The following press release offers an update on the Israeli civil disobedience campaign to illegally transport Palestinian women and children into Israel to enjoy the beach. Although many Palestinians living under occupation live just miles from the Mediterranean, Israeli law prevents them from traveling freely. These actions were inspired by reporter Ilana Hammerman who planned the first of such trips and wrote about it in Ha’aretz. The press release follows:
300 Academics Join 40 “Civil Disobedience” Women Willing to Break Israel’s Entry Laws
About 300 lecturers and teachers from institutes of higher education throughout Israel have signed a public advertisement in support of civil disobedience actions of a group of women who openly infringe the law of entry to Israel. The academics put their full names in an advertisement which was published in Ha’aretz newspaper last Friday, 17 June 2011, next to an advertisement – the third in recent months – published by the women’s group called “Civil Disobedience”. (For the advertisement itself, see attachment.) The women, who have all been investigated by Jerusalem police and who now have official criminal records, called for the Israeli public to join them in their protest activity which consists of driving Palestinian women and children for a day at Israeli recreational sites and the beach. These actions come in the wake of writer and translator Ilana Hammerman’s initiative, who started publicizing such activities last year.
“We recognize neither the legality, nor the morality, nor the wisdom of the walls between us and our neighbors which have been erected with brute force,” stated the group in its advertisement.
Alongside the women’s statement, a support letter from the academics appeared, including the following words:
We, the undersigned women and men, state that we are willing to collaborate with the actions of the “Civil Disobedience” women. In these dark hours, we are willing to drive their guests, Palestinian women and children, to hide them and to support their challenge in any other way, whether in deeds or in words. The action of these women shows the right way for any Israeli citizen who truly supports a democracy respectful of human rights. Should Israel’s legal system find it appropriate to prosecute and penalize these women we shall be willing to support them, to join them and to be tried alongside them.
