Media about Darlene Wallach's kidnapping

Posted on the FGM website on Saturday, 22 November 2008 10:24

Written by Donna Wallach My name is Donna Wallach, I am Darlene Wallach's sister. She was illegally kidnapped at gunpoint by at least 5 armed and masked Israeli Naval commandos on Tuesday 18th November, while accompanying Palestinian fishermen trawling for fish 7 miles off the coast of Deir Al-Balah, clearly within the internationally recognized Gazan territorial waters. Darlene was kidnappen d along with 2 other international Human Rights Observers, volunteering with International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and along with the 15 Palestinian fishermen who were fishing to earn a livelihood for their families. The three trawling boats on whichl the 15 Palestinian fishermen and the three international ISM volunteers were on were also illegally siezed and confiscated and still remain in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Darlene and the other two ISM volunteers are still being illegally detained in Maasiyahu Prison in the Israeli town of Lod. Darlene went on hunger strike to protest the confiscation of the boats and to demand their immediate return to their Palestinian owners. As punishment, her Israeli jailers put her into isolation and took away her cell phone, her only communication with the outside world. She was also informed that she would not be allowed to see her lawyer until Sunday, i.e. Friday and Saturday she would be incommunicado with everyone. Considering that she had had a live interview on Friday with Democracy Now, Darlene made the decision it was better to be out of isolation and have a phone so she would be available for interviews with the press than to be in isolation, so she stopped her hunger strike. Her cell phone is: 972-75-93-144

It is highly important to publicize this illegal kidnapping of an American citizen by the Israeli Navy. It is time the citizens of San Jose see some truth about what is happening here in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The genocidal siege also needs to be highlighted - the borders are closed since 5th November 2008 - all shipments of food, medicine, fuel, wheat, etc. are denied entry. There are daily power outages, many areas are without running water and there is no more bread to be found in the stores.

I am available for any claripfications: cats4jazz @ gmail . com or cell phone: 972-59-88-36-420

regards,
Donna Wallach
Gaza Strip, Palestine

Democracy Now!: U.S. activist detained in Israeli jail condemns blockade of Gaza

To listen to the interview by Democracy Now! with ISM activist Darlene Wallach click here

Israel’s tightened blockade of a million and a half Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is now entering its third week. On Monday the Israeli Navy seized 15 Palestinian fishermen and three international activists off the coast of Gaza. The fishermen were released but the activists remain in an Israeli jail. We speak to Darlene Wallach from inside the Masiyahu prison near Tel Aviv.

Israel’s tightened blockade of a million and a half Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is now entering its third week. Tel Aviv rebuffed calls Thursday from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to re-open the crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid. Israeli government officials cited continuing Palestinian rocket fire as the reason for closing the crossings.

Residents of Gaza are running out of essentials like food, medicines, and fuel as a result of the almost continuous blockade imposed November 4th.

Meanwhile the 15 Palestinian fishermen seized by the Israeli navy off the coast of Gaza were released Wednesday. The three international volunteers accompanying the fishermen however remain in a prison near Tel Aviv.

American Darlene Wallach, Italiani Vittorio Arrigoni, and Scottish Andrew Muncie had arrived by boat into Gaza in late August as part of the first Free Gaza delegation. They remained in Gaza working with the International Solidarity Movement alongside Palestinian fishermen, documenting any harassment by the Israeli navy.

The three internationals are reportedly beginning a hunger strike today to protest their detention. They are also demanding that the Israeli navy release the Palestinian fishing boats they confiscated this week.

U.S. citizen in Israeli detention Darlene Wallach joins me now on the telephone from inside the Masiyahu prison near Tel Aviv.

PRESS RELEASE FROM VITTORIO ARRIGONI

Posted on FGM webpage on Friday, 21 November 2008 14:43

Manifestly violating every human and civil right and against every international law, I spent the last six hours with Andrew locked in a piggish toilette full of fleas and parasites and without drinking water. This was the treatment we received because we announced a hunger strike in order to ask for the restitution of the fishing boats stolen to Palestinian fishermen offshore Gazan coasts when we were kidnapped by Israeli soldiers.

They took away the telephones we were given yesterday by our lawyer but, even more shameful and clearly violating international laws, they prevented us from getting in touch with our lawyers and with our consulates even though Andrew and I asked for it tenaciously many times.

In order to report these regrettable events I had to stop my hunger strike so that I could have back my telephone and pass on this reporting. Based on what I could hear before they separated us, Andrew will keep staying in that cell (absolutely non compliant with every standard of every convention about detention and human rights) as long as he will continue his hunger strike.

The detention I lived today and Andrew is still living can be considered a real torture more than a punishment.

It’s more than probable that Darlene, who is continuing her hunger strike, is suffering the same inhuman treatment.

I’m about to report this seriously severe event to the Italian, the Scottish and the American consulates.

It’s important being constantly informed about mental and physical conditions of our friends.

Tomorrow I will have to turn to urgent medical treatments to cure dozens of bites from insects and parasites which attack me every night leaving my body full of sores.

Vittorio Arrigoni, kidnapped in an Israeli prison in Ramle.

21st November 2008, 6 p.m.

Gaza activists 'on hunger strike'

BBC Friday, 21 November 2008

Three International Solidarity Movement activists detained with 15 Palestinian fishermen off Gaza by the Israeli navy say they have gone on hunger strike.

Briton Andrew Muncie, Vittorio Arrigoni from Italy, and American Darlene Wallach are being held in a prison near Tel Aviv and face possible deportation.

