PRESS RELEASE - BRITISH CITIZENS ARRESTED AT NONVIOLENT DEMONSTRATION IN AL MASRA’A NOW RELEASED


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Three British women, arrested at a demonstration at Al Masra’a al Qibliya on Friday 26th were released late last night after being detained for over thirty hours.

The women, Sarah Cobham, Caroline Bailey and Kate Harrison, were arrested after participating in a demonstration about the seizure of land in Al Masra’a. Protesters were fired at with live ammunition by settlers, soldiers also fired off live rounds. The women were ‘detained’ by an armed settler while trying to leave the demonstration.The settler shot at the women, ran after them, pushed them up against a wall, pointed a gun at them and threatened to kill them.When Israeli soldiers arrived by they did nothing to stop the assault by the settler. The women were kept in the ‘punishment block’ of Ramla women’s prison close to Tel Aviv and released after a closed hearing at the Ministry of the Interior in Jerusalem.

Sarah Cobham, 42, one of those arrested said “During my arrest I was afraid for my life. Throughout my detention the prison guards were uncooperative and sadistic. During my time in Palestine I have seen the heartache on the faces of the families of many Palestinian ex-prisoners and the hollow looks in the eyes of those who have been incarcerated, as they have told me their stories of humiliation and degradation. Sitting in a prison cell, with no way of contacting the outside world, I began to grasp the enormity of what they had been telling me.”

The demonstration was against the seizure of 500 Dunams of land from Al Masra’a. The was the latest to be seized and incorporated into a collection of settlements known as Talmund B. In total 14 000 dunams of land have been expropriated from the village.

The Israeli state’s case is that the land had been confiscated as ‘uncultivated’ land in the eighties but the villagers knew nothing about this until the recent confiscation.

This phenomenon of confiscating so-called ‘uncultivated’ Palestinian land is widespread and often results in the annexation of the land by the illegal Israeli settlements. It is important to note that this is a process being sanctioned by the State of Israel.

Settlers from Talmund B had planted the land with grape vines in the last three monthts despite an ongoing legal challenge brought by the villagers.
Ten members of the Brighton-Tubas Friendsip and Solidarity Group joined the villagers in marching to the confiscated land. They reached the area where a barbed wire fence marked the boundary of the stolen land.
Approximately 50 people crossed the fence and started to remove the grape vines from the land. Also the pipes that take the stolen water were partially destroyed. The demonstrators were fired on with live ammunition despite the presence of young children in the crowd. The three women were arrested as they were leaving the demonstration and later charged with ‘attending an illegal demonstration’ and not leaving when an order was given and ‘damaging a barbed wire fence’. They were released with conditions not to return to the occupied territories.

For more details or interviews contact Tom Hayes on 07846506710 or Sarah Cobham on +972525029690

photos and video available

email  

Personal account of time spent in detention:

 http://www.brightonpalestine.org/blog/?p=211

Personal account of the demonstration at Al Masra’a

http://www.brightonpalestine.org/blog/?p=208

More details about Al Masra’a Al Qibliya:

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/10/26/action-alert-non-violent-demonstration-at-al-mazra-al-qiblya-to-protest-illegal-confiscation-of-palestinian-land/

www.brightonpalestine.org/blog

NOTES FOR JOURNALISTS

1.The Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity group is a grassroots network aimed at fostering and strengthening links between grassroots groups in Tubas, Palestine and Brighton, UK.

2. 10 people from Brighton arrived in Palestine on October 20th. The delegation includes students, health workers and representatives from Brighton branches of Amnesty International and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The group will contact grassroots organisations like the Tubas Red Crescent, agricultural cooperatives, students’ unions, Tubas Women’s Group and local trade unions.

3. Over the Summer the group helped to fund and sent volunteer to build a school in Tubas region in defiance of Israeli military restrictions on building. The Israeli army recently issued a demolition order on the school.

4. Sussex University Students Union twinned with Al Quds Open University in Tubas in June this year. The city branch of UNISON in Brighton and Hove is twinned with a union branch in Tubas.

5. A nurse from Brighton is planning to travel to Tubas to work as a volunteer.

One Response to “PRESS RELEASE - BRITISH CITIZENS ARRESTED AT NONVIOLENT DEMONSTRATION IN AL MASRA’A NOW RELEASED”

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