Full BBC story below
Four Welsh Palestine activists 'detained' in Israel
Four protesters from Wales are among a dozen UK activists detained as part of a so-called "flytilla" protest in Israel, according to organisers.
Fiona Williams, 46, from Mumbles, flew from Luton on Friday with a fellow member of the Swansea Palestine group.
Ms Williams' partner John McLean said the women were detained on leaving the flight at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.
News agencies report that Israel is set to expel 124 activists, mostly European, who were part of the protest.
The "flytilla" - in which protesters say they were planning to make a peaceful visit to families in the West Bank - was taking place as a flotilla of ships was prevented by Greece from sailing to the Gaza Strip in a bid to break the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.
Mr McLean said this was the first time that Ms Williams, who works for Swansea council, had taken part in such a protest, but added she was a determined supporter of the Palestinian cause.
"Fiona has never been there before so we were all quite surprised she was picked out," he said.
"At 11 o'clock last night we got this news, and they were probably being detained for the weekend and deported at the earliest opportunity.
"They refused to be deported, that's their stance at the moment, because there's no grounds for it."
Mr McLean said Ms Williams had travelled with a fellow member of the Swansea group, who was originally from Ireland, and he had been getting updates from the Irish Embassy.
He said he had not spoken to her directly but understood she was fine.
Paul O'Connor, of the Swansea Palestine group, said he had spoken to the Swansea women on Friday and they were in good spirits.
Ben Gurion Airport Some Israeli protesters gathered to welcome the activists who had flown into Ben Gurion Airport
"The latest we have heard from the [Irish] embassy is that they're being held at the airport," he said."There's about 30-odd others with them.
"They're going to be held and deported on Sunday night and Monday."
Palestinian civil society organisations who make up Welcome to Palestine expected 600 to 1,000 foreign activists to take up their invitation to head to the West Bank for a week.
They say they have planned a full itinerary of peaceful activities, starting with events in Bethlehem and Ramallah on Saturday for those able to make it there.
Palestinians have no airport of their own and Israel controls the borders of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli officials said on Friday airlines blocked some 200 blacklisted travellers from flying to Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered authorities to "act with determination, while trying to avoid unnecessary friction" with anyone taking part in a provocation, a statement from his office said.
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is coordinating the British part of the protest, said there 12 detainees from the UK.
'Watching developments'
These included three others from Wales, who it named as Ms Williams's Swansea colleague Dee Murphy, 56, founder member of Swansea Palestine Community Link; Pippa Bartolotti, 57, deputy leader of the Wales Green Party, and Joyce Giblin, from Newport.A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We have received reports of a number of British nationals being detained today at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
"We have a consular team at the airport and are seeking consular access to them to ensure that we can provide appropriate assistance."
The spokeswoman said travel advice had been updated and it continued to make clear that travellers to Israel should ensure they are aware of relevant immigration requirements.
"We are watching developments closely," she added.
"We have put in place contingency plans and will deploy consular staff as required to ensure that we can provide appropriate support to British nationals."
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/bbc-report-about-swansea-women.html
Latest report about the arrests (Satuday, 9 July 2011)
Press Association report
Twelve British people have been detained in Israel while making an attempt to visit the West Bank town of Bethlehem, according to campaigners.The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which was co-ordinating the British arm of the visit, said its chairman Mick Napier, 64, a university teacher, was amongst four Scots arrested at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.
The flight also included five English and three Welsh people.The campaign said the specific charges against them is still unclear. Sofiah Macleod, the UK-based contact for the campaign, said:
"I spoke to consular staff this morning who told me that the arrest was quite rough. They were all handcuffed and shackled and put into vans after standing around for quite a long time, and you can see from their ages that a lot of them are retired. Otherwise they`re all fine."
She said that travel to the West Bank is theoretically open to British passport holders, unlike Gaza which is currently under Israeli blockade.
Frank Thomas, 66, a retired statistician from Edinburgh; Ian Stewart-Hargreaves, who lives on Isle of Lewis; and Joy Cherkaoui, a community worker from Dumfries and Galloway, were also amongst the Scots.
The English passengers were John Lynes, 83, a retired university lecturer from East Sussex; Audrey Gray, 77, a retired nurse from West Chiltington; Val Kitchen, 68, from Tonbridge; Anne Gray, 66, a retired academic from London; and Les Levidow, 61, an Open University research fellow who works in Milton Keynes.
The three Welsh passengers were Pippa Bartolotti, 57, deputy leader of the Wales Green Party; D Murphy, 56, from Swansea, founder member of Swansea Palestine Community Link; and Joyce Giblin. The twelfth passenger Fiona Williams has also been identified as British, although her exact nationality is unknown. (Note: We now all know that Fiona is from Swansea)
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We have received reports of a number of British nationals being detained at the airport in Tel Aviv. We have a consular team at the airport who are seeking access to them to ensure that we can provide the appropriate assistance."
Twelve British people have been detained in Israel while making an attempt to visit the West Bank town of Bethlehem, according to campaigners.The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which was co-ordinating the British arm of the visit, said its chairman Mick Napier, 64, a university teacher, was amongst four Scots arrested at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.
