Israel prepares for pro-Palestinian activists at airport

CNN
Kareem Khadder

Israeli security forces are preparing to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists expected to arrive at the country's main international airport beginning Sunday to protest Israel's policies in the occupied West Bank.

"Israeli Police will be implementing measures inside and around Ben Gurion airport from the weekend in order to deal with the arrival of activists into the country," Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told CNN .

Activists for "Welcome to Palestine 2012 " one of the pro-Palestinian groups organizing what has been dubbed a "fly-in" event, said some 1500 to 2000 activists mainly from Europe, the United States, and Canada would board civilian flights for Israel in order to make their way to various events in Bethlehem and other West Bank cities.

Organizers say they are trying to draw attention to what they claim are prejudicial Israeli border policies that force many international visitors coming to Palestinian areas to lie about their destinations.

"We believe, like prisoners in prisons, we are entitled to receive visitors and Palestinians under Israeli occupation are also entitled to receive visitors," said event coordinator Mazin Qumsiyeh. "So we are entitled to get international visitors to come and visit and show solidarity with us to learn about the situation, but Israel chooses to prevent these people from coming,"

Last year organizers staged a similar event and Israel authorities detained and deported dozens of activists who entered the country.

On Tuesday Israel's public security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch called activists "provocateurs" and told Israeli news portal Ynet they would "be dealt with in a determined and quick way," adding that "If they arrive in Israel they will be identified, removed from the plane, their entry into Israel will be prevented and they will be moved to a detention facility until they are flown out of Israel."

Iran Officials Put On Travel Blacklist By U.S., Britain and Canada

Free Internet Press

Britain, the U.S. and Canada have approved a new round of travel restrictions targeting the Iranian regime, including members of the judiciary and prison officials.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Friday that the punitive measures were aimed at individuals associated with Iran's nuclear program as well as those involved in the violation of human rights in the country.

"The U.K. is working closely with its partners to prevent a wide range of individuals connected with Iran's nuclear enrichment and weaponization programs from entering our countries. These include scientists, engineers and those procuring components," Hague said in a statement.

"We are also taking action against more Iranians who have committed serious human rights abuses, including government ministers, members of the judiciary, prison officials and others associated with the Iranian government's brutal crackdown on its people since the disputed elections of 2009."

Britain has not released the names of the 50 individuals on the blacklist but it is believed that judges and prison officials who participated in the detention of human rights activists, including those involved in the sentencing of prominent lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to 11 years in jail, are affected by the travel ban.

The European Union has already imposed travel bans on 32 Iranian commanders, judges and prison officials who have committed human rights abuses but Britain's Foreign Office said the new move was aimed at extending the previous list by adding 50 new individuals from various governmental bodies including Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior.

Prosecutors, prison staff and members of the security forces, including the powerful Revolutionary Guard and the police, are also believed to have been hit by the new travel curbs.

Hague insisted Iran "continues to seek equipment and components from around the world for its illicit nuclear program" and said: "The message to the Iranian government from the U.K. and its partners is clear: it needs to change its behavior before it will be treated as a normal member of the international community."


The Foreign Office believes the Iranian government has supported the repression of pro-democracy protesters in Syria and said some of those from Iran's ministry of intelligence who were banned from traveling to the U.K. had played a role in the suppression of Syrian demonstrations.

Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, was among those banned from entering the European Union but his travel restriction was lifted after an intervention by the European Union in the hope of a nuclear agreement with Iran. Critics of the E.U.'s move say Salehi's travel ban was lifted because Germany wanted to secure the release of two German journalists imprisoned in Iran.

In reaction to the coordinated action of the U.K., the U.S. and Canada, Potkin Azarmehr, an Iranian blogger based in London, said: "Travel ban on Islamic Republic officials was thought to be one of the effective sanctions which did not harm the people in Iran. If those listed are still able to travel [a reference to Salehi] and receive exclusion because of their positions it will make a whole mockery of the travel ban sanction. The way to get round this sanction for the Islamic Republic will simply be to promote those on the travel ban."