FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Monday January 24, Israeli police arrested 41 year old Irish American ISM activist, Patrick O’Connor, on suspicion that he was carrying a fake passport. O’Connor was on his way to Jerusalem after planting olive tree seedlings with Palestinian, Israeli and international activists in the path of the Wall in the occupied village of Biddu. For the past year, Israeli and international activists have supported the villagers of Biddu through nonviolent protest and legal appeals in their struggle against the destruction of their farmland for the building of the Wall.
On Monday January 24, Israeli police arrested 41 year old Irish American ISM activist, Patrick O’Connor, on suspicion that he was carrying a fake passport. O’Connor was on his way to Jerusalem after planting olive tree seedlings with Palestinian, Israeli and international activists in the path of the Wall in the occupied village of Biddu. For the past year, Israeli and international activists have supported the villagers of Biddu through nonviolent protest and legal appeals in their struggle against the destruction of their farmland for the building of the Wall.
Mr. O’Connor resides in New York City and holds both Irish and US citizenship. He legally entered the country on his Irish passport in December, 2004 and has been working as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian led movement that advocates the use of nonviolence in seeking an end to the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr. O'Connor has received Masters' degrees from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and from Yale University. He has worked for the past fourteen years as a tireless advocate for human rights and the health and welfare of children with American and international nongovernmental organizations and has managed humanitarian aid programs in Morocco, Egypt, Mali, and the Gaza Strip.
In 2003, traveling on his American passport, Mr. O'Connor was denied entry into Israel based on "secret evidence" that not even his Israeli attorney was allowed to see. It is likely that he was prevented from entering Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories because of his prior work in the West Bank with the ISM which included monitoring human rights abuses and supporting Palestinians in nonviolent protests against the Wall.
Israel routinely targets individuals and organizations through the use of "secret evidence" for deportation or by character assassination, innuendo and phony allegations. As witnesses to the occupation, peace and human rights activists pose a "security threat" to the state of Israel, as do journalists and anyone else who can provide first hand testimony about the Occupation.
Mr. O'Connor’s tourist visa has been cancelled by the Ministry of Interior. He is being held in Masiyahu prison and is facing deportation from Israel.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Attorney Gaby Lasky: +972 054 441 8988
Patrick O'Connor: +972 054 553 9078
-------------------
Account of my Arrest - Patrick O'Connor
On Monday January 24, undercover Israeli agents set up a temporary
checkpoint and pulled over vehicles on an empty stretch of road near
the West Bank village of Biddu in order to arrest and deport me. The
effort and resources they deployed to catch a 41-year old humanitarian
aid worker committed to nonviolence demonstrates the Israeli
government's distorted priorities and fixation with crushing
legitimate opposition.
The prelude to my arrest was an uplifting and peaceful event.
Israelis, Palestinians, and internationals joined together to plant
olive seedlings to replace olive trees bulldozed for the construction
of Israel's Apartheid Wall. Almost a year ago the village of Biddu
mobilized to peacefully protest the construction of the Wall on their
land. Five people from Biddu were killed by the Israeli military
during the early protests. Before Monday's event, we learned that
despite an Israeli Supreme Court decision requiring the modification
of the Wall's path to take less Palestinian land, the newly announced
Wall path will take more of Biddu's farm land.
The turnout of Biddu on Monday of Israeli and international peace
groups like Rabbis for Human Rights, Anarchists against the Wall,
International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and International Women's
Peace Service (IWPS) demonstrated the strong relationship with the
village established during their nonviolent campaign against the Wall.
As we planted, we chatted, renewed old friendships and established new
ones. Among the first time participants was a group of Jewish American
college students on a study abroad program in Israel making their
first visit to the West Bank. The Israeli military was nowhere to be seen.
After lunch in Biddu, thirteen of us piled into a van to return to
Jerusalem. At the edge of the village we got out, climbed over a dirt
roadblock and got into a second van. After a few hundred meters, two
men in civilian clothes, on either side of the road waved at our van
to stop. As our van approached the men, one put on a blue Israeli
police hat. Two more men in civilian clothes with pistols joined them.
They took our passports. A white jeep then pulled up and two plain
clothes Israeli agents climbed out carrying M16s. They took a long
time examining the passports. They then came back to the van and asked
for me to get out. They started moving me away from the van while one
of the men with an M16 waved my Irish passport and yelled at me, "Your
passport is fake, I can see from the ink its fake. Its fake." I
insisted it was real, but he said they wanted to take me with them
just to clear this up. He said I was not being arrested. However,
three men began pushing me to the car, with one yelling at me.
They put me in the back seat of a small, unmarked white car with one
agent sitting next to me. We sped away and two minutes later, the
agent told me I was under arrest and handcuffed me. He told me I had
entered the country using a false passport. As he continued to
aggressively question me, I realized they were taking me to Ben Gurion
Airport.
It became clear they were lost and could not find the detention center
and their bravado and certainty gradually dissipated. We drove around
in circles for twenty minutes, stopping, restarting, crossing lanes,
with drivers honking at us and the agents talking on their mobile
phones until they finally found the Ben Gurion detention center. I
then asked them if they were still so certain they couldn't be
mistaken about my passport. Instead of their previous hostile
responses they were quiet.
The Israeli government continues its campaign to harass and arrest
Palestinians, internationals and Israelis who peacefully protest
Israeli policies. Despite a ruling by the world's highest legal body,
the International Court of Justice, that Israel's construction of the
Wall on Palestinian land is illegal, the Israeli government treats
supporters of the ICJ ruling as opponents to be crushed.
