Christian Peacemakers deported from Israel

Tuesday January 05, 2010 10:27 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Two members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams have been refused entry into Israel, and deported by Israeli authorities.

Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv

One of them told the IMEMC that she was scheduled to be part of a Christian Peacemaker delegation to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, which was planning to meet with Palestinian civil society groups and Christian leaders in the Holy Land.

But she and another member of the group were detained at the Israeli airport in Tel Aviv and denied entry, after a lengthy interrogation.

According to the American peace activist, she was singled out along with all other passengers of Arab descent who were on the flight. After a twelve-hour interrogation and several full-body searches, she was told that she was considered a ‘security risk’ to the state of Israel, and put in a holding cell to await deportation.

While in the holding cell, she met a young woman from Germany whose father was killed while serving in the Israeli military.

The German woman was deported after telling the Israeli border security that she had Palestinian friends in Bethlehem. One of the interrogators told her; “You are Jewish, how can you be friends with an Arab?"

She also said that she believes she was deported because of her Arab roots, and her public statements calling for equal rights for the Palestinian people.

israel | miscellaneous | news report saed at imemc dot org