June 5, occupied Palestine – Israeli authorities have processed Irish citizen, and UK resident, D. Murphy (70) without allowing her legal counsel nor informing her lawyer of the proceeding.
Murphy, originally from Cork and based in Swansea since the early 80s, has been held in custody since June 1 when Israeli authorities issued an unjust deportation order which she has decided to fight. She was initially held at Ben Gurion Airport and was moved to Givon Prison in Ramla on Tuesday. According to the deportation officer, authorities had up to 96 hours to bring her in front of a Detention Review Tribunal to review the case and take further steps.
Yesterday, Murphy was brought to a hearing with neither legal representation nor notification to her lawyer, despite Murphy’s request and despite the lawyer’s multiple attempts to reach her through the prison service. Murphy informed her family, via a phone call she was allowed to make, that she was deliberately given the wrong number for her lawyer. The last time Murphy was able to speak to the lawyer was on Monday, and as of today we still do not know the outcome of the hearing. These tactics of denying legal advice are not new to activists standing in solidarity with Palestinians as Israeli authorities continue to act with impunity.
Murphy, who has been involved in Palestine solidarity for over two decades and has a long history of community organising, was arrested with Swedish citizen Susanne Björk – also a UK resident – on May 31 for the sole crime of standing in solidarity with Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta who are facing the ongoing, escalating threat of ethnic cleansing through the Zionist agenda to expel Palestinians from the West Bank. They were accused of being in a military area and removed while Israeli settlers were allowed to remain and continue to harass Palestinian residents.
A spokesperson for the ISM said: “Israel labels indigenous Palestinians, their supporters and those who tell the truth about the genocide unfolding in occupied Palestine as criminals, and uses force to silence and remove them from occupied Palestine. In order to achieve Israel’s illegal colonial ambitions, the same unjust system that has detained our friends Björk and Murphy in order to deport them, is targeting and murdering Palestinians, including journalists, health care workers and educators, en masse in Gaza.
“While our friend Murphy remains detained, it is little in comparison to the 10,400 Palestinian political prisoners who are being starved and tortured in Israeli jails. At least 80 prisoners have been killed in Israeli jails since the genocide in Gaza began in October 2023. Meanwhile, the real criminals, such as Benjamin Netanyahu who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as all those who are committing genocide in the service of Israel’s illegal occupation, remain free.”
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