Around 200 Israeli travelers are sheltering at the Chabad House in Kathmandu and hundreds more are stranded on treks across Nepal as protests sweep the country. Demonstrators have set fire to the parliament building and shut down the airport, causing widespread disruption.
The protests erupted after authorities announced the closure of social media networks, a move that triggered nationwide demonstrations and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Kadga Prasad Oli. So far, 21 protesters have been killed—two on Tuesday and 19 on Monday—after police in Kathmandu opened fire on demonstrators. More than 100 people have been injured. In addition to the prime minister, three cabinet ministers, including the interior minister, have resigned.
Yonatan, an Israeli backpacker, said he arrived in Nepal just two days ago. “I landed in Nepal only two days ago, and immediately there were problems connecting to Instagram. The taxi driver told me there would be chaos and I thought he was joking, but it turned out he wasn’t. There are a lot of protests, but they are not very close to us. There was one near the hostel, but it was relatively small. The largest protests are around government offices, where police fired at demonstrators and young people trying to storm the prime minister’s office were killed. Overall it hasn’t ruined the trip, but it does change plans.”
Another Israeli traveler, Gilad, who is trekking in Nepal with his daughter, said: “We went out today and saw a lot of protests and bonfires. No one is very excited, they don’t get involved in the chaos and they do not take part. Many Israelis are in the middle of treks and there is uncertainty, but there is also amazing solidarity among Israelis and a good overall atmosphere. For many people their plans have been disrupted. They wanted to go on a two-day trek and cannot. I need to leave for India on Sunday and I don’t know if the airport will reopen.”
Chabad emissary Chani Lifshitz said: “We are not very concerned because this happens occasionally. Young people are angry about the social media shutdown and say it is the government’s attempt to silence them because it was their platform to express criticism. Yesterday we heard many gunshots and there was chaos in the streets. Today Nepal declared a curfew, but protesters are still going out. It does not affect foreigners directly, but we warn people not to go into the streets to avoid violence. When the streets are chaotic it is somewhat dangerous.”
Lifshitz added: “We are not very worried about the protests, but this afternoon it escalated to shooting and that was unpleasant. We treated it like demonstrations at home and decided it was necessary to gather everyone together.”