Press release: 20th December 2005

Peace workers denied access to Bethlehem

In the early hours of this morning the Israeli authorities at
Tel Aviv airport stopped a group of international observers who
were en route to a Christmas peace conference in Bethlehem.

After lengthy interrogations, two (UK) were allowed to enter the
country and three were denied entry on ‘security grounds’. The
three (S Africa, Italy, Australia) intend to challenge this
decision in the Israeli courts. Now they expect to spend
Christmas in jail, rather than in Bethlehem.

The group are experienced peace campaigners who were on their
way to the “Celebrating Non-Violence” conference to be held in
the Palestinian town early next week. All five have worked
previously as international observers in the Palestinian
territories.

Spokesperson Charlotte Carson states: “Our colleagues are being
stopped from attending a conference about non-violent activism
because they are non-violent activists. Clearly, Israel is
afraid of the power of non-violence.”

The detained are all members of Access for Peace in the Middle
East, a pressure group that intends to challenge the
criminalisation of peace workers and the deliberate isolation of
Palestinians from international observation and assistance.

Robin Horsell, a UK-based South African who formerly campaigned
against apartheid gave his reasons for making this legal
challenge:

“Israel gives spurious grounds for deportation or refusal of
entry. But the real reason is our support for human rights and
justice. We hope this legal challenge sets a precedent that in
future will allow international citizens full access to
Palestinian lands.”

This campaign is supported by many prominent peace campaigners,
including Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Nonviolence
International, George Monbiot, AngieZelter, Jeremy Hardy and
European Jews for a Just Peace.

Notes:

Since 2000, the Israeli authorities have denied entry to the
Occupied Palestinian Territories to hundreds of international
citizens who intend to work with grassroots organisations such
as the International Solidarity Movement, Christian Peacemaker
Teams, the International Women’s Peace Service, and many other
NGOs that provide humanitarian assistance to the occupied
civilian population.

Israel calls itself ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’, yet
its practice of obstructing the passage of hundreds of observers
and peace activists calls its democratic credentials into
question.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent organisation (the
equivalent of the Red Cross), during the last five years 3754
Palestinian men, women and children have died from Israeli
military action. The vast majority of these casualties have been
civilians.

For more information, contact: Charlotte: +44 (0) 7768 305897
charlotte {a t} ism-london.org
or Roger +44 (0) 7785 792107 info {a t} ism-london.org