SF Jewish Activist Arrives After Refusal from Israel

SAN FRANCISCO Jamie Spector, local social worker and Palestinian rights advocate, returns to San Francisco Tuesday, August 3 after spending 13 days in detention in Israel while unsuccessfully appealing Israel's decision to deny her entry. Upon her arrival, she will appear at a press conference at San Francisco International Airport with local support groups.

Spector had intended to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a nonviolent resistance group that challenges Israeli occupation forces and policies using civil disobedience methods. Several other ISM activists have been turned away recently, but Spector's case is unusual because she is Jewish, which opened the question of whether it is legal under Israel's Right of Return law to refuse entry to a Jew. Spector is considering an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court.


PRESS CONFERENCE INFO:

Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2004

Time: 1:30 p.m.

Place: SF Airport, International Arrivals Terminal (between exits A & G)

Representatives of the following organizations will also be available for questions:

San Francisco Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee

Bay Area Justice in Palestine Coalition

Jews for a Free Palestine

International Solidarity Movement Support Group in Northern California


CONTACT INFO: Eric Romann, 415/637-3779, coach [at] riseup.net

FURTHER BACKGROUND INFO:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/14/MNGBS7L5V71.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/17/EDGSI7MUGM1.DTL

http://www.adcsf.org (Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee)

http://www.palsolidarity.org (International Solidarity Movement)

http://www.renouncealiyah.us (Jews for a Free Palestine)



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