ISRAEL: FURTHER TRICKERY AND TREACHERY Mutter - 07.08.2003 05:47
Israel's Removal of the International Witnesses [Occupied Palestine] At approximately 2:00 this morning, all but one of the internationals detained yesterday were released from the Ariel settlement police station, after being coerced into signing a document stating that they would not enter the West Bank and Gaza. They signed this agreement after being told that the fate of the Palestinian activist and organizer of the Mas’ha Peace Camp, Nazih Shalabi, arrested yesterday, depended on the acquiescence of the internationals. The four Israelis released earlier in the day also agreed to the same conditions for the same reasons. They were all told that Nazih would be released if they agreed to these conditions. As of this writing, Nazih has still not been released. Also being detained in an Israeli prison near the city of Hadera, is Lorenza Erlicher, a 35- year-old Italian kindergarten teacher, who Israeli police claim was “attacking a police officer”, when in reality she was trying to prevent harm to her body during her rough incarceration. Lorenza is scheduled to be on a flight back to Italy Thursday afternoon, agreeing to leave “voluntarily” to avoid deportation. Today 21 Israeli peace activists were detained at the site of yesterday’s incarcerations, while attempting to stop the work of the bulldozers continuing to destroy Palestinian land for the path of the wall in Mas’ha. One Palestinian AP photographer, Mohammed Darwish, was also snatched while trying to photograph the event. All of the Israeli activists are spending the night in jail, refusing to accept conditions and demanding the release of Nazih Shalabi. Mohammed was released at 10PM. Please flood the Ariel Police Station with phone calls demanding the immediate release of Nazih Shalabi and the Israeli peace activists. Ariel Prison General Info: +972 3 906 5444 Ariel Prison Officer - Ami Baran and Haim Fadlan: +972 3 906 5406 or +972 3 906 5416 For more information, please call: ISM Media Office - +972-2-277-4603 IWPS Office - +972-9-251-6644 END INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT www.palsolidarity.org Website: http://www.palsolidarity.org |