We Did What?

This account from the ISM mailing list:

Andrew Muncie from Scotland and Andreas Koninek from Sweden, two peace activists with the International Solidarity Movement, were deported early Wednesday evening. The two men were taken into custody on the 17th August after they chained themselves to a house which the Israeli military had scheduled for demolition.

They lost an appeal against their deportation last Friday after an Israeli judge ruled they had been endangering themselves and the Israeli military. Lawyers for the two men had argued that by trying to stop the house demolition, they were trying to prevent a violation of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits the destruction of civilian homes.

The pro-palestinian crowd always invoke article 33 of the Geneva Convention, which states “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.” But the Geneva Convention arguably does not apply to Israel vis-a-vis the disputed territories since those territories were captured in 1967 as a result of a defensive war against countries which had illegally occupied them since 1948. And even if it did apply (which I strongly reject), article 5 states “Where in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is satisfied that an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.” Most of the demolitions are carried out against the families of suicide bombers who, in a large number of cases, acquiesce to the actions of their terrorist relative, and who are themselves involved in activities hostile to Israel, from more “passive” activities like educating in hate, to more “active” activities like smuggling weapons and driving terrorists to the scene of the crime.

It appears that the Israeli state may have paid for at least one of the activists to return home. Previously, Andrew had told the Israeli authorities that he did not have a return ticket. The fact that he returned to the UK on a flight direct to London (rather than via Amsterdam as per his outward journey)

For the cheap dope to be sure (just a hunch).

…seems to suggest that he has had his ticket paid for him.

Tell me this isn’t true! (And given the ISM’s track record with the truth, this is a possibility) It is bad enough that we allowed this terrorist into our country; now we are paying for him to leave? The ISM should pick up the tab.