of the detention story is up at Socialist Worker here. I was also honored to have a short interview up on Ma'an News, conducted by independent journalist par excellence Mya Guarnieri.
I am hoping to have time to write some more reflective, less strictly journalistic stuff here soon, but as I'm heading out of the US again on Friday night--to Beirut for the Viva Palestina Summer University of Palestine--it may have to wait until I come back.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
out of israeli detention
There have been no updates here because I have been traveling, in prison, and then traveling again.
I am now back in the US and will post a detailed report shortly. Here is the short version.
Despite fears about a no-fly list created by the Israeli government (which did keep several hundred mostly French activists from boarding their planes to Palestine), our group of about 15 Brits, Irish and Americans successfully boarded our flight at Luton airport on July 8, with one exception: American Michael Rabb was kept off the plane by security at the last minute.
We arrived at Ben Gurion Airport and were pulled aside for detention almost immediately upon arriving at passport control--I was pulled aside after I simply stated my destination as Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem. We were detained for 4 hours in a basement immigration holding area, then for another 3 hours on a very hot, poorly ventilated and roach-infested prison bus with no toilet access and no water until we pounded on the doors to demand it. While we were waiting with about 40 French, Belgian, American and UK citizens in the immigration holding area, a large number of police and Border Patrol officers entered and provoked a confrontation by trying to remove a French man of Arab descent from the room by himself, against his will. When his comrades tried to nonviolently prevent him from being removed, the police used it as an excuse to attack us, hitting a few people and shoving around many others. A small solidarity demonstration of brave Israeli activists at the airport was also viciously attacked by police and bystanders.
At about 11pm Friday night we were driven to the Givon immigration detention center in Ramla, 30km from Tel Aviv. At 1am, after having been detained for 9 hours, we finally received food, which prison guards filmed us eating so they could show how well they were treating us. I was processed and put in a six-woman cell around 2:30am.
We were held in Givon prison for 4 nights and 4 days, until we were finally deported around 8pm Tuesday. Throughout the whole process--100 hours of detention--we were never told the legal basis for our detention or shown any deportation paperwork. We did not get our passports back until we were sitting on the plane about to depart. Most people's passports were stamped ENTRY DENIED; mine and a few others were stamped with nothing at all. It's as if I never entered the country, except for the fact that I was in prison for 4 days and now most certainly have a big fat Shabak file. We were not given any information on our legal status or ability to enter Palestine in the future; we are still trying to get definitive answers on whether we have been banned from re-entering.
Throughout it all we had wonderful lawyers from Addameer, who put up with intimidation, humiliation and harassment from the prison guards in order to advise us pro bono. Elf shukran to Anan and Samer for their determined help.
The spirit of solidarity and cooperation among the prisoners on the womens' block was incredible. I am also deeply humbled by the many messages of concern and support I have received via email, Facebook, Twitter and phone, many from people I do not know personally. I believe everyone has come out of the experience empowered and more determined to continue fighting for justice for Palestinians.
While we were detained, the Israeli government passed a repressive anti-boycott law, the Israeli navy attacked an unarmed ship accompanying fishermen in Gaza, and the reports are that Gaza was heavily shelled tonight. The night after we were deported, this was the scene in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.
I will write more soon, but just posting this brief update to let everyone know I am safe and well. Free Palestine!
I am now back in the US and will post a detailed report shortly. Here is the short version.
Despite fears about a no-fly list created by the Israeli government (which did keep several hundred mostly French activists from boarding their planes to Palestine), our group of about 15 Brits, Irish and Americans successfully boarded our flight at Luton airport on July 8, with one exception: American Michael Rabb was kept off the plane by security at the last minute.
We arrived at Ben Gurion Airport and were pulled aside for detention almost immediately upon arriving at passport control--I was pulled aside after I simply stated my destination as Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem. We were detained for 4 hours in a basement immigration holding area, then for another 3 hours on a very hot, poorly ventilated and roach-infested prison bus with no toilet access and no water until we pounded on the doors to demand it. While we were waiting with about 40 French, Belgian, American and UK citizens in the immigration holding area, a large number of police and Border Patrol officers entered and provoked a confrontation by trying to remove a French man of Arab descent from the room by himself, against his will. When his comrades tried to nonviolently prevent him from being removed, the police used it as an excuse to attack us, hitting a few people and shoving around many others. A small solidarity demonstration of brave Israeli activists at the airport was also viciously attacked by police and bystanders.
