Israeli Army raids foreign activists' HQ
REUTERS, 9 May 2003 10 am ET
BEIT SAHOUR, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli troops raided a West Bank headquarters used by pro-Palestinian foreign activists on Friday, detaining three women and taking away computers and files, its director said.
The raid in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, appeared to be part of a crackdown on the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which has deployed dozens of volunteers in West Bank and Gaza combat zones as 'human shields' to protect Palestinians.
Israel said it would adopt tougher policies toward foreign activists after a British suicide bomber and his accomplice attacked a Tel Aviv nightclub last week. The two had entered Israel from Gaza, where they attended an ISM gathering.
The ISM denies the two had any links to the group, which is a thorn in the army's side as it confronts a 31-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood.
Military sources confirmed Friday's raid and said the army would now oblige foreigners entering Palestinian-ruled Gaza to sign a waiver absolving Israel of responsibility for their safety, a procedure already in place for Israeli civilians.
The crackdown also follows the May 2 killing of a British cameraman who was shot in the flashpoint Gaza town of Rafah as he approached Israeli soldiers in the dark.
Ghassan Andoni, director of Beit Sahour's Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, a group that helped found the ISM, said the army sent a truck and 15 vehicles to the center.
'There were three women there at the time, one from the United States, another who I think was also American and a Palestinian,' he told Reuters. 'They (the soldiers) took our servers, laptops and files. I think they thought there were dozens of internationals here.'
Gil Kleiman, an Israeli police spokesman, said two foreigners were detained after violating a military order banning them from the area. He did not give their identities.
Kleiman said information about them would be given to the Interior Ministry after they were questioned at a police station. The ministry is in charge of expulsions from Israel.
The ISM said one of its members was also detained by Israeli forces at the Israel-Gaza border on Friday. Two months ago, an Israeli bulldozer crushed to death American ISM member Rachel Corrie as she tried to block the demolition of a home in Rafah.