6/18/04: At a hearing yesterday, a judge upheld Israel's denial of Brooke Atherton's entry into Israel and she was sent to Italy. She says: "Ultimately, Israel's denial of my entry to the country as someone who is in solidarity with the Palestnian struggle is just a shadow of its much greater oppression of Palestinians, both through Israel's denial of over 5 million Palestinian refugees right to return to their homeland and Israel's harsh repression of Palestinian resistance to Israel's illegal operation. But as always the struggle goes on, while we were in the detention center, each night on the Israeli news, we were inspired by footage from Palestinian demonstrations against the razing of Palestinian farmland for the construction of Israel's Annexation Wall." 6/17/04: Update: Israeli authorities attempted 3 times today to get Brooke to get into airplanes, but she resisted. If she is made to get on a plane, her current plan is to travel to Italy to await her trial.
June 16th: Bay Area resident Brooke Atherton is being held by Israeli authorities. She is enrolled in an Arabic language class that is offered by Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem but is being denied permission to attend the course. Israeli authorities have refused to give any reason for her deportation and Israeli courts have refused to issue an injunction to allow her to remain in the country pending a court hearing, according to her lawyer, Yael Berga. As of 11:45pm on Wednesday June 16th, Brooke had not been put on a plane out of Israel. However, supporters said that at that time they were unable to contact her or to find out what the Israeli authorities planned to do with her. List of US and Israeli authorities whom concerned people can call to find out more info or pressure for her release.
Brooke Atherton's previous reports from occupied Palestine: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Other writings about Palestine by Brooke Atherton: Palestine Will Be Free | Nablus Web