Court To Determine On American Solidarity Activist

Court To Determine Deportation Status Of American Solidarity Activist, Ryan Olander.

Monday, 18 January 2009 at 1pm: Court to determine deportation status of American solidarity activist, Ryan Olander.

On Monday, the legal council for Ryan Olander will appeal the decision to cancel his visa and to ensure that the American national is not deported.

Ryan Olander, an American citizen, was arrested during a protest in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. After being held for 24 hours, Olander was released before his court and illegally rearrested by the “Oz” Immigration Police. Israeli authorities have subsequently been attempting to deport the international. Recently, Israeli authorities have used the “Oz” Immigration Police as a means of arresting and deporting international activists from occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Despite the recent actions, Oz only has jurisdiction over individuals without valid visas who are within the border of Israel proper and East Jerusalem. However, as Cohen said, Olander’s visa was canceled only after he was taken to Givon Prison – meaning the Interior Ministry essentially legalized his illegal arrest retroactively

The attempts of the Israeli authorities to deport foreigners involved with Palestinian solidarity work are part of a recent campaign to end Palestinian grassroots demonstrations. Over six internationals have been arrested in this manner, while around ten leading Palestinian organizers have been arrested, including Jamal Juma’, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, Adeeb Abu Rahmah, Wael al-Faqeeh and Mohammed Khatib. In addition, dozens of demonstration participants have been arrested from Bil’in, Ni’lin and Jayyous.

For more information, please contact: Omer Shatz, attorney: 00972 (0)50 754 7079 Itamar Mann: 203 392 4889 Ryan Olander: 00972 (0)54 883 8369 Eva Novakova: 00420 607 442 161 Neta Golan, ISM Media office: 00972 (0)59 8184 169

Ryan was previously arrested on 11 December, during a demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah, along with another two internationals and 24 Israeli citizens. Initially, the Israeli police used a house in the neighbourhood, recently taken over by settlers from the Palestinian al- Kurd family, as a makeshift police station where they detained all arrestees. After that, they were transferred to the Russian Compound, where they were held for over 24 hours before brought in front of the judge. The judge ruled that Ryan, along with the other two international citizens should be released unconditionally and made it clear to officers from the Immigration Unit, who were present in the courtroom. Despite this, Ryan was illegally kidnapped by the Oz unit and taken for interrogation. He was finally released twelve hours later.

Eva Novakova was taken from her Ramallah home at 3am on Sunday, 11 January 2010, when the Israeli army in the force of at least 20 armed soldiers forced their way into her apartment, accompanied by three officers from the Immigration Police. According to eyewitnesses, the army occupied several rooftops in the neighbourhood before they invaded the house where Eva Novakova lived, just across the road from the Palestinian police station near the al-Manara Square. She was taken for interrogation in Havon and later transferred to the Givon prison in Ramle. After two hours, however, she was taken to the airport and held at the detention centre there. Her phone was confiscated and she was prevented from contacting her lawyer, who arrived at the detention centre but was not allowed to see Eva. Despite all the efforts of her lawyer to temporarily stop the deportation, she was put on the plane at 5.30am the next day and deported to Prague.

Additionally, Oz also illegally detained Liam, a British national and Sarah, an American national. Oz forces arrested both after an Israeli judge had ordered their release after initial arrest in East Jerusalem. Liam and Sarah were taken to Givon deportation facility despite having valid visas and their lawyers, Omer Shatz and Iftach Cohen, were able to secure their release due to the illegality of their arrests.

ENDS

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