ACT NOW: US WOMAN NABBED BY ISRAELI SOLDIERS

ACT NOW: US WOMAN NABBED BY ISRAELI SOLDIERS
by Morgan Guyton 1:33pm Fri Feb 21 '03
morgan [at] mutualaid.org

Susan Barkley of Seattle, Washington was abducted by Israeli forces outside of Nablus, Palestine yesterday. She is being held communicado. Susan is a member of the International Solidarity Movement.
Dear DC Antiwar Community,

If I were still in DC, I would be in 24-hour vigil in front of the Israeli Embassy right now. Please read this and act as you feel led. - Morgan Guyton

Susan Barkley of Seattle, WA, was unlawfully arrested yesterday in Nablus where the Israeli army has been ferociously demolishing houses and firing indiscriminantly into neighborhoods the last three days. Susan co-founded the Women's Resource Center at Notre Dame University and graduated cum laude. She subsequently went into the Peace Corps to work as a teacher in Guinea for 27 months. Her interest in Palestine was sparked by six months of study her senior year at the Tantur Ecumenical Center in Bethlehem where Muslims, Jews, and Christians come together to talk about peace and conflict resolution. She has been a peacekeeper in Nablus for 8 months.

THE US EMBASSY IN TEL AVIV HAS REFUSED TO MAKE ANY INQUIRIES ON SUSAN'S BEHALF!!! To take action, please call the US State Department's Near East Bureau at 202-647-5150. The following four points should be made:
1) We ask that they call the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and order them to inquire on Susan's behalf.
2) We ask that the US Embassy in Tel Aviv insure that Susan's human rights are respected at all times as we have record of human rights abuses in the Israeli prison system.
3) We ask that the US Embassy in Tel Aviv insure that Susan's right to a fair trial in Israel is respected.
4) We ask that the US Embassy in Tel Aviv tell Israel to stop sabotaging the efforts of international peacekeepers to insure that Palestinian's human rights are respected.

Please take down the name of whomever you talk to and ask when you should call back later that day to find out Susan's situation. If they are rude to you, let them know they will be hearing from many more of us.

Below is the story from Nablus for context:

[FROM MICHAEL SHAIK, ISM MEDIA COORDINATOR IN BEIT SABOUR, PALESTINE]
Today in Nablus the Israeli Army continued its campaign of terror and vandalism against the Old City.

All of the 12 ISM activists based in the city (from Sweden, Switzerland,, Palestine, Ireland, South Africa, the UK, Denmark and the USA) were active around the city escorting people who were fleeing their homes to other parts of the city, working with Palestinian UPMRC (first aid) volunteers to rescue the injured, visiting houses and buildings that had been ransacked or demolished by the Israeli occupying army and following groups of Israeli soldiers who had taken Palestinians with them as human shields in their house to house terror campaign.

With the coming of daylight the activists were also able to investigate an explosion they heard the previous night. When they did so they discovered that the Israelis had demolished an historic Turkish bath-house - part of Israel's ongoing campaign against the Palestinians' cultural and historical heritage. During the day two more demolitions were carried out. One of demolitions was of a goldsmith's store (where the soldiers found acid, which they concluded might be used in the manufacture of bombs).

As they surveyed the Old City the activists discovered that throughout entire neighbourhoods there was not one house that had
not been trashed and that many had "rat holes" blown through the walls.

Several homes throughout the city were occupied by the invading troops including that of the long term Israeli peace activist, Neta Golan who is nine months pregnant and now has two of her Palestinian brothers in law being used as human shields by the Israeli occupiers. The two men are among seven Palestinians civilians who have been forced to march in front of a Israeli troops during their house to house searches. The weather throughout the West Bank has been cold and wet today. When the soldiers are conducting a house search or occupying a house the activists are made to stand outside. When the soldiers retired to Neta Golan's house for the evening the men were made to stand outside in the rain until 8.30 when the soldiers took them inside. No one has been able to contact them or gather any information on how the men are being treated.

Tomorrow, the ISM is having a strategy meeting of its core activists in Beit Sahour. When its two representatives from Nablus were leaving for the meeting through the Huwarra Checkpoint, one of the soldiers stopped Susan (from the United States).

"You're a trouble maker," he said to her before confiscating her passport. "You're not going anywhere."

When the other activist, Robin (from South Africa), refused to leave without her, his passport was taken too and both were detained at the checkpoint until the border police arrived to arrest them.

When Susan phoned through the news of their arrest I contacted the US consulate to inform them of her situation but they hung up on me. With some difficulty I was able to let the South African consulate know about Robin's situation and they are considering a lodging a formal protest to the Israeli government.

When the border police arrived they took Susan and Robin to the police station at Arael Settlement and interrogated them both. After an hour Robin was released and taken to a bus stop at the settlement from where he intends to catch a bus to Tel Aviv. Susan is still in custody.

If you want to help Susan continue her humanitarian work in Occupied Palestine over the coming months, you can contact the US consulate in Tel Aviv on +972 3 519 7575 and demand they do their job by intervening to ensure that Susan not be deported so that she can continue her humanitarian work in the Occupied Territories.

http://www.palsolidarity.org