Latest news with #SusanneBjork
Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
70-year-old Irish woman detained in Israel as son urges authorities to ‘send her home'
LONDON: The son of a 70-year-old Irish woman detained by Israeli authorities has issued a plea for her release, citing urgent concerns over her health and wellbeing, The Independent newspaper reported on Friday. Deirdre Murphy, an Irish activist originally from Cork and now based in Swansea, was arrested last week in the West Bank village of Khalet Al-Daba'a, which was recently demolished by Israeli bulldozers. She remains in custody at the Givon Prison in Ramla after choosing to challenge a deportation order issued against her, The Independent added. Her son, Dale Ryan, called on Israeli authorities to ensure that she is treated 'with dignity and respect' and urged them to 'send her home quickly,' adding that he is 'really proud' of his mother. 'Israel is meant to be a civilized country, so you think (the detainees') basic rights would have been met. But maybe that trust is a little bit misguided,' Ryan told The Independent. Ryan said that Murphy suffers from bronchiectasis, a long-term condition that causes inflammation of the airways in the lungs. 'Stress can make symptoms worse as well,' he said. 'So I am a little bit concerned. I just hope my mother's in good health, but also my mother is quite a resilient person. I know she will gain strength from this.' Murphy was detained alongside Swedish national Susanne Bjork, 48, who told the newspaper that the pair were denied access to a toilet during their initial detention. 'Who doesn't allow a 70-year-old woman to go to the toilet? It's certainly not something a democratic country would be doing,' Bjork said. She has since been deported from Israel. Israeli police did not respond to the allegation when approached by The Independent. According to the International Solidarity Movement, Murphy has not had legal counsel since Monday. The group also alleges that she was brought to a deportation hearing on Wednesday without legal representation and without her lawyer being notified, despite her request. The two women had been in Khalet Al-Daba'a filming and monitoring settler activity when they were approached by a settler in military uniform, who demanded to see their passports. Bjork said that they were complying with orders to leave the area when they were apprehended. Authorities later accused the women of being in a restricted area and of failing to show ID, allegations the Swedish woman rejects. 'These are completely false accusations,' she said. 'As soon as they told us we were not allowed in the area, we tried to leave. The soldiers had at first our passports, and then the police took our passports. We complied with all instructions.' Video footage obtained by The Independent shows armed Israeli personnel holding the women's passports. The video ends before they were detained by the settler. The women were released briefly on Saturday evening and then detained again after refusing to leave the country voluntarily. Murphy opted to fight her deportation, while Bjork agreed to depart. Bjork added that their treatment in custody stood in stark contrast to the treatment of Palestinians, describing seeing 'two small boys who were blindfolded and zip-tied' brought into the police station. 'They looked about 13 or 14, these boys were obviously terrified. I mean, we were getting water and being fed and everything, so we're very privileged in one way, because the way we were treated and the way Palestinians are treated is wildly different,' she said. A spokesperson for Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed to The Independent that consular assistance is being provided in Murphy's case. Israeli police told the newspaper that the women had been detained on 'suspicion of violating a military order' and were barred from the West Bank for 15 days. 'Over the weekend, police received a report from the security coordinator of the community of Ma'on regarding the presence of several suspicious individuals near a structure in the area of Khirbet Al-Dab'a, located within an active military firing zone near the community of Avigayil in the South Hebron Hills,' they said. 'Officers from the Hebron station, along with IDF forces from the subdistrict, arrived at the scene and identified the individuals as two foreign nationals, who were present within the closed military zone in violation of a standing military order. Information provided by the Judea and Samaria Central Investigations Unit (YAMAR) indicated that one of the suspects are known abroad for involvement in anti-Israel activity. 'Following the hearing on Sunday, it was determined that both individuals would be removed from the country,' the statement continued. 'One of the suspects agreed to the removal order and signed a declaration stating that she would not appeal the decision. The second notified authorities of her intent to file a petition against the decision.' They confirmed Murphy will remain in custody until 'her departure or the legal resolution of her appeal.'