Almost two years ago the Israeli government declared me a "security
threat" for my involvement in peaceful activities against the Wall and
the Occupation, and attempted to prevent me from returning to the
Occupied Palestinian Territories. As with thousands of Palestinians,
they based their claims on "secret evidence" that my lawyer and I were
never able to see or contest. I challenge the Israeli authorities to
reveal their secret evidence against me because it will not stand up
to scrutiny.
Despite the Israeli government's efforts to crush legitimate
opposition and prevent human rights advocates from visiting the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, Palestinians, Israelis and
internationals will continue to oppose these unjust policies.
Ultimately, Israel's disregard for International Law will fail.
Mr. O'Connor has received Masters' degrees from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and from Yale University. He has worked for the past fourteen years as a tireless advocate for human rights and the health and welfare of children with American and international nongovernmental organizations and has managed humanitarian aid programs in Morocco, Egypt, Mali, and the Gaza Strip.
In 2003, traveling on his American passport, Mr. O'Connor was denied entry into Israel based on "secret evidence" that not even his Israeli attorney was allowed to see. It is likely that he was prevented from entering Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories because of his prior work in the West Bank with the ISM which included monitoring human rights abuses and supporting Palestinians in nonviolent protests against the Wall.
Israel routinely targets individuals and organizations through the use of "secret evidence" for deportation or by character assassination, innuendo and phony allegations. As witnesses to the occupation, peace and human rights activists pose a "security threat" to the state of Israel, as do journalists and anyone else who can provide first hand testimony about the Occupation.
Mr. O'Connor’s tourist visa has been cancelled by the Ministry of Interior. He is being held in Masiyahu prison and is facing deportation from Israel.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Attorney Gaby Lasky: +972 054 441 8988
Patrick O'Connor: +972 054 553 9078
-------------------
Account of my Arrest - Patrick O'Connor
On Monday January 24, undercover Israeli agents set up a temporary
checkpoint and pulled over vehicles on an empty stretch of road near
the West Bank village of Biddu in order to arrest and deport me. The
effort and resources they deployed to catch a 41-year old humanitarian
aid worker committed to nonviolence demonstrates the Israeli
government's distorted priorities and fixation with crushing
legitimate opposition.
The prelude to my arrest was an uplifting and peaceful event.
Israelis, Palestinians, and internationals joined together to plant
olive seedlings to replace olive trees bulldozed for the construction
of Israel's Apartheid Wall. Almost a year ago the village of Biddu
mobilized to peacefully protest the construction of the Wall on their
land. Five people from Biddu were killed by the Israeli military
during the early protests. Before Monday's event, we learned that
despite an Israeli Supreme Court decision requiring the modification
of the Wall's path to take less Palestinian land, the newly announced
Wall path will take more of Biddu's farm land.
The turnout of Biddu on Monday of Israeli and international peace
groups like Rabbis for Human Rights, Anarchists against the Wall,
International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and International Women's
Peace Service (IWPS) demonstrated the strong relationship with the
village established during their nonviolent campaign against the Wall.
As we planted, we chatted, renewed old friendships and established new
ones. Among the first time participants was a group of Jewish American
college students on a study abroad program in Israel making their
first visit to the West Bank. The Israeli military was nowhere to be seen.
After lunch in Biddu, thirteen of us piled into a van to return to
Jerusalem. At the edge of the village we got out, climbed over a dirt
roadblock and got into a second van. After a few hundred meters, two
men in civilian clothes, on either side of the road waved at our van
to stop. As our van approached the men, one put on a blue Israeli
police hat. Two more men in civilian clothes with pistols joined them.
They took our passports. A white jeep then pulled up and two plain
clothes Israeli agents climbed out carrying M16s. They took a long
time examining the passports. They then came back to the van and asked
for me to get out. They started moving me away from the van while one
of the men with an M16 waved my Irish passport and yelled at me, "Your
passport is fake, I can see from the ink its fake. Its fake." I
insisted it was real, but he said they wanted to take me with them
just to clear this up. He said I was not being arrested. However,
three men began pushing me to the car, with one yelling at me.
They put me in the back seat of a small, unmarked white car with one
agent sitting next to me. We sped away and two minutes later, the
agent told me I was under arrest and handcuffed me. He told me I had
entered the country using a false passport. As he continued to
aggressively question me, I realized they were taking me to Ben Gurion
Airport.
It became clear they were lost and could not find the detention center
and their bravado and certainty gradually dissipated. We drove around
in circles for twenty minutes, stopping, restarting, crossing lanes,
with drivers honking at us and the agents talking on their mobile
phones until they finally found the Ben Gurion detention center. I
then asked them if they were still so certain they couldn't be
mistaken about my passport. Instead of their previous hostile
responses they were quiet.
The Israeli government continues its campaign to harass and arrest
Palestinians, internationals and Israelis who peacefully protest
Israeli policies. Despite a ruling by the world's highest legal body,
the International Court of Justice, that Israel's construction of the
Wall on Palestinian land is illegal, the Israeli government treats
supporters of the ICJ ruling as opponents to be crushed.
Almost two years ago the Israeli government declared me a "security
threat" for my involvement in peaceful activities against the Wall and
the Occupation, and attempted to prevent me from returning to the
Occupied Palestinian Territories. As with thousands of Palestinians,
they based their claims on "secret evidence" that my lawyer and I were
never able to see or contest. I challenge the Israeli authorities to
reveal their secret evidence against me because it will not stand up
to scrutiny.
Despite the Israeli government's efforts to crush legitimate
opposition and prevent human rights advocates from visiting the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, Palestinians, Israelis and
internationals will continue to oppose these unjust policies.
Ultimately, Israel's disregard for International Law will fail.
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