Yet another sign of Israel’s fear of nonviolent activism and journalism: The two leaders of a Christian Peacemaker Team to Israel/Palestine were deported by Israel 3 weeks ago following an interrogation. On Earth Peace reports that the two were repeatedly asked, "What’s the purpose of your trip to Israel?" And it says that the purpose was to acquaint team-members with the realities of the "nonviolent movement" for Palestinian human rights. CPT delayed this report till all members of the team had finished their tour. From CPT’s report:
On the weekend of 2-3 January, Israeli security officials denied entry to Bob Gross, executive director of On Earth Peace, and Alice Bartlett [pseudonym; she seeks to return] after holding and questioning them for more than twelve hours. The two had come into Israel four days before a CPT delegation they were scheduled to lead arrived, in order to set up appointments and make further plans for the delegation’s twelve days in Palestine and Israel.
After locking up Gross and Bartlett in Ben Gurion’s airport jail for the night, the Israeli authorities deported the two to the United States and barred them from entering Palestine or Israel again for ten years. The remaining thirteen delegates arrived safely in Jerusalem on Wednesday, 6 January 2010. A member of the At-Tuwani team took over leadership of the delegation for the next twelve days.
From his home North Manchester, Indiana, Bob Gross reflected on the interrogation and deportation experience.
"During our time being held with Israeli security, we saw many other people coming under additional questioning as well. Almost all those pulled aside were people of color. Most were of Arab and African descent. We’re clear that Alice’s Egyptian heritage as well as her photographic documentation of Palestine via the internet were motivating factors in their decision to deport us. In addition to this racism, there is also the Israeli government’s fear of anything that seems to value Palestinian equality or human rights, which means that those of us who are committed to nonviolent peacemaking are considered a threat."
This fifth annual Middle East delegation co-sponsored by On Earth Peace and Christian Peacemaker Teams is, according to the delegation’s blog,
an immersion in the realities of the current moment in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What are those realities? A nonviolent movement is on the rise, again; this week, over a thousand international activists attempted to enter into Gaza from Egypt, bearing humanitarian and medical aid. A separation wall continues to be built by Israel, dividing Palestinian families and communities and taking Palestinian land. Israelis live in fear of suicide bombers. Many Palestinians who live under blockade and military occupation continue eking out daily life without access to safe water, medical care, or basic foods. Some Israelis and Palestinians who are weary of decades of bloody conflict are creating nonviolent pathways to resolving the situation.
In the last year, the Israeli government has made entering Palestine and Israel increasingly difficult for internationals. Two full-time CPTers from the At-Tuwani team were denied entry this autumn.