Middle East Eye
6 days ago
- General
- Middle East Eye
Israel deports international activists from occupied West Bank
The Israeli authorities are deporting two international activists who were documenting settler violence against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, in the southern occupied West Bank. Swedish citizen Susanne Bjork and Irish citizen Deirdre Murphy were arrested on 31 May in the village of Khallet al-Daba, where they had been filming settler attacks against its Palestinian residents. The two women, who are both UK residents, arrived weeks after the hamlet had been razed by Israeli bulldozers, in what residents described as the 'biggest demolition' the village had ever seen. Shortly after, settlers raided the village, forcing families out of their homes and establishing an illegal outpost on the edge of the community. Since then, the remaining villagers have been subjected to daily settler attacks. 'Women and children were moving out of their houses because of the harassment,' Bjork told Middle East Eye. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'The settlers come with their sheep and go round the houses terrifying the locals'. On 30 May, while attempting to document this, Bjork was assaulted by settlers who stole her phone. Israel to take full control of land registry in West Bank's Area C, cementing annexation Read More » 'We'd been filming and following them for hours. And then two of them attacked me and robbed me of my phone,' she said. The pair then called the police. Shortly after, Israeli police arrived along with the military, who Bjork said had likely been contacted by the settlers. The police took their statement, and instructed the pair to go to the police station in Hebron the next morning. 'Neither the army or the police said that we weren't allowed to be in the area,' Bjork said. The two women spent the night at the village. The following morning, at around 6:30am, they were awoken by three masked soldiers banging on the door, instructing them to leave as they were in a 'firing zone'. 'They gave us 10 seconds to get out,' Bjork said. The soldiers took their passports and instructed them to gather their belongings and leave the house they were staying in. The two complied, asking for permission to leave the village so they could report to the police station. The soldiers agreed and handed back their passports. But as they were trying to leave, they were stopped by a man driving an all-terrain vehicle, claiming to be a soldier. While he was wearing fatigues, he did not have official Israeli forces insignia on his clothing. 'He wouldn't identify himself, and so we wouldn't give him our passports, but he wouldn't let us continue on to leave the firing zone,' Bjork told MEE. 'He wouldn't let us go back to the soldiers. We didn't know who he was, so I then again called the police,' she said. Tourists documenting war crimes The police arrived and took them to the station where they were detained and interrogated. 'They said that we hadn't shown ID when asked, that we hadn't left the area and complied with instructions,' Bjork said. 'We were asking them, 'What are you doing? These are children.' They said, 'No, they are terrorists - they run too fast"' - Susanne Bjork During their interrogation, two Palestinian boys were brought into the station, handcuffed and zip-tied. 'We were asking them, 'What are you doing? These are children,'' Bjork said. 'They said, 'No, they are terrorists - they run too fast.'' Bjork and Murphy were released that night, but instructed to report to Ben Gurion Airport's immigration authority the next day for a hearing. At the airport, they were told that if they agreed to leave voluntarily, they would be driven across the border to Jordan, but the pair refused as there would be no official paper trail. They were then threatened with 72 hours in detention prior to deportation. 'So they'd already made their minds up about the deportation,' Bjork said. The two were interrogated and told that they had 'intimidated and humiliated police and soldiers'. 'The immigration officer said to me, 'I don't believe anything you're saying,'' Bjork told MEE. Bjork was then told her visa was cancelled, that she was there illegally and was now detained. Bjork opted to get the first flight out, while Murphy continues to be detained in order to contest the order. 'She wanted to stay in detention because we hadn't done anything wrong. The police report was full of inaccurate information and she wants to highlight the injustice of it all'. Days after Bjork and Murphy's arrests, Basel Adra, co-director of No Other Land, an Oscar-winning film about Israel's control of the West Bank, reported that masked soldiers barred international journalists from entering Khallet al-Daba. 'This is just a tactic for the occupation to stop anyone trying to document what's happening to these communities,' Bjork said. 'We were tourists just documenting war crimes,' she added. 'I asked one of the soldiers why they were masked. One of them said 'If we're not masked, it's too difficult for us to travel abroad'. So in effect, they were admitting to committing war crimes.' A new policy Khallet al-Daba has had to contend with years of settler violence. The hamlet is one of 19 Palestinian villages facing demolition in Masafa Yatta, which was designated a 'firing zone' for military practice in the 1980s. In May 2022, despite multiple appeals from residents, the Israeli High Court ruled that Palestinians are not permanent residents, and, in so doing, removed the last legal barriers to their forced transfer. Israeli forces regularly demolish buildings that the authorities say were illegally built in the area, which is home to over 1,000 Palestinian residents. Since Israel's war on Gaza was launched in October 2023, state-backed settler attacks and demolitions have skyrocketed across the occupied West Bank, while illegal settler outposts have proliferated. The Israeli authorities have also increasingly targeted international activists in the occupied West Bank for deportation in the last 18 months. Masafer Yatta: An Israeli firing zone and the ancient Palestinian village fighting for survival Read More » In 2024, far-right Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir created a special task force to 'deal with anarchists who harm state security'. Israeli media reported that the task force was formed in response to US and EU-imposed sanctions against settlers and their illegal outposts. According to an anonymous security official quoted by the Israeli news site Ynet, the targeted 'anarchists' include 'foreign nationals who come here from all over the world straight to the territories and create provocations' against Israeli soldiers. Bjork has been travelling to the occupied West Bank regularly over the past decade, but this is the first time she has faced arrest and deportation. 'We were quite shocked, this seems to be a new policy,' Bjork told MEE. 'Before, you would just get a ban from entering the occupied West Bank'. Murphy and Bjork's arrests follow that of Janet Adyeri, another British activist, in at-Tuwani, another Masafer Yatta village. Israeli police said she had entered a 'closed military zone'. A BBC report said that during her interrogation, 'she was found to have posted anti-[Israeli army] sentiments on social media and to belong to an organisation calling for the boycott of Israel'. Adyeri was deported shortly after. Bjork warned that the arrests of activists and the barring of journalists from the occupied West Bank will reduce scrutiny on the escalating displacement and harassment of Palestinians there. 'The Palestinians are just left to fend for themselves. There really needs to be some international protection for these communities…they are being harassed and attacked every day. And as soon as someone stands in solidarity with them and tries to document it, we are also removed,' Bjork said.
