Hundreds of Israeli police, many undercover, gathered at Ben Gurion airport on Sunday to block the arrival of activists taking part in a "Welcome to Palestine" fly-in, AFP quoted the Israeli police as saying.“We have stationed several hundred police in order to maintain order at the airport," Zionist police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the news agency.
Moreover, the Israeli public radio reported that at least 650 uncover police were deployed in and around the airport with orders “to exercise restraint, but to intercept any troublemakers.”
Organizers of the "flytilla" pro-Palestinian campaign, which is in its third year, had been expecting to welcome up to 1,500 people, more than a third of them from France. However, Israel has been preparing since last week to prevent their entry to the occupied territories.
AFP quoted Sunday organizers of the trip as saying that “a lot of people did manage to board planes and a lot of people have been denied."
"We are expecting 1,500 people from at least 15 countries… but most of them from Europe," campaign organizer Mazin Qumsiyeh said, indicating that they were aware of four carriers which had blocked passengers from travelling.
Also Sunday morning, the Israeli police said four passengers had been detained for questioning after disembarking from an El Al flight from Paris, with Rosenfeld clarifying that they were likely to be deported.
Source: AFP
15-04-2012 - 10:47 Last updated 15-04-2012 - 10:47
Israel Planning to Intercept Pro-Pal Activists at Ben Gurion Airport
Local Editor
The Israeli occupation authorities are mulling a plan to confront foreign activists who will arrive at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday in solidarity with the Palestinians. In order to prevent the coverage of this event through the media, a large Israeli contingent wearing civilian clothes will lay siege to the activists in order to prevent them from leaving the airport.
“Police are planning to intercept them at the airport and prevent their entry into the country. Hundreds of police officers are expected to be stationed at the airport ahead of their arrival, most of them unarmed and clothed in civilian dress”, Haaretz said.
In a similar development, dozens of pro-Palestinian activists were prevented from boarding Israel-bound flights on Friday, due to the fact that their names appeared on a blacklist distributed by the Israeli occupation government to a number of European airlines.
Last July, a similar “fly-in” took place, with over 300 international activists arriving in the Palestinian occupied territories, and 120 detained.
A letter, obtained by Haaretz, was written by Amnon Shmueli of the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Authority to the airlines. The letter threatens punitive steps if the airlines fail to comply with Israeli demands. "A failure to uphold this directive is liable to lead to leveling of sanctions against the airlines." "This is only a partial list, and additional lists will be sent subsequently. There is a high probability that the entry of additional activists will be prevented, whose names we cannot pass on ahead of time," the letter continues.
After receiving the letter, a number of European airlines, including the German airline Lufthansa, contacted activists whose names appeared on the list and notified them that their tickets had been cancelled and would be refunded.
Police expect between 500 and 1,000 activists will attempt to enter Israel from European countries as part of the solidarity action, called "Welcome to Palestine."
"It never crossed my mind that Israel could stop people with British passports leaving British airports," one of the activists, Norma Turner, told the Guardian.
Jet2.com said it was forced to inform Tel Aviv of the passengers’ names, nationalities, dates of birth and passport numbers.
Source: Israeli Media
14-04-2012 - 13:27 Last updated 14-04-2012 - 13:45
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