Protest marks the historic decision by Swansea Council (Saturday, 9 July 2011)
This 'Flytilla' protest marks the 1st anniversary of the historic decision taken by Swansea City Council last year to bar future contracts with Veolia on the grounds of its illegal activities in the West Bank.
The passing of the resolution was very important in its own right, but we have since discovered that this is the first resolution of its kind to have been passed by any UK authority, in that it makes explicit its reasons for ruling out any future contracts with Veolia. Other authorities have discontinued contracts with Veolia, but have not specified this reason. Swansea City Council is therefore leading the way with what is now seen as a landmark decision.
Veolia had contracts with the authority for local bus, park & ride to the tune of £699k per annum and home school to the tune of £238k per annum.
Swansea City Council approved the following resolution unamended on Thursday June 17th 2010: "The UN not only does not recognise Israel’s annexation and occupation of East Jerusalem, but has repeatedly stated its view that the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank contravene international law, and it has demanded that Israeli settlement activities and occupation should not be supported. The international trading company, Veolia, is a leading partner in a consortium seeking to build a light railway system linking Israel to illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, a project that clearly not only contravenes UN demands but is in contravention of international law.
The passing of the resolution was very important in its own right, but we have since discovered that this is the first resolution of its kind to have been passed by any UK authority, in that it makes explicit its reasons for ruling out any future contracts with Veolia. Other authorities have discontinued contracts with Veolia, but have not specified this reason. Swansea City Council is therefore leading the way with what is now seen as a landmark decision.
Veolia had contracts with the authority for local bus, park & ride to the tune of £699k per annum and home school to the tune of £238k per annum.
Swansea City Council approved the following resolution unamended on Thursday June 17th 2010: "The UN not only does not recognise Israel’s annexation and occupation of East Jerusalem, but has repeatedly stated its view that the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank contravene international law, and it has demanded that Israeli settlement activities and occupation should not be supported. The international trading company, Veolia, is a leading partner in a consortium seeking to build a light railway system linking Israel to illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, a project that clearly not only contravenes UN demands but is in contravention of international law.
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/protest-marks-historic-decision-by.html
Wales on Sunday: 4 Welsh women were “handcuffed and shackled”(Saturday, 9 July 2011)
FOUR Welsh women were “handcuffed and shackled” before being loaded into the back of a van by Israeli security forces yesterday who arrested them as they headed for the West Bank town of Bethlehem.The women were detained as part of a so-called “flytilla” protest in Israel as they landed at the country’s Ben Gurion Airport along with eight other British nationals.
They have been named as Pippa Bartolotti, 57, the deputy leader of the Wales Green Party, Dee Murphy, 56, from Swansea, a founder member of Swansea Palestine Community Link, Fiona Williams, 46, from Mumbles, and Joyce Giblin from Newport.
Read More
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/4-welsh-women-were-handcuffed-and.html
Inside the prison in Israel (Sunday, 10 July 2011)
The foreign activists did not resort to any provocations in prison, maintained orderly behavior and met with consulate officials from their respective embassies.Upon their arrival in prison, the activists met with social workers, a doctor and a paramedic. In line with jail procedures, the foreigners also received toiletries, clothes and bed sheets.
In prison, the activists were separated to male and female wards and held in cells containing six to eight beds. They ate their meals in their cells and were also given some free time to roam in the prison's yard.
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/inside-prison-in-israel.html
BBC radio report on the Swansea women (Sunday, 10 July 2011)
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/bbc-radio-report-on-swansea-women.html
Will the detained resist being deported? (Sunday, 10 July 2011)
The question now being discussed in the prisons is whether the detained campaigners will accept being deported quietly or will they refuse to co-operate with Israel?
The foreign airlines operating in Israel told Israeli newspaper Haaretz they they will have a hard time flying large groups of pro-Palestinian activists who were refused entry into the country back to their destinations of origin.
A senior official for one of the large European carriers told Haaretz on Saturday that "The airlines will have a hard time dealing all at once with large groups of pro-Palestinian activists that Israel wants to deport.
"We're talking about the peak of summer traveling season and the flights are full. We'll have to act accordingly and make different preparations, but first of all, we'll have to receive instructions from the head of the aviation authority in Israel for the deportation of the activists," he said.
"At present, we are unprepared to deal with this, in terms of human resources and in terms of amount of planes," the official added.
The airline official estimated that the massive deportation will begin on Sunday, continuing into the week, and will occur in small groups.
The foreign airlines operating in Israel told Israeli newspaper Haaretz they they will have a hard time flying large groups of pro-Palestinian activists who were refused entry into the country back to their destinations of origin.
A senior official for one of the large European carriers told Haaretz on Saturday that "The airlines will have a hard time dealing all at once with large groups of pro-Palestinian activists that Israel wants to deport.
"We're talking about the peak of summer traveling season and the flights are full. We'll have to act accordingly and make different preparations, but first of all, we'll have to receive instructions from the head of the aviation authority in Israel for the deportation of the activists," he said.
"At present, we are unprepared to deal with this, in terms of human resources and in terms of amount of planes," the official added.
The airline official estimated that the massive deportation will begin on Sunday, continuing into the week, and will occur in small groups.
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/will-detained-resist-being-deported.html
Swansea women facing third night in Israeli Prison (Sunday, 10 July 2011)
As the 2 Swansea women face their third night in an Israeli prison, other campaigners did get past the Israeli barriers. Today Palestinians and international activists tried to force their way through an Israeli checkpoint into the Palestinian town of Bethlehem.
The Ma'an News Agency based in the Palestinian territories reported as follows
Among the protesters were activists who were passengers as part of the "flytilla" that arrived Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport.Israeli soldiers prevented protesters from accessing the area and threatening to shoot anyone who approached the checkpoint, one of the main terminals connecting the occupied West Bank with Jerusalem.
Lawmaker Mustafa Barghouthi demanded the release of the more than 100 activists still held by Israel over their involvement in the "flytilla."
The Ma'an News Agency based in the Palestinian territories reported as follows
Among the protesters were activists who were passengers as part of the "flytilla" that arrived Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport.Israeli soldiers prevented protesters from accessing the area and threatening to shoot anyone who approached the checkpoint, one of the main terminals connecting the occupied West Bank with Jerusalem.
Lawmaker Mustafa Barghouthi demanded the release of the more than 100 activists still held by Israel over their involvement in the "flytilla."
"Israel has widened its circle of repression to include not only the Palestinians but [their] international supporters" as well, Barghouthi said.
Life within the Israeli prison (Sunday, 10 July 2011)
Fiona Williams and D Murphy from Swansea are amongst the 85 people being detained in the Givon immigration detention center in Ramle.
At the time the Israeli government tried to convince McKinney to sign deportation papers, however, McKinney at least initially refused to sign, arguing that she could not be sure of what the papers stated as they were written in Hebrew.We can probably expect the same thing to happen to the Swansea women. Meanwhile today the first group of 36 Europeans have been deported on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. Another group of activists is expected to be deported on Monday on a Geneva -bound flight.
The airlines were upset with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon's comments made to the media to the effect that Israel's diplomatic efforts led to the airlines' cooperation in preventing the entrance of the activists.
"We are a commercial business. The fact that we prevented the activists from boarding the planes is no evidence of our supporting the State of Israel against the activists, or the opposite. Our actions are bereft of any political statement for one side or another," said the manager of a European airline in Israel.
"It's a shame that there are government officials that are exploiting this incident for political points on the backs of the airlines," he added.
http://www.swanseapalestine.org/2011/07/what-is-life-like-within-prison.html
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