At about 11pm Friday night we were driven to the Givon immigration detention center in Ramla, 30km from Tel Aviv. At 1am, after having been detained for 9 hours, we finally received food, which prison guards filmed us eating so they could show how well they were treating us. I was processed and put in a six-woman cell around 2:30am.
We were held in Givon prison for 4 nights and 4 days, until we were finally deported around 8pm Tuesday. Throughout the whole process--100 hours of detention--we were never told the legal basis for our detention or shown any deportation paperwork. We did not get our passports back until we were sitting on the plane about to depart. Most people's passports were stamped ENTRY DENIED; mine and a few others were stamped with nothing at all. It's as if I never entered the country, except for the fact that I was in prison for 4 days and now most certainly have a big fat Shabak file. We were not given any information on our legal status or ability to enter Palestine in the future; we are still trying to get definitive answers on whether we have been banned from re-entering.
Throughout it all we had wonderful lawyers from Addameer, who put up with intimidation, humiliation and harassment from the prison guards in order to advise us pro bono. Elf shukran to Anan and Samer for their determined help.
The spirit of solidarity and cooperation among the prisoners on the womens' block was incredible. I am also deeply humbled by the many messages of concern and support I have received via email, Facebook, Twitter and phone, many from people I do not know personally. I believe everyone has come out of the experience empowered and more determined to continue fighting for justice for Palestinians.
While we were detained, the Israeli government passed a repressive anti-boycott law, the Israeli navy attacked an unarmed ship accompanying fishermen in Gaza, and the reports are that Gaza was heavily shelled tonight. The night after we were deported, this was the scene in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.
I will write more soon, but just posting this brief update to let everyone know I am safe and well. Free Palestine!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
press release: on july 8, we are flying for palestinian freedom - and for our own
For Immediate Release
Hundreds of internationals on their way to visit Palestinians in Gaza have been prevented from departing from the ports in Greece. However, we hope that on July 8th, 2011, hundreds of others of us from many countries will succeed in reaching Palestine by flying to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. We have been invited by some forty Palestinian organizations to "Welcome to Palestine," a week of activities in Palestine. It should be a wonderful visit, but most of us are frankly a bit scared. This is because of one decision we've all made: to tell the truth that our plan is to visit Palestine. It should be so simple, shouldn't it? But it is not, because Israel controls all access to Palestine -- by air, and by land, as well as by sea.
Even the website of the U.S. State Department warns of "prolonged questioning and thorough searches by Israeli authorities upon entry or departure," of particularly "probing questioning" visited upon "U.S. citizens whom Israeli authorities suspect of being of Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim origin," who are frequently denied entry. This is also true of visitors who are suspected to sympathize with Palestinians. The U.S. and the European countries refuse to protect their own citizens against these abuses by Israeli authorities.
The draconian and discriminating procedures at the borders of Israel have but one aim: to further isolate Palestinians and reinforce their inferior status; to trap them, away from any outside witnesses, in an increasingly constrictive maze of bantustans, separated by checkpoints and walls. By failing to insist that Israel allow travel to Palestine, our western governments support Israel's apartheid policies. In fact, occupied territory is not sovereign territory and Israel’s authority over the occupied Palestinian territories is subject to international humanitarian law. This authority does not include the right to arbitrarily deny entry of foreign passport holders wishing to visit, reside, or work in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT -- See http://www.righttoenter.ps/
We are flying to Ben Gurion on July 8th to visit friends in Palestine, and we insist that our own governments support us in doing so. Supporting our visit to Palestine will be one small step towards bringing about the freedom of movement for all the peoples of Israel/Palestine that is essential for peace and justice in the Middle East.
