freya
12-07-04, 15:43
Two foreign activists refused entry, ask court to overturn ban
By Relly Sa'ar, Haaretz Correspondent
Two human rights activists who have been refused entry into Israel petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday to overturn the Interior Ministry's decision to keep them out of the country.
The activists - Jamie Spector, 32, from San Francisco, and Christina Grafer, 46, from the Netherlands - planned to demonstrate against the West Bank separation fence as part of their involvement with the International Solidarity Movement. Security officials asked the Interior Ministry not to allow them into Israel when they arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Saturday, saying they constitute a "danger to state security."
The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday issued injunctions delaying their deportation while proceedings in the case continue.
Spector and Grafer are not the first to be denied entry into Israel during the past two weeks on the basis of their left-wing activity. As fellow ISM activist Ann Robinson Petter did when she was denied entry to the country at the end of June, Spector and Grafer also refused to return to their respective countries, were arrested by the immigration authorities at the airport, and petitioned the court to let them in.
Robinson Petter, a 44-year-old graphic designer from New York, has since appealed to the Supreme Court against last week's district court decision ordering her to keep away from Israel due to her activity in ISM. The Supreme Court will hear the case on Thursday.
Grafer's attorney Gabi Laski wrote in the petition that the Shin Bet, and not the Interior Ministry, has the real power over who is allowed to enter Israel.
"Despite the Interior Minister's broad discretion regarding foreigners' entry into the state of Israel, he functions as a rubber stamp for the security forces, led by the Shin Bet security service, who pass on the lists of those who have been denied entry to Israel," Laski wrote. "And so in effect, the widespread authority of deportation and distancing from Israel are given directly and uncritically to the Shin Bet."
The Interior Ministry did not dispute Laski's contention, saying, "In cases in which the security forces recommend not to approve entry into Israel, the interior minister indeed doesn't use his own discretion, and takes the recommendation."
Both Grafer and Spector are involved in the academic world. Grafer works in computers at a Dutch university and Spector, who is a Jew from San Francisco, works as an educational adviser in schools.
The petition filed by attorney Yael Barda on behalf of Spector discusses her right to live in Israel under the Law of Return, the family members she has in the country, and her involvement in the Tikkun Jewish renewal movement in San Francisco, together with her parents. "The entire family holds left-wing views, which they do not hide," the petition says.
Spector was questioned for seven hours, according to the petition, and was then told she would not be able to enter the country because of her affiliation with ISM. She was planning to "conduct humane activity in the territories, to document the construction of the separation fence, and establish artistic projects for Israeli and Palestinian children, and to meet with the leader of the Bereaved Families Forum, Yitzhak Frankenthal," the petition says.
haaretzdaily (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/450086.html)
______________________
De activisten van ISM zijn gespecialiseerd in nonviolent action, het zijn de mensen die o.a. proberen de bulldozers tegen te houden als lieve soldaatjes weer eens zin hebben om wat huizen af te breken.
Waarnemers zijn niet gewenst in de open democratie Israel :moe:
By Relly Sa'ar, Haaretz Correspondent
Two human rights activists who have been refused entry into Israel petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday to overturn the Interior Ministry's decision to keep them out of the country.
The activists - Jamie Spector, 32, from San Francisco, and Christina Grafer, 46, from the Netherlands - planned to demonstrate against the West Bank separation fence as part of their involvement with the International Solidarity Movement. Security officials asked the Interior Ministry not to allow them into Israel when they arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Saturday, saying they constitute a "danger to state security."
The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday issued injunctions delaying their deportation while proceedings in the case continue.
Spector and Grafer are not the first to be denied entry into Israel during the past two weeks on the basis of their left-wing activity. As fellow ISM activist Ann Robinson Petter did when she was denied entry to the country at the end of June, Spector and Grafer also refused to return to their respective countries, were arrested by the immigration authorities at the airport, and petitioned the court to let them in.
Robinson Petter, a 44-year-old graphic designer from New York, has since appealed to the Supreme Court against last week's district court decision ordering her to keep away from Israel due to her activity in ISM. The Supreme Court will hear the case on Thursday.
Grafer's attorney Gabi Laski wrote in the petition that the Shin Bet, and not the Interior Ministry, has the real power over who is allowed to enter Israel.
"Despite the Interior Minister's broad discretion regarding foreigners' entry into the state of Israel, he functions as a rubber stamp for the security forces, led by the Shin Bet security service, who pass on the lists of those who have been denied entry to Israel," Laski wrote. "And so in effect, the widespread authority of deportation and distancing from Israel are given directly and uncritically to the Shin Bet."
The Interior Ministry did not dispute Laski's contention, saying, "In cases in which the security forces recommend not to approve entry into Israel, the interior minister indeed doesn't use his own discretion, and takes the recommendation."
Both Grafer and Spector are involved in the academic world. Grafer works in computers at a Dutch university and Spector, who is a Jew from San Francisco, works as an educational adviser in schools.
The petition filed by attorney Yael Barda on behalf of Spector discusses her right to live in Israel under the Law of Return, the family members she has in the country, and her involvement in the Tikkun Jewish renewal movement in San Francisco, together with her parents. "The entire family holds left-wing views, which they do not hide," the petition says.
Spector was questioned for seven hours, according to the petition, and was then told she would not be able to enter the country because of her affiliation with ISM. She was planning to "conduct humane activity in the territories, to document the construction of the separation fence, and establish artistic projects for Israeli and Palestinian children, and to meet with the leader of the Bereaved Families Forum, Yitzhak Frankenthal," the petition says.
haaretzdaily (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/450086.html)
______________________
De activisten van ISM zijn gespecialiseerd in nonviolent action, het zijn de mensen die o.a. proberen de bulldozers tegen te houden als lieve soldaatjes weer eens zin hebben om wat huizen af te breken.
Waarnemers zijn niet gewenst in de open democratie Israel :moe: