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Supreme Court Returns Case of Detained American Peace Activist to District Court Judge to View Secret Evidence and Make Further Judgment on Case
[Jerusalem] In a hearing today in Israeli Supreme Court, Judges Barak, Naor, and Adiel returned the case of American peace activist, Ann Petter, who was denied entry to Israel and has been in detention for twenty-two days, to the Tel Aviv District Court. The Judges ruled that the State of Israel must submit secret evidence for District Court Judge Mudrik to view and develop his decision in this matter. The State requested that Petter be held responsible for paying the State’s legal expenses. Petter will remain in detention until her next hearing date, to be announced.
While the State has the right to determine who is allowed into the country, it is yet to be determined whether the State has right to bar entry to people who intend to participate in protests. Moreover, Petter’s case raises questions regarding Israel’s right to bar international peace workers from protesting in Palestinian territories.
Petter participated in a peace march last year organized by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which is a Palestinian-led movement working for Palestinian freedom and an end to the Israeli occupation.
In Petter’s case and others, the State has attempted to delegitimize the ISM by routinely arresting volunteers engaged in non-violent protest and by deporting anyone who the State suspects of being affiliated with the organization. This week, two other peace activists were refused entry and are in State detention in Ben Gurion airport - Christine Grefer, a 46-year-old s ocial studies teacher from Holland and Jamie Spector, 32, a Jewish-American social worker from San Francisco. It is rare for the Jewish state to ban a Jew from entering.
Israeli Member of Knesset, Roman Bronfman, visited the three peace activists to inform them of his efforts to protest the policy of denying ISM volunteers and other peace activists entry into the country. Bronfman has asked for a meeting with the Director of Israel’s Security Services, Avi Dichter.
Contact :
Nirit at +972 54 792 3082
or Ady at +972 54 643 1972
Forum posts
18 July 2004, 05:29
Israel has every right to deny entry to individuals that support the destruction of their country. Ism is a terror-group that is run by the Plo and Arafat. The Arabs who falsely call themselves Palestinians want to murder the Jews and take their homeland. As an American Indian I support the Jews, who are the real indigenous people of Israel, to live in the land God gave them!