Press Contacts:
PALESTINE: Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, mazin@qumsiyeh.org, +972(0)598939532
JERUSALEM: Sergio Yahni, sergioyahni@gmail.com, +972(0)526375032
FRANCE: Nicolas Shahshahani, bienvenuepalestine@orange.fr
GERMANY: Sophia Deeg, sophia_deeg@yahoo.de, +49(0)88 007761, +49(0)1799878414
UK: Sofiah MacLeod, secretary@scottishpsc.org.uk,+
USA: Karin Pally, myizzy@gmail.com or kpally@earthlink.net, +1 310-399-1921
English articles and stories on the event
http://dissidentvoice.org/
http://www.alternet.org/news/
Other related websites/links:
http://www.righttoenter.ps
http://www.palestinejn.org
http://bienvenuepalestine.com (French and English)
http://www.kopi-online.de/
Hundreds of internationals on their way to visit Palestinians in Gaza have been prevented from departing from the ports in Greece. However, we hope that on July 8th, 2011, hundreds of others of us from many countries will succeed in reaching Palestine by flying to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. We have been invited by some forty Palestinian organizations to "Welcome to Palestine," a week of activities in Palestine. It should be a wonderful visit, but most of us are frankly a bit scared. This is because of one decision we've all made: to tell the truth that our plan is to visit Palestine. It should be so simple, shouldn't it? But it is not, because Israel controls all access to Palestine -- by air, and by land, as well as by sea.
Even the website of the U.S. State Department warns of "prolonged questioning and thorough searches by Israeli authorities upon entry or departure," of particularly "probing questioning" visited upon "U.S. citizens whom Israeli authorities suspect of being of Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim origin," who are frequently denied entry. This is also true of visitors who are suspected to sympathize with Palestinians. The U.S. and the European countries refuse to protect their own citizens against these abuses by Israeli authorities.
The draconian and discriminating procedures at the borders of Israel have but one aim: to further isolate Palestinians and reinforce their inferior status; to trap them, away from any outside witnesses, in an increasingly constrictive maze of bantustans, separated by checkpoints and walls. By failing to insist that Israel allow travel to Palestine, our western governments support Israel's apartheid policies. In fact, occupied territory is not sovereign territory and Israel’s authority over the occupied Palestinian territories is subject to international humanitarian law. This authority does not include the right to arbitrarily deny entry of foreign passport holders wishing to visit, reside, or work in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT -- See http://www.righttoenter.ps/
We are flying to Ben Gurion on July 8th to visit friends in Palestine, and we insist that our own governments support us in doing so. Supporting our visit to Palestine will be one small step towards bringing about the freedom of movement for all the peoples of Israel/Palestine that is essential for peace and justice in the Middle East.
Press Contacts:
PALESTINE: Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, mazin@qumsiyeh.org, +972(0)598939532
JERUSALEM: Sergio Yahni, sergioyahni@gmail.com, +972(0)526375032
FRANCE: Nicolas Shahshahani, bienvenuepalestine@orange.fr
GERMANY: Sophia Deeg, sophia_deeg@yahoo.de, +49(0)88 007761, +49(0)1799878414
UK: Sofiah MacLeod, secretary@scottishpsc.org.uk,+
USA: Karin Pally, myizzy@gmail.com or kpally@earthlink.net, +1 310-399-1921
English articles and stories on the event
http://dissidentvoice.org/
http://www.alternet.org/news/
Other related websites/links:
http://www.righttoenter.ps
http://www.palestinejn.org
http://bienvenuepalestine.com (French and English)
http://www.kopi-online.de/
Friday, July 1, 2011
press roundup
I have been writing a lot for other places lately, which is why the posts here have not been as frequent as I'd like. That and, you know, having a job and such.
I have pieces on Mondoweiss (reprinted in Socialist Worker) and Alternet about the July 8 week of solidarity in Palestine.
I also co-wrote an op-ed on for Gay City News on queer/Palestinian solidarity along with Brad Taylor, a fellow member of Siege Busters Working Group who is currently in Athens hoping to sail with the US Boat to Gaza. For laughs, you can read the crazy Zionist "rebuttal" they also posted.
I will be in Chicago at the Socialism 2011 conference this weekend, but will most likely be doing an interview by phone for KPFK Pacifica radio on Sunday. Check my Twitter for details--and frequent updates from the US Boat.
I have pieces on Mondoweiss (reprinted in Socialist Worker) and Alternet about the July 8 week of solidarity in Palestine.
I also co-wrote an op-ed on for Gay City News on queer/Palestinian solidarity along with Brad Taylor, a fellow member of Siege Busters Working Group who is currently in Athens hoping to sail with the US Boat to Gaza. For laughs, you can read the crazy Zionist "rebuttal" they also posted.
I will be in Chicago at the Socialism 2011 conference this weekend, but will most likely be doing an interview by phone for KPFK Pacifica radio on Sunday. Check my Twitter for details--and frequent updates from the US Boat.
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