PRESS RELEASE - CAMBRIDGE STUDENTS WITNESS HARSH REALITIES OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION

FROM: Cambridge University Palestinian Society (CUPAL)

DATE: 6th May 2002

Contact 1: Samira Barakat - tel 01223 337352 (day), 521289 (eve/weekend)
Contact 2: David Babbs - tel 01223 700646, 07931 855888 (mob)
Contact 3: Simon Shaw - tel 07941 538386 (mob)

Email: palestinian@cusu.cam.ac.uk

CAMBRIDGE STUDENTS WITNESS HARSH REALITIES OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION

More than 200 people were touched by the personal accounts of 5 Cambridge
students who recently spent two weeks in the Palestinian Occupied
Territories as independent international observers. They spoke
at a public meeting in the Emmanuel United Reformed Church in Cambridge,
8-11pm 5th May, following a lunchtime vigil in Cambridge Market Square.

Protesters at the vigil solemnly showed their solidarity with the
Palestinian people, holding the Palestinian flag and banners reading
"END THE OCCUPATION".

A petition, calling on local MPs to sign Early Day Motion 1106,
which demands an immediate end to the Israeli offensive in the Occupied
Territories, was signed by more than 200 passers-by.

At the moving talk the Cambridge students who travelled to the Occupied
Territories explained why they chose to risk their lives delivering
essential medical supplies and food to Palestinian areas under total
curfew. "I accompanied an ambulance which got shot at when we were trying
to take injured people to the hospital in Nablus," said Mika
Minio-Paluello.

The audience was shocked by the realities of living under siege.
"I stayed with a family in Bethlehem," said one of the students. "We were
confined to the living room for a week because Israeli soldiers were
shooting through the windows of the kitchen and the bedrooms."

Also at the talk Dr Rawsa Bishara, head of the Nazareth Arab Cultural
Association, spoke about the discrimination against the 20% of Israeli
citizens who are Palestinian.

Notes for editors:

1. Photographs of the events are available at:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/camsaw/pics/PalVigil2/

2. Mika Minio-Paluello's account of his experiences in Palestine,
including being beaten by the Israeli army, online at www.camsaw.org.uk,
and is available for interview on 07901 930441.

3. Both events were organised by a coalition of Cambridge based groups:
the Cambridge University Palestinian Society (CUPAL), Cambridge Students
Against the War (CamSaw), and the Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign
(PSC).

4. The text of the Early Day Motion 1106, which endorses a two-state
solution within the framework of UN resolutions, is available at:
http://www.caabu.org/campaigns/edm-israeli-withdrawal.html