocide'
- Ghassan Abu Sitta, British-Palestinian surgeon
The funding helped establish a bakery producing 3,600 free loaves of bread a day in northern Gaza, complete a desalination plant supplying 150,000 litres of clean water daily, and operate a free medical clinic in Jabalia treating up to 300 patients each day.
He also provided a further $100,000 grant to the Zaynab Project to expand long-term mental health and psychosocial support for orphaned children in Gaza, including access to licensed therapists, counselling and psychological care.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, the British-Palestinian surgeon and Rector of the University of Glasgow, said: "Since the beginning of the war, Chambers has been a vital supporter for the provision of care for children wounded in the genocide."
Beyond Palestine solidarity, Chambers has also participated in the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and in the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
According to people close to Chambers, he remains in custody on the island of Ibiza.
"He's in jail. It's very hot. There's no fan, no books and he has no spare clothes," one person who has spoken to him since his arrest said.
The case is being handled by Spain's Audiencia Nacional, which hears international extradition requests. The court has been contacted for comment regarding the proceedings, including the outcome of the latest hearing and the date of any future hearings.
A request for comment has also been submitted to the US Department of Justice.
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