Israel to Deport Eight International Peace Activists
Today Tel Aviv District Court Judge Nissim Yeshaya upheld the deportation orders of eight International Peace activists
who were working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Of the eight activists, Tobias Karlsson (SWEDEN),
Tarek Loubani (CANADA), Fredrick Lind (DENMARK), Bill Capowski (USA), Daniel Knutsson (SWEDEN), Alex Perry (UK), Saul
Reid (UK) and Thomas Pellas (FRANCE) four were arrested on July 9 while at a camp on Palestinian land in the village of
Arrabony near Jenin slated to be confiscated by Israel for the building of the separation wall, and four on July 10
while helping to remove roadblocks near the city of Nablus calling attention to the restrictions on Palestinian freedom
of movement under the occupation.
They were subsequently issued deportation orders by the Ministry of the Interior. The Israeli military has claimed that
the ISM and all peace activists are a security threat and the lawyer for the state used this as the argument for why the
activists should be deported.
No evidence as to the illegality of the defendants' actions was presented. Signed affidavits that the presence and work
of ISM is important were submitted by prominent Israeli organizations and individuals such as Bat Shalom, MK Yossi Sarid
and several Israeli professors. The judge sided with the state lawyers saying that under Israeli law the Ministry of the
Interior has unlimited power to deport and revoke visas of internationals.
The policy of punishing international peace activists without any evidence other than labeling them a security threat is
an expansion of Israel's policy of using administrative detention to punish Palestinians the military labels a security
threat.
Currently there are over 1,000 Palestinians being held in administrative detention after having secret evidence used
against them. Administrative detention is an indefinitely renewable six months of captivity. Many Palestinians have now
been held in detention for years without any charge or knowledge of when they might be released.
After the ruling, a lawyer for the eight defendants requested a one- week stay on the deportations to allow time to file
an appeal. The request was denied. Two Israeli citizens were also arrested with one of the groups of activists. Both
were released without charge. Some of the activists reported being kicked and otherwise abused while interrogated after
the arrests and at least one was severely beaten after they stopped eating in protest two days ago.