Palestinian peace activists prevented passage to leave the country

Tuesday November 25, 2008 20:02 by George Rishmawi

The Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) manager Nidal Abu Zuluf was rejected passage through the King Hussein (aka Allenby) bridge going to Jordan, as to fly to Egypt for attending the Christian Aid partners meeting, a statement by the JAI said.

“The Israeli border authority officers refused Nidal's passage and forced him to return home and meet their intelligence office later,” the statement added.

Apparently, Abu Zuluf, a resident of Beit Sahour, was summoned to an interview with the Israeli security forces upon his return from Jordan last September.

He went according to the set appointment; however, they refused to meet him after waiting more than five hours.

Abu Zuluf had to hand in his Identification card upon arrival to the Gosh Etzion military base and settlement south of Bethlehem.  He could not leave until his ID card was given back to him and was informed that they were closed for the day.

He travelled again, and on his way back, he was stopped at the Israeli terminal and given another appointment to meet the intelligence in the same place.  Going there the second time, he was told that it was the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and that he should come later.

Israel controls all the entrances and exits to the Palestinian Authority areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

bethlehem | human rights | news report george at imemc dot org