Mr Muncie, from Lochaber, told the BBC their protest would continue until the impounded fishing boats were returned.

Israel said the boats had deviated from the zone where fishing was permitted.

The ISM disputes the allegation, saying the Palestinian vessels were 12km (7 miles) from shore when confronted by the Israeli navy - well within the fishing limits outlined by the 1994 Oslo peace accords.

'Harassment and intimidation'

Speaking to the BBC from prison, Mr Muncie said that for the past two months, he had been going out on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Gaza.

Andrew Muncie said he wanted to remain in the Gaza Strip

On Tuesday, the vessels were operating within the permitted offshore zone when they were boarded by Israeli sailors, he said.

He and two ISM colleagues were arrested, along with 15 Palestinian fishermen. The fishermen were later released but their boats remained impounded, he said.

Mr Muncie said he wanted to remain in the Gaza Strip to continue documenting unprovoked attacks by the Israeli navy.

"Our presence on the fishing boats has in no way provoked a reaction. The Israeli navy do this anyway," he said.

"It's a project of harassment and intimidation to prevent fishermen from reaching the more fertile fishing zones," he added.

Andrew Muncie was detained in 2003 after obstructing Israeli soldiers in the West Bank town of Nablus.

The ISM says it is "committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using non-violent, direct-action methods and principles".

An American on Hunger Strike over Gaza in an Israeli Jail

Afshin Rattansi talks Donna Wallach, sister of Darlene Wallach, captured by Israeli soldiers in Gaza as news comes in of a Scottish solidarity activist transferred to solitary confinement in an Israeli detention center on Friday after he and two others declared a hunger strike.

British citizen Andrew Muncie relayed a message via his jailed colleagues that he has been isolated and his mobile phone confiscated.

Muncie was arrested along with an American, Darlene Wallach, and an Italian Vittorio Arrigoni, along with 15 Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza. The three activists were accompanying the fishermen, who face daily harassment by the Israeli navy.

The three declared a hunger strike on Thursday night, demanding that Israel return three fishing vessels it seized during Tuesdays raid in Gazan waters. The solidarity campaigners say that the Palestinians who own the boats rely on them for their livelihoods.

Human Rights Observers start hunger strike in Israel

Massiyahu Prison, Lida, Israel (20 November, 2008) - Three Human Rights Observers (HRO) with the International Solidarity Movement began a hunger strike today in protest over the illegal confiscation of Paestinian fishing boats by Israel. The three HROs, Darlene Wallach of the U.S., Vittorio Arrigoni of Italy, and Andrew Muncie of Scotland, were forcibly abducted by the Israeli Navy on Tuesday, while accompanying unarmed Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

According to Wallach, “We were fishing about 7 miles off the shores of Gaza. The Israeli soldiers came on board the three boats via four Zodiacs. The frogmen came up and over each boat. They used a taser on Vik while he was still on the boat, then tried to push him backwards onto a sharp piece of wood. He jumped into the sea to avoid being hurt more than he already was and was in the water for quite a while. Then they came for me and forced me into the Zodiac at the point of a gun. They kidnapped me and Andrew and Vik and all of the Palestinian fishermen.”

Israel abducted and later released 15 Palestinian fishermen during the incident, and confiscated their fishing boats. The HROs are refusing to be deported, and refusing to eat, until the boats are returned– undamaged–to their rightful owners in Gaza.

“We R on hunger strike and want 2 go before judge in court. No deportation til boats are returned 2 fishermen,” was the text message sent out from jail by the HROs this afternoon.

At court today, HRO Andrew Muncie asked the judge under what law they had been arrested. According to the judge, their detention was authorized by the Oslo Accords “because it is forbidden by military law for you to fish 7 and a half miles off the coast. It is a no-fishing zone.”

However, the Oslo accords grant Palestinians the right to fish 20 miles off their own coast. When Andrew’s attorney handed a copy of that portion of the Oslo accords to the judge, she had no comment.

On August 23, 2008, Wallach, Muncie and Arrigoni were among 44 participants in the Free Gaza Movement who were aboard the first boats in forty-one years to enter Gaza by sea, breaking the Israeli blockade. They remained in Gaza to participate in human rights activities with the International Solidarity Movement. They have been living and working in Gaza since the summer, providing accompaniment to Palestinian farmers and fishermen, and documenting Israeli human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip.

The three will stop eating tomorrow morning until the confiscated fishing boats are “returned in the condition they were in when the frogmen boarded the boats, with any damage they made repaired.”

Activists on Hunger Strike in Gaza (Brit, Italian, US)

Afshin Rattansi talks to Jenny Linnell in Gaza..
Fifteen Palestinian fishermen and three internationals abducted from Palestinian waters off the coast of Gaza
November 18th, 2008 | Posted in Press Releases, Gaza Region
Gaza City, 10 a.m.- Fifteen Palestinian fishermen and 3 international Human Rights Observers (HROs) were surrounded by the Israeli Navy and taken from their boats 7 miles off the coast of Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip.

The fishermen and the HROs were transferred from 3 separate boats to the Israeli warships. Other Palestinian fishermen reported that the 3 boats were seen being taken north by the Israeli Navy.

The Human Rights Observers are Andrew Muncie, a Scottish British citizen, Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian citizen, and Darlene Wallach, an American citizen. They have been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) since they entered Gaza on ships with the first Free Gaza Movement voyage on the 23rd August 2008. All internationals have previous experience working with the ISM in the West Bank.