[ 04/05/2010 - 11:49 AM ]
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The Shin Bet security service has admitted in an affidavit to the High Court of Justice that it has been conducting surveillance of a left-wing Australian activist living in Israel.
Bridgette Chappell, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, arrived in Israel in August 2009 and went to live in Bir Zeit, near Ramallah.
She took part in protests against Israeli occupation practices against the Palestinian people in general and the establishment of the separation wall in particular and was arrested in Bir Zeit at the beginning of February together with another activist, a Spanish citizen.
Chappell's lawyer, Omer Shatz, petitioned the High Court, which had meanwhile issued a temporary order allowing Chappell to remain in Israel. The petition argues that Israel has no jurisdiction in matters pertaining to population administration in Area A, which is under Palestinian civilian and military control, and therefore Chappell's arrest was illegal.
"We are pleased that the state has finally admitted that it is the authority in Area A, as if the Oslo Accords have disappeared, and that the 'bantustan' known as the Palestinian Authority has no significance. This straightforward position will certainly interest the U.S. secretary of state, in light of the start of proximity talks," Shatz told Hebrew daily Ha'aretz.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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