International Solidarity Movement
July 30th 2003
For immediate release

British school teacher treated like terrorist - threat to security!

[Ben Gurion Airport]

Yesterday morning, July 29th, David Watson, a 35 year-old high
school teacher and humanitarian aid worker from East London,
was turned away at Ben Gurion airport. He was denied entry into
Israel, but has refused to be deported until he can legally appeal.
He is awaiting a judges decision on whether his appeal will be
heard or not, but he is likely to be sent back to the UK in
shackles 8am tommorow morning.

The Israeli security forces claim he is a threat to security. David
is a member of Amnesty International, has done poverty relief
work in Brazil and Malawi, and has previously met with the ISM in
the Palestinian territories to talk about humanitarian relief in the
area. It is likely he was turned away because of Israel's policy of
denying entry to people associated with peace groups like the
ISM, which is a Palestinian led organisation devoted to fostering
non-violent means of ending the occupation.

Contact numbers:
Huwaida, ISM spokesperson, +972 67-473308
ISM office, +972 2-277-460

Latest:

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David Watson, the British schoolteacher being held by
Israeli authorities, will be given a hearing on Thursday,
July 31st, at 12:00. The hearing will be under Judge
Barron at Tel Aviv District Court.

Every hearing is a step in the struggle to establish the
legal rights of non-violent protest and resistance in Israel.

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