17June - Update on Brooke Atherton resisting deportation from Israel

Hi all~~

Amazingly enough they just let me talk to Brooke without too much hassle at all. Maybe all of the calls have worn them down or maybe there was a shift change and the hard-core guard went home to sleep.

She asked me to relate a number of things to everyone:

If it's possible to get some press on this, that would be great. And if press is gotten, it's important that her story be put in context of the larger issue so that it's not "about her".

She flew in with 10 others who were there to attend Arabic classes at Holy Land Trust. She thinks that nearly all of the others may have already been deported, possibly because they did not know that they could resist.

One other woman, Beatrice Dewing (possible wrong spelling of last name?) did resist and is being held along with Brooke. Beatrice has had the good fortune of having obtained an injunction against her being deported until such time as her hearing. Her lawyer was able to obtain this for her. Brooke naturally hopes her lawyer will be similarly successful. Beatrice is from Southern California.

Brooke has managed to not get put on an airplane 3 times now (as of Midnight our time and 10 AM Israel time). The first attempt to deport her came at 4 AM last night at which point she was verbally ordered to go. She was on the top bunk of her bed in her cell and she refused to come down and they didn't force her.

They again planned to put her on a plane at a later time, but the plane was too full so that attempt didn't go anywhere.

This morning she physically refused attempts at deportation. She again would not come down off of her top bunk of the bed, at which point they responded by physically pulling her off the bed and putting her in ankle cuffs and hand cuffs. She was then put in a van and transported to the plane. But she refused to get out of the van and the airplane pilots came down and refused to take her onto the plane. I'm not sure if Brooke said the pilot's refusal was because of "the condition she was in" or "the conditions under which they'd have to take her" -- meaning her state of total refusal to participate in the deportation. The pilots also said that they would not take her on board unless she had an Israeli escort and the authorities didn't have an escort so she was brought back to the detention facilities.

She said she'll probably have a few bruises from the dragging and such, but otherwise she's fine physically and they haven't done anything else to her (beyond the dragging) that could be considered physically abusive.

Brooke said that her lawyer is trying to get her an injunction...... or..... she said that she wants her lawyer to try to get her an injunction. I'm sorry for the lack of clarity on this point. She intends to continue to refusing deportation until an injunction and/or a legal hearing are granted her. Even if she's given an Israeli escort, she will still try to resist.

If she is made to get on a plane, her plan at this time is to go to Italy (the place where her connecting flight is for her original ticket) and await her trial.

She did ask me if I could give her a fax number as the embassy told her that they could fax someone information she'd like related, but I didn't have a fax number to give her. If anyone else gets through and has a fax number to give Brooke, she'd appreciate that. I confess I'm not exactly sure what she'll be allowed to fax and to whom she wants to fax it?

~Mary