FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
At 01:15 on Thursday morning, Andrew Macdonald, a Human Rights Worker from the ISM, refused deportation from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. The refusal is a protest against the State of Israel’s policy of deporting Human Rights Workers from the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
After the refusal, a police officer from the Special Operations Unit, threatened Andrew, saying that they were going to drug him and use handcuffs and leg shackles to force him on the next available plane. They also threatened to put him in jail for two months if he would not comply. Currently, Andrew is being held at the Tzohar Detention Center near the Rafah crossing to Gaza.
The arrest took place last Thursday at 15:00 in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. Andrew had just finished escorting Palestinian children to school. ISM together with the Tel Rumeida Project provides an international presence in Tel Rumeida that supports the daily Palestinian non-violent struggle against attacks from Hebron’s violent settler community.
Andrew Macdonald’s own comment is: “Something very odd is happening here. In order to eject people from Israel, they are snatching people out of Palestine, and forcing them into Israel. It’s not for Israelis to decide who can stay in Palestine, it’s for Palestinians to decide.”
For more details:
ISM Media Office +972 2 297 1824
Tel Rumeida Project www.telrumeidaproject.org