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Published on Friday, April 19, 2002 in the San Francisco Chronicle |
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Israelis Reject Visit From Bay
Area 'Shields' 8 Planned to Witness Events in Territories |
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by Ilene Lelchuk |
| Eight Americans, most from the Bay
Area, who tried to reach the Palestinian territories this week to act as
"human shields" were turned away at the Tel Aviv airport by Israeli
officials, relatives and friends said yesterday.
The eight had boarded an Air Canada flight Tuesday from San Francisco International Airport and were promptly detained by Israeli officials upon touching down early Wednesday. Stream Weir, daughter of traveler Alison Weir of Sausalito, said her mother called to say the group was scheduled to be deported back to the United States last night. "I'm really upset that they are being held without being told why," Stream Weir said. "They weren't going to do anything wrong. They were just going to be eyes." In interviews before they left, the travelers refrained from calling themselves pro-Palestinian. But they said they wanted to see firsthand the effects of Israel's hunt for terrorists and the military occupation of Palestinian territory. They also hoped their presence in Palestinian homes, hospitals and on the streets would discourage the Israeli army from attacking those locations for fear of killing Americans. The trip was well publicized, with Alison Weir giving interviews on radio and television, which might explain why Israeli officials were on the lookout for them at the airport. An official of the U.S. Embassy in Israel confirmed that eight Americans had been detained Wednesday. The Israeli Consulate in San Francisco did not return calls. The group was pulled together by Iman Farajallah of Daly City, who said she grew up in a refugee camp in Gaza and still has family there. Farajallah, who did not travel along, created the Muslim Grassroots Protection Program after Israel began its military assault on suspected terrorists in Palestinian towns and villages. She has been recruiting other activists for another trip to the Palestinian territories in May. "It seems critical that some American citizens be there on the ground to participate in nonviolent actions," Alison Weir, 54, said before leaving the Bay Area. "Our massive amount of tax money sent to Israel that literally has no strings attached . . . is preventing peace from being reached." The travelers were an eclectic mix. Weir is a community journalist. Regina Carey, 50, of Terra Linda, described as herself as a civil rights activist working for a high-tech firm. Others were artists and political activists. The travelers received little or no training and had few plans except to meet with a peace activist group called International Protection Program for Palestinians, also known as the Solidarity Movement. They were told the group would train them and shuttle them to Palestinian territories. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle |
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