Jaime Spector has lost her appeal in Israeli Court

This is another attempt to stifle all forms of resistance of the Palestinian people to the war being waged on their right to their land and homes. ISM continues to send people to Palestine, and this will not turn us around.

From Israeli newspaper Haaretz:

A U.S. pro-Palestinian activist lost a court appeal Friday against an order barring her entry into Israel, her lawyer said.


The decision against Jamie Spector, 32, a Jewish social worker from San Francisco, came just two days after another judge overturned a similar ban against a member of the same organization, the International Solidarity Movement.

Spector arrived in Israel on July 10 to take part in protests against the separation barrier Israel is constructing in the West Bank. She has been held in detention since defying the order to leave, said Gaby Lasky.

"I have not, at any time, been involved in anything illegal," Spector told The Associated Press after the ruling.

Lasky said her client was to be deported on Friday.

Tova Ellinson, spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior, said airport officials stopped Spector in accordance with a security recommendation. She declined further comment.

Members of the Solidarity Movement are routinely turned away at the airport. The organization's web site advises travelers to deny their affiliation to the group and make up "a really good story about why you are coming."

In the appeal, Lasky said she argued that Spector should be treated differently because she is Jewish. Jews have an automatic right to immigrate and obtain Israeli citizenship, but they are subject to the same visa and entry regulations that apply to their passports.

Judge Sara Dotan ruled that activists of the Solidarity Movement should be denied entry because their actions disrupt military operations and put soldiers at risk, Lasky said. The ruling did not relate to her Jewish origins.

Another Solidarity Movement activist, Ann Petter, was granted permission to enter Israel on Wednesday, after being held in detention for nearly a month.

Petter, 44, a graphic designer from New York City, was released and allowed to enter the country on condition that she stay at least one kilometer from the security fence and that she not participate in demonstrations.

"There is no reason why I should be denied and she should be allowed in," said Spector, reached by phone at the detention center at Ben Gurion International Airport.

"Palestinians have a legal right to protest, and I have every right to aid them in nonviolent legal actions," she said.

Lasky said she was unaware of any difference between the two cases. An appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court is being considered, she said.

In the past, volunteers of the group have placed themselves between Palestinians and Israeli forces in an effort to prevent the army from carrying out operations.

In March 2003, Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in a Gaza refugee camp while trying to stop soldiers from demolishing a house. Her death was ruled accidental.

British photography student Tom Hurndall was shot in the head in April 2003 and died nine months later. An Israeli soldier is on trial for manslaughter in the shooting.