The facts are still very sketchy. Additionally the difficulty of getting hold of anyone on a weekend in an official capacity to explain what's going on, forced me to send the following e-mail a few hours ago to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Ministry of Interior, and the Israeli Consulate in Chicago, as well as a copy to both of Minnesota's U.S. Senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken:
Dear Israeli and American Embassy in Tel Aviv Officials:We have just received news of the arrests of Minnesotans Sarah Martin and Katrina Plotz by Israeli security officials and nobody here in Minnesota understands what the rationale for this might be.
I and numerous other Minnesotan peace activists have enormous concern that Sarah Martin who is a much beloved and respected, dedicated justice and peace activist, and Katrina Plotz, also a cherished and respected member of the justice and peace community in Minneapolis, are being held in an Israeli jail and threatened with imminent deportation. No one here understands how this could have happened and what the reason for their deportation might be as they came to Israel to learn about the Palestinian people, which have often been concealed from international scrutiny and especially here in the U.S.
We are trying to contact Israeli and American Embassy officials as well as our U.S. Senators in Minnesota Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to demand that their case against deportation be allowed to be heard as soon as possible in court.
I myself just tried to call to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and did talk to someone who put me on hold to talk to the duty official but I could not wait longer than a few minutes due to the expensive long distance charges. Could someone contact me at my home phone number to update me about the facts of the situation involving Sarah and Katrina?
I am also a "citizen journalist" who writes for various on-line news and opinion sites and I have an interest in ensuring that the facts of this international situation are being accurately reported.
I also tried to call the Israeli Consulate in Chicago but was repeatedly cut off by an automated recording system.
Coleen Rowley, Apple Valley, Minnesota
Is it possible that the Minnesotan peace activists' detention and deportation by Israel is just standard procedure since it's no secret that the peace activists sympathized with the Palestinians' plight?
But other peace activist groups, including members of Code Pink, were recently allowed to travel to Israel and even Gaza.
Is the peace activists' detention-deportation the result of some kind of mistaken or overboard intelligence collection like the Homeland Security Reports that, in the lead-up to the Republican National Convention, disparaged various Minnesota peace groups as connected to terrorism? (I'm reminded of the time that the U.S. would not let Cat Stevens into the U.S. as he had mistakenly been put on some terrorism watch list.)
It's hoped that either or both of our Minnesota Senators would take active roles in finding out some basic facts and answers to these questions but of course no one is answering the phones in their offices over the weekend.
If, in fact, it's no longer possible to travel to Israel-Palestine these days if one is is critical of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, shouldn't that travel restriction be made known in advance to all potential tourists?
Coleen, I am hoping Al Franken will take the lead from Minnesota and at least look into this. Amy has become the careful politician since she was elected two years ago and will not even consider obvious abuses in Congo when asked. As for the critical comments below, just keep doing your good work. If there was ever a dedicated, ethical, honest public servant it is you. Keep it up!
Most of the critical comments are from people who probably condone the death of Rachel Corrie.
Thanks also for speaking truth to power in your former job with the FBI.
Additionally, Orly Gil, a representative of the Israeli Consulate in Chicago was interviewed yesterday on The Uptake-AM 950 radio. Some commenters had noted this but Ms. Gil repeatedly stressed the fact that Israel “can deny entry, like any sovereign country, to whoever we would not like to enter the country without supplying any explanation.” Although Gil said she didn’t know the specifics of the case of the Minnesotan women (Sarah Martin and Katrina Plotz) who were arrested and deported upon landing in Tel Aviv this last weekend, she implied that they were “suspected of coming for unlawful activity”. At the end of her interview Gil also made the surprising claim that there is no problem for members of the press wishing to travel into the West Bank or Gaza.
Couldn't it wait until someone (W/O an agenda) actually could report on all questions (who, what, why, when and how) - at least that is how it is done with real reporting.
As you might detect, my concern is with how the dots were connected here by the Israeli security forces identifying the two women as "national security threats". I didn't mention this but in addition to their work in different peace groups, both activists Martin and Plotz were main organizers of the "March on the RNC" in St. Paul last year. Coincidentally a multipage Homeland Security Document entitled "Highway Watch" that was compiled in March 2008 in the lead-up to the RNC "National Security Special Event" was eventually leaked falsely which linked the large peace groups of these activists as connected to terrorism---see my earlier piece: "Why the RNC Commission Report Won't Help Future Planners of National Security Special Events": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/why-the-rnc-commission-re_b_169124.html
With all the expanded secret collection and storage of mistaken and irrelevant data on peace activists coming out, there are just a lot of questions raised as to possible repercussions for Americans' international travel.
True this conflict generates a lot of coverage but that coverage is very biased.
"threat to their national security" is also getting old. Always used to justify unjustifiable actions
That said, at this point in time you and I cannot know why these folks were detained.
Israel is a sovereign state and has the right to take the steps needed. Living in Israel, I know we are not perfect, but I also know that there must have been quite a good reason for these two "Peace activists" to be detained. Yes, I put "peace activists" in quotation marks, as there are way too many who consider themselves for "peace" but take a one-sided stand, without knowing or understanding the facts.
@writerjohnny - US aid the only thing that keeps Israel afloat? Maybe a check on the economic facts of this country will show you a different picture. Yes, I am grateful to the support we receive from the USA, but as an ally of the USA in its fight against terrorism, Israel is the only ally who consistently pay back and for support. Maybe a visit to Israel will open your eyes.
Over the years Isr companies lost billions in contracts vetoed by US.
BTW let's not generalise. Some peace activists are genuane in their attempt to bring sides closer.
Others are there to demonise one side and support the most beligerant elements of the other.
How is that leading to peace?
No country is required to explain this sort of decision. The US itself prevents the entrance of thousands of foreigners and deports other thousands every year.
I.srael is a sovereign country whch takes $3billion from US and depends on US big time, does this make sense? so stop with the charad.e
They would not allow her to take her lap top on the plane(We had to ship it on UPS) like everyone else up in the front of the plane with her. They wanted to strip search her. They wanted to know why someone that spoke no Hebrew would want to go to Israel.
She was going as a guest of the Israeli Police with her university.
If you actually believe this, then perhaps its time to face reality:
Israeli GDP is over 200 billion USD, 2-3 billion of american aid is about 1-1.5% of the GDP, and perhaps 5% of the defense budget (13.3 billion in 2009). Israel can do without it.
And remember much of what Israel received from the US is "loan guarantees" and is re-payed in kind - with Israeli goods and services.
In fact, Israel could easily make it up if they started selling weapons to China or India which current agreements with the US do not allow.
You might want to take up your issue with the Arab countries who receive relatively the same amount as Israel only not in the form of loans without any repayment required.