RSS Feeds
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it    
Occupation magazine - Jerusalem

Home page  back Print  Send To friend

Avnery says PLC deportations `unacceptable injustice`
Ma`an News
8.7.10

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=297730


Prominent Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery met with three Palestinian Legislative Council members from Jerusalem threatened with expulsion at the Red Cross headquarters in East Jerusalem on Tuesday.

`This is an unacceptable injustice - no one should be expelled, anywhere!` a statement issued by Avnery read.

`I would very much like to see Gilad Shalit return home to his longing parents, and to see the Palestinian prisoners return to their families, too` PLC memberAhmed Atoun told to members of the Gush Shalom delegation which he met at the Red Cross compound in East Jerusalem.

`In the Israeli prison, from which I was released a month ago, and to which they want to send me back, I met prisoners who had been incarcerated for decades and lost all hope, such as Na`il Barghouti who is already 33 years in prison. It`s time that they return to their families,` the statement quoted Atoun as saying.

Former Knesset Member, Avnery, who came there as part of a delegation of activists from Gush Shalom, Anarchists Against the Wall and other groups said: `We came here to protest in the strongest terms the government of Israel`s intention to expel people from their homes and their city, for no other reason that they have expressed their political views and took part in free democratic elections which were held under international monitoring.`

Avnery added: `We came here, to occupied East Jerusalem which will be the capital of the state of Palestine, and which will be established alongside Israel with its capital in West Jerusalem. We came here not only because deportation, any deportation, is a blatant violation of people`s most basic human rights.

`We came here also for ourselves, because we ourselves are in danger. Now they are expelling Hamas members from East Jerusalem, if they get away with it they will expel Fatah members and them go on to deport Arabs just because they are Arabs. Then they would turn to depriving peace-seeking Israelis of citizenship and deporting them, too. No one should be expelled, this must stop right now.`

The delegation met with several Palestinian, Israeli, and foreign activists, as well as two other Palestinian legislators threatened with expulsion: Mohammad Totah and Khaled Abu Arafah. Fatah Jerusalem affairs chief Hatem Abdul Qader, the Greek-Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, as well as a Neturei Karta delegation, were in attendance.

All three lawmakers have been holding a sit-in strike at the Red Cross compound for over a week, in protest over Israel`s revocation of their residency rights and deportation order for mid June.

Avnery told conveners that the lawmakers` deportation would encourage reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, and to bring together Palestinian parties with peace-seeking Israelis.

On Monday, the Jerusalem Magistrate`s Court is due to rule on extending the remand in custody of MP Mohammed Abu Teir. The Gush Shalom leader said he met with Abu Teir on several occasions at his home `as part of attempts to build a dialogue of peace between Israeli peace seekers and Hamas supporters.

`Now he is faced with a `Catch-22` situation, the authorities are supposedly willing to release him on bail – but only on condition that he agree to leave Jerusalem. Of course he is not ready to accept that condition. The net result is that he is kept in jail without having committed any crime. This is an injustice which must not be tolerated.`

rh
Links to the latest articles in this section

United Nations Conference: `The impact of Israeli settlement policies on the Palestinian population in Jerusalem
No pasarán! Confront the racist "March of the Flags" in Jerusalem!
Israeli club calls off match with Barcelona over Jerusalem