The flight also included five English and three Welsh people.The campaign said the specific charges against them is still unclear. Sofiah Macleod, the UK-based contact for the campaign, said:
"I spoke to consular staff this morning who told me that the arrest was quite rough. They were all handcuffed and shackled and put into vans after standing around for quite a long time, and you can see from their ages that a lot of them are retired. Otherwise they`re all fine."
She said that travel to the West Bank is theoretically open to British passport holders, unlike Gaza which is currently under Israeli blockade.
Frank Thomas, 66, a retired statistician from Edinburgh; Ian Stewart-Hargreaves, who lives on Isle of Lewis; and Joy Cherkaoui, a community worker from Dumfries and Galloway, were also amongst the Scots.
The English passengers were John Lynes, 83, a retired university lecturer from East Sussex; Audrey Gray, 77, a retired nurse from West Chiltington; Val Kitchen, 68, from Tonbridge; Anne Gray, 66, a retired academic from London; and Les Levidow, 61, an Open University research fellow who works in Milton Keynes.
The three Welsh passengers were Pippa Bartolotti, 57, deputy leader of the Wales Green Party; D Murphy, 56, from Swansea, founder member of Swansea Palestine Community Link; and Joyce Giblin. The twelfth passenger Fiona Williams has also been identified as British, although her exact nationality is unknown. (Note: We now all know that Fiona is from Swansea)
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We have received reports of a number of British nationals being detained at the airport in Tel Aviv. We have a consular team at the airport who are seeking access to them to ensure that we can provide the appropriate assistance."
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/latest-report-about-arrests.html
Western Mail: Welsh campaigners detained (Saturday, 9 July 2011)
Full article below:
Three people from Wales are among a group which has been detained in Israel while making an attempt to visit the West Bank town of Bethlehem, according to campaigners.
Pippa Bartolotti, 57, deputy leader of the Wales Green Party; Dee Murphy, 56, from Swansea, founder member of Swansea Palestine Community Link; and Joyce Giblin, were part of a group of 12 people from the UK who were arrested at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
The flight also included five English and four Scots, the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which was co-ordinating the British arm of the visit, said.
The campaign said the specific charges against them is still unclear.
Around 700 people from around the world had intended to visit Bethlehem on the invitation of families there.
Sofiah Macleod, the UK-based contact for the campaign, said: “I spoke to consular staff this morning who told me that the arrest was quite rough.
“They were all handcuffed and shackled and put into vans after standing around for quite a long time, and you can see from their ages that a lot of them are retired.
“Otherwise they‘re all fine.”
She said that travel to the West Bank is theoretically open to British passport holders, unlike Gaza which is currently under Israeli blockade.
“This was never about demonstrations at airports. We are on a fact-finding mission. We want to understand what’s going on,” said Pippa Bartolotti.
She said she was the only member of a 40-member group on a flight from Britain who managed to enter Israel. “Unfortunately everybody else is in a holding bay and expected to be deported,” she said. “There are people from Belgium, France and the U.K.”
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We have received reports of a number of British nationals being detained at the airport in Tel Aviv.
“We have a consular team at the airport who are seeking access to them to ensure that we can provide the appropriate assistance.”
Read More
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/western-mail-welsh-campaigners-detained.html
Foreign and Commonwealth Office responds about Fiona (Saturday, 9 July 2011)
We have just received word from Gail Johnson the Duty Officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She said
Fiona Williams was arrested yesterday upon arrival at Tel Aviv airport. She has been transferred to Prison Givon in Ramle where my colleagues from the Embassy visited her today. Fiona is fine and well and it is likely that she will be deported in the next day or two.
Fiona Williams was arrested yesterday upon arrival at Tel Aviv airport. She has been transferred to Prison Givon in Ramle where my colleagues from the Embassy visited her today. Fiona is fine and well and it is likely that she will be deported in the next day or two.
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/foreign-and-commonwealth-office.html
Facebook used by Israel to detain people (Saturday, 9 July 2011)
USA Today gave an insight into how Israel chose which people to arrest and deport.
The newspaper wrote
'Israeli authorities, using information gathered on Facebook, Twitter and other websites, compiled a blacklist with more than 300 names and asked foreign airlines to block those on the list from boarding Tel Aviv-bound flights.'
In New York Times Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said that the Israeli authorities had followed the activists’ plans and compiled the list of undesirables by tracking the Web sites and social networking of the organizations involved.
“We did not need the Mossad,” Mr. Palmor said, referring to Israel’s intelligence agency. “It was all out there in the open.”
The newspaper wrote
'Israeli authorities, using information gathered on Facebook, Twitter and other websites, compiled a blacklist with more than 300 names and asked foreign airlines to block those on the list from boarding Tel Aviv-bound flights.'
In New York Times Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said that the Israeli authorities had followed the activists’ plans and compiled the list of undesirables by tracking the Web sites and social networking of the organizations involved.
“We did not need the Mossad,” Mr. Palmor said, referring to Israel’s intelligence agency. “It was all out there in the open.”
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/social-media-used-by-israel-to-detain.html
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